Rig Veda 3.13.2: Mandala 3, Sukta 13, Mantra 2
Sukta 3.13
- Rishi
- Viśvāmitra Gāthina
- Devata
- Agni
- Chandas
- Jagatī
- Rasa
- Shanta (peace) and Vira (heroism)
ऋतावा यस्य रोदसी दक्षं सचन्त ऊतयः । हविष्मन्तस्तमीळते तं सनिष्यन्तोऽवसे ॥
ṛtā́vā yásya ródasī dákṣaṃ sácanta ūtáyaḥ | havíṣmantas tám īḷate táṃ saniṣyánto ávase ||
Dialah penjaga Ṛta; baginya Langit dan Bumi menyatukan kecakapan dan pertolongan mereka. Mereka yang membawa persembahan memujanya, berusaha memenangkannya demi perlindungan dan tuntunan yang benar.
Word by Word
- ऋतावा
- the ṛta-possessing one; truthful/rite-knowing (Agni)Adjective (used substantively)पुंलिङ्गः, प्रथमा-एकवचनम्Role कर्तृRoot ऋतावन् (प्रातिपदिक; ऋत + वन्)
- यस्य
- whosePronounषष्ठी-एकवचनम् (पुं/नपुं), ‘whose’Role सम्बन्ध (genitive)Root यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- रोदसी
- the two worlds (Heaven and Earth)Noun (dual collective)स्त्रीलिङ्गः, प्रथमा-द्विवचनम्Role कर्तृRoot रोदसी (द्विवचन-प्रातिपदिक; द्यावा-पृथिवी)
- दक्षम्
- skill; power; abilityNounपुंलिङ्गः, द्वितीया-एकवचनम्Role कर्मRoot दक्ष (प्रातिपदिक)
- सचन्ते
- accompany; attend; followVerbलट् (वर्तमान), आत्मनेपदम्, प्रथमपुरुषः, बहुवचनम्Role क्रियाRoot सच् (धातु; ‘to accompany, follow, attach oneself’)
- ऊतयः
- helps; aids; protectionsNounस्त्रीलिङ्गः, प्रथमा-बहुवचनम्Role कर्तृRoot ऊति (प्रातिपदिक)
- हविष्मन्तः
- those possessing oblation; oblation-bearing (worshippers)Adjective (used substantively)पुंलिङ्गः, प्रथमा-बहुवचनम्Role कर्तृRoot हविष्मन्त् (प्रातिपदिक; हविस् + मन्त्)
- तम्
- himPronounपुंलिङ्गः, द्वितीया-एकवचनम्Role कर्मRoot तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- ईळते
- praise; invokeVerbलट् (वर्तमान), आत्मनेपदम्, प्रथमपुरुषः, बहुवचनम्Role क्रियाRoot ईळ्/ईड् (धातु; ‘to praise, invoke’)
- तम्
- himPronounपुंलिङ्गः, द्वितीया-एकवचनम्Role कर्मRoot तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- सनिष्यन्तः
- seeking to win; intending to obtainParticiple (future active)पुंलिङ्गः, प्रथमा-बहुवचनम्Role कर्तृRoot सन् (धातु; ‘to gain, win’) + स्य (भविष्यत्) → सनिष्यत् (भविष्यत् कृदन्त)
- अवसे
- for help; for protectionNounनपुंसकलिङ्गः, चतुर्थी-एकवचनम्Role सम्प्रदान (purpose/benefit)Root अवस् (प्रातिपदिक)
Sandhi Notes
- पदच्छेदः: ऋतावा | यस्य | रोदसी | दक्षम् | सचन्ते | ऊतयः || हविष्मन्तः | तम् | ईळते | तम् | सनिष्यन्तः | अवसे || संधिः: ‘सनिष्यन्तोऽवसे’ = ‘सनिष्यन्तः अवसे’ (विसर्गस्य ओऽवग्रहः; अ + अ → ’अ)
The meaning
Outer meaning
Agni is the keeper of Ṛta; Heaven and Earth join their skill and help to him. Offerers adore him, seeking his protection.
