Rig Veda 7.39.5: Mandala 7, Sukta 39, Mantra 5
Sukta 7.39
- Rishi
- Vasiṣṭha
- Devata
- Agni as summoner
- Chandas
- Triṣṭubh
- Rasa
- Adbhuta (wonder) and Vira (heroism)
आग्ने गिरो दिव आ पृथिव्या मित्रं वह वरुणमिन्द्रमग्निम् । आर्यमणमदितिं विष्णुमेषां सरस्वती मरुतो मादयन्ताम् ॥
ā́gne gíro divá ā́ pṛthivyā́ mitráṃ vaha váruṇam índram agním | ā́ aryamáṇam áditiṃ víṣṇum eṣā́ṃ sárasvatī marúto mādayantām ||
अग्नि, ऊपर आसमान से और नीचे धरती से सब अच्छे शब्द ले आ। मित्र, वरुण, इंद्र और अग्नि, इन सब को यहाँ बुला। अर्यमन, अदिति और विष्णु को भी साथ लाओ। सरस्वती और मरुत देवता खुश हो जाएँ और हमारी पूजा को बढ़ा दें।
Word by Word
- आग्ने
- O AgniNoun (vocative)पुंलिङ्ग; सम्बोधन-एकवचनRole सम्बोधनRoot अग्नि (प्रातिपदिक)
- गिरः
- songs, hymnsNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग; प्रथमा-बहुवचनRole कर्तृRoot गिर् (प्रातिपदिक)
- दिवः
- of heavenNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग; षष्ठी-एकवचनRole सम्बन्ध (genitive)Root दिव्/द्यौ (प्रातिपदिक)
- आ
- hither, toIndeclinableउपसर्ग/अव्ययRoot आ (उपसर्ग/निपात)
- पृथिव्याः
- of earthNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग; षष्ठी-एकवचनRole सम्बन्ध (genitive)Root पृथिवी (प्रातिपदिक)
- मित्रम्
- MitraNoun (proper/deity)पुंलिङ्ग; द्वितीया-एकवचनRole कर्मRoot मित्र (प्रातिपदिक)
- वह
- convey, bringVerbलोट् (आज्ञार्थ); मध्यम-एकवचन; परस्मैपदRole क्रियाRoot वह् (धातु)
- वरुणम्
- VaruṇaNoun (proper/deity)पुंलिङ्ग; द्वितीया-एकवचनRole कर्मRoot वरुण (प्रातिपदिक)
- इन्द्रम्
- IndraNoun (proper/deity)पुंलिङ्ग; द्वितीया-एकवचनRole कर्मRoot इन्द्र (प्रातिपदिक)
- अग्निम्
- AgniNoun (proper/deity)पुंलिङ्ग; द्वितीया-एकवचनRole कर्मRoot अग्नि (प्रातिपदिक)
- आर्यमणम्
- AryamanNoun (proper/deity)पुंलिङ्ग; द्वितीया-एकवचनRole कर्मRoot अर्यमन् (प्रातिपदिक)
- अदितिम्
- AditiNoun (proper/deity)स्त्रीलिङ्ग; द्वितीया-एकवचनRole कर्मRoot अदिति (प्रातिपदिक)
- विष्णुम्
- ViṣṇuNoun (proper/deity)पुंलिङ्ग; द्वितीया-एकवचनRole कर्मRoot विष्णु (प्रातिपदिक)
- एषाम्
- of these (gods)Pronounषष्ठी-बहुवचन (त्रिलिङ्ग-प्रयोगः)Role सम्बन्ध (genitive)Root एतद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- सरस्वती
- SarasvatīNoun (proper/deity)स्त्रीलिङ्ग; प्रथमा-एकवचनRole कर्तृRoot सरस्वती (प्रातिपदिक)
- मरुतः
- the MarutsNoun (proper/deities)पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा-बहुवचनRole कर्तृRoot मरुत् (प्रातिपदिक)
- मादयन्ताम्
- let (them) gladden / exhilarateVerb (causative)लोट् (आज्ञार्थ); प्रथम-बहुवचन; आत्मनेपदRole क्रियाRoot मद् (धातु) + णिच् (मादय-)
Sandhi Notes
- Sandhi resolution (padapāṭha-style): आग्ने | गिरः | दिवः | आ | पृथिव्याः | मित्रम् | वह | वरुणम् | इन्द्रम् | अग्निम् | आर्यमणम् | अदितिम् | विष्णुम् | एषाम् | सरस्वती | मरुतः | मादयन्ताम् । Notable: (1) दिव आ → दिवः आ (visarga restored before vowel). (2) पृथिव्या → पृथिव्याः (gen. sg. ending -yāḥ; written without explicit visarga in saṃhitā orthography). (3) वरुणम् इन्द्रम् अग्निम्: simple vowel-initial junctions without change in this recitation. (4) मादयन्ताम् is causative (ṇic) imperative 3pl ātmanepada
- subject = सरस्वती मरुतः (collective invocation)
The meaning
Outer meaning
Agni is asked to bring the inspired utterances from Heaven and Earth and to bring a list of deities—Mitra, Varuṇa, Indra, Agni, Aryaman, Aditi, Viṣṇu—so that Sarasvatī and the Maruts may rejoice.
