Rig Veda 8.9.1: Mandala 8, Sukta 9, Mantra 1
Sukta 8.9
- Rishi
- Kāṇva tradition
- Devata
- Aśvinau
- Chandas
- Jagatī
- Rasa
- Karuna (compassion) and Shanta (peace)
आ नूनमश्विना युवं वत्सस्य गन्तमवसे । प्रास्मै यच्छतमवृकं पृथु च्छर्दिर्युयुतं या अरातयः ॥
ā nū́nam aśvinā yuváṃ vatsásya gantám aváse | prā́smái yacchatam avŕ̥kaṃ pr̥thú chardír yuyutáṃ yā́ arā́tayaḥ ||
हे अश्विन, अब आओ और वत्स की मदद करो। उसे इतना बड़ा आश्रय दो कि कोई भी तोड़ न सके। जैसे भी दुश्मन आए, उनको भगा दो।
Word by Word
- आ
- hither, towardsIndeclinableउपसर्ग (गत्यर्थ/आह्वानार्थ)Root आ (उपसर्ग) / ā (preverb)
- नूनम्
- now, indeedIndeclinableकालवाचक-अव्ययRoot नूनम् (अव्यय)
- अश्विना
- O Aśvins (you two)Nounपुंलिङ्ग, द्विवचन, सम्बोधन (Vocative) (Vedic: dual voc.)Role सम्बोधनRoot अश्विन् (प्रातिपदिक: अश्विन्- ‘the Aśvins’)
- युवम्
- you twoPronounउत्तमपुरुष-सर्वनाम, द्विवचन, प्रथमाRole कर्तृRoot युष्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- वत्सस्य
- of the calf/childNounपुंलिङ्ग, एकवचन, षष्ठीRole सम्बन्ध (genitive)Root वत्स (प्रातिपदिक)
- गन्तम्
- come (you two)!Verbलोट् (आज्ञार्थ), मध्यमपुरुष, द्विवचन; परस्मैपद; धातु: √गम्Role क्रियाRoot गम् (धातु) → गन्तृ/गन्त (आगन्तुम् इत्यर्थे; Vedic imperative dual)
- अवसे
- for help, for aidNounनपुंसकलिङ्ग (Vedic usage), एकवचन, चतुर्थी (दत्त्यर्थ)Role सम्प्रदानRoot अवस् (प्रातिपदिक: अवस्- ‘help, aid’)
- प्र
- forth, forwardIndeclinableउपसर्ग/निपातRoot प्र (उपसर्ग/अव्यय)
- अस्मै
- to himPronounपुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, एकवचन, चतुर्थीRole सम्प्रदानRoot अयम्/इदम् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- यच्छतम्
- grant/give (you two)Verbलोट् (आज्ञार्थ), मध्यमपुरुष, द्विवचन; परस्मैपद; धातु: √यम् (यच्छ-)Role क्रियाRoot यम् (धातु) → यच्छ (present stem) + तम्
- अवृकम्
- harmless, unwolfish (safe)Adjectiveनपुंसकलिङ्ग, एकवचन, द्वितीया (कर्मणि) (विशेषण)Role कर्मRoot अ-वृक (प्रातिपदिक; वृक ‘wolf’ → अवृक ‘wolf-less, not harmful’)
- पृथु
- broad, wideAdjectiveनपुंसकलिङ्ग, एकवचन, द्वितीया (अव्ययवत्/विशेषणरूपेण) (विशेषण)Role कर्म (विशेषण)Root पृथु (प्रातिपदिक)
- छर्दिः
- shelter, protectionNounनपुंसकलिङ्ग, एकवचन, द्वितीयाRole कर्मRoot छर्दिस् (प्रातिपदिक: छर्दिस्- ‘shelter, covering, protection’)
- युयुतम्
- ward off, keep away (you two)Verbलोट् (आज्ञार्थ), मध्यमपुरुष, द्विवचन; परस्मैपद; धातु: √यु (युयुत-)Role क्रियाRoot यु (धातु) / युयु (present stem ‘separate, ward off’)
- याः
- which (those)Pronounस्त्रीलिङ्ग, बहुवचन, प्रथमाRole कर्तृ (युयुतम्-क्रियायाः)Root यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- अरा॑तयः
- hostilities, hostile beings/harmsNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग, बहुवचन, प्रथमाRole कर्तृ (याः अरा॑तयः)Root अरा॑ति (प्रातिपदिक: अराति- ‘harm, hostility; hostile ones’)
Sandhi Notes
- पदच्छेद (Vedic sandhi resolved): आ | नूनम् | अश्विना | युवम् | वत्सस्य | गन्तम् | अवसे | प्र | अस्मै | यच्छतम् | अवृकम् | पृथु | छर्दिः | युयुतम् | याः | अरा॑तयः । प्रमुख-सन्धि: प्रास्मै = प्र + अस्मै (स्वर-सन्धि/संयोग)
- च्छर्दिः = छर्दिः (पदपाठे ‘छर्दिः’; संहितायां पूर्वपदान्त-उच्चारणे ‘पृथु च्छर्दिः’ इति च्-आगम/व्यञ्जन-संयोग)
The meaning
Outer meaning
Come now, O Ashvins, to help Vatsa. Grant him a broad shelter that no wolf can break; drive away hostile forces (arātayaḥ).
