Rig Veda 9.97.29: Mandala 9, Sukta 97, Mantra 29
Sukta 9.97
- Rishi
- Soma Pavamāna seers
- Devata
- Soma Pavamāna
- Chandas
- Jagatī
- Rasa
- Adbhuta (wonder) and Shanta (peace)
शतं धारा देवजाता असृग्रन्त्सहस्रमेनाः कवयो मृजन्ति । इन्दो सनित्रं दिव आ पवस्व पुरएतासि महतो धनस्य ॥
śatáṃ dhā́rā deva-jā́tā asṛgran sahásram enāḥ kaváyo mṛjanti | índo sanitráṃ divá ā́ pavasva pura-etā́si maható dhánasya ||
भगवान की तरफ़ से सौ धारें निकली हैं। रिशि लोग हज़ार पाप साफ़ कर रहे हैं। हे इंदु, आसमान की ख़ज़ाने तक साफ़ हो के पहुँच। तू बड़े धन का पहले रास्ता है।
Word by Word
- शतम्
- a hundredNoun/Numberनपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन (संख्याशब्दः)Role Karma (परिमाण-विशेषणम्) / विशेष्य-सम्बन्धःRoot शत (प्रातिपदिक)
- धाराः
- streams (flows)Nounस्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचनRole KartāRoot धारा (प्रातिपदिक)
- देवजाताः
- god-born / born from the godsAdjectiveपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; धाराः इति विशेष्यस्य विशेषणम्Role Kartā (धाराः इत्यस्य विशेषणम्)Root देव-जात (समास; √जन् ‘to be born’ → जात kṛdanta)
- असृग्रन्
- they streamed forth / were emittedVerbलुङ् (aorist), परस्मैपद, 3 पुरुष, बहुवचनRole (क्रिया) —Root √सृज् (सृजति) ‘to flow/let go, emit’
- सहस्रम्
- a thousandNoun/Numberनपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन (संख्याशब्दः)Role Karma (परिमाण-विशेषणम्) / विशेष्य-सम्बन्धःRoot सहस्र (प्रातिपदिक)
- एनाः
- these (ones)Pronoun/Adjectiveनपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, बहुवचन; सहस्रम् इत्यस्य सह प्रयोगः (परिमाण-निर्देशः)Role Karma / विशेष्य-सम्बन्धःRoot एना (प्रातिपदिक; ‘this/these’, esp. neuter plural in RV)
- कवयः
- the seers/poetsNounपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचनRole KartāRoot कवि (प्रातिपदिक)
- मृजन्ति
- they cleanse / purifyVerbलट् (present), परस्मैपद, 3 पुरुष, बहुवचनRole (क्रिया) —Root √मृज् (मृजति) ‘to wipe/clean, purify’
- इन्दो
- O Indu (Soma)Noun (vocative)पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन, एकवचनRole सम्बोधनRoot इन्दु (प्रातिपदिक)
- सनित्रम्
- the bestower / giver (winning power)Noun/Adjectiveनपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचनRole KarmaRoot सनित्र (प्रातिपदिक; from √सन्/√सनी ‘to gain, bestow’)
- दिवः
- of heavenNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग (द्यौः), षष्ठी, एकवचनRole सम्बन्ध (genitive)Root दिव्/द्यौ (प्रातिपदिक)
- आ
- forth, towards (hither)Indeclinableउपसर्गः (पवस्व इत्यस्य)Role (क्रिया-विशेषणम्)Root आ (उपसर्ग/निपात)
- पवस्व
- purify yourself / flow purifiedVerbलोट् (imperative), आत्मनेपद, 2 पुरुष, एकवचनRole (क्रिया) —Root √पू (पवते) ‘to purify, become pure’
- पुरएता
- the forerunner / leader in frontNoun/Adjectiveपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचनRole Kartā (असि इत्यस्य कर्तृपदम्)Root पुरः-एतृ (समास; √इ ‘to go’ → एतृ ‘goer/leader’)
- असि
- you areVerbलट् (present), परस्मैपद, 2 पुरुष, एकवचनRole (क्रिया) —Root √अस् (अस्ति) ‘to be’
- महतः
- of greatAdjectiveनपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, एकवचन; धनस्य इति विशेष्यस्य विशेषणम्Role सम्बन्ध (genitive)Root महत् (प्रातिपदिक)
- धनस्य
- wealth, treasureNounनपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, एकवचनRole सम्बन्ध (genitive)Root धन (प्रातिपदिक)
Sandhi Notes
- पदच्छेदः (sandhi-resolved): शतम् | धाराः | देवजाताः | असृग्रन् | सहस्रम् | एनाः | कवयः | मृजन्ति | इन्दो | सनित्रम् | दिवः | आ | पवस्व | पुरएता | असि | महतः | धनस्य || 1) असृग्रन्त्सहस्रमेनाः → असृग्रन् | सहस्रम् | एनाः (त् + स → त्स; म् + ए → मे)
- 2) पुरएतासि → पुरएता | असि (आ + अ → आ; संहितायां दीर्घः)
The meaning
Outer meaning
A hundred divine-born streams of Soma are set flowing; the seers cleanse away a thousand stains. O Indu, purify yourself into heaven’s treasury; you are the forerunner of great riches.
