Rig Veda 8.14.2: Mandala 8, Sukta 14, Mantra 2
Sukta 8.14
- Devata
- Indra
- Chandas
- Likely Anuṣṭubh-like
- Rasa
- Shanta (peace)
शिक्षेयमस्मै दित्सेयं शचीपते मनीषिणे । यदहं गोपतिः स्याम् ॥
śíkṣeyam asmai dítsēyaṃ śácī-pate manīṣíṇe | yád aháṃ gó-patiḥ syām ||
मैं सीखना चाहता हूँ और देना चाहता हूँ, शचि के स्वामी, जो ज्ञानी है। ताकि मैं भी धन और गाइयों का मालिक बन सकुन। मुझे भी इतनी समझ आए कि मैं अच्छा कर सकुन।
Word by Word
- शिक्षेयम्
- may I learn / may I practiceVerbOptative (विधिलिङ्), 1st person singular, ParasmaipadaRole Kartā (implicit ‘I’)Root √शिक्ष् (शिक्षा/शिक्ष् ‘to learn, practice, train’)
- अस्मै
- to himPronounDative, singularRole SampradānaRoot अस्मद् (pronoun)
- दित्सेयम्
- may I wish to give / may I be ready to giveVerbOptative (विधिलिङ्), 1st person singular, ParasmaipadaRole Kartā (implicit ‘I’)Root √दा (ददाति) with desiderative stem दित्स- (‘wish to give’)
- शचीपते
- O Śacīpati (Indra)Noun (vocative epithet)Masculine, Vocative, singularRole SambodhanaRoot शची-पति (prātipadika; epithet of Indra: ‘lord of śacī/ शक्ति/ might’)
- मनीषिणे
- to the wise oneAdjective (used substantively)Masculine, Dative, singularRole SampradānaRoot मनीषिन् (prātipadika ‘wise, thoughtful’)
- यत्
- when / thatPronounNeuter, Nominative/Accusative, singular (relative particle ‘when/that’)Role (connective/relative; no independent kāraka)Root यद् (relative pronoun)
- अहम्
- IPronounNominative, singularRole KartāRoot अहम् (1st person pronoun)
- गोपतिः
- (as) lord of cattleNounMasculine, Nominative, singularRole Kartā / Predicate nominativeRoot गो-पति (prātipadika ‘lord of cows/keeper of cattle’)
- स्याम्
- may I beVerbOptative (विधिलिङ्), 1st person singular, ParasmaipadaRole (copula; links subject ‘अहम्’ with predicate ‘गोपतिः’)Root √अस् (भू/अस् ‘to be’) — optative stem स्या-
Sandhi Notes
- Mantra text: शिक्षे॑यमस्मै॒ दित्से॑यं॒ शची॑पते मनी॒षिणे॑ । यद॒हं गोप॑ति॒: स्याम् ॥ Sandhi resolution: शिक्षेयम् + अस्मै (…-म् + अ- → …म-; written as शिक्षे॑यमस्मै)
- यद् + अहम् → यदहम् (final -द् before vowel; in saṃhitā written यद॒हं)
- Other words are already padic
- Accents as in saṃhitā: शिक्षे॑यम् (udātta on -॑), अस्मै॒ (svarita/anudātta marking), दित्से॑यम्, शची॑पते, मनी॒षिणे॑, यद॒हं, गोप॑तिः, स्याम् (accent per RV tradition)
The meaning
Outer meaning
May I learn for him and give to him, O Śacīpati, to the wise one, so that I may become a lord of the cows.
Inner meaning
The seeker asks for true training (śikṣā) and the capacity to offer (dāna) to the divine Wisdom-Power in Indra (manīṣin). By learning the right inner movements and giving oneself/one’s energies to that higher guidance, one becomes gopatiḥ—not an owner of cattle, but master of the rays of knowledge: able to hold, organize, and apply illumination in life.
Universal truth
Learning and self-offering to a higher wisdom mature into mastery of knowledge; illumination becomes stable possession when it is served and practiced.
Themes
Self-training, Offering attitude, Wisdom-power (śacī), Illumination mastery
The seer
- Other hymns
- RV 8.14.1-4 (sequence of aspiration: rulership → learning/giving → milking of truth → limitless bounty)
Family tradition
Likely Kāṇva stream; verify.
Significance
A sādhanā formula: (1) learn the right inner law, (2) offer oneself to the higher power, (3) attain stable illumination (gopati).
The deity
- Devata
- Indra
- Epithets
- Śacīpati, Manīṣin
- Related deities
- Sarasvatī (learning/flow of inspired speech), Bṛhaspati (mantric wisdom), Agni (discipline of will)
Cosmic role
Holds and deploys effective power (śacī) guided by inspired intelligence; enables the seeker to possess and wield light.