Inner meaning
Vatsa (‘the calf/child’) symbolizes the vulnerable growing soul or the newly awakened aspiration that needs protection while it matures. The Aśvins are invoked to come ‘now’—immediate aid. ‘Wide shelter’ is a spacious consciousness (pṛthu chardiḥ) in which fear and attack cannot penetrate. The ‘wolf’ (vṛka) is the devouring impulse—predatory desire, anxiety, or hostile suggestion—that tears at the tender growth. The mantra asks not merely to endure attacks but to actively drive out (yuyutam) the arātis—forces of disharmony, envy, obstruction—so the inner being can develop safely.
Universal truth
New growth needs wise protection and spaciousness. A secure inner shelter—clarity, faith, and supportive order—prevents destructive impulses from consuming what is trying to be born in us.
Themes
Protection, Repulsion of hostility, Shelter, Immediate invocation
The seer
- Rishi
- Kāṇva tradition (Vatsa prominent in the hymn’s setting)
- Lineage
- Kāṇva
- Other hymns
- RV 1.116–1.120 (Aśvin rescues and protections), RV 8.9 (Aśvin sequence context)
Family tradition
The Kaṇva stream often includes intimate, personal appeals (help this one, protect that growth) that translate readily into inner-psychological petitions.
Significance
Marks the yoga of protection for new inner birth: calling the twin powers to establish a safe, wide field for growth.
The deity
- Devata
- Aśvinau
- Epithets
- yuvam (you two, youthful), helpers (avase), repellers of harm
- Related deities
- Aditi (wide, unbrokenness), Uṣas (awakening), Rudra (warding off harm—functional parallel)
Cosmic role
Protectors and healers who create safe passage and shelter; warders against hostile forces during transitions.
Inner power
Establishing a ‘wide space’ (uru/pṛthu) in consciousness; swift removal of hostile suggestions and devouring impulses.
In ritual
Where it is used
Protective Aśvin invocation; healing/safeguarding motif (general)
आ नू॒नम॑श्विना यु॒वं व॒त्सस्य॑ गन्त॒मव॑से । प्रास्मै॑ यच्छतमवृ॒कं पृ॒थु च्छ॒र्दिर्यु॑यु॒तं या अरा॑तयः ॥
आ । नू॒नम् । अ॒श्वि॒ना॒ । यु॒वम् । व॒त्सस्य॑ । ग॒न्त॒म् । अव॑से । प्र । अस्मै॑ । य॒च्छ॒त॒म् । अ॒वृ॒कम् । पृ॒थु । छ॒र्दिः । यु॒यु॒तम् । याः । अरा॑तयः ॥
ā | nūnam | aśvinā | yuvam | vatsasya | gantam | avase | pra | asmai | yacchatam | avṛkam | pṛthu | chardiḥ | yuyutam | yāḥ | arātayaḥ
48
4 pādas × ~12 syllables (longer cadence)
Flowing, spacious line suited to the theme of ‘broad shelter’; more expansive than anuṣṭubh.
Creates psychological wideness and safety; the longer meter supports a soothing yet directive repulsion of negativity.