Inner meaning
Agni is ṛtāvā—the one who embodies and guards truth-order. Rodasī (Heaven and Earth) symbolize higher mind and embodied life; when Agni leads, both planes collaborate, offering dakṣa (skill, discerning capacity) and ūtayaḥ (supports) to the work. Haviṣmantas (those bearing offerings) are practitioners who bring conscious energies; they worship Agni to ‘win’ (saniṣyantaḥ) his protecting guidance—an inner governance that keeps the sādhanā aligned with Ṛta.
Universal truth
When the inner flame governs, higher vision and practical life cooperate; disciplined skill and timely help arise, and one is protected from deviation by the law of truth-order.
Themes
Ṛta-upholder, Cosmic polarity (Heaven/Earth), Seeking protection, Right sacrifice
The seer
- Rishi
- Viśvāmitra Gāthina
- Lineage
- Viśvāmitra (Gāthina)
- Other hymns
- RV 3.1, RV 3.2, RV 3.13.1-7
Family tradition
Strong Ṛta orientation: the sacrifice succeeds when heaven-and-earth faculties are yoked to Agni’s truthful governance.
Significance
Shows the integrality of Vedic yoga: not escape from life, but collaboration of higher and lower under the law of Ṛta through Agni.
The deity
- Devata
- Agni
- Epithets
- ṛtāvā (keeper of Ṛta), yajiṣṭha (most skilled in sacrifice—contextual), purohita (placed in front—implied)
- Related deities
- Mitra-Varuṇa (ṛta guardians), Indra (illumination), Soma (delight)
Cosmic role
Maintainer of Ṛta in the worlds; unites Heaven and Earth; accepts offerings and grants protection.
Inner power
Conscience-fire and psychic discernment that keeps practice true, integrates mind and life, and provides inner protection.
In ritual
Where it is used
Agni praise as ṛta-guardian; used to secure correct performance and protection in the rite.
ऋ॒तावा॒ यस्य॒ रोद॑सी॒ दक्षं॒ सच॑न्त ऊ॒तय॑: । ह॒विष्म॑न्त॒स्तमी॑ळते॒ तं स॑नि॒ष्यन्तोऽव॑से ॥
ऋ॒तऽवा॑ । यस्य॑ । रोद॑सी॒ इति॑ । दक्ष॑म् । सच॑न्ते । ऊ॒तयः॑ । ह॒विष्म॑न्तः । तम् । ई॒ळ॒ते॒ । तम् । स॒नि॒ष्यन्तः॑ । अव॑से ॥
ṛta-vā | yasya | rodasī iti | dakṣam | sacante | ūtayaḥ | haviṣmantaḥ | tam | īḷate | tam | saniṣyantaḥ | avase
48
4×12 (approx.)
Broad, explanatory, steady; suited to stating law (ṛta) and integration (rodasī).
Induces grounded clarity and ethical/inner alignment; stabilizes the mind in a sense of rightness.
- ṛtāvā
- Literal: possessing/keeping Ṛta. Symbolic: The will aligned with Truth-order; guardian of right movement
- rodasī
- Literal: Heaven and Earth. Symbolic: Higher mind and embodied nature (spirit-mind and life-body) in collaboration
- dakṣam
- Literal: skill, capacity, discernment. Symbolic: Right intelligence in action; effective organizing power
- ūtayaḥ
- Literal: helps, aids. Symbolic: Supportive forces—inner aids, protections, right impulses
- haviṣmantaḥ
- Literal: bearing the oblation. Symbolic: Practitioners offering energies, attention, sincerity
- īḻate
- Literal: they adore. Symbolic: Conscious turning of the being toward the guiding flame
- saniṣyantaḥ
- Literal: desiring to win/obtain. Symbolic: Aspiring to establish lasting contact with Agni’s guidance
- avase
- Literal: for protection/help. Symbolic: Inner safeguarding and right leading
Agni praised as ṛtā́vā (upholder of ṛta) in offerings; establishes the rite as aligned with cosmic order and calls protective guidance (avase).
