Rig Veda 8.52.7: Mandala 8, Sukta 52, Mantra 7
Sukta 8.52
- Rishi
- Kaṇva
- Devata
- Indra
- Chandas
- Jagatī
- Rasa
- Shanta (peace) and Adbhuta (wonder)
कदा चन प्र युच्छस्युभे नि पासि जन्मनी । तुरीयादित्य हवनं त इन्द्रियमा तस्थावमृतं दिवि ॥
kadā́ caná prá yúcchasy ubhé ní pāsi jánmanī | túrīyāditya hávanaṃ ta indríyam ā́ tasthāv amṛ́taṃ diví ||
तुम कभी पीछे नहीं हटोगे। तुम दोनों जन्मों की हिफाजत करते हो। तुम आदित्य हो, चौटे पद पे। तुम्हारी पूजा और शक्ति आसमान में सदा के लिए खड़ी है। यह अमृत जैसा है।
Word by Word
- कदा
- when?Indeclinableकालवाचक-प्रश्नाव्ययRole AdhikaraṇaRoot कदा (प्रश्नाव्यय)
- चन
- ever; at all (emphatic particle)Indeclinableनिपात (एव/अपि-भावे, बलवर्धक)Root चन (निपात)
- प्र
- forth; forward (preverb)Indeclinableउपसर्गRoot प्र (उपसर्ग)
- युच्छसि
- you yoke; you harnessVerbलट् (वर्तमान), परस्मैपद, मध्यमपुरुष, एकवचनRoot युज् (धातु; युजँ/युजिर्—‘योजने’), वैदिक रूप: युच्छ-
- उभे
- bothAdjectiveनपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, द्विवचनRole KarmaRoot उभ (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- नि
- down; in (preverb)Indeclinableउपसर्गRoot नि (उपसर्ग)
- पासि
- you protect; you guardVerbलट् (वर्तमान), परस्मैपद, मध्यमपुरुष, एकवचनRoot पा (धातु; ‘पालने/रक्षणे’), वैदिक: पा- ‘to protect’
- जन्मनी
- the two births; the two begettingsNounनपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया/सप्तमी, द्विवचन (वैदिक रूप)Role KarmaRoot जन्मन् (प्रातिपदिक)
- तुरीय
- the fourthAdjectiveपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचनRole KartāRoot तुरीय (प्रातिपदिक)
- आदित्य
- Āditya (solar deity); son of AditiNounपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचनRole Kartā (सम्बोधन/विशेषणभावे सह)Root आदित्य (प्रातिपदिक)
- हवनम्
- invocation; oblation; callingNounनपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचनRole KarmaRoot हवन (प्रातिपदिक; √हु ‘to pour/offer’ से)
- ते
- of you; yourPronounषष्ठी, एकवचनRole Sampradāna (सम्बन्धे/स्वाम्यर्थे)Root त्वद् (सर्वनाम)
- इन्द्रियम्
- power; might; Indra-like strengthNounनपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचनRole Kartā (वाक्ये कर्तृवत् स्थितम्)Root इन्द्रिय (प्रातिपदिक)
- आ
- unto; toward; in (preverb)Indeclinableउपसर्गRoot आ (उपसर्ग)
- तस्थौ
- stood; has taken its standVerbलिट् (परिपूर्ण/परफेक्ट), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचनRoot स्था (धातु; ‘स्थितौ’)
- अमृतम्
- immortal; deathlessAdjectiveनपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचनRole Karma/ViśeṣaṇaRoot अमृत (प्रातिपदिक)
- दिवि
- in heaven; in the skyNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग (वैदिक), सप्तमी, एकवचनRole AdhikaraṇaRoot द्यौ/दिव् (प्रातिपदिक)
Sandhi Notes
- पदच्छेद (सन्धि-विग्रह): कदा + चन + प्र + युच्छसि + उभे + नि + पासि + जन्मनी । तुरीय + आदित्य + हवनम् + ते + इन्द्रियम् + आ + तस्थौ + अमृतम् + दिवि ॥ मुख्य सन्धि/रूप-टिप्पणी: (1) ‘प्र’ उपसर्गः ‘युच्छसि’ (वैदिक वर्तमान-रूप; √युज् से) के साथ। (2) ‘उभे … जन्मनी’ द्विवचन-सम्बन्ध: ‘दोनों जन्म’ (नपुंसक द्विवचन) कर्मपद-भावे। (3) ‘आ तस्थौ’ = उपसर्ग ‘आ’ + √स्था का लिट् 3sg ‘तस्थौ’। (4) ‘दिवि’ सप्तमी एकवचन ‘द्यौ/दिव्’ का वैदिक लोकटिव।
The meaning
Outer meaning
You never fail in your forward drive; you protect both births. O Aditya in the fourth, your invocation and Indra-power stand established as immortality in heaven.
