Rig Veda 9.100.8: Mandala 9, Sukta 100, Mantra 8
Sukta 9.100
- Rishi
- Pavamāna Soma seer tradition
- Devata
- Soma Pavamāna
- Chandas
- Likely Triṣṭubh
- Rasa
- Vira (heroism) and Raudra (fury)
पवमान महि श्रवश्चित्रेभिर्यासि रश्मिभिः । शर्धन्तमांसि जिघ्नसे विश्वानि दाशुषो गृहे ॥
pavamāna máhi śrávaś citrébhir yāsi raśmíbhīḥ | śárdhan tamā́ṃsi jighnase víśvāni dāśúṣo gṛhé ||
सोम रस बढ़िया नाम ले के चल रहा है। उसकी चमक अलग-अलग रंगों में है। वो आगे बढ़ के अंधेरा मिटा देता है। जो लोग दान देते हैं, उनके घर से बुराई दूर हो जाती है।
Word by Word
- पवमानः
- the purifying (Soma)Adjective (epithet)पुंलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, एकवचनम्Role कर्तृRoot पवमान- (√पू ‘to purify’ > पव-; present middle participle)
- महि
- greatly, mightilyAdjective (indeclinable use)अव्ययम् (intensifier)Root महि (मह्/महत्- ‘great’)
- श्रवः
- fame, gloryNounनपुंसकलिङ्गः, द्वितीया, एकवचनम्Role कर्मRoot श्रवस्-
- चित्रेभिः
- with bright/variegated (ones)Adjective (used substantively)पुं/नपुंसकलिङ्गः, तृतीया, बहुवचनम्Role करणRoot चित्र-
- यासि
- you go, you moveVerbलट् (वर्तमान), परस्मैपदम्, मध्यमपुरुषः, एकवचनम्Root √या (to go)
- रश्मिभिः
- with rays, with reinsNounपुंलिङ्गः, तृतीया, बहुवचनम्Role करणRoot रश्मि-
- शर्धन्तम्
- the assailing/hostile (one)Adjective/Participleपुंलिङ्गः, द्वितीया, एकवचनम्Role कर्मRoot शर्धन्त- (from √शृध्/शर्ध् ‘to be violent/assail’; present participle)
- अंसि
- limbs/haunches (lit. shoulders)Nounनपुंसकलिङ्गः, द्वितीया, बहुवचनम्Role कर्मRoot अंसि (अंस- ‘shoulder/haunch’; Vedic form)
- जिघ्नसे
- you strike, you smiteVerbलट् (वर्तमान), आत्मनेपदम्, मध्यमपुरुषः, एकवचनम्Root √हन् (to strike, slay)
- विश्वानि
- all (things), all (of them)Adjective (used substantively)नपुंसकलिङ्गः, द्वितीया, बहुवचनम्Role कर्मRoot विश्व-
- दाशुषः
- of the worshipper/giverNoun/Participle (substantive)पुंलिङ्गः, षष्ठी, एकवचनम्Role सम्बन्ध (genitive)Root दाशुष्- (perf. participle from √दाश्/√दा ‘to give, worship’)
- गृहे
- in the houseNounनपुंसकलिङ्गः, सप्तमी, एकवचनम्Role अधिकरणRoot गृह-
Sandhi Notes
- पव॑मान॒ महि॒ श्रव॑श्चि॒त्रेभि॑र्यासि र॒श्मिभि॑ः → पवमानः | महि | श्रवः | चित्रेभिः | यासि | रश्मिभिः । (श्रवः+चित्रेभिः: विसर्ग-लोप/सन्धि; चित्रेभिः+यासि: र्-आगम/रेफ-सन्धि)
- शर्ध॒न्तमां॑सि → शर्धन्तम् | अंसि (m-आगमः: -म् + अ-)
The meaning
Outer meaning
O Pavamāna, you move with great fame by your many-colored rays; pressing forward, you strike down all darknesses in the house of the giver.
Inner meaning
Purified Soma advances with ‘many-colored rays’—variegated illuminations and powers of insight. As it presses forward (śardhan), it destroys the accumulated darknesses (tamāṃsi) within the ‘house’—the embodied field of the aspirant (dāśuṣaḥ gṛha), the one who offers himself and his energies to the inner sacrifice. Soma here is the luminous delight that becomes a radiant intelligence, actively attacking obscurity and subconscient resistance.
Universal truth
When inner joy is purified into clear force, it radiates in many forms of understanding and dispels darkness from the very home of life—our daily embodied consciousness.
Themes
Light-victory, Soma-illumination, Inner house (gṛha) as the embodied field, Removal of darkness
The seer
- Rishi
- Pavamāna Soma seer tradition
- Other hymns
- RV 9.100.4, RV 9.100.5, RV 9.100.6, RV 9.100.7
Family tradition
Ninth Maṇḍala: purification hymns emphasizing Soma as radiance and force against darkness.
Significance
A clear psychological battle-verse: Soma’s rays are not decorative but militant illumination, cleansing the ‘house’ of the consecrated seeker.
The deity
- Devata
- Soma Pavamāna
- Epithets
- Pavamāna, Citra-raśmi (many-rayed, interpretive), Mahi-śravas (great-gloried)
- Related deities
- Indra (slayer of darkness/Vṛtra motif parallel), Agni (inner fire that also dispels darkness)
Cosmic role
Radiant purifier whose light-diffusion destroys darkness and establishes luminous order in the human habitation.
Inner power
Ananda turned into many-rayed knowledge-force; dynamic purification that actively removes obscurity.
