Rig Veda 5.29.3: Mandala 5, Sukta 29, Mantra 3
Sukta 5.29
- Rishi
- Atri, attribution for RV 5.29
- Devata
- Indra
- Chandas
- Triṣṭubh
- Rasa
- Vira (heroism) and Adbhuta (wonder)
उत ब्रह्माणो मरुतो मे अस्येन्द्रः सोमस्य सुषुतस्य पेयाः । तद्धि हव्यं मनुषे गा अविन्ददहन्नहिं पपिवाँ इन्द्रो अस्य ॥
uta brahmāṇo maruto me asyendraḥ somasya suṣutasya peyāḥ | taddhi havyaṃ manuṣe gā avindad ahann ahiṃ papivāṃ indro asya ||
मरुत देवता मेरे साथ हैं इस काम के लिए। इंद्र को सोम पीना है जो फ्रेश है। यही भगवान के लिए चढ़ावा है। इंद्र ने इंसान के लिए रोशनी ढूंढी। उसने सोम पी के उस साँप को मारा जो रोके हुआ था।
Word by Word
- उत
- and, alsoIndeclinableconjunction/particleRoot उत
- ब्राह्माणः
- the priests (brahmans)Nounmasculine; nominative pluralRole KartāRoot ब्राह्मण (प्रातिपदिक)
- मरुतः
- the MarutsNounmasculine; nominative pluralRole KartāRoot मरुत् (प्रातिपदिक)
- मे
- of me, myPronoungenitive singular (enclitic)Root अहम् (प्रातिपदिक)
- अस्य
- of thisPronoungenitive singularRoot इदम् (प्रातिपदिक)
- इन्द्रः
- IndraNounmasculine; nominative singularRole KartāRoot इन्द्र (प्रातिपदिक)
- सोमस्य
- of SomaNounmasculine; genitive singularRoot सोम (प्रातिपदिक)
- सुषुतस्य
- well-pressedAdjectivemasculine/neuter; genitive singular; past passive participle used adjectivallyRoot सु-√सु (धातु) → सुषुत (कृदन्त/भूतकृत)
- पेयाः
- to be drunk; drinkableAdjectivemasculine; nominative plural; gerundive (to be drunk / drinkable)Root √पा (धातु) → पेय (कृदन्त; विधेय/gerundive)
- तत्
- thatPronounneuter; nominative/accusative singularRole KarmaRoot तद् (प्रातिपदिक)
- हि
- indeed, forIndeclinableparticleRoot हि
- हव्यम्
- oblation, offeringNounneuter; nominative/accusative singularRole KarmaRoot हव्य (प्रातिपदिक)
- मनुषे
- for Manu (for mankind)Nounmasculine; dative singularRole SampradānaRoot मनु (प्रातिपदिक)
- गाः
- cowsNounfeminine; accusative pluralRole KarmaRoot गो (प्रातिपदिक)
- अविन्दत्
- found, wonVerbaorist (root-aorist); 3rd person singular; parasmaipadaRoot √विद् (लभे/विन्दति) (धातु)
- अहन्
- slewVerbimperfect; 3rd person singular; parasmaipadaRoot √हन् (धातु)
- अहिम्
- the serpent (Ahi/Vṛtra)Nounmasculine; accusative singularRole KarmaRoot अहि (प्रातिपदिक)
- पपिवान्
- having drunkParticiple (Adjective)masculine; nominative singular; perfect active participleRole KartāRoot √पा (धातु) → पपिवांस् (कृदन्त; परिपूर्ण/भूत)
- इन्द्रः
- IndraNounmasculine; nominative singularRole KartāRoot इन्द्र (प्रातिपदिक)
- अस्य
- of this (of him/thereof)Pronoungenitive singularRoot इदम् (प्रातिपदिक)
Sandhi Notes
- Sandhi resolution (pada-wise): ब्रह्माणो → ब्राह्माणः (nom.pl.)
- अ॒स्येन्द्रः → अस्य + इन्द्रः
- सुषुतस्य (PPP of सु-√सु ‘press’) qualifies सोमस्य
- तद्धि → तत् + हि
- अविन्ददहन् → अविन्दत् + अहन्
- पपिवाँ इन्द्रो → पपिवान् + इन्द्रः. Accent marks in the supplied text are retained only in the source
- pada forms here are given in standard Devanagari without Vedic svara notation
The meaning
Outer meaning
The inspired priests/powers, the Maruts, are with the speaker; Indra is to drink the well-pressed Soma. This is the offering: Indra found the Cows for man; having drunk, he slew the Serpent.
