Rig Veda 8.83.3: Mandala 8, Sukta 83, Mantra 3
Sukta 8.83
- Devata
- Ādityas / divine guides as viś-pati and ṛtasya rathyāḥ
- Rasa
- Adbhuta (wonder) and Shanta (peace)
अति नो विष्पिता पुरु नौभिरपो न पर्षथ । यूयमृतस्य रथ्यः ॥
áti no viṣpitā́ purú naúbhir apó ná parṣatha | yūyám ṛtásya rathyáḥ ||
हे घर के मालिक, तुम हमें पार ले जाओ। जैसे कश्ती पानी पार करती है, वैसे ही तुम बहुत सारे सारे ज़रिये से हमें ले जाओ। तुम सच के रास्ते चलाने वाले हो।
Word by Word
- अति
- over, across, beyondIndeclinableअव्यय (उपसर्ग/क्रियाविशेषण)Root अति (उपसर्ग/अव्यय)
- नः
- to/for us (our)Pronounषष्ठी/चतुर्थी? एकवचन (एन्क्लिटिक ‘नः’ = अस्माकम्/अस्मभ्यम्; यहाँ संदर्भतः कर्म/सम्प्रदान-सम्बन्ध)Role SampradānaRoot अस्मद्
- विष्पिता
- O protector/guardian (epithet)Noun/Adjectiveपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा एकवचन (सम्बोधन/कर्तृ-रूपे प्रयुक्त)Role KartāRoot वि-√स्पृ/स्पृश्? (वेद. ‘विष्पिता’ = ‘विस्तारक/रक्षक’ प्रकार का विशेषण; प्रातिपदिक: विष्पितृ/विष्पिता)
- पुरु
- many, muchAdjectiveअव्ययवत्/विशेषण, (बहु/अनेक) — यहाँ ‘बहुभिः’ के अर्थ मेंRoot पुरु
- नौभिः
- with boatsNounतृतीया बहुवचनRole KaraṇaRoot नौ (स्त्री.)
- अपः
- watersNounद्वितीया बहुवचनRole KarmaRoot अप् (स्त्री.)
- न
- like, asIndeclinableउपमा/तुलना-अव्ययRoot न
- पर्षथ
- carry across, ferry overVerbलोट् (आज्ञार्थ), मध्यम पुरुष, बहुवचन, परस्मैपदRoot √पॄ (पारयति/पर्षति)
- यूयम्
- you (pl.)Pronounप्रथमा बहुवचनRole KartāRoot युष्मद्
- ऋतस्य
- of ṛta (cosmic order/truth)Nounषष्ठी एकवचनRole Sambandha (genitive)Root ऋत (नपुं.)
- रथ्यः
- charioteers; those of the chariot/roadAdjective/Nounपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा बहुवचनRole Kartā (predicate nominative)Root रथ्य (विशेषण/नाम) < रथ
Sandhi Notes
- पदच्छेद (सन्धि-निरसन): अति | नः | विष्पिता | पुरु | नौभिः | अपः | न | पर्षथ | यूयम् | ऋतस्य | रथ्यः । ‘नो’ = ‘नः’ (एन्क्लिटिक सर्वनाम)
- ‘नौभिरपो’ में संधि: नौभिः + अपः → नौभिरपो (विसर्ग/र्-आदेश)
The meaning
Outer meaning
O lords of the dwelling (viṣpitā), carry us beyond with many boats, as across waters; you are the charioteers of ṛta.
Inner meaning
The Ādityas are masters of the inner ‘home’ (the ordered dwelling of consciousness). The ‘waters’ are the flowing movements of life-energy and the subconscient currents that must be crossed. ‘Many boats’ are multiple supports—discernment, protection, harmony, law—by which the seeker is ferried beyond confusion to the farther shore of truth. As ‘charioteers of ṛta’, these powers guide the journey of the being along the right tracks of cosmic order.
Universal truth
Crossing life’s turbulent currents requires guidance by truth-order and the availability of multiple supports; the farther shore is reached by right governance, not by force alone.
Themes
Crossing over, Guidance, Truth-order, Inner journey
The seer
- Other hymns
- RV 1.99 (crossing beyond by divine help), RV 7.60 (Varuṇa as guide and releaser), RV 10.63 (gods as saviors across peril)
Family tradition
Aurobindonian reading fits the Āditya tradition: guidance across the waters of lower nature by ṛta-directed powers.
Significance
The rishi presents spiritual progress as a crossing (tīrtha): the divine powers provide multiple vehicles and right steering to reach the farther shore of ordered truth.
The deity
- Devata
- Ādityas / divine guides (viṣ-pati; ṛtasya rathyāḥ)
- Epithets
- viṣpitā (lords of the dwelling), ṛtasya rathyāḥ (charioteers of ṛta)
- Related deities
- Varuṇa, Mitra, Aryaman, Savitar
Cosmic role
Stewards of cosmic and social order who guide beings across perilous transitions and maintain the ‘habitable’ world of law and harmony.
