Rig Veda 8.16.2: Mandala 8, Sukta 16, Mantra 2
Sukta 8.16
- Devata
- Indra
- Rasa
- Adbhuta (wonder) and Shanta (peace)
यस्मिन्नुक्थानि रण्यन्ति विश्वानि च श्रवस्या । अपामवो न समुद्रे ॥
yásminn ukthā́ni ráṇyanti víśvāni ca śravasyā́ | apā́m ávo ná samudré ||
इंद्र में सब गाने खुश होते हैं। जो लोग नाम कमाना चाहते हैं, वो भी उसी में पूरा होते हैं। जैसे समुंदर में सारा पानी एक जगह इकट्ठा होता है, वैसे ही इंद्र में सब बात और उसकी बड़ाई आती है।
Word by Word
- यस्मिन्
- in which (in whom/wherein)Pronounपुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी एकवचनRole AdhikaraṇaRoot यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक) → यस्-
- नु
- now; indeedIndeclinableनिपात (अव्यय)Root नु (निपात)
- उक्थानि
- hymns; laudationsNounनपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा बहुवचनRole KartāRoot उक्थ (प्रातिपदिक)
- रण्यन्ति
- rejoice; resound pleasantlyVerbलट् (वर्तमान), परस्मैपद, प्रथम पुरुष, बहुवचनRoot √रण्य (रण्यति) अथवा √रम् (वेद. ‘to rejoice/sound pleasantly’)
- विश्वानि
- allAdjectiveनपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा बहुवचन (उक्थानि इति विशेषणम्)Role Kartā (उक्थानि-समन्वयेन)Root विश्व (प्रातिपदिक)
- च
- andIndeclinableसमुच्चयार्थक अव्ययRoot च (निपात)
- श्रवस्या
- glorious; fame-bringingAdjectiveनपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा बहुवचन (उक्थानि इति विशेषणम्)Role Kartā (उक्थानि-समन्वयेन)Root श्रवस्य (प्रातिपदिक; ‘fame-seeking/praiseworthy’)
- अपामवः
- Apāmava (name/epithet: ‘aid of the waters’)Noun (epithet)पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा एकवचनRole Kartā (उपमान-वाक्ये)Root अपामव (प्रातिपदिक; ‘helper/strength of the waters’)
- न
- like; asIndeclinableउपमार्थक अव्ययRoot न (उपमा-निपात)
- समुद्रे
- in the oceanNounपुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी एकवचनRole AdhikaraṇaRoot समुद्र (प्रातिपदिक)
Sandhi Notes
- Sandhi resolved as: यस्मिन्नु → यस्मिन् + नु (final -n retained before n-)
- all other words are already in pada form. Accent marks in the Saṃhitā text: यस्मि॑न् (udātta on -mi-), रण्य॑न्ति, विश्वा॑नि, श्रव॒स्या॑, अपामवो॒, स॑मु॒द्रे (Vedic accent noted but not re-applied in the pada list)
The meaning
Outer meaning
Indra is praised as the one in whom all hymns find delight and all aspirations for renown reach fullness, like the waters’ force gathered into the ocean.
Inner meaning
Indra is the vast inner consciousness (illumined Mind) that can receive, hold, and harmonize all our inspired utterances (ukthāni) and the soul’s aspiration for victorious self-expression (śravasyā). As rivers lose separateness in the sea, scattered thoughts and impulses are gathered into a single luminous power when the Indric consciousness awakens in us.
Universal truth
When the mind is widened and illumined, all sincere efforts of expression and aspiration converge into a greater receptacle of awareness; unity of consciousness is the condition for true ‘renown’—effective truth-power in life.
Themes
poetic glory, mantric efficacy, waters symbolism
The seer
- Lineage
- Kāṇva
- Other hymns
- Rig Veda 8.1, Rig Veda 8.12, Rig Veda 8.13, Rig Veda 8.48
Family tradition
Kāṇva seers are noted for vigorous Indra hymns emphasizing victory, wideness (uru/varivas), and the psychological conquest of obstruction.
Significance
The seer-voice here stresses Indra as the inner ‘oceanic’ wideness that receives mantra and turns aspiration into effective power—an Aurobindonian key: widening precedes illumination and victory.
The deity
- Devata
- Indra
- Epithets
- Maghavan (bountiful), Vṛtrahan (slayer of the Coverer), Śatakratu (of a hundred powers/wills), Purandara (breaker of fortresses)
- Related deities
- Agni, Soma, Bṛhaspati, Uṣas, Maruts
Cosmic role
Lord of the luminous Mind who releases the waters (streams of being) and the cows (rays of knowledge) by breaking obstruction.
Inner power
Illumined intelligence that gathers dispersed movements into a single victorious consciousness; capacity to ‘contain’ mantra and make it effective.
