Rig Veda 10.85.2: Mandala 10, Sukta 85, Mantra 2
Sukta 10.85
- Devata
- Soma
- Chandas
- Triṣṭubh
- Rasa
- Shanta (peace) and Adbhuta (wonder)
सोमेनादित्या बलिनः सोमेन पृथिवी मही । अथो नक्षत्राणामेषामुपस्थे सोम आहितः ॥
sómenādityā́ balínaḥ sómena pṛthivī́ mahī́ | átho nákṣatrāṇām eṣā́m upásthe sóma ā́hitaḥ ||
सोम से सूर्य और आदित्य लोग ताकत पाते हैं। सोम से यह धरती बड़ी और मज़बूत बनती है। सोम को तारों की गोद में रख दिया गया है। वो तारों के बीच खोया रहता है, उनकी रोशनी में।
Word by Word
- सोमेना
- by/with SomaNounपुंलिङ्ग; तृतीया विभक्ति; एकवचनRole करणRoot सोम (प्रातिपदिक)
- आदित्याः
- the ĀdityasNounपुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा विभक्ति; बहुवचनRole कर्तृRoot आदित्य (प्रातिपदिक)
- बलिनः
- strong, mightyAdjectiveपुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा विभक्ति; बहुवचनRole कर्तृ-विशेषणRoot बलिन् (प्रातिपदिक)
- सोमेना
- by/with SomaNounपुंलिङ्ग; तृतीया विभक्ति; एकवचनRole करणRoot सोम (प्रातिपदिक)
- पृथिवी
- the EarthNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग; प्रथमा विभक्ति; एकवचनRole कर्तृRoot पृथिवी (प्रातिपदिक)
- मही
- great, vastAdjectiveस्त्रीलिङ्ग; प्रथमा विभक्ति; एकवचनRole कर्तृ-विशेषणRoot मही (प्रातिपदिक)
- अथो
- and also, moreoverIndeclinableअव्ययRoot अथो (अव्यय; अथ + उ)
- नक्षत्राणाम्
- of the stars/constellationsNounनपुंसकलिङ्ग; षष्ठी विभक्ति; बहुवचनRole सम्बन्ध (षष्ठी)Root नक्षत्र (प्रातिपदिक)
- एषाम्
- of thesePronounषष्ठी विभक्ति; बहुवचन (सर्वलिङ्ग)Role सम्बन्ध (षष्ठी)Root एतद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- उपस्थे
- in the lap/seatNounपुंलिङ्ग; सप्तमी विभक्ति; एकवचनRole अधिकरणRoot उपस्थ (प्रातिपदिक)
- सोमः
- SomaNounपुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा विभक्ति; एकवचनRole कर्म (कर्मणि-प्रयोगे) / कर्तृ (यदि कर्तरि व्याख्या)Root सोम (प्रातिपदिक)
- आहितः
- has been placed, is setParticiple (past passive)पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा विभक्ति; एकवचन; क्त (भूतकर्मणि) — ‘placed/laid’Role (कर्मणि: कर्तृ अप्रकट)Root आ-धा (धातु) → आहित (कृदन्त; क्त-प्रत्यय)
Sandhi Notes
- संहिता-पाठ: सोमे॑नादि॒त्या ब॒लिन॒: = सोमेना + आदित्याः + बलिनः। नक्ष॑त्राणामे॒षामु॒पस्थे॒ = नक्षत्राणाम् + एषाम् + उपस्थे।
- ‘अथो’ = अथ + उ (निपात-समास/निग्रह)
The meaning
Outer meaning
Soma strengthens the Ādityas; by Soma the great Earth becomes mighty. Soma is also placed in the lap of the stars (nakṣatras), as if sustained among the ordered lights.
Inner meaning
Soma is the secret delight-substance (ānanda) that empowers the solar powers of Truth (Ādityas: guardians of ṛta) and makes the “earth” (pṛthivī: the embodied field of life and practice) vast and firm in its capacity to hold the divine working. The “stars” are the many fixed lights of the inner heaven—stable formations of knowledge; Soma is set within them as hidden nourishment, so that illumination is not dry intellect but fed by bliss.
Universal truth
True strength and stable order come when knowledge and law (light, ṛta) are inwardly sustained by delight (ānanda). When bliss is secreted into the structures of mind and life, the whole being becomes vast, luminous, and resilient.
Themes
Soma-ritual, cosmic nourishment, celestial order, strengthening of truth-powers
The seer
- Other hymns
- Rig Veda 10.85 (Sūryā-sūkta cluster)
Significance
The seer-vision here turns the ritual Soma into a cosmological and psychological principle: delight as the hidden sap that empowers truth-forces and stabilizes the inner heaven and earth.
The deity
- Devata
- Soma (as empowering essence within Ādityas and nakṣatras)
- Epithets
- amṛta (immortal essence), indu (drop/spark of delight), madhu (honeyed sweetness)
- Related deities
- Ādityas (Varuṇa-Mitra-Bhaga etc.), Nakṣatrāṇi (cosmic lights), Sūrya (solar truth)
Cosmic role
Nourisher of gods and worlds; the delight-substance that supports the solar order and the luminous constellations of the cosmos.
Inner power
Ananda that strengthens truth-consciousness, widens the embodied being, and stabilizes illuminations into enduring knowledge.
