Rig Veda 10.119.9: Mandala 10, Sukta 119, Mantra 9
Sukta 10.119
- Rishi
- Agastya Māna
- Devata
- Soma
- Chandas
- Jagatī
- Rasa
- Vira (heroism) and Adbhuta (wonder)
हन्ताहं पृथिवीमिमां नि दधानीह वेह वा । कुवित्सोमस्यापामिति ॥
hántāháṃ pṛthivī́m imā́ṃ ní dadhānī́ha véha vā́ | kuvít sómasyāpā́m ití ||
देखो मैं क्या कर सकता हूँ। मैं इस धरती को यहाँ भी रख सकता हूँ, वहाँ भी। शायद यह ताकत सोम के पानी से आती है।
Word by Word
- हन्ता
- indeed!, surely!, come!Indeclinableनिपात/उद्घोष (अविकारी)Root हन्ता (अव्यय; हन्-धातु से उद्गत विस्मय/उद्घोष) अथवा निपात
- अहम्
- IPronounपुं/स्त्री/नपुं (सर्वनाम), प्रथमा, एकवचनRole KartāRoot अस्मद्
- पृथिवीम्
- the earthNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचनRole KarmaRoot पृथिवी
- इमाम्
- thisPronoun (demonstrative)स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचनRole Karma (विशेषण-रूपेण)Root इदम्
- नि
- down, into placeIndeclinableउपसर्ग (अविकारी)Root नि (उपसर्ग)
- दधानि
- I place / I setVerbलट् (वर्तमान), उत्तमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपदRole KriyāRoot धा (धातु) + नि
- इह
- hereIndeclinableदेशवाचक अव्ययRole AdhikaraṇaRoot इह
- वा
- orIndeclinableविकल्पार्थक निपातRoot वा
- इह
- hereIndeclinableदेशवाचक अव्ययRole AdhikaraṇaRoot इह
- उ
- indeed, justIndeclinableनिपात (बल/उत्कर्ष/अनुनयादि सूचक)Root उ
- इह
- hereIndeclinableदेशवाचक अव्ययRole AdhikaraṇaRoot इह
- वा
- orIndeclinableविकल्पार्थक निपातRoot वा
- कुवित्
- perhaps? whether?Indeclinableसम्भावना/प्रश्नार्थक निपातRoot कु + वित् (निपात-समूह; RV-प्रयोग)
- सोमस्य
- of SomaNounपुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, एकवचनRole Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/निर्देश)Root सोम
- अपाम्
- of the watersNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग (बहुवचन-प्रयोग), षष्ठी, बहुवचनRole Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)Root अप् (आपः)
- इति
- thusIndeclinableउद्धरण/वाक्य-समाप्ति सूचक अव्ययRoot इति
Sandhi Notes
- संहिता-पाठ: हन्ता॒हं = हन्ता + अहम् (आ + अ → आ; ‘हन्ता’ निपात/उद्घोष)
- पृ॑थि॒वीमि॒माम् = पृथिवीम् + इमाम् (म् + इ → मि; अनुस्वार/मकार-सन्धि)
- द॑धानी॒ह = दधानि + इह (इह-आगम; न् + इ → नी)
- वे॒ह = उ + इह (उदात्त-निपात ‘उ’ + इह; संहिता में ‘वेह/वेह’ रूप-प्रदर्शन)
- सोम॒स्यापा॒म् = सोमस्य + अपाम् (अ + अ → आ)
The meaning
Outer meaning
The speaker says: ‘Come then—I could set this Earth down here or here,’ and again wonders if this capacity comes from Soma’s waters.
Inner meaning
In Soma’s inspired state, consciousness gains a sovereign ‘placing power’—the ability to re-order the inner world: to set the ‘earth’ (the field of embodied habits) in a new position. The repeated ‘here or here’ suggests freedom from fixed subconscious grooves; the yogic will can re-establish the foundation of life in a truer arrangement under the influence of Ananda.
Universal truth
When inner delight and clarity rise, one can reconfigure one’s life-foundation; what felt immovable becomes placeable—habits, identities, and burdens can be set down rightly.
Themes
sovereignty, world-ordering, Soma empowerment
The seer
- Rishi
- Agastya Māna (traditional for 10.119.9)
- Lineage
- Agastya
- Other hymns
- RV 1.165–1.191 (Agastya group, traditional), RV 10.119.8–10
Family tradition
Agastya line is associated with effective mantra-speech (vāc) that ‘sets’ forces in their place; here the theme becomes psychological: the placing of the earth-nature.
Significance
Shows the transition from expansion to mastery: not only wideness, but the capacity to re-found the embodied life under Soma’s influence.
The deity
- Devata
- Soma (Āpas as medium)
- Epithets
- Pavamāna, Indu, Madhu, Amṛta
- Related deities
- Agni, Indra, Āpas
Cosmic role
Soma empowers the gods’ acts; it is the energizing delight that makes the world-order pliable to higher law.
