Rig Veda 7.69.7: Mandala 7, Sukta 69, Mantra 7
Sukta 7.69
- Rishi
- Vasiṣṭha
- Devata
- Aśvinau
- Chandas
- Triṣṭubh
- Rasa
- Karuna (compassion) and Vira (heroism)
युवं भुज्युमवविद्धं समुद्र उदूहथुरर्णसो अस्रिधानैः । पतत्रिभिरश्रमैरव्यथिभिर्दंसनाभिरश्विना पारयन्ता ॥
yuváṃ bhujyúm ávaviddhaṃ samudrá úd ūhathur árṇaso ásridhānaiḥ | patatríbhir aśramáir avyathíbhir daṃsanā́bhir aśvinā pāráyantā ||
अश्विन, तुमने भुज्यु को समुंदर से बचाया जब वो डूब रहा था। तुमने उसे पानी से बाहर निकाला अपने पकड़ने वाली शक्ति से। तुम्हारी शक्ति थकती नहीं है और हिलती नहीं है। तुमने उसे पार ले गया।
Word by Word
- युवाम्
- you twoPronounद्वितीया/प्रथमा? द्विवचन (Vedic: nom./acc. dual form used for ‘you two’)Role कर्तृRoot युष्मद्
- भुज्युम्
- Bhujyu (the man)Noun (Proper)पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचनRole कर्मRoot भुज्यु- (प्रातिपदिक; proper name)
- अवविद्धम्
- cast down / struck downParticipleभूतकृदन्त (क्त), पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचनRole कर्म (भुज्युम्-विशेषणम्)Root वि√व्यध् (व्यध् ‘to pierce/strike’; with अव- + वि-)
- समुद्रे
- in the seaNounपुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, एकवचनRole अधिकरणRoot समुद्र-
- उदूहतुः
- you two carried up / brought outVerbलिट् (perfect), प्रथमपुरुष, द्विवचनRole क्रियाRoot उद्√वह् (वह् ‘to carry/bring’; ud-)
- अर्णसः
- from the flood / from the waveNounनपुंसकलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी, एकवचनRole अपादानRoot अर्णस्-
- अस्रिधानैः
- with unfailing (means)Adjectiveपुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया, बहुवचनRole करणRoot अस्रिध- (a-sridh ‘unfailing, not slipping’)
- पतत्रिभिः
- with winged (ones) / with birds (i.e., winged conveyances)Nounपुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया, बहुवचनRole करणRoot पतत्रि-
- अश्रमैः
- unweariedAdjectiveपुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया, बहुवचनRole करणRoot अ-श्रम (aśrama ‘unwearied’)
- अव्यथिभिः
- unshaken / not causing distressAdjectiveपुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया, बहुवचनRole करणRoot अ-व्यथि (avyathi ‘unshaking, untroubled’)
- दंसनाभिः
- with wondrous powers / with acts of skillNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग, तृतीया, बहुवचनRole करणRoot दंसना- (दंसन ‘wonder-working skill’; instr. pl.)
- अश्विना
- O AśvinsNoun (Dual deity name)पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन/प्रथमा, द्विवचन (Vedic voc./nom. dual)Role सम्बोधनRoot अश्विन्-
- पारयन्ता
- (you two) conveying across / savingParticipleवर्तमानकृदन्त (शतृ/अन्त), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, द्विवचनRole कर्तृ (युवाम्-समन्वयः)Root √पॄ/पॄ (पारयति ‘to carry across’; causative stem पारय-)
Sandhi Notes
- Sandhi resolved as: युवं → युवाम् (dual ‘you two’)
- समुद्र उदूहतुः → समुद्रे उदूहतुः (locative ‘in the sea’ + verb)
- अर्णसो अस्रिधानैः → अर्णसः अस्रिधानैः (visarga before vowel). Instrumental plurals (अस्रिधानैः, पतत्रिभिः, अश्रमैः, अव्यथिभिः, दंसनाभिः) are coordinated as means
- भुज्युम् अवविद्धम् is object with participial qualifier
The meaning
Outer meaning
The Aśvins lifted Bhujyu who had been cast into the ocean; they bore him out of the flood by unfailing supports—winged, tireless, unwavering—carrying him across by their wondrous skills.
