Rig Veda 9.101.3: Mandala 9, Sukta 101, Mantra 3
Sukta 9.101
- Devata
- Soma Pavamāna
- Rasa
- Vira (heroism) and Shanta (peace)
तं दुरोषमभी नरः सोमं विश्वाच्या धिया । यज्ञं हिन्वन्त्यद्रिभिः ॥
táṃ duróṣam abhí nárāḥ sómaṃ viśvā́cyā dhiyā́ | yajñáṃ hinvanty ádribhiḥ ||
सोम को कोई आसानी से नुकसान नहीं पहुंचा सकता। लोग पत्थरों से उसका रस निकाल रहे हैं और यज्ञ को आगे बढ़ा रहे हैं। उनका ध्यान सब जगह है।
Word by Word
- तम्
- him/that (Soma)Pronounपुंलिङ्गे/नपुंसकलिङ्गे द्वितीया एकवचनम्Role कर्मRoot तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- दुरोषम्
- hard to burn/consume; difficult to injure (epithet)Adjectiveपुंलिङ्गे द्वितीया एकवचनम् (सोमम् इति विशेषणम्)Role कर्मRoot दुरोष (प्रातिपदिक; दुḥ + ओष/ओषस्-सम्बद्ध)
- अभी
- towards, untoIndeclinable (preverb/adverb)अव्ययम्Root अभि (उपसर्ग/अव्यय)
- नरः
- men, worshippersNounपुंलिङ्गे प्रथमा बहुवचनम्Role कर्तृRoot नर (प्रातिपदिक)
- सोमम्
- SomaNounपुंलिङ्गे द्वितीया एकवचनम्Role कर्मRoot सोम (प्रातिपदिक)
- विश्वाच्या
- all-reaching, universalAdjectiveस्त्रीलिङ्गे तृतीया एकवचनम् (धिया इति विशेषणम्)Role करणRoot विश्वाच्य (प्रातिपदिक; विश्व + आच्य ‘reaching/going’)
- धिया
- with thought/insight, by devotionNounस्त्रीलिङ्गे तृतीया एकवचनम्Role करणRoot धी (प्रातिपदिक)
- यज्ञम्
- the sacrificeNounपुंलिङ्गे द्वितीया एकवचनम्Role कर्मRoot यज्ञ (प्रातिपदिक)
- हि
- indeed, forIndeclinableअव्ययम्Root हि (निपात)
- हिन्वन्ति
- they impel/drive forwardVerbलट् (वर्तमाने) परस्मैपदम्, प्रथमपुरुषः बहुवचनम्Role क्रियाRoot हिन्व् (धातु; ‘to impel, set in motion’)
- अद्रिभिः
- with stones (pressing-stones)Nounपुंलिङ्गे तृतीया बहुवचनम्Role करणRoot अद्रि (प्रातिपदिक)
Sandhi Notes
- पदच्छेदः: तम् | दुरोषम् | अभी | नरः | सोमम् | विश्वाच्या | धिया | यज्ञम् | हि | हिन्वन्ति | अद्रिभिः । सन्धिः: (1) ‘अभी नरः’ इत्यत्र स्वर-सन्धिः/पदसंयोगः
- रूपपरिवर्तनं न। (2) ‘हिन्वन्ति अद्रिभिः’ इत्यत्र पदान्त-स्वरः + आद्यस्वरः
- संहितायां ‘हिन्वन्त्यद्रिभिः’ (य्-आगमः) ।
The meaning
Outer meaning
Men press toward that hard-to-harm Soma with an all-reaching thought; with pressing stones they drive the sacrifice onward.
Inner meaning
The ‘men’ (naraḥ) are the awakened powers in us. They approach the invulnerable delight (duroṣa Soma) with a thought that can range everywhere (viśvācyā dhī). The ‘pressing stones’ (adri) are the disciplined forces—concentration, discrimination, repeated effort—that extract the essence and propel the inner yajña (self-offering) forward.
Universal truth
Progress in inner life requires an all-embracing intelligence and steady disciplined practice; then the deeper joy becomes unassailable and the sacrifice advances.
Themes
Pressing of Soma, Integral thought (viśvācyā dhī), Driving the yajña, Inner concentration (adri)
The seer
- Other hymns
- Rig Veda 9.101.1-4
Significance
A classic Soma psychology: delight becomes ‘unharmed’ when supported by integral thought and steady pressure of sadhana, moving the whole sacrifice forward.
The deity
- Devata
- Soma Pavamāna
- Epithets
- duroṣa (invulnerable), soma (delight-essence)
- Related deities
- Agni (yajña leader), Indra (illumined mind strengthened by Soma), Bṛhaspati (wide thought/word)
Cosmic role
Sustains the yajña; empowers gods and humans; resists corruption by hostile forces.
Inner power
Stable Ananda that cannot be shaken when mind becomes all-embracing and practice is firm.
