Rig Veda 4.32.15: Mandala 4, Sukta 32, Mantra 15
Sukta 4.32
- Rishi
- Vāmadeva Gautama
- Devata
- Indra
- Chandas
- Anuṣṭubh
- Rasa
- Vira (heroism) and Shanta (peace)
अस्माकं त्वा मतीनामा स्तोम इन्द्र यच्छतु । अर्वागा वर्तया हरी ॥
asmā́kaṃ tvā matīnā́m ā́ stóma indra yacchatu | arvā́g ā́ vartayā hárī ||
इंद्र, हमारी सोच और गाना तुम्हे यहाँ खींच लाए। अपने दो घोड़े मोड़ के हमारे खेत में आ जा। हमारी तरफ आ।
Word by Word
- अस्माकम्
- of us / ourPronounषष्ठी (genitive), बहुवचनRole सम्बन्ध (genitival relation)Root अस्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- त्वा
- you (acc.)Pronounद्वितीया (accusative), एकवचनRole कर्म (object)Root युष्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- मतीनाम्
- of (our) thoughts/prayersNounषष्ठी (genitive), बहुवचनRole सम्बन्ध (genitival relation)Root मती- (स्त्रीलिङ्ग प्रातिपदिक; ‘thought, devotion, hymn’)
- आ
- towards, hither; (intensifies/ directs the action)Indeclinableउपसर्गः (preverb) — here with √यम्Root आ (उपसर्ग/निपात)
- स्तोमः
- the hymn of praiseNounप्रथमा (nominative), एकवचनRole कर्तृ (subject)Root स्तोम- (पुंलिङ्ग प्रातिपदिक; ‘praise, hymn’)
- इन्द्र
- O IndraNoun (vocative)सम्बोधन (vocative), एकवचनRole सम्बोधनRoot इन्द्र- (पुंलिङ्ग प्रातिपदिक)
- यच्छतु
- let (it) bestow/bring; may it reachVerbलोट् (imperative), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन, परस्मैपदRole क्रियाRoot √यम् (यच्छति) ‘to extend, bestow, direct’
- अर्वाक्
- hither, towards usIndeclinableदिक्-अव्यय (directional indeclinable)Role अधिकारण/दिशा-निर्देश (directional adjunct)Root अर्वाक् (अव्यय/दिक्शब्द; ‘hitherward’)
- आ
- towards, hitherIndeclinableउपसर्गः — here with √वृत्Root आ (उपसर्ग/निपात)
- वर्तय
- turn/drive (you)Verbलोट् (imperative), मध्यमपुरुष, एकवचन, परस्मैपद (causative sense: ‘make turn/drive’)Role क्रियाRoot √वृत् (वर्तते/वर्तयति) ‘to turn, set in motion’
- हरी
- the two bay steedsNounद्वितीया (accusative), द्विवचनRole कर्म (object)Root हरि- (पुंलिङ्ग प्रातिपदिक; Indra’s two bay steeds)
Sandhi Notes
- संहिता-पाठ: अ॒स्माकं॑ त्वा मती॒नामा स्तोम॑ इन्द्र यच्छतु । अ॒र्वागा व॑र्तया॒ हरी॑ ॥ Sandhi resolution: मतीनाम् + आ → मतीनाम् आ (written together as मती॒नामा in saṃhitā)
- अर्वाक् + आ → अर्वागा (final -क् before vowel becomes -ग्; then ā follows)
- Other junctions are simple word-boundaries without obligatory internal change
The meaning
Outer meaning
May the hymn of our thoughts draw you here, O Indra; turn your two tawny horses toward us.
Inner meaning
Matī (awakened thoughts/insights) become stoma (a formed mantra) that ‘draws’ Indra—illumined intelligence—into the active field of life. The two harī (tawny steeds) are Indra’s paired dynamic energies: often read inwardly as the twin currents of prāṇa/force (ida–piṅgalā or inspiration–execution) that carry illumination into works. The seeker asks these forces to be turned ‘arvāk’—inward/toward us—so the divine mind arrives not as idea only but as power in action.
Universal truth
When thought becomes luminous and sincere (mantric), it becomes a magnet for higher guidance; and guidance arrives with the energies needed to implement it.
Themes
invocation, inner turning, Indra-power, mantric attraction
The seer
- Rishi
- Vāmadeva Gautama
- Lineage
- Gautama
- Other hymns
- RV 4.26, RV 4.27, RV 4.32
Family tradition
Mantra as a vehicle of descent: speech born of matī becomes stoma that brings the god and his powers.
Significance
The rishi models the integration of insight (matī) and invocation (stoma), ensuring that illumination arrives with executable force (harī).
The deity
- Devata
- Indra
- Epithets
- harivān (possessor of the tawny steeds; implied), maghavan
- Related deities
- Maruts (dynamic forces), Agni (will), Soma (bliss)
Cosmic role
Brings victorious light into the human journey with swift dynamic energies.
