Rig Veda 9.91.6: Mandala 9, Sukta 91, Mantra 6
Sukta 9.91
- Rishi
- Rebha Kāśyapa
- Devata
- Soma Pavamāna
- Chandas
- Jagatī
- Rasa
- Shanta (peace) and Adbhuta (wonder)
एवा पुनानो अपः स्वर्गा अस्मभ्यं तोका तनयानि भूरि । शं नः क्षेत्रमुरु ज्योतींषि सोम ज्योङ्नः सूर्यं दृशये रिरीहि ॥
evā́ punānó apáḥ svàr gā́ asmábhyaṃ tokā́ tanayā́ni bhū́ri | śáṃ naḥ kṣétram urú jyótīṃṣi soma jyók naḥ sū́ryaṃ dṛśáye rirīhi ||
सोम, जब तुम साफ हो जाते हो तो हमारे लिए पानी लाते हो। सूरज की दुनिया का चमकता हुआ पानी लाते हो। हमें बच्चे देते हो और आगे बढ़ने का रास्ता दिखाते हो। हमारे खेत को शांत और बड़ा बना दो। हमें रोशनी और उजाला दो। सूरज को हमेशा हमारे सामने रख ताकि हम सही रास्ता देख सकें।
Word by Word
- एवा
- thus, just soIndeclinableनिपात (emphatic particle)Root एव
- पुनानः
- purifying (himself), being purifiedVerb (participial adjective)वर्तमान कृदन्त (शतृ/शानच्-प्रत्यय), प्रथमा एकवचन, पुंलिङ्गRole KartāRoot पू (पवते) / पुनान- (प्रातिपदिक from √पू ‘to purify’)
- अपः
- the watersNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया बहुवचनRole KarmaRoot अप् (प्रातिपदिक: अप्-)
- स्वर्गाः
- heaven-going, leading to heavenAdjectiveपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा बहुवचन (विशेषण)Role Kartā (apposition to implied agents/streams)Root स्वर्ग (प्रातिपदिक)
- अस्मभ्यम्
- to usPronounचतुर्थी बहुवचनRole SampradānaRoot अस्मद्
- तोकाः
- offspring, childrenNounनपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया बहुवचन (context: objects desired)Role KarmaRoot तोक (प्रातिपदिक)
- तनयानि
- sons, progenyNounनपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया बहुवचनRole KarmaRoot तनय (प्रातिपदिक)
- भूरि
- much, abundantAdjective/Indeclinable (quantifier)अव्ययवत् परिमाणवाचकRoot भूरि (प्रातिपदिक/अव्ययवत्)
- शम्
- well-being, auspiciouslyIndeclinableमङ्गलार्थक निपातRoot शम् (अव्यय) / √शम् ‘to be calm/benefit’
- नः
- of us, ourPronounषष्ठी बहुवचन (enclitic)Root अस्मद्
- क्षेत्रम्
- field, domainNounनपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया एकवचनRole KarmaRoot क्षेत्र (प्रातिपदिक)
- उरु
- wide, broadAdjectiveनपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया एकवचन (विशेषण of क्षेत्रम्)Role KarmaRoot उरु (प्रातिपदिक)
- ज्योतींषि
- lights, splendorsNounनपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया बहुवचनRole KarmaRoot ज्योतिस् (प्रातिपदिक)
- सोम
- O SomaNoun (vocative)पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन एकवचनRole SambodhanaRoot सोम (प्रातिपदिक)
- ज्योक्
- long (time), continuallyIndeclinableकालवाचक अव्ययRoot ज्योक् (अव्यय)
- नः
- of us, ourPronounषष्ठी बहुवचन (enclitic)Root अस्मद्
- सूर्यम्
- the sunNounपुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया एकवचनRole KarmaRoot सूर्य (प्रातिपदिक)
- दृशये
- for seeing, for visionNoun (inflectional dative) / purpose-formचतुर्थी एकवचन (दृशि- ‘sight/seeing’ → ‘for seeing’)Role Prayojana (purpose) / SampradānaRoot दृश् (प्रातिपदिक: दृशि-/दृश्य-)
- रिरीहि
- flow/hasten (toward), come swiftlyVerbलोट् (आज्ञार्थ), मध्यमपुरुष एकवचन, परस्मैपदRole KriyāRoot √रि/√री (रीयते/रिणाति; Vedic: ‘to flow, run, hasten’)
Sandhi Notes
- पदच्छेद (Vedic sandhi resolution): एवा | पुनानः | अपः | स्वर्गाः | अस्मभ्यम् | तोकाः | तनयानि | भूरि || शम् | नः | क्षेत्रम् | उरु | ज्योतींषि | सोम | ज्योक् | नः | सूर्यम् | दृशये | रिरीहि || प्रमुख-सन्धि: (1) स्व१॒॑र्गा अ॒स्मभ्यं॑ → स्वर्गाः अस्मभ्यम् (विसर्ग-सन्धि: -आः + अ-)
- (2) शं नः → शम् नः (अनुस्वार/परसवर्ण)
- (3) सोम॒ ज्योङ्न॒: → सोम ज्योक् नः (पाठभेद/संहितायां ‘ज्योङ्’ = ‘ज्योक्’ अव्यय; क्/ङ्-लेखन वैदिक)
The meaning
Outer meaning
O Soma, thus purified, bring us the Waters, the luminous Cows of the Sun-world, and abundant offspring—children and continuations. Make our field wide in peace; widen the lights. Set the Sun before us for long to be seen.