Inner meaning
The bliss-consciousness (Soma/Indu) releases many currents of inspired delight (dhārāḥ) into the being. The kavi (seer-mind) actively purifies innumerable obscurations (enāḥ) from the nature. As Soma clarifies, it enters the ‘treasury of heaven’—the luminous storehouse of higher consciousness—and becomes the अग्रगामी (pura-etā), the first-impulse that opens the way for the ‘great wealth’ (mahat dhana) of spiritual realization: light, strength, joy, and wideness.
Universal truth
When a higher joy is invited and purified, it does not remain a private feeling; it becomes a many-streamed force that washes the psyche clean, opens access to higher mind, and precedes lasting abundance of being.
Themes
multiplication of luminous streams, purification from stains, ascent to heaven’s treasury, Soma leading to plenitude
The seer
- Rishi
- Soma Pavamāna seers (Pavamāna-maṇḍala tradition)
- Other hymns
- Rig Veda 9.97 (Pavamāna Soma hymn cluster), Rig Veda 9.96, Rig Veda 9.98
Family tradition
Ninth Maṇḍala is a liturgical-seer tradition centered on Soma’s purification; individual attributions vary by hymn/verse.
Significance
The ‘Pavamāna’ seers specialize in the inner alchemy of purification: turning raw life-energies into clarified delight that can carry illumination and right action.
The deity
- Devata
- Soma Pavamāna (Indu in purification)
- Epithets
- Indu, Pavamāna, Śukra (bright/clear), Madhu (honeyed), Pavitra-pūta (purified by the filter)
- Related deities
- Indra, Agni, Sūrya, Uṣas, Bṛhaspati
Cosmic role
Soma is the circulating delight and immortalizing essence that supports the gods (powers of consciousness) and sustains ṛta (truth-order) in the worlds.
Inner power
Ananda that clarifies the mind, sweetens the vital, heals division, and becomes a leader-force toward plenitude.
In ritual
Where it is used
Soma pressing and purification (Pavamāna stotras during Soma-yajña)
श॒तं धारा॑ दे॒वजा॑ता असृग्रन्त्स॒हस्र॑मेनाः क॒वयो॑ मृजन्ति । इन्दो॑ स॒नित्रं॑ दि॒व आ प॑वस्व पुरए॒तासि॑ मह॒तो धन॑स्य ॥
श॒तम् । धाराः॑ । दे॒वऽजा॑ताः । अ॒सृ॒ग्र॒न् । स॒हस्र॑म् । ए॒नाः॒ । क॒वयः॑ । मृ॒ज॒न्ति॒ । इन्दो॒ इति॑ । स॒नित्र॑म् । दि॒वः । आ । प॒व॒स्व॒ । पु॒रः॒ऽए॒ता । अ॒सि॒ । म॒ह॒तः । धन॑स्य ॥
śatam | dhārāḥ | deva-jātāḥ | asṛgran | sahasram | enāḥ | kavayaḥ | mṛjanti | indo iti | sanitram | divaḥ | ā | pavasva | puraḥ-etā | asi | mahataḥ | dhanasya
48
4 pādas × 12 syllables (typical Jagatī cadence)
Longer, forward-driving measure suited to depicting continuous flow (dhārā) and progressive purification.
Creates a sustained, streaming auditory movement; supports meditative ‘washing’ and gradual opening to wideness.
