Rig Veda 8.72.4: Mandala 8, Sukta 72, Mantra 4
Sukta 8.72
- Devata
- Rudra / the fierce force wielded through speech
- Rasa
- Vira (heroism) and Raudra (fury)
जाम्यतीतपे धनुर्वयोधा अरुहद्वनम् । दृषदं जिह्वयावधीत् ॥
jā́my atītape dhánur vayodhā́ aruhad vánam | dṛṣádaṃ jihváyā́vadhīt ||
रिश्ते में उसने धनुष जला दिया। जीवन देने वाला पेड़ पर चढ़ गया। जीभ से उसने सख्त चीज़ को मारा, शब्द बनी हथियार।
Word by Word
- जाम्यती
- kindred/related; of the same stockAdjectiveस्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन (वयो॒धा के साथ विशेषण-रूपेण)Role Kartā (कर्ता-समूह का विशेषण)Root जाम्यत् (प्रातिपदिक; जामि ‘सहोदर/समान’ से) अथवा जाम्य (विशेषण-आधार)
- अतीतपे
- burned fiercely / blazed exceedinglyVerbलिट्/परफेक्ट (वैदिक), 3 पुरुष, एकवचन, परस्मैपद (अति-तपे ‘अत्यन्तं तप्तवान्/तप्ते’)Role Kriyā (मुख्य क्रिया)Root √तप् (तप्/तपते) + अति- (उपसर्ग)
- धनुः
- the bowNounनपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचनRole Kartā (कर्ता; अतीतपे का कर्ता)Root धनुस् (प्रातिपदिक)
- वयोधाः
- the strength-bearer / vigorous oneNoun/Adjectiveपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचनRole Kartā (कर्ता; धनुः का विशेषण/अप्पोज़िशन)Root वयो-धा (प्रातिपदिक; वयस् ‘बल/यौवन’ + √धा ‘धारण/स्थापन’ → ‘बल-धारक’)
- अरुहत्
- climbed / mountedVerbलङ् (इम्परफेक्ट), 3 पुरुष, एकवचन, परस्मैपदRole Kriyā (द्वितीय क्रिया)Root √रुह् (रुहति) + आ- (उपसर्ग)
- वनम्
- the wood / forestNounनपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचनRole Karma (कर्म; अरुहत् का)Root वन (प्रातिपदिक)
- दृषदम्
- the stone / rockNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग (वैदिक में दृषद् प्रायः स्त्री), द्वितीया, एकवचनRole Karma (कर्म; अवधीत् का)Root दृषद् (प्रातिपदिक; ‘पत्थर/शिला’)
- जिह्वया
- with the tongueNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग, तृतीया, एकवचनRole Karaṇa (करण)Root जिह्वा (प्रातिपदिक)
- अवधीत्
- struck down / smoteVerbलङ् (इम्परफेक्ट), 3 पुरुष, एकवचन, परस्मैपदRole Kriyā (मुख्य क्रिया)Root √हन् (हन्ति) + अव- (उपसर्ग)
Sandhi Notes
- पदच्छेद (वैदिक संधि-विच्छेद): जाम्यती + अतीतपे + धनुः + वयोधाः + अरुहत् + वनम् । दृषदम् + जिह्वया + अवधीत् । 1) ‘जाम्य॑तीतपे’ = ‘जाम्यती अतीतपे’ (इ- + अ- संधि: यणादेश → ‘इअ’ > ‘य’)
- 2) ‘अ॑रुह॒द्वन॑म्’ = ‘अरुहत् वनम्’ (त् + व → उच्चारण/संहिता में ‘द्व’; वैदिक संधि-प्रभाव)
The meaning
Outer meaning
In close kinship he kindled/strained the bow; the life-bearer climbed into the wood. With the tongue he struck down the hard (dṛṣad).
Inner meaning
The verse continues the Rudra-mantra dynamic: in ‘jāmi’ (close kinship/oneness), the inner force tightens the bow—speech becomes a weapon of concentrated will. The ‘life-bearer’ (vayodhā) is the sustaining prāṇa-force that ascends into the ‘wood/forest’ (vanam): the dense vital-nature and its tangled growth. There, by the tongue—mantric vibration and truthful utterance—it strikes down the hard resistance (dṛṣad), the petrified obstruction in the subconscient/vital that refuses change.
Universal truth
When inner unity is established, speech aligned with truth becomes a decisive force. Vital energy must enter the dense parts of nature; transformation requires confronting and breaking hardened resistances.
Themes
speech as weapon, removal of resistance, ascension, fierce purification
The seer
- Other hymns
- Rig Veda 8.72.1, Rig Veda 8.72.2, Rig Veda 8.72.3, Rig Veda 8.72.5
Family tradition
Kāṇva-style vivid symbolic action: bow/forest/stone become inner-psychological images of concentrated will entering dense nature.
Significance
Shows the operative method of transformation: unify the being (jāmi), tighten will (dhanuḥ), mobilize prāṇa (vayodhā), enter the dense layers (vanam), and break resistance through mantra-truth (jihvā).
The deity
- Devata
- Rudra (fierce transformative force)
- Epithets
- ugra (fierce, implied), dṛṣad-bhid (stone-breaker, implied), vāyodhā-sahāya (ally of life-force, implied)
- Related deities
- Agni, Indra, Vāyu/Prāṇa
Cosmic role
Breaker of hardness; awakener of life-force that penetrates inert nature.