Inner meaning
Purified Soma brings apas (waters of consciousness) and gāḥ of svar (rays/cows of the luminous world): streams of clarity and herds of knowledge-light. ‘Tokā tanayāni’ become inner births—new formations of the soul-nature and continuities of realization. The ‘field’ (kṣetra) is the inner life-field; Soma widens it in śam (peace), enlarges the jyotīṃṣi (illumining perceptions), and establishes a lasting vision of Sūrya—the truth-consciousness made steadily visible to the mind.
Universal truth
When delight is purified into clarity, it generates inner abundance: calm wideness, increased light, and stable truth-vision. True prosperity is the growth of consciousness and the continuity of awakened being.
Themes
benediction, illumination and lasting vision, spacious field of works, abundance and continuity (tokā/tanayāni)
The seer
- Rishi
- Rebha Kāśyapa
- Lineage
- Kāśyapa
- Other hymns
- RV 9.91 (hymn context)
Family tradition
Kāśyapas often invoke wideness (uru) and light (jyotis) as practical attainments of the Soma sacrifice—psychologically, the expansion of the inner field.
Significance
Rebha’s vision here is generative: Soma not only removes obstruction but positively brings ‘waters, rays, births’—a program of integral growth (peace, wideness, stable truth-seeing).
The deity
- Devata
- Soma Pavamāna
- Epithets
- punāna (purifying), giver of apas (waters), bringer of gāḥ of svar (luminous rays), widening (uru-kara) implied
- Related deities
- Sūrya (truth-light), Uṣas (awakening illumination), Indra (power of illumined mind), Maruts (dynamic forces that accompany expansion)
Cosmic role
Mediator between the mortal and the luminous world: he carries the essence upward and brings down light, fertility, and stable vision.
Inner power
Ananda that becomes clarity: it pacifies, widens, and illumines; it stabilizes the sun of truth in awareness.
In ritual
Where it is used
Soma purification and offering sequences (Pavamāna stotras/śastras)
ए॒वा पु॑ना॒नो अ॒पः स्व१॒॑र्गा अ॒स्मभ्यं॑ तो॒का तन॑यानि॒ भूरि॑ । शं न॒: क्षेत्र॑मु॒रु ज्योतीं॑षि सोम॒ ज्योङ्न॒: सूर्यं॑ दृ॒शये॑ रिरीहि ॥
ए॒व । पु॒ना॒नः । अ॒पः । स्वः॑ । गाः । अ॒स्मभ्य॑म् । तो॒का । तन॑यानि । भूरि॑ । शम् । नः॒ । क्षेत्र॑म् । उ॒रु । ज्योतीं॑षि । सो॒म॒ । ज्योक् । नः॒ । सूर्य॑म् । दृ॒शये॑ । रि॒री॒हि॒ ॥
eva | punānaḥ | apaḥ | svaḥ | gāḥ | asmabhyam | tokā | tanayāni | bhūri | śam | naḥ | kṣetram | uru | jyotīṃṣi | soma | jyok | naḥ | sūryam | dṛśaye | rirīhi
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4 pādas of ~12 syllables; Jagatī supports enumerations (apas, svar gāḥ, tokā tanayāni…) and widening phrases (uru jyotīṃṣi).
Broad, beneficent cadence; feels like a widening breath.
Settles the system into calm expansion; supports visualization of light and spaciousness.