In ritual
Where it is used
Indra-stotra in Soma-yajña context (general)
यस्मि॑न्नु॒क्थानि॒ रण्य॑न्ति॒ विश्वा॑नि च श्रव॒स्या॑ । अ॒पामवो॒ न स॑मु॒द्रे ॥
यस्मि॑न् । उ॒क्थानि॑ । रण्य॑न्ति । विश्वा॑नि । च॒ । श्र॒व॒स्या॑ । अ॒पाम् । अवः॑ । न । स॒मु॒द्रे ॥
yasmin | ukthāni | raṇyanti | viśvāni | ca | śravasyā | apām | avaḥ | na | samudre
32
4 pādas × 8 syllables (likely; requires full saṃhitā text with accurate sandhi for strict confirmation)
Compact, declarative, gathering rhythm—suited to stating an identity and image (ocean-receptacle).
Creates a sense of consolidation and inward ‘collecting’ of energies, mirroring the ocean metaphor.
- यस्मिन् (yasmin)
- Literal: in whom. Symbolic: in the widened, sustaining consciousness of Indra within
- उक्थानि (ukthāni)
- Literal: hymns/solemn utterances. Symbolic: inspired formulations of truth; mantric thought-forms
- रण्यन्ति (raṇyanti)
- Literal: delight/rejoice. Symbolic: the inner being finds resonance and joy when speech aligns with illumination
- श्रवस्या (śravasyā)
- Literal: for fame/renown. Symbolic: aspiration for victorious truth-manifestation; effective spiritual self-expression
- अपाम् अवः (apām avaḥ)
- Literal: the strength/might of waters. Symbolic: the flowing powers of consciousness (currents of life-mind)
- समुद्रे (samudre)
- Literal: in the ocean. Symbolic: the vastness of unified awareness; the great inner receptacle
Praise emphasizing śrávas (glory) and uktha; typical of performance contexts where recitation seeks divine confirmation
During Indra invocations in pressing offerings; also adaptable to daily japa as an Indra-bhāvanā for wideness and victory.
Recitation/praise (stuti) accompanying offering and intention for victory and increase of power.
Use before study, speaking, teaching, or any ‘speech-act’ requiring inspired clarity—mentally ‘pour’ all thoughts into the inner ocean of Indra.
ukthá from √vac/√ukth? (uktha as ‘uttered praise’, traditional derivation) → formal inspired recitation. raṇyanti from √raṇ/√ram (to delight) → resonance of mantra in the deity. śrávas ‘fame’ from PIE *ḱléwos ‘heard-of glory’ (Greek kléos) → classic IE poetic theme; inner sense: the ‘heard’ truth that establishes the soul’s name in the Light. samudrá ‘gathering of waters’ (sam + udra) → fullness where energies collect.
śrávas as truth-glory (ḱléwos motif transformed inward), mantra resonance (uktha delighting in the deity), fullness/collection (samudra as plenitude of consciousness)
Indra’s wideness gathers movements into a more ṛta-aligned harmony; scattered impulses become ordered currents.
True speech (mantric utterance) becomes effective when held in the Satya-bearing wideness.
Convergence of many streams into one sea: a recurring Vedic image for integration of powers into the One Vast.
Proto-Vedāntic/Integral (Aurobindonian) reading: widening → illumination → effective manifestation.
Waters = flowing consciousness and life-forces; ocean = vast unified awareness that receives and empowers mantra.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- The ‘ocean of waters’ as fullness: Indra as the vast gathering-place where hymns and glory converge. Inner reading: the awakened power becomes a receptacle in which all inspired movements find delight and completion.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- śrávas aligns with PIE *ḱléwos ‘fame, that which is heard’, a signature Indo-European poetic value (Greek kléos). This verse preserves that inherited poetics while re-aiming it toward spiritual realization (renown as confirmation in truth).
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The Rishi’s ukthas ‘delight’ in Indra: speech is not mere description but a force seeking its natural home in the god-power; in return, Indra consolidates the seeker’s śrávas—an inner recognition and stable victory of the heard Truth.
Widen the mind into a ‘sea’ that can hold all thoughts without fragmentation; offer speech and intention into that wideness.
Viśuddha (speech) with support from Ājñā (illumined mind)
Slow nasal breathing; on exhale, feel thoughts ‘flow’ into the inner ocean; on inhale, receive wideness.
From scattered mental surface to a broad, quiet, luminous mind-field.
Before chanting, sit with the image of rivers entering the sea; then recite, letting each phrase broaden the inner space rather than intensify effort.
Follow RV saṃhitā accent: udatta on marked syllables (e.g., ), svarita where indicated by combining accents; use a standard Ṛgvedic three-tone (anudātta–udātta–svarita) contour.
Keep the accented syllable slightly higher; do not over-stress—aim for clarity and steadiness; maintain sandhi flow into the ocean-image cadence.
(ukthāni): clear aspirate ‘kh’, (raṇyanti): retroflex ‘ṇ’ and palatal ‘y’, (śravasyā): ‘śra’ as palatal ‘ś’, not dental ‘s’, (samudre): soft ‘dr’ cluster, avoid inserting extra vowel
broad, resonant, unhurried—evoke ‘vastness’ rather than sharp force.
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