Rig Veda 10.129.2: Mandala 10, Sukta 129, Mantra 2
Sukta 10.129
- Rishi
- Prajāpati Parameṣṭhin
- Devata
- Tad Ekam as the implicit absolute
- Chandas
- Triṣṭubh
- Rasa
- Shanta (peace) and Adbhuta (wonder)
न मृत्युरासीदमृतं न तर्हि न रात्र्या अह्न आसीत्प्रकेतः । आनीदवातं स्वधया तदेकं तस्माद्धान्यन्न परः किं चनास ॥
ná mṛtyúr āsīd amṛ́taṃ ná tárhi ná rā́tryā áhna āsīt praketáḥ | ā́nīd avātáṃ svadháyā tád ékaṃ tásmād dhā́nyan ná paraḥ kíṃ canā́sa ||
उस वक़्त ना मौत थी, ना अमर होने का कॉन्सेप्ट था। दिन रात का कोई पता नहीं था। एक शक्ति थी जो अपनी मर्ज़ी से साँस लेती थी, बिना हवा के। उसके अलावा कुछ भी नहीं था।
Word by Word
- न
- notIndeclinableनिषेध (negation)Root न
- मृत्युः
- deathNounपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचनRole KartāRoot मृत्यु (प्रातिपदिक)
- आसीत्
- wasVerbलङ् (imperfect), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचनRoot √अस्
- अमृतम्
- immortality (deathlessness)Nounनपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचनRole KartāRoot अमृत (प्रातिपदिक)
- न
- notIndeclinableनिषेधRoot न
- तर्हि
- then; at that timeIndeclinableकालवाचक अव्ययRole AdhikaraṇaRoot तर्हि
- न
- notIndeclinableनिषेधRoot न
- रात्र्याः
- of nightNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, एकवचनRoot रात्रि (प्रातिपदिक)
- अह्नः
- of dayNounनपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, एकवचनRoot अहन् (प्रातिपदिक)
- आसीत्
- wasVerbलङ् (imperfect), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचनRoot √अस्
- प्रकेतः
- manifest; distinguishable (having clear sign)Adjectiveपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचनRole KartāRoot प्रकेत (प्रातिपदिक)
- आनीत्
- breathedVerbलङ् (imperfect), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचनRoot √अन् (अनिति ‘to breathe’)
- अवातम्
- without windAdjectiveनपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचनRole KaraṇaRoot अ-वात (प्रातिपदिक)
- स्वधया
- by its own power; by inherent law/forceNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग, तृतीया, एकवचनRole KaraṇaRoot स्वधा (प्रातिपदिक)
- तत्
- thatPronounनपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचनRole KartāRoot तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- एकम्
- one (alone)Numeral/Adjectiveनपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचनRole KartāRoot एक (प्रातिपदिक)
- तस्मात्
- from thatPronounनपुंसकलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी, एकवचनRole ApādānaRoot तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- ह
- indeedIndeclinableनिपात (emphatic particle)Root ह
- अन्यत्
- anything elsePronoun/Adjectiveनपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचनRole KartāRoot अन्य (प्रातिपदिक)
- न
- notIndeclinableनिषेधRoot न
- परः
- beyond; otherAdjectiveपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन (अर्थतः ‘beyond/other’)Role KartāRoot पर (प्रातिपदिक)
- किम्
- anything (whatsoever)Interrogative pronounनपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचनRole KartāRoot किम् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- चन
- at allIndeclinableनिपात (enclitic, with negation: ‘at all’)Root चन
- आसीत्
- wasVerbलङ् (imperfect), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचनRoot √अस्
Sandhi Notes
- Resolved padapāṭha-style segmentation: आसीत्प्रकेतः → आसीत् + प्रकेतः
- आनीदवा॒तं → आनीत् + अवातम् (Vedic sandhi: final -t + initial a- often yields -d a- in saṃhitā)
- तदेकं → तत् + एकम्
- तस्मा॑द्धा॒न्यन्न → तस्मात् + ह + अन्यत् + न (t + h → ddh in saṃhitā; final -t of अन्यत् before न gives -न्न in saṃhitā)
- किं चनासीत् → किम् + चन + आसीत् (m + c → ñc; and vowel sandhi a-). Accent marks in the saṃhitā text are not reproduced per-pada here
- analysis is morphological
The meaning
Outer meaning
There was no death then, nor immortality; no sign of night or day. The One breathed without breath by its own power. Other than That, nothing whatsoever existed.