Inner meaning
The mantra calls Agni to ‘carry’ (vaha) the powers of right relation into the human field. ‘Giraḥ’ are inspired word-thoughts: descents from the higher mind (divaḥ) and uprisings from embodied experience (pṛthivyāḥ), to be unified in a single offering. Mitra and Varuṇa establish harmony and truth-law; Indra brings illumined force that breaks obstruction; Agni is invoked in his multiple powers; Aryaman is noble aspiration and right companionship; Aditi is wideness and freedom from limitation; Viṣṇu is the all-pervading stride of consciousness; Sarasvatī is the flowing inspiration and discriminating truth; the Maruts are dynamic life-forces purified into joyful energies that ‘madayanti’—intensify the ecstasy of the offering.
Universal truth
Spiritual growth requires a coordinated descent and ascent: higher inspiration and earthly sincerity must meet. When harmony, truth, illumination, wideness, and expansive movement are invited together, the life-energies become glad collaborators rather than disturbances.
Themes
Pantheon invocation, Agni as messenger, Expansion and infinity, Inspired speech
The seer
- Rishi
- Vasiṣṭha
- Lineage
- Vasiṣṭha-gotra
- Other hymns
- RV 7.18, RV 7.19, RV 7.82, RV 7.86, RV 7.87
Family tradition
Vasiṣṭha hymns often integrate multiple deities to establish a complete inner order—truth (Varuṇa), harmony (Mitra), illumination (Indra), wideness (Aditi), expansion (Viṣṇu), inspired speech (Sarasvatī), and dynamic energies (Maruts).
Significance
The seer’s method is synthetic: call the whole constellation of powers so the inner sacrifice becomes integral rather than partial.
The deity
- Devata
- Agni (summoner/carrier) with Mitra, Varuṇa, Indra, Aryaman, Aditi, Viṣṇu, Sarasvatī, Maruts
- Epithets
- vahni (carrier—functionally implied by vaha), hotṛ (invoker—implicit)
- Related deities
- Bhaga, Aśvins, Dhātṛ, Savitṛ
Cosmic role
Agni is the mediator who links heaven and earth and convenes the god-powers into the human rite; the listed deities govern cosmic order, illumination, wideness, and inspired flow.
Inner power
Ability to call and coordinate: to make the psyche a meeting-place where truth, harmony, force, wideness, and inspired speech act together.
In ritual
Where it is used
Invitatory verse for multiple devatās via Agni in a soma/śrauta setting
आग्ने॒ गिरो॑ दि॒व आ पृ॑थि॒व्या मि॒त्रं व॑ह॒ वरु॑ण॒मिन्द्र॑म॒ग्निम् । आर्य॒मण॒मदि॑तिं॒ विष्णु॑मेषां॒ सर॑स्वती म॒रुतो॑ मादयन्ताम् ॥
आ । अ॒ग्ने॒ । गिरः॑ । दि॒वः । आ । पृ॒थि॒व्याः । मि॒त्रम् । व॒ह॒ । वरु॑णम् । इन्द्र॑म् । अ॒ग्निम् । आ । अ॒र्य॒मण॑म् । अदि॑तिम् । विष्णु॑म् । ए॒षा॒म् । सर॑स्वती । म॒रुतः॑ । मा॒द॒य॒न्ता॒म् ॥
ā | agne | giraḥ | divaḥ | ā | pṛthivyāḥ | mitram | vaha | varuṇam | indram | agnim | ā | aryamaṇam | aditim | viṣṇum | eṣām | sarasvatī | marutaḥ | mādayantām
44
4 x ~11 syllables
Enumerative yet forceful; suitable for ‘bringing’ a pantheon—each name lands like a step.
Creates a sense of widening and gathering; the mind feels ‘populated’ by helpful presences and ordered powers.