Inner power
Illumination coupled with prāṇic/vital force; the capacity to translate insight into decisive movement.
In ritual
Where it is used
Invitation to Indra (āvāhana) within praise/offerings
अ॒स्माकं॑ त्वा मती॒नामा स्तोम॑ इन्द्र यच्छतु । अ॒र्वागा व॑र्तया॒ हरी॑ ॥
अ॒स्माक॑म् । त्वा॒ । म॒ती॒नाम् । आ । स्तोमः॑ । इ॒न्द्र॒ । य॒च्छ॒तु॒ । अ॒र्वाक् । आ । व॒र्त॒य॒ । हरी॒ इति॑ ॥
asmākam | tvā | matīnām | ā | stomaḥ | indra | yacchatu | arvāk | ā | vartaya | harī iti
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4 pādas × 8 syllables
Compact, directive, easily memorizable; suited to quick invocation.
A crisp ‘call-and-turn’ effect—good for immediate centering and summoning force.
- मतीनाम् (matīnām)
- Literal: of thoughts. Symbolic: inspired understandings; awakened movements of consciousness
- स्तोमः (stomaḥ)
- Literal: hymn of praise. Symbolic: formed mantra/affirmation that organizes consciousness
- यच्छतु (yacchatu)
- Literal: may it bring/draw. Symbolic: the attractive force of aspiration that calls down the higher power
- अर्वाक् (arvāk)
- Literal: hither, inward. Symbolic: toward the human field; descent into embodied life
- हरी (harī)
- Literal: the two tawny horses. Symbolic: twin dynamic forces carrying illumination—vital energies yoked to divine mind
Indra-invocation within Soma liturgy; suitable for Indra-stotras in Soma-yajña contexts (e.g., Agniṣṭoma sequence), calling the deity to the pressing and offering.
At the moment of calling Indra near; also as a daily invocation before study, decision, or work.
Recited while mentally ‘turning’ attention and energies toward the divine guidance.
Use as a short pre-task mantra: ‘May my clearest thought invoke the higher clarity; may my energies align and turn toward it.’
Key terms: matī- (f.) from √man ‘to think/measure/formulate’ → inspired thought, not mere opinion; stoma- from √stu ‘to praise’ but as mantraic ‘affirmation’; yacchatu from √yam/√yach ‘to extend, hold, guide, bestow’ → the hymn ‘reaches/draws’; vartaya causative of √vṛt ‘to turn’ → deliberate redirection of divine energies; harī dual of hari- ‘tawny’ → symbolic carriers of Indra’s force.
ṛta (right movement/order as ‘turning rightly’), mantra as śabda-śakti (sound-force shaping consciousness)
Turning the harī toward us symbolizes aligning life-force with the right order.
Matī becomes effective when it is truth-born; then it draws the satya-force (Indra).
Formation: inspired thought shaping energies into a new pattern of action.
Yoga of works (karma) supported by illumined mind (Aurobindo).
Horses = vital currents; turning them = redirecting desire/drive into conscious, luminous action.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- The ‘calling and yoking/turning’ of Indra’s Harīs: a recurring mythic motif where the god’s dynamic powers are directed toward the sacrificer. Psychologically, it is the deliberate reorientation of the divine force (Indra) and its twin energies toward the aspirant’s consciousness.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- √man (matī-) aligns with PIE *men- ‘to think’ (cf. Latin mens). √vṛt (vartaya) reflects PIE *wert- ‘to turn’ (cf. English ‘wart/warp’ via turning; Latin vertere). The verse’s causatives and directives encode agency: the human mantra ‘causes turning’ of divine powers, a hallmark of Indo-European poetic command-formulas.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- Reciprocity is framed as attraction through inspired formulation: the r̥ṣi offers stoma shaped by matī (inner light of thought), which ‘draws’ Indra; in return Indra is asked to redirect his Harīs toward ‘us’—a movement from cosmic force to individualized aid (rādhas/strength later in the hymn).
Gather awakened thought into a single mantra-intent; invite higher guidance; then consciously turn life-force toward that guidance.
maṇipūra (will/energy regulation)
Brisk-energetic: 12 gentle kapalabhāti strokes, then one slow recitation; or simple inhale-call, exhale-settle.
From dispersion to aligned will under illumined direction.
On ‘arvāk ā vartayā harī’ feel both left-right currents (ida/piṅgalā) becoming balanced and oriented inward; then act immediately on the clearest next step.
Anuṣṭubh with RV accents; keep a clear lift on ‘índra’ and a decisive cadence on the imperative ‘vartayā’.
Mark the caesura naturally after ‘stoma indra’; keep ‘harī’ distinct (long ī).
asmākaṃ: nasal ṃ before k, matīnām: long ī; dental n, yacchatu: geminate cch clearly, vartayā: retroflex ṭ not present; keep dental t; long ā at end, harī: long ī, not short i
Bright, commanding, forward-moving.
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