Rig Veda 10.16.10: Mandala 10, Sukta 16, Mantra 10
Sukta 10.16
- Rishi
- Vasiṣṭha
- Devata
- Agni connected with Pitṛs
- Chandas
- Triṣṭubh
- Rasa
- Karuna (compassion) and Shanta (peace)
यो अग्निः क्रव्यात्प्रविवेश वो गृहमिमं पश्यन्नितरं जातवेदसम् । तं हरामि पितृयज्ञाय देवं स घर्ममिन्वात्परमे सधस्थे ॥
yo a॒gniḥ kravya-at pra-viveśa vo gṛham imam paśyann itaram jāta-vedasam | taṃ harāmi pitṛ-yajñāya devaṃ sa gharmam invāt parame sadha-sthe ||
वो आग जो तुम्हारे घर में मांस खाने के लिए आई थी, उस्से मैं अलग कर रहा हूँ। जातवेदस जो सब जानता है, उसें देख के मैं समझ गया। यह आग पितरों के लिए है। वो ऊपर जाके गरम करेगा और सब ठीक करेगा।
Word by Word
- यः
- who (he who)Pronounपुंलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, एकवचनम्Role KartāRoot यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- अग्निः
- Agni, fireNounपुंलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, एकवचनम्Role KartāRoot अग्नि (प्रातिपदिक)
- क्रव्यात्
- flesh-eater (corpse-devouring)Noun/Adjectiveपुंलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, एकवचनम् (अग्नेः विशेषणम्) अथवा समासपद-विशेषणम्Role KartāRoot क्रव्याद् (प्रातिपदिक; क्रवि + अद् ‘eater’)
- प्रविवेश
- has enteredVerbलिट् (परोक्शभूत/परफेक्ट), प्रथमपुरुषः, एकवचनम्, परस्मैपदम्Root √विश् (प्र + वि + विश्)
- वः
- yourPronounषष्ठी, बहुवचनम्Role Sampradāna (सम्बन्ध/अधिकार-सम्बन्धः)Root युष्मद् (सर्वनाम)
- गृहम्
- houseNounनपुंसकलिङ्गः, द्वितीया, एकवचनम्Role KarmaRoot गृह (प्रातिपदिक)
- इमम्
- thisPronoun/Determinerपुंलिङ्गः, द्वितीया, एकवचनम् (गृहं विशेषयति)Role Karma (विशेषणत्वेन)Root इदम् (सर्वनाम)
- पश्यन्
- seeingVerb (participle)वर्तमान कृदन्तः (शतृ), पुंलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, एकवचनम् (अग्निः)Role Kartā (सह-क्रिया)Root √पश् (दृश्-अर्थे)
- इतरम्
- the otherAdjectiveपुंलिङ्गः, द्वितीया, एकवचनम्Role KarmaRoot इतर (प्रातिपदिक)
- जातवेदसम्
- Jātavedas (Agni as ‘knower of births’)Noun (epithet)पुंलिङ्गः, द्वितीया, एकवचनम्Role KarmaRoot जातवेदस् (प्रातिपदिक; जात + वेदस्)
- तम्
- himPronounपुंलिङ्गः, द्वितीया, एकवचनम्Role KarmaRoot तद् (सर्वनाम)
- हरामि
- I take away / removeVerbलट् (वर्तमान), उत्तमपुरुषः, एकवचनम्, परस्मैपदम्Root √हृ (हरति)
- पितृयज्ञाय
- for the ancestral riteNounपुंलिङ्गः, चतुर्थी, एकवचनम्Role SampradānaRoot पितृयज्ञ (प्रातिपदिक; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः ‘पितॄणां यज्ञः’)
- देवम्
- the godNounपुंलिङ्गः, द्वितीया, एकवचनम् (तम् इति विशेष्यः)Role KarmaRoot देव (प्रातिपदिक)
- सः
- hePronounपुंलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, एकवचनम्Role KartāRoot तद् (सर्वनाम)
- घर्मम्
- heat, warmth (glow)Nounपुंलिङ्गः, द्वितीया, एकवचनम्Role KarmaRoot घर्म (प्रातिपदिक)
- इन्वात्
- may he set in motion / may he quickenVerbविधिलिङ्/आशीर्लिङ् (वेदिक-प्रयोगः), प्रथमपुरुषः, एकवचनम्, परस्मैपदम्Root √इ (इन्वति/इन्वते ‘to set in motion, impel, quicken’)
- परमे
- in the highestAdjectiveनपुंसकलिङ्गे/पुंलिङ्गे, सप्तमी, एकवचनम् (सधस्थे विशेषणम्)Role AdhikaraṇaRoot परम (प्रातिपदिक)
- सधस्थे
- seat, abodeNounनपुंसकलिङ्गः, सप्तमी, एकवचनम्Role AdhikaraṇaRoot सधस्थ (प्रातिपदिक)
Sandhi Notes
- पदच्छेदः: यः | अग्निः | क्रव्यात् | प्रविवेश | वः | गृहम् | इमम् | पश्यन् | इतरम् | जातवेदसम् || तम् | हरामि | पितृयज्ञाय | देवम् | सः | घर्मम् | इन्वात् | परमे | सधस्थे || 1) गृहम्+इमम् → गृहमिमम् (व्यञ्जन-सन्धिः: म् + इ → मि). 2) पश्यन्+इतरम् → पश्यन्नितरम् (न् + इ → न्नि; अनुस्वार/नकार-समास-सन्धि).