In ritual
Where it is used
Soma-yajña context and wedding-hymn cosmology (Sūryā-sūkta used in marriage rites in later tradition)
सोमे॑नादि॒त्या ब॒लिन॒: सोमे॑न पृथि॒वी म॒ही । अथो॒ नक्ष॑त्राणामे॒षामु॒पस्थे॒ सोम॒ आहि॑तः ॥
सोमे॑न । आ॒दि॒त्याः । ब॒लिनः॑ । सोमे॑न । पृ॒थि॒वी । म॒ही । अथो॒ इति॑ । नक्ष॑त्राणाम् । ए॒षाम् । उ॒पऽस्थे॑ । सोमः॑ । आऽहि॑तः ॥
somena | ādityāḥ | balinaḥ | somena | pṛthivī | mahī | atho iti | nakṣatrāṇām | eṣām | upa-sthe | somaḥ | āhitaḥ
44
4 pādas of ~11 syllables each (triṣṭubh cadence; exact scansion may vary by resolution)
Firm, expansive, forward-driving; suited to stating cosmic correspondences.
Builds a sense of wideness and stable power; supports contemplative ascent from earth to the ordered lights.
- सोमेन (somena)
- Literal: by/with Soma. Symbolic: by the power of divine Delight/Ananda as substance of immortality
- आदित्याः (ādityāḥ)
- Literal: the Ādityas. Symbolic: solar powers of truth, wideness, law; illumined faculties that uphold ṛta
- बलिनः (balinaḥ)
- Literal: strong, mighty. Symbolic: inward strength of the truth-powers when fed by ananda
- पृथिवी मही (pṛthivī mahī)
- Literal: the great Earth. Symbolic: the embodied nature made wide and capable of containing higher consciousness
- नक्षत्राणाम् (nakṣatrāṇām)
- Literal: of the stars/asterisms. Symbolic: fixed inner lights: stable knowledges, ordered luminous formations in mind
- उपस्थे (upasthe)
- Literal: in the lap, bosom. Symbolic: supporting field where powers are held and nourished
- आहितः (āhitaḥ)
- Literal: placed, set, deposited. Symbolic: secretly established within the luminous order as sustaining essence
Soma-centered cosmological affirmation; resonates with Soma installation (ādhāna/āhavana contexts) and with wedding-hymn cosmology where celestial order witnesses human rite.
Recitation/evocation in marriage sequences; also as contemplative verse in Soma-themed recitations
Praise/installation of Soma as sustaining essence; aligning the couple and community with cosmic order and delight
Use as a meditation-chant for ‘strength through inner delight’—stabilizing mind (stars) and life (earth) by ananda.
balin: from bala ‘strength’ (possibly from √bal ‘to be strong’). pṛthivī: from pṛthu ‘broad’ (√pṛth ‘to broaden’). nakṣatra: traditionally ‘star’; often analyzed with √nakṣ ‘attain/approach’ or as an old astronomical term; here functions as ordered celestial markers. āhita: ā-√dhā ‘to place in’ (PPP).
nourishment of cosmic law by delight (Soma strengthening Ādityas), wideness (mahī) as expansion of consciousness
Soma empowers the Ādityas who uphold ṛta; delight is shown as the hidden support of order.
Truth becomes ‘mighty’ in the embodied field when nourished by Soma.
Worlds and lights are maintained by an inner nectar placed within their supports.
Proto-Vedāntic/Integral (Aurobindonian) reading: ananda as ontological power sustaining mind and matter.
Earth = embodied practice-field; stars = stable knowledges; Soma = bliss-sap that feeds and orders illumination.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- Soma as the strengthening sap of the cosmos: the truth-guardians (Ādityas) gain force through Soma, and Soma is ‘installed’ among the stars—delight set into the ordered lights that govern rhythms.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- āhita (ā-√dhā) reflects PIE *dʰeh₁- ‘place’; pṛthivī from ‘broad’ parallels Indo-European cosmic ‘broad earth’ formulae. Instrumental somena repeats as a causal refrain, a common inherited poetic device.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The seer contemplates Soma not merely as pressed juice but as a cosmic principle of delight that empowers divine law and stabilizes the human field (earth). The relationship is participatory: by invoking Soma, the human rite aligns with the cosmic installation of delight.
Place ‘Soma’ as felt sweetness/quiet joy into the mind’s lights and the body’s field; contemplate delight as support of truth.
Ājñā (stars/inner lights) and Anāhata (nectar of sweetness)
Gentle nāḍī-śodhana or slow inhalation imagining ‘cool nectar’ descending; exhale establishing wideness in the body.
Widened, luminous equanimity with a subtle sweetness behind thought.
Begin with attention in the heart; evoke a cool, clear joy. Let it rise to the brow as steady points of light; then sink into the whole body as a vast, stable earth.
Triṣṭubh recitation with standard Vedic accents (udātta/anudātta/svarita) as per śākhā; exact svara requires pada-svara notation not provided.
Lean on udātta peaks in ‘sómena’, ‘ādityā́’, ‘pṛthivī́’, ‘ná kṣatrāṇām’; keep transitions smooth at caesura after each pāda.
Maintain long vowels: somena (o), ādityāḥ (ā…yāḥ), mahī (ī)., Pronounce ṛ in pṛthivī as a syllabic ‘r’ (pṛ-thi-vī)., Keep retroflex ṭ/ḍ absent here; but articulate ṣ in nakṣatrāṇām clearly (kṣ cluster).
Clear, steady, slightly resonant (cool ‘Soma’ tone rather than forceful)
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