Inner meaning
The sādhaka affirms alliance with the brahmāṇas/Maruts—powers of inspired formulation and purified force. Indra, the illumined mind, must drink Soma: the delight distilled by inner pressing. That offering enables the decisive act: the discovery of the Cows—not cattle, but rays of knowledge and illumination—for the human consciousness. The Serpent (Ahi/Vṛtra) that hoards these rays in the subconscient is struck down after the mind is filled with bliss-force.
Universal truth
True knowledge is recovered when inspiration and purified energy support a mind nourished by inner joy. Obscuring patterns lose their hold, and illumination becomes available for human life.
Themes
Vṛtra/Ahi-slaying, Recovery of the Cows (light/knowledge), Soma-empowerment, Marut-assisted victory
The seer
- Rishi
- Atri (Ātreya) (traditional attribution for RV 5.29)
- Lineage
- Ātreya
- Other hymns
- RV 5.29.1, RV 5.29.2, RV 5.29.4
Family tradition
Atri’s seer-line emphasizes the recovery of light (go) and the victory over the coverer through Indra aided by Maruts and Soma.
Significance
Atri’s spiritual key is illumination through inner fire and truth-vision; here it is articulated as: inspired force + delight → revelation of rays (go) and conquest of obstruction.
The deity
- Devata
- Indra (with Maruts)
- Epithets
- Somapā (Soma-drinker), Gopati/Gomātā (finder/lord of the rays, implied), Ahi-han (serpent-slayer)
- Related deities
- Soma, Maruts, Agni (as preparer of offering)
Cosmic role
Releases the hidden light for humanity; leads the gods’ victory over obstructing powers.
Inner power
Revelatory intelligence that retrieves lost illuminations and breaks the subconscious knot.
In ritual
Where it is used
Soma-yajña (Indra’s Soma drinking; Marut assistance); also śastra recitation contexts in Indra stotras.
उ॒त ब्र॑ह्माणो मरुतो मे अ॒स्येन्द्र॒: सोम॑स्य॒ सुषु॑तस्य पेयाः । तद्धि ह॒व्यं मनु॑षे॒ गा अवि॑न्द॒दह॒न्नहिं॑ पपि॒वाँ इन्द्रो॑ अस्य ॥
उ॒त । ब्र॒ह्मा॒णः॒ । म॒रु॒तः॒ । मे॒ । अ॒स्य । इन्द्रः॑ । सोम॑स्य । सुऽसु॑तस्य । पे॒याः॒ । तत् । हि । ह॒व्यम् । मनु॑षे । गाः । अवि॑न्दत् । अह॑न् । अहि॑म् । प॒पि॒ऽवान् । इन्द्रः॑ । अ॒स्य॒ ॥
uta | brahmāṇaḥ | marutaḥ | me | asya | indraḥ | somasya | su-sutasya | peyāḥ | tat | hi | havyam | manuṣe | gāḥ | avindat | ahan | ahim | papi-vān | indraḥ | asya
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4 × ~11 syllables (standard Triṣṭubh cadence).
Strong, balanced lines; suitable for affirmation and decisive action statements.
Stabilizes resolve while invoking uplift; supports the ‘finding of rays’ as a clear inner certainty.
- ब्रह्माणः (brahmāṇaḥ)
- Literal: brahmans/inspired utterers. Symbolic: powers of inspired thought/mantra; formative speech of truth
- मरुतः (marutaḥ)
- Literal: Maruts. Symbolic: purified dynamic energies aiding the work
- सोमस्य सुषुतस्य (somasya suṣutasya)
- Literal: of Soma well-pressed. Symbolic: delight/ānanda extracted through discipline and offering
- पेयाः (peyāḥ)
- Literal: to be drunk. Symbolic: to be inwardly received/assimilated by the illumined mind
- हव्यम् (havyam)
- Literal: oblation. Symbolic: consecrated experience and effort offered to the Divine
- गाः (gāḥ)
- Literal: cows. Symbolic: rays of light/knowledge; illuminations recovered
- अविन्दत् (avindat)
- Literal: found. Symbolic: discovered/revealed; bringing hidden light to consciousness
- अहिम् (ahim)
- Literal: serpent. Symbolic: subconscient obstruction that withholds light
- पपिवान् (papivān)
- Literal: having drunk. Symbolic: mind empowered by delight before action
Soma pressing context (Somayāga/Agnīṣṭoma family): verse suited for Indra’s Soma draught and victory-invocation; recitable in Soma-stotra/śastra sequences where Indra is invited to drink and break obstruction.