- उच्चारणे त् + प्र- इत्यादि संयोगः
The meaning
Outer meaning
The fire that has entered your house as the eater of mortal substance, seeing the other Jātavedas—him I set apart for the offering to the Fathers. May he impel warmth/ripening in the highest seat.
Inner meaning
When the consuming force (kravyāt) enters the ‘house’ (body-formation), it must be rightly assigned: not allowed to ravage consciousness, but consecrated to the ancestral plane (Pitṛ-yajña)—the storehouse of past formations and habitual lines. By offering this force to the Pitṛs, one harmonizes with the past without being bound by it. Then that fire is asked to ‘urge gharmá’—the ripening heat of transformation—into the highest seat (parame sadhasthe): the summit of being where the psychic and spiritual consciousness preside.
Universal truth
Even destructive energies can be converted into purposeful transformation when consecrated. The past (ancestors) must be acknowledged and offered, so the heat of change serves ascent rather than bondage.
Themes
funerary transformation, Agni as purifier and guide, transition between lower and higher fire, pitṛyajña
The seer
- Rishi
- Vasiṣṭha (traditional association; attribution varies in some Anukramaṇī listings for RV 10.16)
- Lineage
- Vasiṣṭha-gotra
- Other hymns
- RV 7 (Vasiṣṭha maṇḍala; Agni hymns), RV 10.14-10.18 (funeral cycle; traditional recitational complex)
Family tradition
Vasiṣṭha lineage is strongly linked with Agni and Ṛta—right ordering of forces; funeral hymns often preserve this ordering intelligence.
Significance
Vasiṣṭha’s hallmark is ṛta-vicāra: placing powers in their correct function. Here the seer converts the consuming fire into a consecrated transformative heat serving the highest seat.
The deity
- Devata
- Agni (Kravyāt aspect consecrated; Jātavedas as witness-guide)
- Epithets
- Kravyāt (mortal-substance eater), Jātavedas (knower of births), Deva (divine power)
- Related deities
- Pitṛs, Yama (contextual), Soma (as ripened delight, thematic complement to gharmá)
Cosmic role
Agni governs both dissolution of forms and ascent of essence; he mediates between ancestral plane (Pitṛs) and highest seat of consciousness.
Inner power
Alchemical conversion: turning decay-force into tapas that ripens the being toward its highest station.
In ritual
Where it is used
Pitṛyajña within funeral rites; setting apart the appropriate fire-function
यो अ॒ग्निः क्र॒व्यात्प्र॑वि॒वेश॑ वो गृ॒हमि॒मं पश्य॒न्नित॑रं जा॒तवे॑दसम् । तं ह॑रामि पितृय॒ज्ञाय॑ दे॒वं स घ॒र्ममि॑न्वात्पर॒मे स॒धस्थे॑ ॥
यः । अ॒ग्निः । क्र॒व्य॒ऽअत् । प्र॒ऽवि॒वेश॑ । वः॒ । गृ॒हम् । इ॒मम् । पश्य॑न् । इत॑रम् । जा॒तऽवे॑दसम् । तम् । ह॒रा॒मि॒ । पि॒तृ॒ऽयज्ञाय॑ । दे॒वम् । सः । घ॒र्मम् । इ॒न्वा॒त् । प॒र॒मे । स॒धऽस्थे॑ ॥
yaḥ | agniḥ | kravya-at | pra-viveśa | vaḥ | gṛham | imam | paśyan | itaram | jāta-vedasam | tam | harāmi | pitṛ-yajñāya | devam | saḥ | gharmam | invāt | parame | sadha-sthe
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4 × ~11 syllables; narrative-ritual movement with a culminating lift on parame sadhasthe.
Processional: recognition → setting apart → ascent to the highest seat.
Guides the mind from fear of dissolution to purposeful consecration and upward ripening.
