Rig Veda 9.47.3: Mandala 9, Sukta 47, Mantra 3
Sukta 9.47
- Devata
- Soma, with explicit linkage to Indra’s power
- Rasa
- Vira (heroism) and Adbhuta (wonder)
आत्सोम इन्द्रियो रसो वज्रः सहस्रसा भुवत् । उक्थं यदस्य जायते ॥
āt sóma indriyò raso vájraḥ sahasrasā́ bhuvat | uktháṃ yád asya jā́yate ||
सोम से इंद्र की ताकत पैदा होती है। उसका आनंद ऐसी बिजली बन जाता है जो हज़ारों लोगों की ताकत रखता है। जब भक्त उसकी तारीफ करते हैं, तब यह होता है।
Word by Word
- आत्
- then; thereuponIndeclinableनिपात/अव्ययRoot आत् (निपात; प्रायः अथ/ततः-अर्थे)
- सोमः
- SomaNounपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचनRole KartāRoot सोम (प्रातिपदिक)
- इन्द्रियः
- Indra-like; belonging to IndraAdjectiveपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन (सोमः इति विशेषणम्)Role Kartā (विशेषणरूपेण)Root इन्द्रिय (प्रातिपदिक; इन्द्र-सम्बन्धी)
- रसः
- juice; sap; essenceNounपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचनRole Kartā (समास/समनाधिकरणे सोमस्य)Root रस (प्रातिपदिक)
- वज्रः
- (as) a thunderbolt; vajraNounपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचनRole Kartā (समनाधिकरणे; उपमा/रूपकभावे)Root वज्र (प्रातिपदिक)
- सहस्रसा
- with thousandfold power; very mightyAdjectiveपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन (सोमः/रसः/वज्रः इत्यस्य विशेषणम्)Role Kartā (विशेषणरूपेण)Root सहस्रसा (प्रातिपदिक; सहस्र + सा/सन्-प्रत्ययः; ‘सहस्र-शक्त्या/बलात्’ इत्यर्थे)
- अभवत्
- became; came to beVerbलुङ् (अorist), परस्मैपद, प्रथमा, एकवचनRoot भू (धातु)
- उक्थम्
- hymn of praise; recitationNounनपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचनRole Kartā (जायते इत्यस्य) / Karma (यद्-सम्बन्धे सन्दिग्धम्)Root उक्थ (प्रातिपदिक)
- यत्
- which; whenPronounनपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन (सम्बन्धक/यत्-तत्)Root यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- अस्य
- of him/it (of Soma)Pronounपुं/नपुंसक, षष्ठी, एकवचनRole सम्बन्ध (genitive)Root इदम् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- जायते
- is born; arisesVerbलट् (वर्तमान), आत्मनेपद, प्रथमा, एकवचनRoot जन् (धातु)
Sandhi Notes
- पाठे ‘आत्सोम॑’ इति संधिः: ‘आत् + सोमः’ (त् + स → त्स)
- ‘इन्द्रि॒यो’ = ‘इन्द्रियः’ (वेदपाठे विसर्ग-लोप/स्वर-परिवर्तन)
- ‘वज्र॑:’ = ‘वज्रः’ (विसर्ग-चिह्न)
- ‘सहस्र॒सा’ अव्ययवत्-विशेषणरूपेण प्रथमा एकवचने प्रयुक्तम्
- ‘यद॑स्य’ = ‘यत् + अस्य’ (त् + अ → द्/तद्-आदेशः वेदेषु; पदपाठे सामान्यतः ‘यत् अस्य’)
The meaning
Outer meaning
From this Soma arises Indra’s force; its rapture becomes a thunderbolt of a thousand powers, whenever the hymn of praise is born from him.
Inner meaning
When Soma is purified, his rasa (sap/rapture) becomes indriya—Indra’s power of luminous mind. The bliss-energy condenses into vajra, the decisive instrument that breaks the coverer: a ‘thunderbolt of a thousand powers’ (sahasrasā), i.e., manifold illuminations and effective discernments. This happens when uktha is born—when inspired speech rises in us from the Soma-current: mantra becomes the expression of awakened Ananda, and that expression itself turns into a force of victory.
Universal truth
Joy clarified into consciousness becomes strength; inspired truth-speech is not ornament but power—when delight and word are aligned, they break resistance and release hidden possibilities.
Themes
Soma-ritual, inner empowerment, mantric speech, victory over obstruction
The seer
- Other hymns
- Rig Veda 9.47.2, Rig Veda 9.47.4, Rig Veda 9.47.5
Family tradition
Soma Maṇḍala reciters; the verse shows a classic Soma–Indra linkage common in Kāṇva/Angirasa hymn cycles
Significance
The seer describes the yoga of ‘Ananda → illumination → victorious word’: Soma’s delight becomes Indra’s weapon through mantra-birth.
The deity
- Devata
- Soma Pavamāna (as source of Indra-power)
- Epithets
- Indriya rasa (rapture that becomes Indra’s force), Vajra-bhū (becoming the thunderbolt)
- Related deities
- Indra, Bṛhaspati, Agni
Cosmic role
Nectar that empowers the gods; in the inner cosmos it supplies the fuel for illumination and victory over darkness.
Inner power
Bliss turning into effective discernment and irresistible will; mantra-shakti born from purified delight.