Inner meaning
Before manifestation, there is no mortality/immortality because these belong to formed existence and its contrasts. Night/day (ignorance/knowledge, inactivity/activity) are not yet differentiated. ‘Breathing without breath’ indicates self-existent vibration or pulsation of consciousness (ānīd) not dependent on prāṇa—pure self-moved power (svadhā). The One alone is—beyond all supports, prior to all others.
Universal truth
The Absolute is self-existent and self-powered; all dualities arise only after manifestation. The deepest source of life is not physical breath but consciousness-force that can ‘move’ without material conditions.
Themes
Cosmogony, Non-dual origins, Inner breath (prāṇa archetype)
The seer
- Rishi
- Prajāpati Parameṣṭhin
- Other hymns
- Rig Veda 10.129.1, Rig Veda 10.129.3, Rig Veda 10.129.4, Rig Veda 10.129.5, Rig Veda 10.129.6, Rig Veda 10.129.7
Significance
The seer articulates the ‘self-existent’ nature of the Origin: a living stillness (ānīd avātam) that anticipates later Upaniṣadic notions of the Self as the ground of prāṇa and mind.
The deity
- Devata
- Tad Ekam (the One)
- Epithets
- tad ekam, svadhayā (self-powered), ānīd avātam (breathing without breath)
- Related deities
- Prajāpati, Hiraṇyagarbha, Ātman/Brahman (Upaniṣadic articulation)
Cosmic role
Absolute reality prior to time, space, and causality; source of all later powers and worlds.
Inner power
Self-existent consciousness-force: silent yet capable of initiating manifestation without external conditions.
In ritual
Where it is used
Contemplative cosmogonic recitation; later central to Upaniṣadic-style reflection; not a typical oblation formula.
न मृ॒त्युरा॑सीद॒मृतं॒ न तर्हि॒ न रात्र्या॒ अह्न॑ आसीत्प्रके॒तः । आनी॑दवा॒तं स्व॒धया॒ तदेकं॒ तस्मा॑द्धा॒न्यन्न प॒रः किं च॒नास॑ ॥
न । मृ॒त्युः । आ॒सी॒त् । अ॒मृत॑म् । न । तर्हि॑ । न । रात्र्याः॑ । अह्नः॑ । आ॒सी॒त् । प्र॒ऽके॒तः । आनी॑त् । अ॒वा॒तम् । स्व॒धया॑ । तत् । एक॑म् । तस्मा॑त् । ह॒ । अ॒न्यत् । न । प॒रः । किम् । च॒न । आ॒स॒ ॥
na | mṛtyuḥ | āsīt | amṛtam | na | tarhi | na | rātryāḥ | ahnaḥ | āsīt | pra-ketaḥ | ānīt | avātam | svadhayā | tat | ekam | tasmāt | ha | anyat | na | paraḥ | kim | cana | āsa
44
4 × 11 syllables
Measured and paradoxical; negations create stillness, then ‘ānīd’ introduces a subtle pulse
Induces deep quiet; the phrase ‘ānīd avātam svadhayā’ can produce a visceral sense of subtle inner vibration.
