Rig Veda 3.23.1: Mandala 3, Sukta 23, Mantra 1
Sukta 3.23
- Rishi
- Viśvāmitra Gāthina
- Devata
- Agni Jātavedas
- Chandas
- Triṣṭubh
- Rasa
- Vira (heroism) and Adbhuta (wonder)
निर्मथितः सुधित आ सधस्थे युवा कविरध्वरस्य प्रणेता । जूर्यत्स्वग्निरजरो वनेष्वत्रा दधे अमृतं जातवेदाः ॥
nir-máthitaḥ su-dhíta ā́ sadha-sthé yúvā kavír adhvarásya pra-netā́ | jū́ryat-su agnír ajáro váneṣv átrā́ dadhé amṛ́taṃ jāta-vedāḥ ||
अग्नि को मथ के निकाला गया है, और वो पक्का है। यह यज्ञ के स्थान पर आता है। वो नया है, ज्ञानी है, और यज्ञ का काम चलाता है। जंगल में लकड़ियाँ बढ़ती हैं, लेकिन अग्नि कभी बूढ़ा नहीं होता। जातवेदस रूप वाला अग्नि यहाँ अमृत रखता है।
Word by Word
- निर्मथितः
- churned out, produced by churningAdjective/Participleपुंलिङ्गः प्रथमा एकवचनम् (PPP)Role Kartā (with implied ‘अग्निः’)Root निर्मथ् (नि+मथ्) / निर्मथित (PPP)
- सुधितः
- well-set, well-placed/arrangedAdjective/Participleपुंलिङ्गः प्रथमा एकवचनम् (PPP)Role Kartā (qualifier of the same subject)Root सु+धा (√धा ‘to put/arrange’) → सुधित (PPP)
- आ
- to, towards; inIndeclinable (preverb/preposition)Root आ
- सधस्थे
- in the seat/common place (ritual ground)Nounनपुंसकलिङ्गे सप्तमी एकवचनम्Role AdhikaraṇaRoot सधस्थ (prātipadika)
- युवा
- youngAdjectiveपुंलिङ्गः प्रथमा एकवचनम्Role Kartā (qualifier)Root युवन् (prātipadika)
- कविः
- seer, wise poetNounपुंलिङ्गः प्रथमा एकवचनम्Role KartāRoot कवि (prātipadika)
- अध्वरस्य
- of the sacrifice/riteNounपुंलिङ्गः षष्ठी एकवचनम्Role Sambandha (genitive relation)Root अध्वर (prātipadika)
- प्रणेता
- leader, guide (of the rite)Noun (agent)पुंलिङ्गः प्रथमा एकवचनम्Role KartāRoot प्र+नी (√नी ‘to lead’) → प्रणेता (agent noun)
- जूर्यत्सु
- among those that are aging/decayingAdjective/Participleपुंलिङ्गे सप्तमी बहुवचनम् (locative plural)Role AdhikaraṇaRoot जूर्यत् (present participle of √जुर्/√जॄ ‘to age, wear out’) / जूर्यत् (prātipadika)
- अग्निः
- Agni (fire)Nounपुंलिङ्गः प्रथमा एकवचनम्Role KartāRoot अग्नि (prātipadika)
- अजरः
- unaging, undecayingAdjectiveपुंलिङ्गः प्रथमा एकवचनम्Role Kartā (qualifier of अग्निः)Root अजर (prātipadika)
- वनेषु
- in the woods/forestsNounनपुंसकलिङ्गे सप्तमी बहुवचनम्Role AdhikaraṇaRoot वन (prātipadika)
- अत्र
- hereIndeclinableRole Adhikaraṇa (deictic)Root अत्र
- दधे
- he has placed/establishedVerbलिट् (परस्मैपद-रूपं/आत्मनेपद-रूपं वैदिके) प्रथमपुरुषः एकवचनम्Role Kriyā (finite verb)Root √धा (to place, set)
- अमृतम्
- immortality; the immortal (essence)Noun/Adjectiveनपुंसकलिङ्गे द्वितीया एकवचनम्Role KarmaRoot अमृत (prātipadika)
- जातवेदाः
- Jātavedas (Agni), knower of births/creaturesNoun (proper/epithet)पुंलिङ्गः प्रथमा एकवचनम् (वैदिकः प्रथमा -आः)Role Kartā (apposition to अग्निः)Root जातवेदस् (prātipadika; epithet of Agni)
Sandhi Notes
- पदच्छेदः (sandhi-resolved): निर्मथितः | सुधितः | आ | सधस्थे | युवा | कविः | अध्वरस्य | प्रणेता | जूर्यत्सु | अग्निः | अजरः | वनेषु | अत्र | दधे | अमृतम् | जातवेदाः । प्रमुख-सन्धयः: (1) सधस्थे युवा → सधस्थे॒ युवा॑ (external sandhi absent; only accent)
- (2) कविः अध्वरस्य → कविरध्वरस्य (visarga before vowel → र्)
- (3) अजरः वनेषु → अजरॊ वनेषु (visarga before voiced consonant v → o)
The meaning
Outer meaning
Agni is produced by churning, firmly established, and brought to the ritual seat; he is the young seer who leads the sacrificial journey. In the growing woods, the unaging Jātavedas has placed immortality here.