Inner meaning
Bhujyu is the soul-portion or the striving being thrown down into the samudra—vast undifferentiated consciousness or the ocean of the subconscient where the seeker can be overwhelmed. The Aśvins’ rescue is the archetype of divine intervention: they raise the fallen aspiration from the flood of confusion, depression, or inertia. Their ‘winged supports’ are swift supramental-vital powers (patatribhiḥ) that do not tire (aśramaiḥ) and do not waver (avyathibhiḥ): sustained, reliable aids—disciplined energies, luminous intuitions, right means—by which the being is ‘carried across’ (pārayantā) from danger to the farther shore of stability and light.
Universal truth
When the being is submerged in the ocean of unconsciousness, rescue comes through higher powers that are both swift and steady. Liberation is not only a leap; it is a carried crossing by unfailing supports.
Themes
rescue-myth, crossing-over (pāra), healing and divine craftsmanship, ascent from subconscient waters
The seer
- Rishi
- Vasiṣṭha (Vasiṣṭha Maitrāvaruṇi)
- Lineage
- Vasiṣṭha
- Other hymns
- RV 1.116–1.120 (Aśvin rescue legends, broader corpus), RV 7.69.4–7.69.8 (same hymn sequence)
Family tradition
Narrative exempla (itihāsa-like rescue motifs) used to encode inner yogic processes: fall into obscurity and divine uplift.
Significance
Vasiṣṭha uses the Bhujyu episode as a psychological map: when aspiration is drowned, call the twin helpers; their steady, skillful force carries the being across.
The deity
- Devata
- Aśvinau (Nā́satyā)
- Epithets
- daṃsanā (wondrously skillful), asridhāna (unfailing supporters), patatrin (winged powers, implied)
- Related deities
- Varuṇa (ocean symbolism), Soma (supportive delight in crossing), Uṣas (arrival to dawn after rescue)
Cosmic role
Saviors in peril; restorers of those cast down; masters of transitions across waters and darkness into dawn.
Inner power
Rescuing descent into the subconscient; lifting force plus practical means; they supply swift supports that remain steady through turbulence.
In ritual
Where it is used
Aśvin praise within morning rites; narrative praise to secure their help
यु॒वं भु॒ज्युमव॑विद्धं समु॒द्र उदू॑हथु॒रर्ण॑सो॒ अस्रि॑धानैः । प॒त॒त्रिभि॑रश्र॒मैर॑व्य॒थिभि॑र्दं॒सना॑भिरश्विना पा॒रय॑न्ता ॥
यु॒वम् । भु॒ज्युम् । अव॑ऽविद्धम् । स॒मु॒द्रे । उत् । ऊ॒ह॒थुः॒ । अर्ण॑सः । अस्रि॑धानैः । प॒त॒त्रिऽभिः॑ । अ॒श्र॒मैः । अ॒व्य॒थिऽभिः॑ । दं॒सना॑भिः । अ॒श्वि॒ना॒ । पा॒रय॑न्ता ॥
yuvam | bhujyum | ava-viddham | samudre | ut | ūhathuḥ | arṇasaḥ | asridhānaiḥ | patatri-bhiḥ | aśramaiḥ | avyathi-bhiḥ | daṃsanābhiḥ | aśvinā | pārayantā
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4 × ~11 syllables
Surging then stabilizing; wave-like opening with a firm resolving close (pārayantā).
Evokes crisis-to-safety movement; instills trust in unfailing support and a felt sense of being lifted.
- भुज्युम् (bhujyum)
- Literal: Bhujyu (a person/hero). Symbolic: the striving soul-element fallen into obscurity; the endangered aspirant
- समुद्रे (samudre)
- Literal: in the ocean. Symbolic: subconscient vastness; undifferentiated flood of lower nature
- अर्णसः (arṇasaḥ)
- Literal: from the flood/wave. Symbolic: surging movements of ignorance, desire, fear, inertia
- अस्रिधानैः (asridhānaiḥ)
- Literal: unfailing, not slipping. Symbolic: sure supports—reliable inner aids and right means
- पतत्रिभिः (patatribhiḥ)
- Literal: with winged ones. Symbolic: swift powers of ascent—intuition, inspired will, subtle energies
- अश्रमैः (aśramaiḥ)
- Literal: untiring. Symbolic: sustained force that does not exhaust the seeker
- अव्यथिभिः (avyathibhiḥ)
- Literal: unshaking, unwounding. Symbolic: steadfast guidance; non-reactive stability
- दंसनाभिः (daṃsanābhiḥ)
- Literal: by wondrous skills/acts. Symbolic: luminous skill in action—effective spiritual craftsmanship
- पारयन्ता (pārayantā)
- Literal: carrying across. Symbolic: leading beyond limitation; crossing of a crisis to a higher shore
Aśvin-invocation in Soma-yajña contexts (general); used as praise to draw the Aśvins to the offering and for protection/rescue motifs
During Aśvin invocations, especially when emphasizing protection/rescue
Recital of their past deeds (arthavāda-like praise) to strengthen the call
Use in times of overwhelm, depression, relapse, or ‘submergence’; as a mantra of rescue and crossing.
