Rig Veda 10.108.6: Mandala 10, Sukta 108, Mantra 6
Sukta 10.108
- Rishi
- Saramā / inspired speech in dialogue
- Devata
- Bṛhaspati, with Indra in the background
- Chandas
- Triṣṭubh
- Rasa
- Raudra (fury) and Vira (heroism)
असेन्या वः पणयो वचांस्यनिषव्यास्तन्वः सन्तु पापीः । अधृष्टो व एतवा अस्तु पन्था बृहस्पतिर्व उभया न मृळात् ॥
asen्यā́ vaḥ paṇayo vácāṃsy aniṣavyā́s tanváḥ santu pāpī́ḥ | ádhṛṣṭo va etávā astu pánthā bṛ́haspátir va ubhayā́ ná mṛḷāt ||
पणिस, तुम्हारी बातों में कोई ताकत नहीं है। तुम्हारी बॉडी काम नहीं करेगी और तुम्हारी बुरी हरकत सामने आ जाएगी। तुम्हारा रास्ता ऐसा हो जैसे कोई उस पर हाथ नहीं डाल सके। बृहस्पति तुम्हे किसी तरफ से भी पनाह नहीं देगा।
Word by Word
- असेन्याः
- not to be won/overpowered (unassailable)Adjectiveस्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा बहुवचनRole विशेषण (कर्तृ/विधेय-सम्बन्धः) — ‘तन्वः’ इत्यस्यRoot अ-सेन्य (प्रातिपदिक; न-सेन्य)
- वः
- of you / yourPronounषष्ठी बहुवचन (enclitic)Role सम्बन्ध (genitive) — ‘पणयः/तन्वः/पन्थाः/वचांसि’ इत्यादिषुRoot युष्मद् (सर्वनाम)
- पणयः
- the Paṇis (niggardly demons/hoarders)Nounपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा बहुवचनRole कर्तृ (अस्तु/सन्तु इत्यस्य) — संबोधनार्थेऽपिRoot पणि (प्रातिपदिक)
- वचांसि
- words, speechesNounनपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया बहुवचनRole विधेय/कर्म (सन्तु इत्यस्य) — ‘वचांसि … सन्तु’Root वचस् (प्रातिपदिक)
- अनिषव्याः
- not to be approached/attacked; unassailableAdjectiveस्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा बहुवचनRole विशेषण — ‘तन्वः’ इत्यस्यRoot अ-निषव्य (प्रातिपदिक; न-निषव्य)
- तन्वः
- bodies, personsNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा बहुवचनRole कर्तृ (सन्तु) / विधेय-आश्रयRoot तनू (प्रातिपदिक)
- सन्तु
- let (them) beVerbलोट् (आज्ञार्थे), प्रथमपुरुष, बहुवचनRole क्रियाRoot अस् (धातु)
- पापीः
- evil, sinfulAdjectiveस्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा बहुवचनRole विधेय-विशेषण — ‘तन्वः … पापीः (सन्तु)’Root पाप (प्रातिपदिक)
- अधृष्टः
- unassailed, unharmedAdjectiveपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा एकवचनRole विधेय-विशेषण — ‘पन्थाः’ इत्यस्यRoot अ-धृष्ट (प्रातिपदिक; न-धृष्ट)
- वः
- of you / yourPronounषष्ठी बहुवचन (enclitic)Role सम्बन्ध (genitive) — ‘पन्थाः’ इत्यस्यRoot युष्मद् (सर्वनाम)
- एतवा
- for going, as a way of passageIndeclinableअव्ययRole क्रियाविशेषण (पन्थाः/अस्तु इत्यस्य) — गत्यर्थेRoot एतवा (अव्यय; प्राचीन-प्रयोगः)
- अस्तु
- let it beVerbलोट् (आज्ञार्थे), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचनRole क्रियाRoot अस् (धातु)
- पन्थाः
- path, wayNounपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा एकवचनRole कर्तृ/विधेय-आश्रय (अस्तु)Root पथिन्/पन्था (प्रातिपदिक)
- बृहस्पतिः
- BṛhaspatiNoun (proper/theonym)पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा एकवचनRole कर्तृ (मृळात्)Root बृहस्पति (प्रातिपदिक)
- वः
- you (pl.)Pronounद्वितीया बहुवचन (enclitic)Role कर्म (मृळात्) — ‘you’Root युष्मद् (सर्वनाम)
- उभया
- in both ways, on both sidesAdjective (used adverbially)नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया/प्रथमा द्विवचन (अव्ययीभाववत् प्रयोगः) अथवा अव्यय-प्रयोगःRole क्रियाविशेषण — ‘मृळात्’ (in both ways / on both sides)Root उभय (प्रातिपदिक)
- न
- notIndeclinableनिषेधRole निषेधकRoot न (निपात)
- मृळात्
- let (him) be gracious / show mercyVerbलोट् (आज्ञार्थे), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन, परस्मैपदRole क्रियाRoot मृळ् (धातु; मृड्/मृळ् ‘to be gracious, to show mercy’)
Sandhi Notes
- पदच्छेदः (Vedic sandhi resolved): असेन्याः वः पणयः वचांसि अनिषव्याः तन्वः सन्तु पापीः । अधृष्टः वः एतवा अस्तु पन्थाः । बृहस्पतिः वः उभया न मृळात् ॥ मुख्य-सन्धयः: (1) वचांसि+अनिषव्याः → वचांस्यनिषव्याः (इको यणचि: इ→य्)
- (2) एतवा+अस्तु → एतवा अस्तु (स्वर-सन्धि न; पदान्त ‘आ’ + अ- आरम्भः, संहितायां दीर्घ/अवग्रह-प्रयोगः सम्भवः)
- (3) बृहस्पतिः+वः → बृहस्पतिर्वः (विसर्गस्य ‘र्’ आदेशः)
The meaning
Outer meaning
Saramā (or the opposing voice in the dialogue) denounces the Panis: their speech has no real force; their bodies are declared unfit; their evil is exposed. The path they take is made “unassailable” (i.e., blocked to them / safe from them), and Bṛhaspati is invoked to give them no protection on either side.