Inner power
Practical wisdom—illumination that can act, organize, and conquer resistance.
In ritual
Where it is used
Indra stuti; general offering contexts
शिक्षे॑यमस्मै॒ दित्से॑यं॒ शची॑पते मनी॒षिणे॑ । यद॒हं गोप॑ति॒: स्याम् ॥
शिक्षे॑यम् । अ॒स्मै॒ । दित्से॑यम् । शची॑ऽपते । म॒नी॒षिणे॑ । यत् । अ॒हम् । गोऽप॑तिः । स्या॒म् ॥
śikṣeyam | asmai | ditseyam | śacī-pate | manīṣiṇe | yat | aham | go--patiḥ | syām
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4×8 (likely; needs exact scansion on saṃhitā)
Didactic and prayerful; suited to resolve and repetition.
Encourages a sense of training and offering; stabilizes intention.
- शिक्षेयम् (śikṣeyam)
- Literal: may I learn, be trained. Symbolic: discipline of consciousness; educating the nature to receive light
- दित्सेयम् (ditseyam)
- Literal: may I give. Symbolic: self-offering; surrender of energies to the higher working
- शचीपते (śacīpate)
- Literal: lord of Śacī. Symbolic: lord of effective power; mastery of luminous skill and victorious capacity
- मनीषिणे (manīṣiṇe)
- Literal: to the wise/thinker. Symbolic: Indra as inspired intelligence, intuition-guided mind
- गोपतिः (gopatiḥ)
- Literal: lord of cows. Symbolic: master of rays/knowledges—stable illumination and its governance
Devotional self-discipline: learning and giving as preparatory virtues for receiving Indra’s illumination in Soma context.
In Indra hymns during offerings; adaptable as daily study/practice invocation.
Recitation as request for right discipline and capacity to offer; inner ‘oblation’ of attention and effort.
Before learning/teaching: chant as a sankalpa for disciplined receptivity and generous sharing of knowledge.
√śikṣ ‘to learn, practice’ indicates disciplined acquisition. : desiderative of √dā ‘to give’—the will to offer is itself a power. : ‘power, skill, effective energy’; Indra as śacī-pati is lord of efficacious force. : inspired thought; manīṣin = one who has luminous intelligence. -: mastery over ‘go’ as rays/knowledges—stable possession through consciousness.
Discipline (śikṣā) and offering (dāna) as inner yajña, Manīṣā as inspired intelligence, Mastery of illumination (go-pati)
Śikṣā and dāna align the being to ṛta; then knowledge becomes orderly possession (gopati).
Manīṣā as truth-seeing intelligence; giving to it increases truth in the nature.
Transformation by education of the nature and offering to higher power.
Integral/psychological Veda: knowledge as power to be embodied, not merely known.
Cows = illuminations; ‘lordship’ = capacity to hold and apply them steadily.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- Becoming ‘go-pati’—lord of the cows/rays—through learning and giving to Indra. The mythic pattern of ‘recovering the cows’ is internalized: illumination is not seized but earned by discipline (śikṣ) and self-offering (dits-), under Indra’s wise power.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- The desiderative formation (dits-) is a classical Indo-Aryan morphological feature built on inherited verbal systems; √dā ‘give’ is IE (PIE *deh₃- ‘give’). The optatives (śikṣeyam, syām) preserve archaic modality expressing aspiration rather than assertion—typical of early Indo-European prayer diction.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The rishi frames himself as apprentice and giver to the divine teacher-power (manīṣin). The reciprocity is pedagogical: by offering and learning, the human becomes capable of holding the lights (go) as stable possessions rather than fleeting visitations.
Adopt a learner’s mind (śikṣeyam) and an offering heart (ditseyam); then invite stable illuminations to gather within.
Vishuddha (learning/true expression) supporting Ajna (wisdom)
Japa on exhale; brief pause after each half-verse to feel ‘offering’ as release of grasping.
From mental effort to guided intelligence; from acquisition to consecration.
Repeat 54 times as a study-prayer; after chanting, read one verse of wisdom and offer its fruit to the inner Indra (manīṣin).
Chant with saṃhitā accents when available; keep the rise on śacī́pate/manī́ṣiṇe as marked in the tradition.
Do not rush consonant clusters: śacī-pate, manī-ṣiṇe. Keep ‘gopatiḥ syām’ as a firm concluding intention.
śikṣeyam: kṣ cluster clear (k + ṣ), ditseyam: ts cluster crisp, śacī: long ī; palatal ś, manīṣiṇe: long ī; retroflex ṇ, gopatiḥ: light final ḥ (visarga)
Warm, prayerful, with clarity of diction.
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