Inner meaning
Indra’s progressive surge is constant: the illumined mind does not abandon the ascent. ‘Both births’ are the double formation—our outer embodied birth and the inner spiritual birth (or the human and the divine birth in us). ‘Turīya Āditya’ points to a fourth status beyond the three ordinary states—waking, dream, sleep—where the solar truth (Āditya) is realized. There, the Indriya (Indra-power: luminous capacity) and the true call (havana) are established as amṛta—deathless consciousness—‘in heaven’ meaning in the higher mind/inner sky (divi).
Universal truth
Steady aspiration guarded through both outer life and inner awakening leads to a fourth, solar truth-consciousness where the power of illumination becomes stable immortality.
Themes
transcendence, protection across planes, immortality, Indra as solar-law power
The seer
- Rishi
- Kaṇva
- Lineage
- Kāṇva
- Other hymns
- RV 8.52.3, RV 8.52.4, RV 8.52.5, RV 8.52.6
Family tradition
Kāṇva hymns frequently link Indra’s victory to solar law (Āditya) and higher states of consciousness.
Significance
A rare explicit bridge from Indra’s dynamic victory to the ‘fourth’ transcendence—suggesting the culmination of the Vedic ascent in stable immortality-consciousness.
The deity
- Devata
- Indra as Āditya (solar-truth aspect of Indra)
- Epithets
- Āditya, (implicit) protector of births, bearer of indriya (power)
- Related deities
- Mitra-Varuṇa (Āditya pair), Sūrya, Agni, Soma
Cosmic role
Indra’s force is here solarized: not only storm-victory but a law-abiding illumination that guards evolution across births and establishes amṛta in the luminous heaven.
Inner power
Steady, truthful illumination that protects both outer life and inner awakening; establishes the fourth-state stability.
In ritual
Where it is used
Indra praise with solar-law emphasis
क॒दा च॒न प्र यु॑च्छस्यु॒भे नि पा॑सि॒ जन्म॑नी । तुरी॑यादित्य॒ हव॑नं त इन्द्रि॒यमा त॑स्थाव॒मृतं॑ दि॒वि ॥
क॒दा । च॒न । प्र । यु॒च्छ॒सि॒ । उ॒भे इति॑ । नि । पा॒सि॒ । जन्म॑नी॒ इति॑ । तुरी॑य । आ॒दि॒त्य॒ । हव॑नम् । ते॒ । इ॒न्द्रि॒यम् । आ । त॒स्थौ॒ । अ॒मृत॑म् । दि॒वि ॥
kadā | cana | pra | yucchasi | ubhe iti | ni | pāsi | janmanī iti | turīya | āditya | havanam | te | indriyam | ā | tasthau | amṛtam | divi
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4 × 12 (probable)
Assured, continuous forward rhythm; climactic lift on turīya/āditya/amṛtam/divi.
Stabilizes aspiration; evokes a high, clear sky-like consciousness and a sense of protected ascent.