Inner meaning
The Panis are the powers of falsehood and miserliness in the subconscient that hoard the inner Light. Their “words” are persuasive rationalizations without the true force of the soul’s army (the organized powers of aspiration). The mantra is a psychological curse: let the false suggestions lose vitality (tanvaḥ aniṣavyāḥ), let their hostile formation become evident (pāpīḥ), and let their route of escape/backdoor entry into consciousness be sealed (adhṛṣṭaḥ panthāḥ). Bṛhaspati—inner Truth-word, master of the inspired discernment—must not give them any loophole: neither in the outer life (bahis) nor in the inner life (antar), neither by indulgence nor by compromise.
Universal truth
When ignorance attempts to bargain through clever speech, the seeker must withdraw consent: deprive falsehood of energy, expose its motive, and close the habitual pathways by which it re-enters. True guidance (Bṛhaspati) protects by discrimination, not by comforting the ego’s evasions.
Themes
denial of refuge to obstruction, Bṛhaspati as cave-breaker, speech-power contest
The seer
- Rishi
- Saramā (dialogue hymn; inspired speech)
- Other hymns
- Rig Veda 10.108.1-11 (Saramā–Pani dialogue), Rig Veda 4.1-4.4 (Aṅgirasa/Agni as finder of the cows—mythic complex), Rig Veda 10.68 (cow-finding; Bṛhaspati/Aṅgirasa theme)
Family tradition
Linked to the Aṅgirasa current in the cow-finding mythos; Saramā functions as the intuitive messenger-power allied to Indra/Bṛhaspati.
Significance
Saramā embodies the intuitive faculty that tracks the hidden Light; here the speech acts as a force of refusal and sealing—an inner protection mantra against deceptive impulses.
The deity
- Devata
- Bṛhaspati (with Indra in the background)
- Epithets
- Brahmaṇaspati (lord of the sacred utterance), Gṛhapati (lord of the inner house), Vācaspati (lord of speech, by function)
- Related deities
- Indra, Agni, Soma, Aṅgirases
Cosmic role
Opens the hidden treasure/cows by the power of the Word; establishes right order (ṛta) in thought; defeats the coverers through illumination.
Inner power
Discriminative inspiration: the capacity to hear the true word, reject false suggestion, and break the seals of ignorance.
In ritual
Where it is used
Associated with Bṛhaspati’s cave-opening function; recitable where the ‘brahman’ (effective word) is invoked to break obstruction.
