Rig Veda 8.49.10: Mandala 8, Sukta 49, Mantra 10
Sukta 8.49
- Rishi
- Kaṇva
- Devata
- Indra
- Chandas
- Jagatī
- Rasa
- Vira (heroism) and Shanta (peace)
यथा कण्वे मघवन्त्रसदस्यवि यथा पक्थे दशव्रजे । यथा गोशर्ये असनोॠजिश्वनीन्द्र गोमद्धिरण्यवत् ॥
yáthā káṇve maghavann trasádasyavi yáthā pakthé dáśa-vraje | yáthā góśarye ásano ṛ́jiśvani índra gómad híraṇyavat ||
जैसे तुमने कण्व ऋषि की मदद की थी त्रसदस्यु के काम में। जैसे पक्थ में दस जगह जीता था। जैसे गोसार्य में रिजिश्वन के लिए जीता था। इंद्र, वैसे ही हमें भी रोशनी और सोना जैसा धन दे दो।
Word by Word
- यथा
- as, just asIndeclinableसम्बन्ध/उपमानार्थक अव्यय (यथा = ‘जैसे/जिस प्रकार’)Root यथा (अव्यय)
- कण्वे
- at/with KaṇvaNoun (proper name)पुंलिङ्ग; सप्तमी एकवचन (कण्वे = कण्वे ‘कण्व के यहाँ/कण्व में’)Role AdhikaraṇaRoot कण्व (प्रातिपदिक)
- मघवन्
- O bountiful one (Indra)Noun/Vocative epithetपुंलिङ्ग; सम्बोधन एकवचनRoot मघवन् (प्रातिपदिक; इन्द्र-विशेषण)
- त्रसदस्यवि
- at/with TrasadasyuNoun (proper name)पुंलिङ्ग; सप्तमी एकवचन (वेदिक रूप: -इ)Role AdhikaraṇaRoot त्रसदस्यु (प्रातिपदिक; जन/राजन्-नाम)
- यथा
- asIndeclinableउपमानार्थक अव्ययRoot यथा (अव्यय)
- पक्थे
- among/at the PakthasNoun (tribal name)पुंलिङ्ग; सप्तमी एकवचनRole AdhikaraṇaRoot पक्थ (प्रातिपदिक; जन-नाम)
- दशव्रजे
- in the ten enclosures/stallsNoun (compound)पुंलिङ्ग; सप्तमी एकवचनRole AdhikaraṇaRoot दशव्रज (प्रातिपदिक; स्थान/समूह-नाम)
- यथा
- asIndeclinableउपमानार्थक अव्ययRoot यथा (अव्यय)
- गोशर्ये
- at GośaryaNoun (place/epithet)पुंलिङ्ग; सप्तमी एकवचनRole AdhikaraṇaRoot गोशर्य (प्रातिपदिक; स्थान/सम्बन्ध-नाम)
- असनोः
- of AsanuNoun (proper name)पुंलिङ्ग; षष्ठी एकवचनRole Sambandha (genitive)Root असनु (प्रातिपदिक; जन/व्यक्ति-नाम)
- ऋजिश्वनि
- at/with ṚjiśvanNoun (proper name)पुंलिङ्ग; सप्तमी एकवचन (वेदिक रूप: -इ)Role AdhikaraṇaRoot ऋजिश्वन् (प्रातिपदिक; जन/व्यक्ति-नाम)
- इन्द्र
- O IndraNoun (deity), Vocativeपुंलिङ्ग; सम्बोधन एकवचनRoot इन्द्र (प्रातिपदिक)
- गोमत्
- rich in cattleAdjectiveनपुंसकलिङ्ग/पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा/द्वितीया एकवचन (क्रियाविशेषणवत्: ‘गोयुक्तम्’)Role Karma (implied: ‘(धनम्) गोमत्’)Root गोमत् (प्रातिपदिक; गो + मतुप्)
- हिरण्यवत्
- rich in goldAdjectiveनपुंसकलिङ्ग/पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा/द्वितीया एकवचन (क्रियाविशेषणवत्: ‘हिरण्ययुक्तम्’)Role Karma (implied: ‘(धनम्) हिरण्यवत्’)Root हिरण्यवत् (प्रातिपदिक; हिरण्य + मतुप्)
Sandhi Notes
- पाठ-समाधान (सन्धि-विच्छेद): मघवन्त्रसदस्यवि → मघवन् + त्रसदस्यवि (सम्बोधन + सप्तमी)
- गोशर्ये असनोॠजिश्वनीन्द्र → गोशर्ये + असनोः + ऋजिश्वनि + इन्द्र (असनोॠ- में विसर्ग/ओः + ऋ- का वैदिक संधि-रूप; ऋजिश्वनीन्द्र = ऋजिश्वनि + इन्द्र)
The meaning
Outer meaning
Indra, as you helped Kaṇva in the matter of Trasadasyu, and in Paktha among the ten enclosures, and in Gośarya you won for Ṛjiśvan—so grant us wealth rich in cows and gold.
