Rig Veda 7.32.3: Mandala 7, Sukta 32, Mantra 3
Sukta 7.32
- Rishi
- Vasiṣṭha
- Devata
- Indra
- Chandas
- Triṣṭubh
- Rasa
- Vira (heroism) and Shringara (love)
रायस्कामो वज्रहस्तं सुदक्षिणं पुत्रो न पितरं हुवे ॥
rāyáskāmo vájrahastaṃ sudákṣiṇaṃ putró ná pitáraṃ huve ||
मैं समृद्धि की इच्छा रखता हूँ। इसलिए मैं उस पवन को बुलाता हूँ जिसके हाथ में वज्र है। वो हमेशा सही रास्ता दिखाता है। मैं उसे वैसे ही बुलाता हूँ जैसे बेटा अपने बाप को मदद के लिए बुलाता है।
Word by Word
- रायस्कामः
- desirous of wealthAdjectiveपुंलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, एकवचनम्Role कर्तृRoot रायस् (प्रा.) + काम (प्रा.)
- वज्रहस्तम्
- him whose hand holds the thunderboltNoun (bahuvrīhi epithet)पुंलिङ्गः, द्वितीया, एकवचनम्Role कर्मRoot वज्र (प्रा.) + हस्त (प्रा.)
- सुदक्षिणम्
- very generous / bountifulAdjectiveपुंलिङ्गः, द्वितीया, एकवचनम्Role कर्मRoot सु (उपसर्ग/अव्यय) + दक्षिण (प्रा.)
- पुत्रः
- a sonNounपुंलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, एकवचनम्Role कर्तृRoot पुत्र (प्रा.)
- न
- like, asIndeclinableउपमा/सादृश्यार्थक अव्ययRoot न
- पितरम्
- (his) fatherNounपुंलिङ्गः, द्वितीया, एकवचनम्Role कर्मRoot पितृ (प्रा.)
- हुवे
- I call / I invokeVerbलट् (वर्तमाने), उत्तमपुरुषः, एकवचनम्, आत्मनेपदम्Root √ह्वे (आह्वाने)
Sandhi Notes
- पदच्छेदः: रायस्कामः | वज्रहस्तम् | सुदक्षिणम् | पुत्रः | न | पितरम् | हुवे ।
- ‘रायस्कामः’ इति षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषसमासः (रायसः कामः), ‘वज्रहस्तम्’ बहुव्रीहिः/कर्मधारय-प्रायः (वज्रः हस्ते यस्य), ‘सुदक्षिणम्’ उपसर्ग ‘सु-’ युक्त विशेषणम्।
The meaning
Outer meaning
Desiring wealth/fullness, I call the thunderbolt-handed, the perfectly right-guiding one, as a son calls his father.
Inner meaning
The seeker yearns for rāyas—not merely possessions but the plenitude of being: light, force, joy, and right capacity. He calls Indra as vajrahasta: the power that strikes through falsehood and inertia. ‘Sudakṣiṇa’ is the right-discerning, right-distributing guidance—Indra as the intelligence that gives the true ‘dakṣiṇā’ (right result) of action. The relation is intimate and psychic: the soul calls the higher Father-Power for protection and for the authority to grow into its own truth.
Universal truth
True strength is not brute force but right-guided power. When the human being relates to higher intelligence with the trust of a child to a father, courage and guidance arrive together.
Themes
Indra-invocation, inner wealth (rāyas), filial devotion (putraḥ ~ pitṛ), obstruction-breaking force
The seer
- Rishi
- Vasiṣṭha
- Other hymns
- RV 7.18, RV 7.32.1, RV 7.32.2, RV 7.32.4
Family tradition
Vasiṣṭha’s hymns often combine kingly power with familial intimacy—divine authority approached through a relationship of trust and truth.
Significance
This verse is a compact yogic formula: aspiration (rāyas) + decisive force (vajra) + right guidance (dakṣiṇā) + surrendering trust (son-father).
The deity
- Devata
- Indra
- Epithets
- vajrahasta, sudakṣiṇa
- Related deities
- Bṛhaspati (word-force), Agni (will), Soma (delight)
Cosmic role
Champion of the gods; destroyer of obstructions; giver of riches and victory.
Inner power
Protective, fatherly authority of illumined mind that both guides and empowers.
In ritual
Where it is used
Personal invocation within Indra-stotra; used to call Indra for aid and protection in the Soma rite.