Inner power
Inner governance and guidance: establishing a stable psychic home, steering energies through turbulence toward truth.
In ritual
Where it is used
Protective and journey-related invocations; ṛta-guidance prayers
अति॑ नो विष्पि॒ता पु॒रु नौ॒भिर॒पो न प॑र्षथ । यू॒यमृ॒तस्य॑ रथ्यः ॥
अति॑ । नः॒ । वि॒ष्पि॒ता । पु॒रु । नौ॒भिः । अ॒पः । न । प॒र्ष॒थ॒ । यू॒यम् । ऋ॒तस्य॑ । र॒थ्य्शः॒ ॥
ati | naḥ | viṣpitā | puru | naubhiḥ | apaḥ | na | parṣatha | yūyam | ṛtasya | rathyśaḥ
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4 × ~8 syllables
Forward-driving with crossing imagery; a sense of movement and transit.
Induces a felt ‘carrying’ motion—helpful for overcoming fear or inertia during transitions.
- विष्पिता (viṣpitā)
- Literal: lords of the settlement/dwelling. Symbolic: governors of the inner city—powers that organize consciousness into a stable home for truth
- नौभिः (naubhiḥ)
- Literal: with boats. Symbolic: means of passage—methods, protections, faculties that carry one across difficulty
- आपः (āpaḥ)
- Literal: waters. Symbolic: life-forces, subconscient streams, emotional-vital movements
- अति...पर्षथ (ati...parṣatha)
- Literal: carry across/beyond. Symbolic: transcendence of limitation; passage from mixed nature to clarity
- ऋतस्य रथ्यः (ṛtasya rathyāḥ)
- Literal: charioteers of ṛta. Symbolic: guides who steer action/thought along truth-order
Prayer for safe passage and right guidance; used where ‘crossing’ (ati-) imagery suits transitions, obstacles, or consecratory movements.
Before travel, major life transitions, or beginning a discipline; also at dawn as part of Āditya recitation.
Prayer for safe passage and right guidance; mental offering of one’s journey to ṛta.
Use when overwhelmed: as a ‘crossing mantra’ to move beyond emotional flooding into ordered clarity.
(viś-pati) literally ‘lord of the settlement/people’ (pati ‘master’ from PIE *pótis). The crossing image uses √pṝ/√pṛ ‘to bring across’ (parṣatha) with apo ‘waters’, a frequent Vedic symbol for streams of consciousness and life-energy. ‘charioteers’ from ratha ‘chariot’ (IE vehicle lexicon), here yoked to ṛta: the right-driven movement of truth.
Ṛta as right movement, Guidance across inner waters (transition from ignorance to knowledge)
Explicit: the invoked powers are charioteers of ṛta—steering evolution along right order.
The farther shore implies stable truth-consciousness beyond turbulence.
From waters to ordered world: the gods establish a ‘dwelling’ (viś) of harmony within the flux.
Symbolic cosmology of ascent/crossing; bridges to Upaniṣadic ‘crossing over’ (tāraṇa) motifs.
Waters = emotional-vital flux; boats = supports/practices; charioteers = guiding intelligence; beyond = higher stability.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- The central mythologem is the ‘ferrying across the waters’—a symbolic passage through dangerous or obscuring currents. The Gods as ṛtasya rathyāḥ ‘drivers of ṛta’ convert the perilous crossing into a governed journey: truth becomes the vehicle and the law of motion.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- viś-pati preserves an archaic IE socio-political compound (‘people’ + ‘lord’), comparable to other IE ‘lord of X’ titles (pótis). The vehicle lexicon (ratha) and yoking/driving imagery is pan-IE poetic inheritance, reflecting a shared metaphor of ordered progress guided by divine or heroic drivers.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The Rishi positions the Devata as expert conductors: not only protectors of the community (viś-pati) but pilots of the truth-way. The human offers trust and aspiration (‘carry us beyond’), while the Gods provide the many ‘boats’—multiple means and faculties for inner passage.
Feel the Āditya powers as inner guides steering you across emotional turbulence into ṛta (right order).
maṇipūra (steady steering power)
Exhale longer than inhale (1:2) to soothe ‘waters’; on each exhale, imagine being ferried to the farther shore.
Transition from agitation to guided steadiness.
When caught in emotional waves, repeat while visualizing a luminous boat of discernment and a charioteer-force aligning thoughts to truth.
Observe udatta on initial particles where marked (ati), and maintain a rising energy through the crossing phrase; exact accents per recensional notation.
Let ‘ati’ and ‘parṣatha’ carry the motion; emphasize ‘ṛtasya rathyāḥ’ with dignified steadiness.
viṣpitā: retroflex ṣ; keep ‘pi’ light, naubhiḥ: ‘au’ diphthong clear; visarga softly breathed, parṣatha: retroflex ṣ; avoid ‘parsatha’ dental s, rathyāḥ: cluster ‘thy’ articulated as t+h+yāḥ
Flowing but controlled; like rowing—steady pulses.
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