In ritual
Where it is used
Soma pressing/purification; Indra-Soma empowerment within soma-yāga
आत्सोम॑ इन्द्रि॒यो रसो॒ वज्र॑: सहस्र॒सा भु॑वत् । उ॒क्थं यद॑स्य॒ जाय॑ते ॥
आत् । सोमः॑ । इ॒न्द्रि॒यः । रसः॑ । वज्रः॑ । स॒ह॒स्र॒ऽसाः । भु॒व॒त् । उ॒क्थम् । यत् । अ॒स्य॒ । जाय॑ते ॥
āt | somaḥ | indriyaḥ | rasaḥ | vajraḥ | sahasra-sāḥ | bhuvat | uktham | yat | asya | jāyate
44
4 pādas (approx. 11 syllables each)
Energetic ascent; the lineation supports a ‘rising’ from Soma to Indra to vajra to uktha.
Invokes vigor and clarity; listeners often feel a sharpening of attention and a lift of confidence.
- इन्द्रियः (indriyaḥ)
- Literal: belonging to Indra; power. Symbolic: luminous mental force; capacity for clear seeing and victorious action
- रसः (rasaḥ)
- Literal: sap, taste, juice. Symbolic: essence of delight (Ananda) that energizes mind and life
- वज्रः (vajraḥ)
- Literal: thunderbolt. Symbolic: decisive illumined will/discernment that shatters obstruction
- सहस्रसाः (sahasra-sāḥ)
- Literal: with a thousand strengths. Symbolic: manifold powers of illumination; many-sided effective force
- उक्थम् (uktham)
- Literal: hymn, word of praise. Symbolic: inspired utterance/mantric formulation born from inner delight
- जायते (jāyate)
- Literal: is born. Symbolic: spontaneous arising of revelation in consciousness
Soma Pavamāna cycle: recitation during Soma pressing/purification (pavamāna-stotras) in Soma sacrifices such as Agniṣṭoma
During chanting of Pavamāna stotras while Soma is filtered and offered
Recitation to strengthen Indra’s participation and the efficacy of offerings
Before study, decision-making, or difficult conversations: chant to align joy with clear speech and decisive insight.
Key terms: (1) rasa- from √ras ‘to taste, relish’ → ‘essence, sap, delight’; supports psychological reading as ‘experienced quintessence’ that empowers. (2) vajra- traditionally ‘thunderbolt’; linked to decisive striking power; in inner sense, the concentrated will that ‘breaks’ obstruction. (3) indriya- ‘belonging to Indra/strength’; from Indra (power of illumined mind) + -iya; denotes capacity/force for victorious action. (4) sahasra-sāḥ: sahasra ‘thousand’ + √san/√sā ‘to win, gain’ → ‘winning a thousand (boons/powers)’ i.e., manifold efficacies. (5) uktha- from √vac/ukth? (Vedic formation) ‘utterance’ → formulated praise; psychologically, the shaped mantra-thought that gives birth to power.
ṛta (right order) as the condition for effective speech/uktha to ‘be born’, transformation of delight (Soma) into victorious power (Indra-force)
Indra-force arising from Soma restores ṛta by breaking false coverings and establishing right perception.
Uktha ‘born’ from Soma indicates truth-speech emerging from inner clarity, not mere intellect.
Speech as creation: when mantra is born, new power-forms arise in consciousness.
Mantra-śakti orientation; Aurobindonian: Ananda as the mother-force that gives birth to illumination and effective will.
Nectar becomes lightning: delight intensifies into a flash of discriminating power; the hymn is the audible crystallization of that inner flash.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- The Soma-to-Vajra transmutation: Soma’s delight-essence becomes Indra’s thunderbolt. Mythically it evokes Indra’s weapon; psychologically it describes how clarified delight in the seeker concentrates into a decisive force that can break inner obstruction.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- rasa- aligns with the semantic field of ‘taste/essence’ (PIE *reh₁d-/ *res- type taste/juice notions debated; Indo-Iranian parallels in ‘sap/essence’ vocabulary). jāyate from √jan ‘be born’ reflects PIE *ǵenh₁- (cf. Latin gignere, English kin). vajra as ‘striking’ weapon fits the widespread IE storm-god motif where empowered force manifests as a crushing/blasting instrument.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- Reciprocity is mediated by uktha: when the seer’s inspired formulation is rightly born (not mere speech but shaped consciousness), Soma releases its rasa, which becomes Indra-like power in the human vessel. The offering is inner articulation; the return is effective force and victorious clarity.
Let a felt sweetness in the heart/mind refine into clear intention; then allow a true sentence (uktha) to arise without forcing.
Viśuddha (truth-speech) linked with Ājñā (illumined mind)
Inhale: ‘rasa’ felt as cool brightness; exhale: speak/intonate softly, letting sound emerge from the feeling-tone.
From Ananda to illumined dynamism; speech becomes a tool of truth and liberation.
Chant, then sit 2 minutes: notice one area of confusion. Do not analyze; wait until a simple, truthful formulation arises. Act only on what arrives with calm force (vajra).
Not fully determinable from provided text; keep a slight lift on ‘indriyo raso’ and a firm stress-like emphasis on ‘vajraḥ’.
Bind ‘sahasrasā bhuvat’ smoothly; avoid over-pause before ‘uktham’.
āt: long ā, crisp final t, indriyaḥ: cluster ndr, clear ri (not ‘ree’), vajraḥ: jra cluster, light visarga, uktham: aspirate th (uk-tham), not ‘uktam’
Bright and forward; let the ‘vajra’ phrase sound decisive, then soften slightly on ‘uktham’.
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