Rig Veda 10.157.2: Mandala 10, Sukta 157, Mantra 2
Sukta 10.157
- Devata
- Indra with the Ādityas
- Rasa
- Shanta (peace) and Adbhuta (wonder)
यज्ञं च नस्तन्वं च प्रजां चादित्यैरिन्द्रः सह चीकॢपाति ॥
yajñáṃ ca nas tanváṃ ca prajā́ṃ cādityáir índraḥ sahá cīkḷpāti ||
इंद्र और आदित्य लोग मिलके हमारे लिए यज्ञ बना रहे हैं। हमारे शरीर को भी ठीक कर रहे हैं। आने वाली जेनरेशन को भी सही बना रहे हैं। सब कुछ एक सिस्टम में चल रहा है।
Word by Word
- यज्ञम्
- sacrifice, yajñaNounपुंलिङ्ग; द्वितीया विभक्ति; एकवचनRole कर्मRoot यज्ञ (प्रातिपदिक; √यज्)
- च
- andIndeclinableअव्ययRoot च
- नः
- of us, ourPronounषष्ठी विभक्ति; बहुवचन (enclitic)Role सम्बन्ध (genitive relation)Root अस्मद् (सर्वनाम)
- तन्वम्
- body, personNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग; द्वितीया विभक्ति; एकवचनRole कर्मRoot तनू (प्रातिपदिक)
- च
- andIndeclinableअव्ययRoot च
- प्रजाम्
- offspring, progenyNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग; द्वितीया विभक्ति; एकवचनRole कर्मRoot प्रजा (प्रातिपदिक)
- च
- andIndeclinableअव्ययRoot च
- आदित्यैः
- with the ĀdityasNounपुंलिङ्ग; तृतीया विभक्ति; बहुवचनRole सह/साकं-भाव (associative instrument) / करणRoot आदित्य (प्रातिपदिक)
- इन्द्रः
- IndraNoun (proper)पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा विभक्ति; एकवचनRole कर्तृRoot इन्द्र (प्रातिपदिक)
- सह
- together, along withIndeclinableअव्यय (सह = ‘together/with’)Root सह
- चीकॢपाति
- sets in order, makes ready, duly arrangesVerbलट् (वर्तमान); परस्मैपद; प्रथमपुरुष; एकवचन; (Vedic intensive/reduplicated present: चि- + √कॢप्)Role क्रियाRoot √कॢप् (कल्पते/कॢप्; ‘to arrange, make ready, set in order’)
Sandhi Notes
- पदच्छेदः: यज्ञम् च नः तन्वम् च प्रजाम् च आदित्यैः इन्द्रः सह चीकॢपाति। 1) चा॑दि॒त्यैः = च + आदित्यैः (स्वर-सन्धि/स्वर-समास-प्रयोग; अ-आ संधिः → आ)
- 2) इन्द्र॑: स॒ह = इन्द्रः + सह (विसर्गः पदान्ते; संहितायां ‘ः’)
- 3) नस्त॒न्वं॑ = नः + तन्वम् (enclitic ‘नः’ के पश्चात् संहितायां ‘नस्-’ रूप)
The meaning
Outer meaning
Indra with the Ādityas fashions for us the sacrifice, the body, and the offspring.
Inner meaning
Indra (illumined mind) working with the Ādityas (powers of vastness, law, and right relation—Varuṇa/Mitra/Aryaman-basis) forms three essentials of integral life: (1) yajña—inner offering and aspiration; (2) tanū—embodied instrument (physical-vital-mental personality); (3) prajā—productive powers, the ‘offspring’ as right creations: works, new states, and luminous formations in consciousness. The shaping (cīkḷpāti) implies a progressive perfectioning according to ṛta.
Universal truth
True growth is not random expansion but lawful formation: aspiration, embodiment, and creative output must be shaped by illumined intelligence and ethical-spiritual order.
Themes
Perfection of the sacrifice, Embodiment as instrument, Progeny/creative formation
The seer
- Other hymns
- Rig Veda 10.157.1, Rig Veda 10.157.3, Rig Veda 10.157.4, Rig Veda 10.157.5
Significance
The hymn’s emphasis on ‘forming’ yajña, body, and creative issue suggests a yoga of integral perfection rather than mere ritual performance—characteristic of later, more synthetic Rigvedic layers.
The deity
- Devata
- Indra with the Ādityas
- Epithets
- Indra as Śatakratu (effective will in works), Ādityas as Ṛtāvṛdhaḥ (increasers of ṛta—traditional epithet class)
- Related deities
- Varuṇa, Mitra, Aryaman, Bhaga, Aṃśa, Dakṣa
Cosmic role
Indra brings victorious illumination; Ādityas uphold cosmic law, wideness, and moral-spiritual order—together ensuring right formation of life and works.