At Soma offering moments when Indra is invited to drink and grant illumination/strength.
Offering Soma; reciting victory and boon narratives (light recovered).
Chant when seeking clarity/insight: offer one’s day, then call for ‘go’—rays of understanding—especially when feeling mentally blocked.
Key roots: √pā ‘drink’ (pāpivān ‘having drunk’, Soma as intensifier of consciousness-force); √su/√sū ‘press out’ (suṣuta ‘well-pressed’, the delight properly expressed by the rite/inner discipline); √vind/√vid ‘find, obtain, know’ (avindat: finding as recovery of hidden knowledge/light); √han ‘strike, slay’ (ahan: removal of obstruction); ahi ‘serpent’ from a constricting/encircling sense—mythically Vṛtra/Ahi as the coiling inhibition; go ‘cow’ polysemous: cattle/rays/speech—here aligned with ‘rays of Light/Knowledge’ because they are ‘found’ after the slaying of obstruction, a standard Vedic equation.
Ṛta (right order restored by slaying obstruction), Satyam–Ṛtam–Bṛhat (truth-order vastness implied in recovery of light), inner sacrifice (adhyātma-yajña: Soma as delight of consciousness)
The offering (havyam) is the rite of right relation; it draws down the lawful release of light.
Gāḥ as satya-prakāśa (truth-illumination) recovered for man.
Light hidden in the cave is a recurring cosmogonic image: creation as revelation of concealed truth.
Aurobindonian symbolism: cows = rays; Vṛtra/Ahi = subconscious coverer; Soma = ānanda empowering revelation.
Dawn/daybreak implication (release of rays)
Soma = delight; Maruts = prāṇa-force; cows = illuminations; serpent = inertia/ignorance holding back insight.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- Indra, strengthened by Soma, slays Ahi (the obstructing serpent) and thereby ‘finds the cows’—a classic victory-and-release myth: the breaking of constriction that withholds light/knowledge and its restoration to the human (Manu).
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- √pā ‘drink’ aligns with PIE *peh₃- ‘to drink’ (Lat. pōtāre, Gk. pínō); √han ‘strike/kill’ reflects an old Indo-European strike/kill lexeme (cf. Avestan jan-/han- complex); ‘go’ (cow) continues PIE *gʷōus (Gk. bous, Lat. bōs), while Vedic semantic extension ‘cow → ray/light/speech’ illustrates inherited poetic polysemy rather than mere pastoral literalism.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The seer positions his sacrifice/inner work (‘me asya’) as a field where Indra must act: the human offers the well-pressed Soma (delight distilled by discipline), and Indra reciprocates by removing obstruction and restoring the luminous riches (gāḥ). The Maruts and brahmāṇas are invoked as allied forces—energies and inspired speech that collaborate with Indra in the seeker’s transformation.
Invoke inner joy (Soma) and ask for the ‘cows’: specific insights. Then observe the resisting ‘serpent’ pattern and apply calm, bright discernment.
Anāhata (Soma delight) + Ājñā (illumined seeing)
Coherent breathing (5–6 breaths/min) while repeating ‘gā avindat’ mentally on inhale (receiving light) and ‘ahann ahim’ on exhale (releasing obstruction) without aggression.
Joy-supported clarity; luminous steadiness.
Let inspiration (brahmāṇaḥ) and energy (Maruts) serve the mind, not scatter it. Press Soma through sincerity and offering; then wait for the ‘ray’—a precise, quiet illumination.
Maintain Triṣṭubh steadiness; emphasize ‘gā avindat’ as the revelation peak, then a firm, clipped cadence on ‘ahann ahim’.
Keep ‘suṣutasya’ flowing; give clear separation to ‘tad dhi havyam’.
: ‘brah-mā-ṇo’ retroflex ‘ṇ’, : ‘su-ṣu-ta-sya’ retroflex ‘ṣ’, : ‘a-vin-da-t’ dental ‘t’, : nasalized ‘vā̃’
Steady, luminous, confident; not harsh on the ‘slaying’ phrase—let it be decisive, not angry.
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