- giraḥ
- Literal: songs, words. Symbolic: inspired thought-speech; mantric formations that carry consciousness
- divaḥ / pṛthivyāḥ
- Literal: from Heaven / from Earth. Symbolic: from higher mind-plane and from embodied nature; above and below united
- vaha
- Literal: carry, bring. Symbolic: establish connection; draw down powers into present awareness
- Mitra
- Literal: friend, contract. Symbolic: harmony, right relation, luminous concord
- Varuṇa
- Literal: enveloper, lord of law. Symbolic: truth-law (ṛta), vast purity, ethical-spiritual exactness
- Indra
- Literal: lord. Symbolic: illumined mind-force that breaks the coverer
- Aryaman
- Literal: noble companion. Symbolic: noble aspiration, right belonging, inner chivalry
- Aditi
- Literal: the infinite, unbound. Symbolic: wideness, freedom from limitation, integrality
- Viṣṇu
- Literal: all-pervader. Symbolic: expansive strides of consciousness; taking new worlds within
- Sarasvatī
- Literal: she of the flowing waters. Symbolic: inspiration, discerning speech, luminous current of knowledge
- Maruts
- Literal: storm-gods. Symbolic: purified vital energies, dynamic helpers of Indra; forces of progress
Agni as āhvāna (invoker/convener) bringing gods to the offering; typical of all-gods invocations in Soma rites
During sequences of āvāhana/invitation and offering where multiple deities are called to partake
Recitation at the moment of summoning; mentally ‘seating’ the powers in the rite
Use to invoke inner supports before speaking/teaching: call Sarasvatī for clear expression, Varuṇa for truth, Mitra for harmony, Indra for courage, Aditi-Viṣṇu for wideness.
√vah ‘to carry/bring’ frames Agni as conveyor between planes. Mitra/Varuṇa pair: social harmony + cosmic law/enclosure; psychologically relation + self-discipline in vastness. Aditi as ‘unbounded’ (a-diti: not bound/divided). Viṣṇu from √viṣ/√viś ‘to pervade’ (traditional), characterized by ‘wide strides’—expansion of consciousness. Sarasvatī from saras ‘flowing’ + vatī ‘possessing’: inspiration as a stream; Maruts as dynamic forces that intensify the ‘madhu’ joy.
Aditi (infinite, undivided), Viṣṇu’s expansion (wide stride), Mitra-Varuṇa as harmony and law (ṛta-support)
Mitra-Varuṇa represent the harmonised law of truth that makes the descent safe and effective.
‘Giraḥ’ become satya when they carry the higher seeing into exact speech and action.
Expansion into new ‘worlds’ of consciousness through Viṣṇu’s strides supported by Aditi’s wideness.
Integral-psychological Vedic symbolism (Aurobindo/Kashyap): deities as functional powers of consciousness.
Fire = will; heaven/earth = above/below consciousness; waters = inspired flow; storm = dynamic energies; sun = expansive illumination.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- The mythologem is ‘Agni the convener’ who brings the gods from Heaven and Earth: a myth of mediation where speech (giraḥ) and divine powers assemble to create a complete inner order—harmony (Mitra), law (Varuṇa), victorious force (Indra), infinity (Aditi), expansion (Viṣṇu), inspired flow (Sarasvatī), and dynamic energies (Maruts).
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- √vah (vaha) is an old IE transport root (cf. Latin vehō ‘I carry’). The preservation of this shared verbal root underscores the antiquity of the ‘bringing the gods’ formula across IE ritual diction.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The rishi uses Agni as the operative link: human speech calls, Agni ‘brings’, and the gods respond by ‘rejoicing’ (mādayantām)—i.e., intensifying the sacrificial consciousness and empowering the seeker with their distinct functions.
Two-way integration: receive from above (divaḥ) and offer from below (pṛthivyāḥ). Then invite harmony (Mitra), truth-purity (Varuṇa), illumined force (Indra), wideness (Aditi), expansion (Viṣṇu), inspired flow (Sarasvatī), and energized progress (Maruts).
vishuddha (mantric speech)
inhale ‘divaḥ’ (receive), exhale ‘pṛthivyāḥ’ (offer) for 7 cycles; then recite once slowly
Widened, inspired, dynamically poised.
Before creative work: feel a flame at the throat/heart; let words rise as ‘giraḥ’; keep Varuṇa’s truth-sense so speech remains exact and beneficent.
Ṛgvedic udatta/anudatta/svarita; keep name-list crisp without rushing.
Slight emphasis on each deity-name; keep caesura after ‘pṛthivyā’ and mid-verse name clusters.
Do not blur consonant clusters: mitraṃ vaha, varuṇam indram, Long vowels: āgne, āryamaṇam, aditiṃ, Sarasvatī: keep ‘sa-ra-sva-tī’ distinct; Maruto: clear dental ‘t’
Bright, calling tone; articulate and uplifting.
3
Ask anything about this verse
Answers come straight from the texts, with the shlokas they draw on. Ask in your own words.
A free sign-in with Google or Apple keeps your chat saved across web and the app.
Read Rig Veda in the Vedapath app
Scan the QR code to open this directly in the app, with word-by-word meanings, Sanskrit recitation where available, and more.