Inner meaning
The Divine Will (Agni) is awakened by inner friction (tapas/effort) and established in the steady foundation of practice (sadhasthe). As the youthful seer-power in us, Agni leads the adhvara—the progressive inner journey without injury—guiding life-energy through the ‘woods’ of growing experience and nature. There, in the evolving vital-mental field, the unaging flame plants amṛta: a taste of deathless consciousness that persists through change.
Universal truth
When aspiration is kindled and rightly founded, the guiding flame of will and discernment leads the seeker through life’s growth and complexity, depositing a stable inner immortality—an abiding consciousness not dependent on outer circumstance.
Themes
Birth of Agni, Agni as leader of sacrifice, Immortality established within life-nature
The seer
- Rishi
- Viśvāmitra Gāthina
- Lineage
- Gāthin (Viśvāmitra lineage)
- Other hymns
- Rig Veda 3.1, Rig Veda 3.2, Rig Veda 3.3, Rig Veda 3.23.2, Rig Veda 3.23.3, Rig Veda 3.23.4, Rig Veda 3.23.5
Family tradition
Bharata-associated seer tradition emphasizing the discovery and establishment of the sacred Fire; hymns often show Agni as the leader of the inner and outer march.
Significance
Viśvāmitra’s vision frequently turns the sacrificial act into a psychology of ascent: the fire is not merely lit, it is founded in the being to lead toward wideness (bṛhat) and luminous plenitude.
The deity
- Devata
- Agni Jātavedas
- Epithets
- Jātavedas, Yuvā Kavi, Ajara, Praṇetā
- Related deities
- Iḷā, Sarasvatī, Indra, Soma
Cosmic role
Mediator between human and divine worlds; awakener and carrier of offerings; establishes order in the sacrifice and opens the paths to the gods.
Inner power
Divine Will and conscious force that kindles aspiration, illumines discernment, and effects transformation of nature into a vessel of immortality.
In ritual
Where it is used
Agnyādhāna/Agni-kindling and establishment; opening of an iṣṭi or soma-related sequence as a foundational Agni verse
निर्म॑थित॒: सुधि॑त॒ आ स॒धस्थे॒ युवा॑ क॒विर॑ध्व॒रस्य॑ प्रणे॒ता । जूर्य॑त्स्व॒ग्निर॒जरो॒ वने॒ष्वत्रा॑ दधे अ॒मृतं॑ जा॒तवे॑दाः ॥
निःऽम॑थितः । सुऽधि॑तः । आ । स॒धऽस्थे॑ । युवा॑ । क॒विः । अ॒ध्व॒रस्य॑ । प्र॒ऽने॒ता । जूर्य॑त्ऽसु । अ॒ग्निः । अ॒जरः॑ । वने॑षु । अत्र॑ । द॒धे॒ । अ॒मृत॑म् । जा॒तऽवे॑दाः ॥
niḥ-mathitaḥ | su-dhitaḥ | ā | sadha-sthe | yuvā | kaviḥ | adhvarasya | pra-netā | jūryat-su | agniḥ | ajaraḥ | vaneṣu | atra | dadhe | amṛtam | jāta-vedāḥ
Triṣṭubh (confirmed, typical for RV 3rd maṇḍala narrative-invocation style)
44
4 pādas × ~11 syllables (with Vedic resolution and occasional catalexis)
Forward-driving, declarative cadence suited to invocation plus proclamation of Agni’s action.
Builds a sense of ascent and momentum; supports a ‘kindling’ feeling in the chest and breath, as if will is being set upright and led onward.