- पुनानः (punānaḥ)
- Literal: purifying/being purified. Symbolic: refinement of the emotional-vital delight into luminous ananda
- अपः (apaḥ)
- Literal: waters. Symbolic: streams of consciousness, clarity, and purifying energies
- स्वः (svaḥ/svar)
- Literal: sun-world, heaven of light. Symbolic: luminous plane of truth-mind; higher consciousness
- गाः (gāḥ)
- Literal: cows. Symbolic: rays of knowledge/illumination brought out from concealment
- तोका/तनयानि (tokā/tanayāni)
- Literal: children/offspring. Symbolic: inner births: new capacities, realizations, and formations of the being
- क्षेत्रम् (kṣetram)
- Literal: field. Symbolic: the field of life and practice; the inner ground for growth
- शम् (śam)
- Literal: peace, auspicious ease. Symbolic: quietude that allows wideness and stable light
- ज्योतींषि (jyotīṃṣi)
- Literal: lights. Symbolic: illumined thoughts, perceptions, and intuitive discernments
- ज्योक् (jyok)
- Literal: for long, continually. Symbolic: stability and continuity of realization
- सूर्यम्…दृशये (sūryam…dṛśaye)
- Literal: the Sun to be seen. Symbolic: truth-consciousness made directly perceptible in mind and heart
Benedictive close: requests waters, lights, spacious field, lasting vision of the sun—typical concluding boon-list in Soma hymns, applicable at the culmination of pressing/purification and offering.
During Soma yajña, especially while Soma is filtered and apportioned; also as part of invocations for prosperity and well-being of the sacrificer.
Chant to invite Soma’s gifts: waters, rays, fertility/continuity, and auspicious peace.
A mantra for inner abundance: use for calming anxiety, widening perspective, and establishing a steady ‘sun’ of clear seeing in daily life.
kṣétra ‘field’ (√kṣi ‘dwell, cultivate’) becomes the inner domain of works and growth. jyótis ‘light’ from √dyut ‘shine’. jyók ‘for long’ indicates stable realization, not momentary illumination. svàr is the luminous world (often solar), and gāḥ as rays/knowledges aligns with Vedic symbolic lexicon. tokā/tanayāni signify not merely biological progeny but continuations of consciousness—new formations in the being.
svàr as truth-world, stable vision (jyok… sūryaṃ dṛśaye), spaciousness (uru) and harmony (śam)
Widening the kṣetra ‘in peace’ is ṛta’s harmonizing action in the life-field.
‘Sūryaṃ dṛśaye’ signals direct seeing of satya—truth as light, not concept.
Fertility as spiritual generation: births of being and continuities of realization within the widened field.
Integral-psychological reading aligned with Aurobindo/Kashyap: svar as higher plane; gāḥ as rays of knowledge.
morning/noon (sun set before us to be seen)
Waters = cleansing currents; field = inner life-ground; lights = illumined perceptions; sun = stable truth-consciousness; cows = released rays of knowledge.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- The gift of the Sun-vision and the luminous Cows of svàr: Soma, purified, brings waters and rays and establishes a long-lasting sight of the Sun. Mythically it is the winning of the solar world and its herds of light; psychologically it is stable truth-perception and widened life-field.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- Sū́rya (solar deity) continues Indo-European solar lexicon; jyótis from √dyut reflects the IE light/shine semantic field. The blessing style—lists of boons (waters, lights, field, progeny)—is an archaic performative register, where naming is an act of invoking.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The rishi asks Soma to translate purification into concrete inner results: clarity (apah), illumination (jyotiṃṣi), spaciousness (uru kṣetra), continuity of becoming (tokā/tanayāni), and enduring vision (jyok… sūryaṃ dṛśaye). Soma is the transformer: from pressed juice to stable sunlike consciousness in the practitioner.
Receive Soma’s purified delight as calm widening; visualize waters cleansing and rays increasing; establish steady truth-seeing (inner sun).
Anāhata (peace and wideness) and Ājñā (vision of Sūrya/truth)
Slow coherent breathing (5–6 breaths/min) for 3–5 minutes; then chant, imagining ‘apas’ washing the head and heart; pause briefly after ‘jyotīṃṣi’.
Quiet-expansive, luminous, stable attention.
Chant first for peace (śam), then for wideness (uru), then for vision (sūryaṃ dṛśaye). Keep the aspiration: ‘May truth be steadily visible in my mind and life-field.’
Follow Saṃhitā accent marks where available; maintain gentle lift on udātta, smooth glide on svarita; keep overall calm contour befitting śam.
Let the phrase ‘śaṃ naḥ kṣetram uru’ be voiced as a blessing; elongate ‘jyok’ slightly to convey continuity.
(evā): long ā at end, (svaḥ): short a; visarga lightly released, (gāḥ): long ā; visarga, (jyotīṃṣi): nasalization on īṃ; retroflex ṣ, (jyok): final k crisp, (rirīhi): roll r lightly; long ī
Soft, steady, luminous; avoid force; keep a ‘blessing’ timbre.
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