अ॒से॒न्या व॑: पणयो॒ वचां॑स्यनिष॒व्यास्त॒न्व॑: सन्तु पा॒पीः । अधृ॑ष्टो व॒ एत॒वा अ॑स्तु॒ पन्था॒ बृह॒स्पति॑र्व उभ॒या न मृ॑ळात् ॥
अ॒से॒न्याः । वः॒ । प॒ण॒यः॒ । वचाँ॑म्सि । अ॒नि॒ष॒व्याः । त॒न्वः॑ । स॒न्तु॒ । पा॒पीः । अधृ॑ष्टः । वः॒ । एत॒वै । अ॒स्तु॒ । पन्थाः॑ । बृह॒स्पतिः॑ । वः॒ । उ॒भ॒या । न । मृ॒ळा॒त् ॥
asenyāḥ | vaḥ | paṇayaḥ | vacāṃmsi | aniṣavyāḥ | tanvaḥ | santu | pāpīḥ | adhṛṣṭaḥ | vaḥ | etavai | astu | panthāḥ | bṛhaspatiḥ | vaḥ | ubhayā | na | mṛḷāt
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4 pādas × ~11 syllables
firm, declarative, cutting cadence suited to denunciation and protection
builds a protective resolve; the rhythm ‘closes doors’ in the psyche and strengthens discernment
- पणयः (paṇayaḥ)
- Literal: Panis, traffickers/hoarders. Symbolic: forces that hoard light; miserliness and false bargaining in the subconscient
- वचांसि (vacāṃsi)
- Literal: words, speeches. Symbolic: suggestions, reasonings, persuasive thoughts that try to divert the sādhanā
- असेन्या (asen(y)ā)
- Literal: without an army. Symbolic: lacking the organized force of truth; unbacked by soul-power
- तन्वः (tanvaḥ)
- Literal: bodies. Symbolic: their formations in mind-life; the vitality of the hostile movement
- पापीः (pāpīḥ)
- Literal: evil, sinful. Symbolic: a vibration of distortion, egoistic intent, perversion of truth
- अधृष्टः पन्थाः (adhṛṣṭaḥ panthāḥ)
- Literal: unassailable path. Symbolic: sealed channel; no access-route for the hostile return
- बृहस्पतिः (bṛhaspatiḥ)
- Literal: Bṛhaspati. Symbolic: the power of the Truth-word, illumined discernment, guru-force in the mind
- उभया न मृळात् (ubhayā na mṛḻāt)
- Literal: let him not be gracious from either side. Symbolic: no compromise either outwardly (action) or inwardly (thought/feeling) with falsehood
Associated with Bṛhaspati’s cave-opening function; recitable where the ‘brahman’ (effective word) is invoked to break obstruction.
In the dialogue hymn context; thematically used where protection and truth-discernment are sought.
Recitation as a warding formula during inner/outer conflict; mentally ‘sealing’ the path of hostile recurrence.
Use as a mantra of boundaries: before meditation, name the deceptive pattern, then chant to withdraw energy from it and affirm no compromise with it.
√dhṛṣ ‘to dare/attack’ → adhṛṣṭa ‘unassailable’; √mṛḍ ‘to be gracious’ (mṛḷāt). Bṛhaspati as ‘lord of br̥h- (great) + pati’ and power of the inspired Word: he denies protection to false speech. The curse-like form is psychologically a rejection: the seeker refuses to give sanctuary (inner consent) to the hoarding impulses.
Brahman (effective word) vs false speech, inner consent/refusal (anugraha vs nigraha), Ṛta as right path
Bṛhaspati represents the ordering Word that restores ṛta in the mind against the Panis’ anṛta.
Truth refuses ‘refuge’ to falsehood; grace is not indulgence but alignment with Satya.
The Word (vāc/bṛhaspati) as an opening power that determines what can manifest in consciousness.
Proto-Vedāntic and Yoga-psychology reading (Aurobindo/Kashyap): inner battle for illumination.
‘Path’ = channel of consciousness; ‘body’ = vital formation; ‘speech’ = thought-suggestion; sealing the path = preventing regression into old grooves.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- The counter-spell: Saramā (or the inspired side) rejects the Panis’ verbal power and invokes Bṛhaspati to deny them protection. Mythically it is the turning of the Word against the hoarders; psychologically it is the refusal to shelter self-deceptive formations.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- panthā́ ‘path’ reflects PIE *pent(h)- ‘path’ (cf. Greek póntos ‘sea’ as ‘pathway’, German Pfad). √mṛḍ ‘be gracious’ is Indo-Iranian (Avestan marəδ- ‘to have mercy’), preserving an old religious vocabulary of ‘grace/relenting’.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The seer’s speech aligns with Bṛhaspati: the human (or semi-divine) utterance becomes effective only when it carries the larger power of the Truth-Word. The relationship is not petition for comfort but enlistment of a discriminating force that withholds mercy from falsehood.
Discern and reject persuasive inner falsehood; seal habitual return-paths of the hostile movement.
ājñā (discernment)
moderate nāḍī-śodhana or 4-4-6 breathing before chanting to stabilize clarity
protective wakeful concentration (jāgrat-samādhi tendency)
Identify the ‘Pani speech’ in you (rationalization, bargaining). Chant once slowly, then sit in silence and feel the ‘path’ closing—no inner debate, only steady clarity.
Use Vedic-style three-tone contour (udātta rise on key stems; svarita fall on combined accents); exact śākhā svaras vary—keep a clear udātta emphasis on bṛhaspatiḥ and panthāḥ.
Lean stress on: a-sen-yā́ḥ | páṇayaḥ | vácāṃsi | pánthāḥ | bṛ́haspátiḥ | mṛḻā́t.
Keep retroflex ḷ in mṛḻāt (mṛ-ḻāt), not ‘mrilāt’., Aspirate clearly: adhṛṣṭo (dhṛ), bṛhaspati (bṛh-)., Maintain nasalization in vacāṃsi (vā-cāṃ-si).
firm, clipped, protective; minimal ornamentation
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