- शतम् धाराः (śataṃ dhārāḥ)
- Literal: a hundred streams. Symbolic: many currents of clarified delight/force descending through the system
- देवजाताः (devajātāḥ)
- Literal: born of the gods/divine. Symbolic: originating in supraphysical consciousness, not in ego-vital desire
- सहस्रम् एनाः (sahasram enāḥ)
- Literal: a thousand stains/sins. Symbolic: countless obscurations: habits, depressions, false movements, subconscient residues
- कवयः (kavayaḥ)
- Literal: seers/poets. Symbolic: illumined faculties that discern, choose, and refine inner experience
- मृजन्ति (mṛjanti)
- Literal: they cleanse/polish. Symbolic: psychic-mental purification and clarification
- इन्दो (indo)
- Literal: Indu, Soma as a bright drop. Symbolic: concentrated luminous Ananda entering mind-life-body
- सनित्रम् दिवः (sanitraṃ divaḥ)
- Literal: treasury/storehouse of heaven. Symbolic: plane of luminous mind (dyu) holding higher powers and truths
- पुरएता (puraetā)
- Literal: forerunner, leader in front. Symbolic: the initiating joy-force that opens the path for other siddhis
- महतः धनस्य (mahato dhanasya)
- Literal: of great wealth. Symbolic: large spiritual riches: light (go), force (indra), harmony (ṛta), delight (soma)
Purificatory climax: Soma streams multiply; impurities removed; Soma directed to the heavenly ‘store’—ritual consecration and inner ascent
During Soma extraction when juice is filtered and offered; chanted as Soma flows through the pavitra.
Accompanies pressing (savana), filtering, and drawing Soma into vessels; invokes clarification and auspiciousness.
Use as a purification mantra before meditation: visualize multiple luminous currents cleansing mental-vital residues and opening a ‘higher treasury’ of insight.
enas ‘stain/fault’ has a moral-psychological range in Vedic: not ‘sin’ in later sense, but darkness/defect obstructing ṛta. √mṛj ‘wipe/polish’ evokes refining consciousness. sanitrá ‘treasury’ relates to √san ‘to gain, win’—thus ‘store of attainments’ (divine acquisitions).
removal of enas (obscuration), attainment/store (sanitrá), forerunner principle (pura-etā)
Purification aligns the inner currents to ṛta—right flow rather than mixed or distorted movement.
‘Devajāta’ indicates truth-born energies descending from higher planes, not fabricated by ego.
Abundance arises when the higher delight becomes the initiating power that releases many streams of force.
Proto-Vedāntic / Integral (Aurobindonian): ascent to dyu and descent of Ananda for transformation.
Flowing Soma = circulating delight-force; cleansing = removal of obscuration; heaven’s treasury = higher mind’s stored powers.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- The ‘many streams and cleansing of stains’ mythologem: divine-born currents are released, seers cleanse enas, and Soma ascends to the heavenly treasury as forerunner of great wealth—an initiatory purification leading to plenitude.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- √mṛj ‘wipe/polish’ belongs to an old IE purification lexicon (ritual cleaning as cognitive clearing). √san ‘gain’ is an inherited ‘win/attain’ root (cf. Sanskrit san-, Avestan han- in related semantics). Number symbolism (100/1000) is a common IE intensifier.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The rishi (through the kavayaḥ) actively participates: they ‘polish’ away enas while Soma’s divine streams pour. The devatā responds by becoming pura-etā—leading the seeker toward the ‘great wealth’ understood as fullness of consciousness in the heavenly store.
Let ‘many streams’ of quiet joy descend through the head and wash the whole system; rest in the sense of a higher ‘treasury’ above mind.
Sahasrara/Ājñā (opening to dyu; clarity)
Gentle nāḍī-śodhana-like rhythm: inhale ‘devajāta dhārāḥ’ (receive), exhale ‘mṛjanti enāḥ’ (release).
Clarifying Ananda leading to widened, luminous mind.
Begin with intention to purify motive; chant steadily; after chanting, sit silently and allow subtle joy to reorganize thoughts without force.
Use Vedic recitation with udatta/anudatta/svarita as marked in the saṃhitā; key lifts often occur on vocatives like ‘’ and imperatives like ‘’.
Maintain clear rise on udatta syllables; avoid flattening the cadence in Jagatī—keep a gentle forward flow across 12-syllable pādas.
śataṃ (śa-taṃ) with clear dental ‘t’, dhārāḥ: sustain long ‘ā’ twice, devajātāḥ: split deva-jā-tāḥ, aspirate ‘jh’ not present—keep ‘j’ clean, asṛgran: light ‘ṛ’ vowel, no extra schwa, mṛjanti: roll/light tap ‘r’ in ‘mṛ’, puraetāsi: articulate ‘pura-etā-asi’ (sandhi)
Clear, flowing, slightly bright tone as if ‘streaming’ the sound.
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