In ritual
Where it is used
Soma pressing with adri stones; propulsion of yajña sequence
तं दु॒रोष॑म॒भी नर॒: सोमं॑ वि॒श्वाच्या॑ धि॒या । य॒ज्ञं हि॑न्व॒न्त्यद्रि॑भिः ॥
तम् । दु॒रोष॑म् । अ॒भि । नरः॑ । सोम॑म् । वि॒श्वाच्या॑ । धि॒या । य॒ज्ञम् । हि॒न्व॒न्ति॒ । अद्रि॑ऽभिः ॥
tam | duroṣam | abhi | naraḥ | somam | viśvācyā | dhiyā | yajñam | hinvanti | adri-bhiḥ
Steady, driving rhythm matching ‘hinvanti’ (impel).
Builds persistence and a sense of collective forward movement in practice.
- दुरोष (duroṣa)
- Literal: hard to injure/harm. Symbolic: invulnerable inner delight beyond disturbance
- नरः (naraḥ)
- Literal: men. Symbolic: active soul-powers; faculties aligned to the quest
- विश्वाच्या धिया (viśvācyā dhiyā)
- Literal: with all-reaching thought. Symbolic: integral intelligence that includes all parts of nature
- अद्रि (adri)
- Literal: stone/pressing stone. Symbolic: disciplined pressure of practice; concentrated force
- यज्ञ (yajña)
- Literal: sacrifice. Symbolic: self-offering; inner work of transformation
- हिन्वन्ति (hinvanti)
- Literal: impel/drive onward. Symbolic: propel the process; sustain momentum
Refers to Soma pressing with stones and the mental intention that accompanies it; in Soma liturgy, emphasizes the inseparability of physical rite and inspired dhī.
During active pressing and offering progression
Pressing/expressing Soma; recitation to sustain rite’s momentum
As a mantra for disciplined practice: ‘press’ the essence of experience through steady concentration and move the inner offering forward.
duroṣa- likely dur- ‘hard’ + √uṣ/√ruṣ? (traditional gloss ‘hard to injure’ aligns with √ruṣ/√riṣ ‘harm’ in semantic neighborhood; form is archaic/poetic); dhī- from √dhī ‘think/vision’ (inspired thought); yajña- from √yaj ‘worship/sacrifice’; √hi ‘impel’ in hinvanti; adri- ‘stone’ (pressing implement).
Dhī (inspired intelligence) as operative power, Yajña as transformation-work, Invulnerability of truth-essence (duroṣa)
Yajña advances when energies move in right order, not scattered.
Viśvācyā dhī is the mind’s alignment to truth across all parts.
Transformation through yajña: extracting essence and advancing manifestation.
Aurobindonian ‘inner sacrifice’ hermeneutic: yajña as psychological process.
Stone-pressure = tapas; juice = extracted joy; forward drive = evolutionary push of consciousness.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- The extraction of the invulnerable essence: Soma is ‘hard-to-harm’, yet he is approached and brought into manifestation through dhī and the pressing-stones. Innerly, the truth-delight cannot be damaged by the struggle, but it must be released by concentrated force and integral vision to propel the transformative work (yajña).
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- yajña- from √yaj belongs to Indo-Iranian sacrificial lexicon (Avestan yasna). The agentive plural naraḥ (men) is an IE poetic staple (cf. Greek ἀνήρ). The instrumental adri-bhiḥ shows archaic instrumental plural morphology typical of early Vedic.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The hymn emphasizes cooperation: human effort (adri, pressing; dhī, intention) ‘drives’ the yajña, while Soma provides the invulnerable essence that makes the yajña effective. The Devatā is not coerced but revealed through right thought and disciplined action.
Hold an ‘all-reaching’ awareness: include body sensations, emotions, thoughts without exclusion; let the Soma-joy remain untouched at the center.
Ājñā (integral seeing) with Anāhata (stable joy)
Box-breath light version (4-4-4-4) only if comfortable; otherwise even breathing while applying gentle ‘pressure’ of attention on a chosen inner point (heart).
Collected, steady, resilient joy; momentum in practice.
Apply ‘adri’: steady repetition (japa), consistent schedule, and honest self-observation. Let the practice ‘press out’ the essence from each day’s experiences and offer it inwardly.
Not fully determinable from the provided text; keep a firm, even recitation with emphasis on ‘viśvācyā dhiyā’ and ‘hinvanti’.
Slight pause after ‘somam’; keep ‘viśvācyā dhiyā’ as a single thought-unit; end with a forward-driving cadence on ‘adribhiḥ’.
duroṣam: retroflex ‘ṣ’ clear, viśvācyā: ‘śv’ cluster; long ‘ā’, dhiyā: ‘dh’ aspirate; long ‘ā’, adribhiḥ: ‘bh’ aspirate; final visarga light
Steady, grounded, with mild intensity (not rushed).
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