Inner meaning
The mantra strings remembered ‘victories’ as inner milestones: Indra aids the seeker (Kaṇva) in confronting formidable forces (Trasadasyu as a powerful adversarial formation), breaks confinements (‘ten enclosures’ = many-layered limitations), and wins the luminous riches for the striving soul (Ṛjiśvan). The asked gift—gomat hiraṇyavat—is knowledge-light plus golden fullness (a perfected, radiant substance of being).
Universal truth
Divine help is consistent across stages: it confronts resistance, breaks confinements, and culminates in stable luminous abundance—knowledge joined with a transformed vitality.
Themes
precedent invocation, opening enclosures, light and radiance, Indra’s aid to seers
The seer
- Rishi
- Kaṇva
- Lineage
- Kāṇva
- Other hymns
- RV 8.49.8-9, RV 8.50.1-2
Family tradition
Kāṇvas preserve lineages of ‘itihāsa-like’ references inside hymns—ancestral episodes used as templates for inner conquest and attainment.
Significance
The seer invokes memory as śraddhā: past divine interventions become living assurances for present inner transformation.
The deity
- Devata
- Indra
- Epithets
- Maghavan, Gomat (giver of rays), Hiraṇyavat-prada (giver of golden fullness; implied)
- Related deities
- Bṛhaspati (breaker of the cave), Agni (leader of sacrifice), Soma (delight that empowers Indra)
Cosmic role
Breaker of enclosures, winner of light-wealth, champion of the Aryan progress.
Inner power
Force of illumination that converts struggle into gain: from breaking limits to establishing a luminous, perfected substance.
In ritual
Where it is used
Indra praise and petition in Soma ritual setting; also suitable for victory/prosperity invocations
यथा॒ कण्वे॑ मघवन्त्र॒सद॑स्यवि॒ यथा॑ प॒क्थे दश॑व्रजे । यथा॒ गोश॑र्ये॒ अस॑नोॠ॒जिश्व॒नीन्द्र॒ गोम॒द्धिर॑ण्यवत् ॥
यथा॑ । कण्वे॑ । म॒घ॒ऽव॒न् । त्र॒सद॑स्यवि । यथा॑ । प॒क्थे । दश॑ऽव्रजे । यथा॑ । गोऽश॑र्ये । अस॑नोः । ऋ॒जिश्व॑नि । इन्द्र॑ । गोऽम॑त् । हिर॑ण्यऽवत् ॥
yathā | kaṇve | magha-van | trasadasyavi | yathā | pakthe | daśa-vraje | yathā | go--śarye | asanoḥ | ṛjiśvani | indra | go--mat | hiraṇya-vat
48
4×12 (probable; verify by scan)
Expansive narrative sweep with repeated yathā… yathā… yathā… building cumulative force.
Creates a stepped ascent: recollection → intensification → final petition for luminous abundance.