- निर्मथितः (nirmathitaḥ)
- Literal: churned forth, kindled by friction. Symbolic: tapas-driven awakening of the inner fire through sustained effort and concentration
- सुधितः (sudhitaḥ)
- Literal: well-set, well-founded. Symbolic: right establishment of will in a stable discipline; purified intention
- सधस्थे (sadhasthe)
- Literal: seat/common place of the rite. Symbolic: inner altar/psychic ground where aspiration is placed and held
- युवा कविः (yuvā kaviḥ)
- Literal: young seer. Symbolic: fresh, ever-renewing intuitive intelligence within the will
- अध्वरस्य प्रणेता (adhvarasya praṇetā)
- Literal: leader of the sacrifice/journey. Symbolic: Agni as guide of the progressive yoga, leading energies toward the Divine
- वनेषु (vaneṣu)
- Literal: in the woods. Symbolic: the growing, branching field of nature—vital life and its formations
- अजरः (ajaraḥ)
- Literal: unaging. Symbolic: the timeless element in will-consciousness that does not decay
- अमृतम् (amṛtam)
- Literal: immortality/nectar. Symbolic: deathless poise of consciousness; blissful continuity beyond change
- जातवेदाः (jātavedāḥ)
- Literal: knower of births; knower of all that is born. Symbolic: inner fire that knows our formations and their right transformation
Fire-kindling and establishment (Agnyādheya/Agnihotra; also preparatory to soma rites): emergence of Agni from araṇis and his seating in the sadas.
At the lighting/renewal of the sacred fire; at the start of a rite to invoke Agni as leader
Churning/enkindling (araṇi), placing fire on the vedi, offering ghee with mantra
Use at the beginning of meditation or sādhanā session to ‘establish the fire’ of intention and invite guidance through the day’s inner work.
nir-máthita (√math ‘to churn, rub’); dhita (√dhā ‘to place’); sadhastha (sadhas ‘seat’ + -stha ‘standing’, √sthā); kavi (seer/poet, from √ku/√kav ‘to be wise/visionary’); adhvara (trad. ‘sacrifice’; often analyzed as a- + dhvara ‘unbroken/undisturbed’, linked with √dhvṛ/√dhvar ‘to injure’ in negative—psychologically: smooth movement of offering); pra-netā (√nī ‘to lead’); vaná (wood, also ‘delight/field’ in RV polysemy; here ‘woods’ as fuel and life-growth); amṛta (a- + mṛta, √mṛ ‘to die’); jāta-vedas (jāta ‘born’ + vedas from √vid ‘to know’).
Immanence of amṛta within becoming, Agni as kaví: intuition guiding the yajña, Continuity of adhvara as ordered movement (Ṛta in action)
Agni leads the adhvara as the organizer of right movement; immortality is ‘placed’ when the movement aligns with ṛta.
Jātavedas ‘knows births’—truth of our formations; truth becomes operative as right will.
Immortality hidden in the evolving ‘woods’ is brought forward by awakened fire; a microcosmic reenactment of cosmic emergence.
Proto-Vedāntic/Integral (Aurobindonian) reading: Agni as conscious-force enabling ascent from nature to deathless being.
Fire = will/aspiration; woods = proliferating life-energies and mental formations; churning = tapas that releases hidden light and nectar.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- The birth of Agni from friction (arani) is the central mythic action: the hidden fire brought out from the wood. Psychologically, it is the emergence of conscious will from the substance of life, which then ‘places immortality’ (amṛta) within the field of growth.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- amṛta (a- ‘not’ + √mṛ ‘die’) parallels Indo-European negated death-terms (cf. Greek a-mbrotos ‘immortal’). √vid in vedas/jātavedas continues PIE *weid- ‘to see/know’ (cf. Lat. vidēre, Eng. wit).
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The rishi presents Agni not as an external flame only, but as the inner ‘young seer’ who leads the adhvara. The human act (churning, seating) corresponds to inner awakening and establishment; Agni reciprocates by guiding the movement and depositing amṛta—deathless consciousness—into the aspirant’s life-growth.
Kindle and ‘set’ the inner fire: a clear sankalpa aligned to truth; feel Agni as leader of the day’s inner journey.
Manipura (fire/will) with uplift to Anahata (steady offering)
Gentle bhastrikā-like warming for 12 breaths, then slow nasal breathing with attention at navel-flame
Awakened, steady, forward-moving aspiration (tapas with poise)
Begin with recollection of purpose; ‘churn’ distraction into heat of concentration; then place the will on the inner altar and let it lead decisions and actions.
Mixed Vedic accents; key udatta peaks often on invocatory nouns/epithets (e.g., agníḥ, jātavédāḥ) with svarita on following dependent syllables per śākhā tradition.
Keep the lift on Agníḥ / Jātavédāḥ; avoid flattening compound accents; maintain pāda breaks clearly after praṇetā and vaneṣu.
Maintain retroflex ḍ/ṭ in sadhasthe with clear aspiration where marked., jātavedāḥ: long ā and clear v-d sequence (ve-dāḥ), not ‘veda’., vaneṣu: pronounce ṣ as retroflex sibilant; keep eṣu as two morae (e-ṣu).
Bright, steady, ‘kindling’ tone; slightly forward resonance in chest
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