Inner power
A combined force: luminous discernment (Indra) + lawful harmony and vastness (Ādityas) shaping the whole being.
In ritual
Where it is used
Used for well-being of sacrifice, body, and progeny; appropriate in household and soma contexts seeking lawful order (Āditya support).
य॒ज्ञं च॑ नस्त॒न्वं॑ च प्र॒जां चा॑दि॒त्यैरिन्द्र॑: स॒ह ची॑कॢपाति ॥
य॒ज्ञम् । च॒ । नः॒ । त॒न्व॑म् । च॒ । प्र॒ऽजाम् । च॒ । आ॒दि॒त्यैः । इन्द्रः॑ । स॒ह । ची॒कॢ॒पा॒ति॒ ॥
yajñam | ca | naḥ | tanvam | ca | pra-jām | ca | ādityaiḥ | indraḥ | saha | cīkḷpāti
44
4 x ~11 syllables
Constructive, formative cadence
Encourages a sense of being ‘made right’—stabilizing aspiration and embodiment.
- यज्ञ (yajña)
- Literal: sacrifice, offering. Symbolic: inner consecration of energies to the Divine; the yoga-process
- तन्वम् (tanvam)
- Literal: body, self, person. Symbolic: the embodied instrument to be purified and made a fit vessel
- प्रजा (prajā)
- Literal: offspring, progeny. Symbolic: right births in consciousness—new capacities, works, realizations
- आदित्यैः (ādityaiḥ)
- Literal: with the Ādityas. Symbolic: with powers of truth-law, wideness, harmony, right relation
- ची॒कॢ॒पा॒ति (cīkḷpāti)
- Literal: he fashions, forms, arranges effectively. Symbolic: spiritual formation/perfectioning—putting parts into their true function
Used for well-being of sacrifice, body, and progeny; appropriate in household and soma contexts seeking lawful order (Āditya support).
For consecration of action, health, and generativity (family/works)
Recited as a prayer for right formation before undertaking important work, healing, or rites for prosperity/continuity
Use when seeking disciplined growth: align practice (yajña), lifestyle/health (tanū), and creative output (prajā) with truth and ethics.
cīkḷpāti from √kḷp ‘be fit, be in order, arrange’ (cf. kalpa ‘ritual order, fitness’); reduplication gives intensive ‘sets in right form’. āditya denotes the law-powers (connected with ‘Aditi’ = boundless/inviolable), naturally aligned with R̥ta. prajā from pra-√jan ‘beget’ (PIE *ǵenh₁- ‘beget’, cf. Lat. gignere).
R̥ta and Dharma-like lawfulness via Ādityas, Integration of yajña (action), tanū (body), prajā (creative continuity)
Strong: Ādityas are guardians of ṛta; ‘shaping’ implies law-governed perfection.
Truth expressed as right functioning of instruments and right ‘births’ (prajā).
Continuous creation through right ‘becomings’—new births in consciousness and works.
Integral Vedic yoga reading: evolution of being via illumined formation under ṛta.
daybreak-to-day (Āditya influence)
Solar law = clarity, wideness, ethical order; ‘offspring’ = emergent capacities and realizations born from consecrated practice.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- Divine ‘fashioning’ (kalpa-making) of the human and ritual order: Indra allied with the Ādityas perfects yajña, body, and progeny—an ordering myth where law-powers shape life into right form.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- prajā from √jan reflects PIE *ǵenh₁- ‘beget’ (broad IE cognate set). The kalpa/√kḷp family highlights a specifically Indo-Iranian elaboration of ‘fitness/order’ into ritual and psychological perfection.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The rishi seeks not isolated gifts but a divinely established right-form (cīkḷpāti) of the whole life-system: action (yajña), vessel (tanū), and creative continuity (prajā), under Indra’s force and Āditya law.
Consecrate (yajña) the whole instrument (tanū) so that right creations (prajā) are born.
Manipura (will/works as yajña) supported by Ajna (illumination)
Brisk-then-settle: 9 rounds of kapalabhati (gentle) followed by 6 slow breaths; then chant
Sattvic, ordered, creative clarity
After chanting, offer one concrete action of the day as yajña; feel the body as a temple-instrument; invite a ‘right birth’—one new habit or insight aligned with truth.
Svara notations not provided; keep natural udātta lift on indraḥ, ādityaiḥ, yajñam, tanvam, prajāṃ.
Maintain clear nasalization in yajñaṃ, prajāṃ; articulate conjuncts: cīkḷpāti (kḷ) carefully without collapsing into ‘kil’.
yajñaṃ: ‘jñ’ as palatal cluster (gy/ny-like), not ‘jana’, tanvaṃ: keep ‘nv’ audible, cīkḷpāti: lengthen ‘ī’, and pronounce ‘ḷ’ as syllabic l (a brief liquid)
Warm, shaping, prayerful but confident
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