Inner power
Forceful truth-vibration that can shatter fixed patterns; tapas in speech and will.
In ritual
Where it is used
Rudra-related recitation; imagery of weapon and resistance fits protective/clearing functions.
जा॒म्य॑तीतपे॒ धनु॑र्वयो॒धा अ॑रुह॒द्वन॑म् । दृ॒षदं॑ जि॒ह्वयाव॑धीत् ॥
जा॒मि । अ॒ती॒त॒पे॒ । धनुः॑ । व॒यः॒ऽधाः । अ॒रु॒ह॒त् । वन॑म् । दृ॒षद॑म् । जि॒ह्वया॑ । आ । अ॒व॒धी॒त् ॥
jāmi | atītape | dhanuḥ | vayaḥ-dhāḥ | aruhat | vanam | dṛṣadam | jihvayā | ā | avadhīt
32
4 × 8 (approximate)
Martial and kinetic; verbs drive forward (kindled/climbed/struck).
Energizes and emboldens; supports breaking-through moments in practice.
- जामि (jāmi)
- Literal: kinship, close relation. Symbolic: inner oneness; integration of parts around the soul’s aim
- धनुः (dhanuḥ)
- Literal: bow. Symbolic: concentrated will; instrument that projects force precisely
- वयोधाः (vayo-dhāḥ)
- Literal: life-bearer, life-supporting. Symbolic: prāṇa-shakti sustaining the work and enabling ascent
- वनम् (vanam)
- Literal: wood, forest. Symbolic: dense vital/subconscient nature; tangled habits and impulses
- दृषदम् (dṛṣadam)
- Literal: stone, hard thing. Symbolic: hardened obstruction; fixed resistance (vṛtra-like) in the being
- जिह्वया (jihvayā)
- Literal: with the tongue. Symbolic: mantra as weapon; speech-power that can cut/break
Mantric overcoming of obstruction: speech as weapon; suitable in protective rites and in invocations where Rudra’s force is harnessed for removing resistance.
When invoking force to remove obstacles; psychologically during transitions where old patterns resist.
Mantric utterance as ‘weapon’; energizing the rite’s clearing power.
Use when facing compulsions/inertia: chant with a feeling of drawing a bow (steady intent), then releasing into dense emotions, breaking the ‘stone’ of fixed habit.
√tap ‘heat, kindle’ underlies tapas as ardour. dhanu ‘bow’ as directed power. vayaḥ ‘vital strength/life’ + √dhā ‘place/hold’ → ‘life-sustainer’. √ruh ‘ascend’. vaná ‘wood’ (fuel; also ‘desire/forest’ in other contexts). dṛṣad ‘stone’ from √dṛś/√dṛṣ ‘be hard/firm; see’ (lexicalized as ‘stone’). √vadh ‘strike, slay’—used mythically for overcoming obstruction; jihvā marks mantra as the weapon.
Tapas as intensification, Mantra-śakti: speech as effective force, Overcoming obstruction on the path
Breaking hardness restores flow of ṛta in life-energy.
Tongue as truth-force: satya-vāk becomes an instrument of transformation.
Evolutionary ascent: life-force climbs into the dense forest of nature to reclaim it for consciousness.
Yoga-psychology reading (Aurobindo): prāṇa entering subconscient/vital to transform it by mantra and will.
Forest = tangled vital; stone = inertia; bow = focused will; life-bearer = prāṇa supporting ascent.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- The mythologem is ‘slaying the stone’—overcoming a hard obstruction—by the tongue. This is a classic Vedic transposition: the decisive act is not physical violence but the effective utterance that releases blocked force and enables ascent.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- √tap (heat) and √vadh (strike) are archaic action roots used in sacral-poetic contexts across IE traditions (weapon/overcoming imagery). The metaphor ‘speech as weapon’ is a widespread IE poetic inheritance.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The seer presents a technique: by tapas (intensified ardour) and mantra (jihvā), the fierce divine force becomes an aimed bow that can break resistance. The devatā is not merely external; it is a power wielded through disciplined speech and inner heat.
Mantra as weapon of truth; concentrate will; send prāṇa into resistant zones; break inertia gently but firmly.
Maṇipūra (will/prāṇa) and Viśuddha (truth-speech)
‘Bow-drawing’ breath: slow inhale (draw), brief hold (aim), long exhale with mantra (release).
Dynamic concentration; transformative force moving through vital layers.
Locate a ‘hard’ place in the body-mind (numbness, compulsion, fear). Inhale as if drawing a bow; feel prāṇa rise and enter the ‘forest’ of that pattern; chant on exhale, imagining the sound striking and cracking the stone of resistance.
Chant with clear Vedic accenting; keep action-verbs crisp; exact udātta/anudātta requires svara text of the śākhā.
Give a firm articulation to ‘dhanuḥ’ and ‘dṛṣadam’; slightly lengthen ‘jihvayā’ to feel speech as instrument.
jāmi: long ā, atītape: long ī; dental t, vayodhā: compound vayo-dhā; long ā, aruhat: roll r; short u, dṛṣadam: vocalic ṛ; retroflex ṣ
Strong, bright, penetrating; avoid harshness.
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