- प्र युच्छसि (pra yucchasi)
- Literal: you press forward, surge ahead. Symbolic: unceasing upward drive of illumined will
- उभे जन्मनी (ubhe janmanī)
- Literal: both births. Symbolic: outer birth and inner spiritual birth; or human and divine formation
- तुरीय (turīya)
- Literal: the fourth. Symbolic: transcendent consciousness beyond the three states; stable witness-light
- आदित्य (āditya)
- Literal: solar deity class. Symbolic: truth, clarity, law, illumination
- हवनम् (havanam)
- Literal: invocation/call. Symbolic: the soul’s true calling; mantra-force that opens the higher plane
- इन्द्रियम् (indriyam)
- Literal: Indra-force; power. Symbolic: luminous capacity/illumined energy in consciousness
- अमृतम् (amṛtam)
- Literal: immortality. Symbolic: deathless awareness; stable being beyond change
- दिवि (divi)
- Literal: in heaven/sky. Symbolic: in the inner sky—higher mind, luminous plane
Elevatory stotra-verse; suitable where Indra is invoked as protector across planes and as establisher of amṛta in div (Soma context)
When invoking Indra not merely for victory but for protection and establishment in the higher world (div).
Chanting as a sealing mantra—affirming protection and immortality-consciousness.
Excellent for evening meditation or transition times (sleep/wake), to invoke protection through ‘both births’ and to orient toward turīya-like witnessing clarity.
pāsi from √pā ‘protect’. janmanī dual suggests a structured Vedic cosmology of paired origins/planes. turīya ‘fourth’ is a rare, conceptually dense term: beyond the dual (ubhe) it hints at a higher foundation where indriya is established. amṛta: a- (negation) + mṛta (mortal, from √mṛ ‘die’). divi locative of dyu/div ‘heaven, luminous sky’—psychologically, the illumined mind-plane.
two births (janmanī) as dual manifestation, turīya (the fourth) as transcendent ground, amṛta (immortality) established in div
Āditya implies the law of ṛta; Indra’s power becomes stable when aligned with it.
Solar truth establishes the indriya as amṛta—truth-consciousness as immortality.
Evolution through births guarded by divine power until the fourth-state is founded in the inner heaven.
Strong Upaniṣadic bridge: turīya motif anticipates later Mandūkya-like framing (conceptual, not textual identity).
dawn-to-noon (Āditya clarity implied)
Sun/sky = clear higher mind; forward surge = aspiration-force; protection of births = continuity of sadhana through life and inner rebirth.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- The ‘guardian of the two births’ and establisher of immortality: Indra is portrayed as unwavering in forward movement and as protector of dual origins/planes, culminating in a ‘fourth’ station where amṛta is founded in heaven—an ascent myth of consciousness.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- dyu/div (‘heaven’) continues PIE *dyew- ‘sky, day’ (cf. Latin Iūpiter < *dyēus-pəter). The paired ‘two births’ echoes archaic Indo-European dual structuring (binary cosmology) preserved in Vedic dual forms.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The r̥ṣi appeals to a stable divine governance: the deity’s unwavering advance and protection across dualities makes possible the establishment of amṛta in the higher plane. The invocation (havanam) is the bridge by which the human aligns with that ‘fourth’ foundation.
Establish the witness-light (turīya orientation) while invoking Indra’s steady forward drive; feel protection across waking and sleep, outer and inner life.
Sahasrāra/Ājñā (turīya clarity) with heart steadiness (protection).
Nadi-śodhana (6 rounds) then chant; rest in silent witnessing after the final pāda ‘amṛtaṃ divi’.
Witnessing, luminous, protected; a ‘sky-mind’ openness.
Chant 7 or 12 times before sleep; let the last line drop into silence; observe the sense of a clear inner sky and offer the night (dream/sleep) to the solar Indra-power.
Let the first pāda be steady and forward; give a clear lift on turīya/āditya and a spacious, sustained tone on amṛtam divi; follow Rigvedic udātta-svarita contours as marked in the recensional tradition.
Emphasize pra yucchasi, ubhe janmanī, turīya āditya, havanam, indriyam, ā tasthau, amṛtam, divi.
(ubhe): soft bh, not ‘ube’., (turīya): long ī; ‘tu-rī-ya’., (indriyam): cluster ‘ndr’ clean; final m light nasal., (amṛtaṃ): retroflex ṛ; anusvāra before divi slight nasalization.
Spacious, sky-like, even; allow silence after the final word.
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