- मृत्युः (mṛtyuḥ)
- Literal: death. Symbolic: Principle of division and finitude in manifested nature
- अमृतम् (amṛtam)
- Literal: deathless state/nectar. Symbolic: Undecaying continuity within manifestation; here also a category not yet applicable
- रात्रि/अहन् (rātri/ahan)
- Literal: night/day. Symbolic: Obscurity/illumination; passive/active manifestation
- प्रकेतः (praketaḥ)
- Literal: sign, manifest perception. Symbolic: Cognitive differentiation; recognisable order not yet arisen
- आनीत् (ānīt) / आनीद (ānīd)
- Literal: breathed/moved. Symbolic: Primordial self-stirring of consciousness-force
- अवातम् (avātam)
- Literal: without wind/breath. Symbolic: Not dependent on prāṇic life; supra-physical self-motion
- स्वधया (svadhayā)
- Literal: by its own power/nature. Symbolic: Self-existent energy (cit-śakti) inherent in the One
- तदेकम् (tad ekam)
- Literal: That One. Symbolic: Non-dual absolute; the sole reality prior to manifestation
- अन्यत् न परः (anyat na paraḥ)
- Literal: no other beyond. Symbolic: Nothing outside or second to the Absolute
Contemplative cosmogonic recitation; later central to Upaniṣadic-style reflection; not a typical oblation formula.
Meditation on the self-existent Self: useful for breath-aware practices where one shifts from prāṇa to awareness itself.
√an ‘to breathe’ (ānīt) is used paradoxically with avātam ‘without vāta (wind/breath)’, expressing self-subsistent life/impulse. svadhā (sva- ‘own’ + dhā/√dhā ‘to place, set’) denotes an inherent power/law ‘set in itself’, not borrowed. mṛtyu is from √mṛ ‘to die’ (PIE *mer-), and amṛta is a- privative + mṛta ‘mortal/dead’, emphasizing polarity not yet arisen.
non-duality prior to opposites, self-existent power (svadhā), life-principle without external support
Ṛta is latent; the hymn describes the pre-ṛta condition where law is not yet expressed.
Satya as the sheer fact of the One—truth as self-existence.
First stir of manifestation as self-moved vibration (‘breathing without breath’).
Proto-Vedānta / Integral Yoga metaphysics: consciousness-force as the ultimate ground, not material process.
before dawn (symbolically, before the first ‘day’ of manifestation)
Breathless breathing = awareness moving without prāṇa; no day/night = beyond alternating mental states; no death/deathless = beyond life-process categories.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- A primordial One that ‘breathes’ by its own power before the emergence of cosmic rhythms (day/night) and existential boundaries (death/immortality). The mythic action is self-arousal: life and order are latent as an inner capacity, not imposed from outside.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- mṛtyu/√mṛ aligns with PIE *mer- ‘die’ (English mortal, Latin mors). The hymn retools inherited mortality vocabulary into metaphysical discourse by denying even the polarity ‘mortal/immortal’ at the origin.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The ṛṣi witnesses the One not as a petitioned deity but as the ground of all deities and states. The stance is revelatory listening: language is stretched through paradox (ānīt avātam) to indicate an experience beyond ordinary categories.
Shift identity from breathing to the awareness that knows breathing; contemplate ‘ānīd avātam’ as consciousness independent of prāṇa.
Sahasrara (non-dual stillness) and Ajna (witness)
Natural breath observation → then feel the ‘breath of awareness’ (a subtle sense of aliveness) without manipulating respiration
Silent, formless presence; subtle vibratory stillness
Chant slowly; pause after ‘tad ekam’; sit and notice that awareness remains even when the breath becomes very subtle. Let the sense of ‘svadhā’ be felt as self-sustaining existence.
Tri-svara; let ‘ānīd avātam svadhayā’ be chanted as one flowing unit with gentle rise-fall, avoiding sharp accents.
Clear articulation of negations: na mṛtyur… na amṛtam… na rātryā…; then soften into ‘tad ekam’.
mṛtyuḥ: cluster ‘mṛ-tyu’ cleanly, amṛtam: short a, dental t, ānīd: long ā and ī, avātam: v not b; long ā, svadhayā: aspirated dh; long ā at end
Very soft, even, inward; allow silence after the mantra
1
Ask anything about this verse
Answers come straight from the texts, with the shlokas they draw on. Ask in your own words.
A free sign-in with Google or Apple keeps your chat saved across web and the app.
Read Rig Veda in the Vedapath app
Scan the QR code to open this directly in the app, with word-by-word meanings, Sanskrit recitation where available, and more.