Early in Agni hymns/sections to establish the principle of right order and invoke safeguarding.
Recitation with offerings (havis), affirming Agni as regulator and protector of the yajña.
Chant when seeking guidance and protection from wrong turns—before important decisions or during periods of inner confusion.
ṛtā́vā: ṛta + possessive -vā (one endowed with ṛta). rodasī dual of rodas ‘heaven and earth’. dákṣa from √dakṣ ‘be able, be competent’—in Vedic also a luminous skill in right action. ūtí from √av/√ū ‘help, favor’ (Vedic semantic field of protection and uplift). īḷate from √īḷ ‘praise, invoke’. saniṣyantaḥ from san-√nas/√sā? (Vedic san ‘to gain, win’) + desiderative/participle sense: ‘seeking to obtain’.
Ṛta, dakṣa (effective intelligence in action), reciprocity of offering and protection
Central: Agni as ṛtāvā ensures the sacrifice aligns with cosmic truth-order.
Right guidance implies fidelity to truth in thought and action.
Harmony of polarities (heaven/earth) through a mediating fire; ordered manifestation.
Vedic integralism: unity of higher and lower through mediating consciousness-force (Agni).
Fire = discerning will; heaven/earth = mind/body-life integration; offering = conscious surrender of energies and habits.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- Agni as ṛtā́vā: the divine fire embodies and enforces Ṛta, supported by Heaven-and-Earth. Inner sense: when the will is truthful, higher and lower nature cooperate, and help (ūtayaḥ) gathers around the right action.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- rodasī (heaven/earth pair) reflects an inherited IE poetic dualism of ‘Sky and Earth’ as cosmic parents/supports. The root √dakṣ ‘be able’ aligns with widespread IE valuation of skill/competence as a quasi-sacred capacity in ordered action.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The Rishi approaches Agni with havis (offering) and īḷā (invocation), not as barter but as alignment: by seeking Agni ‘for avas’ he asks for the divine guardianship that keeps works in Ṛta and makes dakṣa operative in the human instrument.
Establish Agni as inner guide: ‘Let my mind and life cooperate under Ṛta.’
anāhata (psychic guidance) coordinating with ājñā (clarity) and mūlādhāra (grounded life).
Slow coherent breathing (5–6 breaths/min) while contemplating ‘ṛta’ as right rhythm.
Aligned, protected, ethically clear inner poise.
Offer one concrete habit/impulse into Agni (havis); ask for dakṣa (right discernment) and ūtayaḥ (timely helps); then act only after inner quiet confirms the direction.
Keep udatta on ṛtā́vā and other accented words per śākala; jagatī requires even pacing across 12-syllable pādas; let svarita fall naturally.
Make ‘ṛtāvā’ the tonal summit; slightly broaden ‘rodasī’ to suggest the two worlds; settle gently on ‘avase’.
(ṛtāvā): vocalic ṛ; long ā-vā, (rodasī): long ī at end, (dakṣaṃ): retroflex ḍ-like ‘d’? (here dental d); kṣ cluster clean, (haviṣmantaḥ): ṣm cluster distinct; visarga light, (saniṣyanto’vase): avoid breaking sandhi; ‘to’ + ‘av’ flows
Calm, steady, protective warmth; avoid sharpness.
Ask anything about this verse
Answers come straight from the texts, with the shlokas they draw on. Ask in your own words.
A free sign-in with Google or Apple keeps your chat saved across web and the app.
Read Rig Veda in the Vedapath app
Scan the QR code to open this directly in the app, with word-by-word meanings, Sanskrit recitation where available, and more.