- आ नूनम् (ā nūnam)
- Literal: come now, indeed. Symbolic: immediacy of grace; present-moment invocation
- वत्सस्य (vatsasya)
- Literal: of Vatsa / of the calf. Symbolic: the young soul/aspiration needing nurture
- अवृकम् (avṛkam)
- Literal: wolf-less; not to be broken by a wolf. Symbolic: free from devouring impulses, fear, predation; secure inner field
- पृथु छर्दिः (pṛthu chardiḥ)
- Literal: broad shelter/covering. Symbolic: wide consciousness, protective peace, psychological spaciousness
- अरा॑तयः (arātayaḥ)
- Literal: hostilities, harms. Symbolic: forces of obstruction and disharmony (inner and outer) to be expelled
- युयुतम् (yuyutam)
- Literal: drive away, repel. Symbolic: active purification and boundary-setting in sādhanā
Protective invocation within Soma setting; also harmonizes with requests for ‘shelter’ and repulsion of harms in communal rites
Morning; also in contexts seeking protection from harm and securing wellbeing
Calling the Aśvins to ‘come’ and ‘grant shelter’; symbolic warding-off
A protective chant for vulnerable phases: illness recovery, new projects, pregnancy/parenting, early-stage meditation awakening; also for anxiety—invoking ‘wide shelter’.
avr̥ka: a- ‘not’ + vṛka ‘wolf’; wolf symbolizes the devouring, disruptive force in life-energy—what tears the settled protection. arāti: privative a- + rāti ‘gift, grace’ (from √rā ‘to give’); thus arātayaḥ are forces of non-giving, obstruction, inner hostility. chardiḥ ‘shelter’ is not mere physical cover: it is a stable field of consciousness in which hostile impulses cannot enter.
grace as rāti (gift) vs arāti (non-gift), protective consciousness-field (chardiḥ), divine help as immediate descent (nūnam)
Hostilities are forces of disorder; driving them away restores ṛta in the life-field.
The ‘wolf-less’ shelter is a satya-space: integrity where predatory falsehood cannot enter.
Nurturing of new birth in consciousness; protection of the ‘child of light’ until it can stand.
Integral yoga psychology: wideness as a key sign of higher consciousness (later explicit in Aurobindo’s language).
Dawn/early morning
Wolf = devouring desire/fear; shelter = widened awareness; hostility = disruptive thought-forms/emotions repelled by clarity and calm force.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- The mythologem is ‘divine shelter and expulsion of hostile powers.’ The wolf is a poetic figure for devouring disturbance; innerly it is the force that rends the formed protection of consciousness. The Ashvins are asked to establish a wide, unbroken field (pṛthu chardiḥ) and to separate away the arātis (forces that negate grace).
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- vṛka ‘wolf’ corresponds to PIE *wĺ̥kʷos (cf. Latin lupus via metathesis/other development; Slavic vьlkъ). The privative a- is a common IE feature. The shelter term chardiḥ reflects archaic protective-covering vocabulary; the semantic pairing ‘give’ (rā/rāti) vs ‘non-give’ (a-rāti) is a characteristically Vedic moral-psychological opposition encoded morphologically.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The rishi requests a concrete inner boon: not abstract blessing but an established protection and an active purification (driving away harms). The Ashvins respond, in the hymn’s logic, by shaping the seeker’s life-field into a safe vessel where right movement can proceed.
Create inner wideness; protect the ‘newly awakened’ part of you from devouring impulses and hostile thoughts.
anāhata (safety/trust) with viśuddha (clearing hostile speech/thought)
Lengthened exhale to widen the inner space; on exhale mentally repeat pṛthu chardiḥ; brief pause to sense ‘avṛkam’ safety.
Protected openness; gentle vigilance.
Before sleep or before entering stressful environments: chant once, then visualize a wide luminous canopy around the heart and head; notice and ‘drive away’ one recurring hostile thought-pattern without struggle—just firm dismissal.
Use recensional accenting; sustain the long cadence of jagatī with clear udātta peaks on key imperatives (gántam, yácchatam, yuyutám where accented).
Keep ‘ā nūnam…gantam avase’ as an inviting sweep; give ‘avṛkam pṛthu chardiḥ’ a protective emphasis; end with a firm, expulsive cadence on yuyutam yā arātayaḥ.
aśvinā: keep ś as palatal ‘sh’, not s., yuvam: pronounce yu-vam, not yūm., avṛkam: vṛ with crisp ṛ; do not insert vowel (avoid ‘avirakam’)., chardiḥ: aspirate ch; final ḥ lightly released., arātayaḥ: long ā; keep t dental.
Warm, sheltering, sustained; end decisively when repelling hostility.
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