In ritual
Where it is used
Pavamāna chant during Soma purification; also protective/clearing intent within the sacrifice
पव॑मान॒ महि॒ श्रव॑श्चि॒त्रेभि॑र्यासि र॒श्मिभि॑: । शर्ध॒न्तमां॑सि जिघ्नसे॒ विश्वा॑नि दा॒शुषो॑ गृ॒हे ॥
पव॑मान । महि॑ । श्रवः॑ । चि॒त्रेभिः॑ । या॒सि॒ । र॒श्मिऽभिः॑ । शर्ध॑न् । तमां॑सि । जि॒घ्न॒से॒ । विश्वा॑नि । दा॒शुषः॑ । गृ॒हे ॥
pavamāna | mahi | śravaḥ | citrebhiḥ | yāsi | raśmi-bhiḥ | śardhan | tamāṃsi | jighnase | viśvāni | dāśuṣaḥ | gṛhe
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4 × ~11 syllables; strong verb-driven cadence (yāsi… jighnase).
Assertive, striking; suitable for ‘smashing darkness’ imagery.
Invokes courage and clarity; feels like a cleansing sweep through inner spaces.
- श्रवस् (śravas)
- Literal: fame, glory, renown. Symbolic: manifest power of realization; the ‘heard’ truth vibrating in consciousness
- चित्र (citra)
- Literal: variegated, bright-colored. Symbolic: multiple modes of illumination—insight, intuition, inspiration, discrimination
- रश्मि (raśmi)
- Literal: ray, rein. Symbolic: rays of knowledge that also ‘rein’ and govern energies
- तमस् (tamas)
- Literal: darkness. Symbolic: ignorance, inertia, subconscient obscurity
- गृह (gṛha)
- Literal: house. Symbolic: the embodied being; the inner ‘home’ where forces gather
- दाशुष् (dāśuṣ)
- Literal: giver, offerer. Symbolic: the aspirant who consecrates life-movements to the divine work
Chanted during Soma purification and offering: Soma’s ‘rays’ metaphorically correspond to clarified streams; functionally supports the rite’s aim of removing inauspiciousness and establishing luminous force for the yajña.
During filtration/flow and energizing of the Soma; can accompany moments of ‘driving out’ impurity in ritual space.
Chant as Soma flows; symbolic ‘clearing’ of the yajña-space.
Use as a clearing mantra for home/inner space: chant to dispel mental heaviness, procrastination, and depressive inertia.
śravaḥ from √śru ‘to hear’ → that which is heard/praised; innerly the audible/recognizable triumph of truth; raśmí- ‘ray’ (also ‘rein’) links illumination with governance; tamas- ‘darkness’ (obscuration) is the standard Vedic counterforce to ṛta; dāśuṣ- from √dāś/√daṃś ‘to offer, serve’ denotes the sacrificer as self-giver.
Knowledge vs. Ignorance (light overcoming tamas), Ṛta as victorious order establishing itself in the ‘house’, Bṛhat (vastness) implicit in mahi
Darkness is disorder; Soma’s rays restore ṛta in the ‘house’ of embodied life.
Many-rayed light supports satya by revealing what is concealed.
Evolution by illumination: light enters the habitation of matter and removes obscurity.
Vedic yoga of light: Soma-ananda as a luminous agency of transformation (Aurobindo/Kashyap line).
dawn-like (implied by rays and dispelling darkness)
Illumination spreading through the embodied system, removing tamasic patterns and subconscient gloom from daily life.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- The recurring Vedic combat of Light against Darkness: Soma, as a radiant force with ‘many-colored rays’, advances and slays tamas within the sacrificer’s ‘house’. This is the inner conquest of ignorance in the embodied being, a domesticized version of the cosmic victory myth.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- tamas- continues the IE notion of darkness (cf. Sanskrit támas, Latin tenebrae via different formations; Germanic *þem- in ‘dim’ is often compared though not a direct cognate). √śru ‘hear’ has clear IE cognates (Greek κλύω ‘hear’, Latin cluēre ‘be spoken of’), supporting śravaḥ as ‘renown/that which is heard’.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The sacrificer (dāśuṣ) offers himself and receives in return Soma’s active illumination: the hymn depicts Soma not as distant but as an indwelling ally who works inside the worshipper’s gṛha, converting the offering into an inner victory over obscurity.
Bring awareness to the ‘inner house’ (body as temple). With each exhale, let Soma-rays sweep rooms of the mind, dissolving tamas.
Ājñā (rays/vision) with grounding into Mūlādhāra (clearing tamasic inertia).
Brisk exhale emphasis (kapālabhāti-like gentle pulses, if suitable) followed by quiet sitting to feel luminous spread.
Bright, vigilant, purified.
Offer (dāśuṣ) a specific inner room—habit, fear, dullness—then invoke many-colored insight: allow different lights (intuition, reason, feeling-truth) to cooperate in clearing.
RV accents as marked; give clear lift to ‘mahi śravaḥ’ and energize ‘jighnase’ (you strike down) without harshness.
Make ‘citrebhir… raśmibhiḥ’ a flowing, colorful run; then a firm, clipped emphasis on ‘tamāṃsi jighnase’.
(citrebhiḥ): ‘tr’ cluster clear; bh aspirated., (raśmibhiḥ): ś (palatal) distinct from ṣ., (śardhan): keep ś + ardh- cluster; don’t drop dh., (jighnase): gh + n cluster; articulate without adding vowel., (dāśuṣo): long ā; retroflex ṣ; final o rounded.
Bright, penetrating, cleansing; firm consonants on darkness-dispelling segment.
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