Inner power
Plastic force of Ananda: makes the ‘earth’ receptive to a new placement by the soul’s will.
In ritual
Where it is used
Soma-related recitation; reflective verse within Soma hymn clusters
हन्ता॒हं पृ॑थि॒वीमि॒मां नि द॑धानी॒ह वे॒ह वा॑ । कु॒वित्सोम॒स्यापा॒मिति॑ ॥
हन्त॑ । अ॒हम् । पृ॒थि॒वीम् । इ॒माम् । नि । द॒धा॒नि॒ । इ॒ह । वा॒ । इ॒ह । वा॒ । कु॒वित् । सोम॑स्य । अपा॑म् । इति॑ ॥
hanta | aham | pṛthivīm | imām | ni | dadhāni | iha | vā | iha | vā | kuvit | somasya | apām | iti
48
4×12; the duplicated ‘iha vā’ creates a rhythmic ‘two-step’ within the longer line.
Assertive yet playful; the repetition suggests testing of placement—like shifting a weight until it sits right.
Builds confidence and agency; the refrain returns the agency to Soma as source, preventing egoic appropriation.
- हन्त (hanta)
- Literal: come! well then!. Symbolic: a decisive turning-point; the will’s consent to act from the higher state
- अहम् (aham)
- Literal: I. Symbolic: the awakened inner being, not the surface ego
- नि दधानि (ni dadhāni)
- Literal: I could place/set down. Symbolic: the power to establish a new inner order; grounding the transformed consciousness
- पृथिवीम् (pṛthivīm)
- Literal: earth. Symbolic: the embodied/vital-physical foundation of nature
- इह वा इह वा (iha vā iha vā)
- Literal: here or here. Symbolic: freedom of positioning; non-compulsion by old fixities
- सोमस्य अपाम् (somasya apām)
- Literal: of Soma’s waters. Symbolic: Ananda-streams that grant plasticity and mastery
Soma-inspired declaration of world-ordering power; ritually echoes the priest’s role in ‘placing’ the rite and its spaces.
During Soma ceremonies or personal chanting when needing re-grounding after expansion/insight.
Internal ‘nyāsa’: placing the earth-element (stability) properly; offering the act to Soma.
Use when reorganizing life, recovering stability, or shifting entrenched patterns—chant before journaling/decision-making to invite ‘right placement’.
hanta interjection; dadhāni from √dhā ‘to place, set’ (PIE *dʰeh₁-). ni- preverb indicates downward establishing/founding.
founding (dhā) as inner ordering of consciousness, mastery over the field of embodiment
True order includes right ‘placement’ of the lower nature under higher guidance.
The power to set down the earth rightly comes from truth-delight, not from restless control.
Re-founding: the earth is not fixed; it can be re-established by higher powers (a microcosmic echo of cosmogonic ‘setting’).
Integral-yogic psychology: transformation includes reconstitution of the physical-vital base by Ananda.
Earth = stability/habit-body; Waters = flowing consciousness; Soma = delight that renders the foundation malleable and rightly ordered.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- A cosmogonic echo: the power to ‘place the Earth’ belongs to creator-gods, but here is experienced inwardly as the seer’s expanded capacity to found and stabilize the embodied plane—Soma making the human participant in cosmic ordering.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- √dhā ‘place’ is a core PIE root *dʰeh₁- (cf. Gk. títhēmi, Lat. faciō is not cognate; but ‘do/put’ systems often overlap). The rhetoric of deictics (iha…iha) dramatizes spatial mastery, a common archaic poetic device.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The r̥ṣi’s ‘I’ swells toward creator-like agency, yet the refrain keeps attribution open: the source is Soma’s waters. The relationship is empowering without egoic closure—Soma lends capacity; the r̥ṣi observes and channels it.
Re-grounding: consciously ‘placing’ the body and life-force in a new, calm alignment after uplift.
Muladhara (foundation) supported by Anahata (wideness)
Exhale-lengthening with the words ‘ni dadhāni’; feel heaviness release downward; inhale with ‘somasya apām’ as soothing upward flow.
Empowered steadiness; calm command without strain.
After chanting, do a brief body-scan: ‘I set the earth here’—place attention in feet/pelvis; then let a gentle joy (Soma) percolate, making the foundation supple and aligned.
Svara marks not provided; keep a firm udatta-like lift on ‘hanta’ and ‘ni dadhāni’; soften on the refrain ‘kuvit…iti’.
Make ‘iha vā | iha vā’ two clear beats; avoid rushing the duplication.
Aspirate ‘hanta’ lightly (h- clear), Retroflex ṇ in dadhāni? (actually dental d; keep consonants clean), Hold long ī in pṛthivīm, Keep sandhi smooth in somasyāpām
Grounded, chest-resonant, confident; refrain slightly more inward.
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