- दशव्रजे (daśavraje)
- Literal: ten enclosures/pens. Symbolic: multiple layers of limitation, habit, and compartmentalized consciousness
- असनोः (asanoḥ)
- Literal: you won/obtained. Symbolic: recovery of lost light; attainment through illumined force
- गोमत् (gomat)
- Literal: cow-rich. Symbolic: rich in rays of knowledge and illumination
- हिरण्यवत् (hiraṇyavat)
- Literal: golden, gold-rich. Symbolic: radiant fullness—purified vital substance, splendor of realized consciousness
- ऋजिश्वनि (ṛjiśvani)
- Literal: to Ṛjiśvan (name). Symbolic: the straight-moving striving force/soul-impulse that goes toward the right (ṛju)
Anuvyākhyāna-style exempla within hymn: recalling Indra’s former victories/boons to secure present bestowal in Soma rite
When seeking Indra’s aid to overcome obstacles and gain ‘go’ and ‘hiraṇya’.
Stotra with offering; remembrance of Indra’s prior ‘wins’ as ritual reinforcement of efficacy.
Use as a mantra for breaking limiting patterns and calling in both clarity (gomat) and stable vitality (hiraṇyavat).
: daśa ‘ten’ + vraja ‘enclosure/pen’ (√vraj ‘move/go;’ also ‘fold/pen’ as noun). : ‘gold’ (radiance symbol). The proper names preserve archaic heroic diction typical of Indo-European praise poetry, where patronage and precedent are invoked.
breaking enclosures (vraja) as opening of inner limitations, ray-wealth (gomat) as knowledge and illumination, hiraṇyavat as radiant plenitude of being
Breaking ‘enclosures’ restores the right flow of consciousness aligned with r̥ta.
The sought wealth is truth-bearing light (go) plus golden stability (hiraṇya).
Recovery of hidden light and building a radiant order in the human vessel.
Aurobindonian symbolic cosmology: forts/caves as subconscient coverings; Indra as liberator of light.
Enclosures = psychological compartments and resistances; cows = rays of insight; gold = purified life-substance and splendor of realization.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- The ‘opening of enclosures’ and winning of luminous wealth: daśa-vraje suggests closed pens/compartments; Indra is the force that breaks confinement and releases/obtains go/hiraṇya (light and radiance). Innerly this is liberation of the rays of knowledge from the subconscient’s closures.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- The use of heroic proper names and precedent clauses (‘yathā… yathā…’) matches Indo-European praise-poetry strategies (genealogies of aid, exempla of patronage). The semantic complex ‘enclosure → release of wealth’ parallels broader IE cattle/wealth-release motifs, though in RV it is psychologized through go = light.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The rishi claims continuity of Indra’s function: as Indra aided earlier figures in concrete crises, so he must now grant the same essential boon—gomat hiraṇyavat, the luminous and radiant plenitude. The sacrifice becomes the present ‘battlefield’ where enclosures in consciousness are to be opened.
Recall prior inner breakthroughs; invoke Indra to break remaining ‘ten enclosures’ and establish luminous abundance.
Manipura (breaking inertia) to Ajna (illumination)
Brisk bhastrikā (mild, 10–20 strokes) then long exhale; finish with quiet sitting.
Dynamic overcoming leading to settled confidence.
On each yathā, remember a real moment of help or clarity; on the final request, feel knowledge-light and golden steadiness descending into the whole system.
Accents depend on śākhā; emphasize the parallel yathā clauses evenly; lift on índra in the closing petition.
Keep each yathā clause as a complete wave; slight pause at |; final ‘indra gomad hiraṇyavat’ delivered as a single, firm ask.
: ‘tra-sa-da-sya-vi’ (clear clusters), : ‘da-śa-vra-je’ (śa soft palatal), : ‘go-śar-ye’, : ‘hi-ra-ṇya-vat’ (retroflex ṇ)
Firm, confident, slightly martial but controlled.
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