- गृहम् (gṛham)
- Literal: house. Symbolic: Embodied formation; the psycho-physical habitation
- क्रव्यात् (kravyāt)
- Literal: flesh-eater. Symbolic: Dissolving power acting on the mortal sheath
- इतरं जातवेदसम् (itaraṃ jātavedasam)
- Literal: the other Jātavedas. Symbolic: True inner fire of knowledge witnessing and guiding
- पितृयज्ञाय (pitṛyajñāya)
- Literal: for the offering to the Fathers. Symbolic: Consecration of past formations; harmonizing with ancestral/subconscient patterns
- घर्मम् (gharmam)
- Literal: heat, warm pressing, glow. Symbolic: Ripening tapas; transformative warmth that matures consciousness
- परमे सधस्थे (parame sadhasthe)
- Literal: in the highest seat. Symbolic: Summit-plane of being; spiritual station where transformation is established
Antyeṣṭi / funeral rite: differentiation of the consuming fire (kravyād) from the luminous carrier (jātavedas); offering in the pitṛyajña context
When directing the funeral fire and invoking the Fathers; aligning cremation process with ancestral offerings
Designating the kravyāt fire for Pitṛs; praying for ripening heat in the highest station
Ancestral/karma work: offer inherited patterns into a conscious inner fire; ask that the released energy become ‘gharma’—maturing strength for spiritual growth.
Key terms: (1) -: kravyá ‘raw flesh / mortal substance’ (from √krav/krū ‘bloody, fleshly’ as semantic field) + -at ‘eater’ (agent noun from √ad ‘to eat’). Symbolically: the consuming-transforming force acting on the perishable sheath. (2) -: perfect of √viś ‘enter’ with preverb pra- (forward, manifesting). (3) -: jāta ‘born, manifested’ (√jan ‘be born’) + vedas ‘knowledge’ (√vid ‘know’): ‘the Fire that knows all becomings’—therefore guide of right transition. (4) : gharma ‘heat, glow, fervour’ related to √ghṛ/√ghar ‘to heat’; in inner sense = tapas that ripens consciousness. (5) : optative/benedictive sense from √inv ‘to set in motion, impel’.
R̥ta (right order in transition from embodied to higher state), tapas/gharma (inner heat of transformation), continuity with Pitṛs (ancestral powers as a plane of support)
The verse enacts ṛta by allocating the consuming fire to its rightful sacrificial channel, preventing disorder.
Satya as the ‘highest seat’ where transformation is stabilized in truth-consciousness.
Cycle of formation and dissolution; what dissolves becomes fuel for higher ripening when offered.
Integral yoga reading: ancestral/subconscient energies can be transmuted into tapas serving the psychic-spiritual ascent.
House = body; hearth-fire = life-force; gharmá = concentrated transformative warmth; highest seat = crown/summit consciousness.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- The double-Agni motif: the ‘Kravyād’ fire that consumes the mortal residue and the ‘Jātavedas’ fire that knows and leads the soul’s becoming. The seer ritually and psychologically ‘separates’ the destructive/consuming function from the guiding/luminous function, assigning the former to the pitṛ-offering so the transition can proceed in r̥ta.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- √ad ‘eat’ (PIE *h₁ed-) in -at ‘eater’ parallels wide Indo-European ‘eating/consuming’ verbs; √vid ‘know’ (PIE *weyd-) in vedas is a clear cognate set (Latin vidēre, English wit). √viś ‘enter’ aligns with PIE *weys- ‘enter/settle’ (cf. ‘village/vis’ in Indo-Iranian social vocabulary). These roots support the verse’s semantic layering: consumption (outer), knowing/seeing (inner guidance), entering/settling (incarnation).
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The r̥ṣi acts as mediator and distinguisher: ‘taṃ harāmi’ marks an intentional consecration—he directs a specific power of Agni to a specific work (pitṛyajña). The reciprocity is functional: the human will offers and assigns; the divine will (Agni) responds by ‘invoking/impelling’ gharma—inner tapas—at the ‘parama sadhastha’, stabilizing the passage into the higher seat.
Offer ancestral tendencies into Agni with compassion; ask for ‘gharma’ to mature in the highest seat (inner crown).
sahasrara
Slow breath with gentle inner heat at the navel rising to the crown on exhale (without strain).
Matured tapas, reconciled with the past, oriented to the summit.
Name one inherited pattern; feel it as ‘kravyāt’ entering the house. Do not repress—consecrate it to the Pitṛ-stream (acknowledge origin), then lift the released energy upward as ripening warmth into the highest seat.
Standard Rigvedic accenting; keep clarity on yo agníḥ, kravyāt, jātavédasam, pitṛyajñā́ya, gharmám, paráme sadhásthe.
Let the cadence rise toward the final pāda; keep ‘taṃ harāmi’ as a decisive ritual designation.
praviveśa: ‘ve’ clear, not ‘vai’, paśyann: nasal ‘nn’ distinct, pitṛyajñāya: vocalic ‘ṛ’, and ‘jñ’ cluster careful, gharmam: aspirated ‘gh’ voiced, sadhasthe: ‘dh’ voiced aspirate, ‘sth’ cluster crisp
Warm, solemn, steady; avoid harshness—aim for ripening warmth.
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