Key terms: (1) : from √vyadh/√vidh ‘to pierce, strike’; in context ‘struck down/cast into danger’. (2) : sam-udra ‘gathered waters’; symbolically the undivided mass of subconscient life. (3) : arṇas ‘wave, flood’ (cf. √ṛ ‘to move, rise’ in watery imagery); denotes surging currents. (4) : a-sridhāna ‘not slipping/failing’; from √sridh/√sṛdh ‘to fail, go wrong’ (negated). (5) : patatrin ‘winged’, from √pat ‘to fly/fall’; here ‘winged powers’ that uplift rather than fall. (6) : daṃsanā ‘wonder, skillful act’; linked to √daṃs ‘to display skill, accomplish marvels’—the operative divine technique.
Rita as safe passage from chaos to order, deliverance across the waters (transition from obscurity to clarity), divine help as steady, unfailing powers (a-sridhāna)
Crossing is possible because there are lawful supports in consciousness; the Aśvins embody operative ṛta in crisis.
Asridhāna—non-slipping—signals truth-support: what is founded in satya does not fail in turbulence.
Emergence from waters: a microcosmic rebirth—being lifted from undifferentiated flood into formed light and direction.
Vedic symbolic psychology: ‘waters’ as consciousness-substance; divine powers as functional agencies of transformation.
Ocean/flood = subconscient and vast inertia; wings = swift ascending energies; rescue = descent of higher help into lower layers.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- The rescue of Bhujyu from the ocean: a classic Aśvin myth of salvation. In the inner sense, it is the recovery of the fallen aspiration/soul from the engulfing subconscient flood by the twin luminous powers, using ‘winged’ and ‘unfailing’ energies to carry it to the farther shore (pāra) of ordered consciousness (ṛta).
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- Notable roots with broad Indo-European parallels: √pat ‘fly/fall’ (patatrin) aligns with PIE *pet- ‘to fly’ (cf. Gk. pterón ‘wing’). The ‘crossing’ notion in pārayantā relates to √pṝ/√pṛ ‘to carry across, bring over’, comparable to widespread IE ‘ford/cross’ semantic fields. The ocean/flood lexemes (samudra, arṇas) preserve archaic watery-cosmos imagery common in IE poetics.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The seer recalls an archetypal saving act to establish trust in the Devatā’s capacity to intervene now. The reciprocity is implicit: remembrance/praise (stuti) activates presence; the Aśvins respond by ‘carrying across’—a divine protection that mirrors the human movement from peril to right-being under ṛta.
Visualize being lifted from an inner ocean by two steady luminous forces; surrender the drowning sensation into their ‘unfailing supports’.
Svādhiṣṭhāna (waters/subconscient) uplifted toward Anāhata (support) and Ājñā (guidance)
Soothing lengthened exhale (e.g., 4-in / 8-out) to calm the ‘waves’; then gentle breath retention after inhale to feel ‘lift’.
Protected receptivity; trustful surrender with alertness.
When overwhelmed: (1) name the ‘ocean’ state, (2) call the Aśvins, (3) feel two supports at the sides of the spine/breath, (4) let the breath carry you across for 7–12 cycles.
Let the first half swell like a wave; keep udātta lifts clear on key verbs (ud ūhathur) and stabilizing adjectives (asridhānaiḥ).
Slightly slow on ‘samudre’ and ‘arṇasaḥ’ to evoke depth; firm, steady tone on ‘asridhānaiḥ… aśramair… avyathibhiḥ’ to embody reliability; resolve warmly on ‘pārayantā’.
bhujyum: ‘bh’ aspirated; ‘jy’ conjunct clean., samudre: dental ‘d’; do not retroflex., asridhānaiḥ: keep ‘dhā’ long; final ‘aiḥ’ as diphthong., avyathibhiḥ: ‘vy’ conjunct; keep ‘th’ aspirated.
Deep, supportive, reassuring; avoid sharpness—sound like a steady rescue rope.
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