रा॒यस्का॑मो॒ वज्र॑हस्तं सु॒दक्षि॑णं पु॒त्रो न पि॒तरं॑ हुवे ॥
रा॒यःऽका॑मः । वज्र॑ऽहस्तम् । सु॒ऽदक्षि॑णम् । पु॒त्रः । न । पि॒तर॑म् । हु॒वे॒ ॥
rāyaḥ-kāmaḥ | vajra-hastam | su-dakṣiṇam | putraḥ | na | pitaram | huve
44
4 × ~11 (this verse is short in appearance but belongs to Triṣṭubh cadence within the hymn)
Direct, mantra-like, with a strong central epithet cluster.
Produces confidence and a sense of being protected; sharpens resolve.
- रायस्काम (rāyaskāma)
- Literal: desiring wealth. Symbolic: aspiration for inner plenitude and perfection
- वज्रहस्त (vajrahasta)
- Literal: thunderbolt-handed. Symbolic: power of decisive illumination that breaks resistance (Vṛtra-force)
- सुदक्षिण (sudakṣiṇa)
- Literal: having good/right dakṣiṇā; well-guiding. Symbolic: right discernment and right distribution of force and result
- पुत्रो न (putro na)
- Literal: like a son. Symbolic: psychic intimacy, trust, surrender without servility
- पितरम् (pitaram)
- Literal: father. Symbolic: originating and protecting higher power within consciousness
- हुवे (huve)
- Literal: I call/invoke. Symbolic: act of inner turning; concentrated invocation
Soma sacrifice context (Indra-invocation at pressing; general Indra-stotra usage in Soma-liturgies such as Agniṣṭoma)
At moments of intensified calling—before/around offering and request for boons.
Āhvāna with a personal relational tone; request for rāyas and victory.
A brief daily prayer before challenging tasks: call the ‘right-guiding force’ to act through one’s decisions and speech.
Key terms: rāyas (gen. sg. rāyaḥ) from a semantic field of richness/plenitude; interpreted inwardly as fullness of consciousness and being. vajra ‘thunderbolt’ (instrument of rupture) + hasta ‘hand’ → vajra-hasta ‘wielder of the force that smashes the coverers’. su-dakṣiṇa: su- ‘well’ + dakṣiṇa ‘right/skillful; giving’; dakṣiṇa relates to √dakṣ ‘to be able, competent’ and to ‘right-handed/right direction’, hence ‘right-guiding power’. huve from √hū ‘to call, invoke’ (present 1sg middle/active in Vedic usage).
R̥ta (right order as right-guidance: dakṣiṇa), reciprocity of offering and grace (dakṣiṇā as right return)
Sudakṣiṇa implies action aligned with ṛta—right giving and right outcome.
The fatherly Indra supports the growth of truth in the child-soul.
Evolutionary growth: the ‘son’ calls the higher power to mature into plenitude.
Integral yoga reading: surrender to higher Mind-force for transformation of action.
Vajra is the lightning of insight cutting through clouded habits; father-son is the psychic relation between evolving soul and higher guiding consciousness.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- The Indra-mythologem of the vajra-wielder: the divine power that breaks the inner ‘coverers’ (Vṛtra-type obstruction) so that plenitude (rāyas) can manifest. The son–father simile reframes the battle-myth as an intimate reliance of the aspiring human on the protecting, empowering deity.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- pitár- ‘father’ continues PIE *ph₂tḗr (cf. Latin pater, Greek patḗr). putrá- ‘son’ is Indo-Iranian (cf. Avestan puθra-), likely from a formation meaning ‘offspring/child’. The vocative-like relational simile (putró ná pitáraṃ) is a common Indo-European poetic device of kinship to express covenantal reciprocity with a god.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The speaker approaches Indra not as a distant storm-god but as a paternal upholder of the seeker’s growth. The request for rāyas implies a reciprocal economy: the human offers aspiration and Soma/word, and Indra returns ‘su-dakṣiṇa’—right-guidance, protection, and effective force in the inner struggle.
Invoke decisive clarity and right guidance; offer the day’s actions to Indra as inner Father-Power.
maṇipūra (will/force)
kapālabhāti light (30–60 strokes) then calm breathing; chant once with full voice
From wavering to strong aligned will.
Hold a specific obstruction in mind (fear, procrastination, confusion). Chant, then pause and feel a clean ‘strike’ of insight; commit to one right step (dakṣiṇā) immediately after.
Keep the epithet cluster ‘vajrahastaṃ sudakṣiṇam’ with clear udātta prominence; avoid rushing—let the weight of the names land.
Slight pause after ‘rāyaskāmo’; strongest stress on ‘vajrahastaṃ’.
‘rāyaḥ-kāmo’: visarga before k; keep it light but audible., ‘vajra’: jra conjunct clear, not ‘vajara’., ‘sudakṣiṇam’: retroflex ṣ; keep i short., ‘huve’: pronounce hu-ve, not ‘hve’ swallowed.
firm, protective, sincere
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