Rig Veda 4.37.6: Mandala 4, Sukta 37, Mantra 6
Sukta 4.37
- Rishi
- Vāmadeva Gautama
- Devata
- Rbhus and Indra jointly as protectors and empowerers
- Chandas
- Anuṣṭubh
- Rasa
- Shanta (peace) and Vira (heroism)
सेदृभवो यमवथ यूयमिन्द्रश्च मर्त्यम् । स धीभिरस्तु सनिता मेधसाता सो अर्वता ॥
séd ṛbhavo yám avatha yūyám índraś ca mártyam | sá dhī́bhir astu sánitā medhásātā sá arvátā ||
汝ら――リブ（R̥bhu）たちよ――そしてインドラもまた、死すべき者のうちで守護するその人を、光明ある思惟によって勝利者たらしめよ。悟りの光を獲得する征服者たらしめよ。力の駿馬によって成就に到らしめよ。
Word by Word
- स
- he / that (one)Pronounपुंलिङ्गे प्रथमा एकवचनम् (एन्क्लिटिक सर्वनाम-रूप)Role Kartā (अनुवर्तते) / विषय-सूचकRoot तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- इदृभवः
- O you of such a nature / O such-beingsAdjective (vocative) / Noun-like epithetपुंलिङ्गे सम्बोधन बहुवचनम्Role सम्बोधन (आह्वान)Root इदृभव (प्रातिपदिक; बहुव्रीहि/विशेषण-समास)
- यम्
- whomPronounपुंलिङ्गे द्वितीया एकवचनम्Role KarmaRoot यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- अवथ
- you protect / helpVerbलट् (वर्तमान), मध्यमपुरुष, बहुवचनम्; परस्मैपदम्Role क्रियाRoot अव् (रक्षणे/पालने)
- यूयम्
- you (pl.)Pronounप्रथमा बहुवचनम्Role KartāRoot युष्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- इन्द्रः
- IndraNoun (proper)पुंलिङ्गे प्रथमा एकवचनम्Role Kartā (समुच्चितः) / विषयRoot इन्द्र (प्रातिपदिक)
- च
- andIndeclinableसमुच्चयार्थक अव्ययम्Root च (निपात)
- मर्त्यम्
- a mortal (man)Nounपुंलिङ्गे द्वितीया एकवचनम्Role KarmaRoot मर्त्य (प्रातिपदिक)
- स
- hePronounपुंलिङ्गे प्रथमा एकवचनम्Role KartāRoot तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- धीभिः
- with thoughts / with insightsNounस्त्रीलिङ्गे तृतीया बहुवचनम्Role KaraṇaRoot धी (प्रातिपदिक)
- अस्तु
- let him beVerbलोट् (आज्ञार्थ/विधिलिङ्-समकक्ष), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचनम्; परस्मैपदम्Role क्रियाRoot अस् (भुवि)
- सनिता
- winner / bestower / giverAgent nounपुंलिङ्गे प्रथमा एकवचनम्Role Kartā (विशेषणरूपेण) / विधेयRoot सन्/सन् (सम्भजने/लाभे) → सनि (प्रातिपदिक) + तृच्/तृन् (कर्तरि)
- मेधसाता
- winning (gains) by wisdom / attaining by intelligenceCompound epithetपुंलिङ्गे प्रथमा एकवचनम्Role Kartā (सनिता इत्यस्य विशेषणम्) / विधेयRoot मेध (प्रातिपदिक) + साता (√सद्/√सा?; ‘प्राप्ति/लाभ’ अर्थे कृत) — वैदिक समास/उपपद-रचना
- मे
- for me / of mePronounषष्ठी/चतुर्थी एकवचनम् (एन्क्लिटिक) — ‘मे’Role Sampradāna/सम्बन्ध (प्रसङ्गानुसार)Root अस्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- सः
- hePronounपुंलिङ्गे प्रथमा एकवचनम्Role Kartā (अनुवर्तते) / विषयRoot तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- अर्वता
- with a steed / by a horseNounपुंलिङ्गे तृतीया एकवचनम्Role KaraṇaRoot अर्वत् (प्रातिपदिक)
Sandhi Notes
- पदच्छेदः (सन्धि-विग्रह): स इदृभवः | यम् अवथ | यूयम् इन्द्रः च मर्त्यम् | स धीभिः अस्तु | सनिता मेधसाता मे | सः अर्वता || 1) सेदृभवो = स + इदृभवः (स्वर-सन्धि: अ + इ → ए). 2) यमवथ = यम् + अवथ (व्यञ्जन-सन्धि: म् + अ → म). 3) यूयमिन्द्रश्च = यूयम् + इन्द्रः + च (म् + इ → मि; विसर्गः ‘इन्द्रः’ + च → इन्द्रश्च). 4) धीभिरस्तु = धीभिः + अस्तु (विसर्ग-लोपः/रूपान्तरणः: ः + अ → र्). 5) सनि॑ता मे॒धसा॑ता मे = ‘मे’ एन्क्लिटिक सर्वनाम
- पदक्रमे ‘मे’ पृथक्। 6) सो अर्वता = सः + अर्वता (विसर्ग-सन्धि: ः + अ → ओ)
The meaning
Outer meaning
The mortal whom the Rbhus and Indra protect—let him become through inspired thoughts a winner, an attainer of understanding; let him attain with the steed.
Inner meaning
Protection by the Rbhus and Indra means the seeker is held by both illumined mind (Indra) and the skill-power that perfects the instruments (Rbhus). The fruit is not external success but ‘sanitā’—the winner of the true gains—through dhī (inspired, illumined thought). ‘Medhasātā’ is the conquest of medhā: luminous intelligence/understanding that discerns and holds truth. ‘Arvatā’ (with the steed) points to the disciplined vital energy that carries realization into life-action; knowledge must be mounted by force of life rightly harnessed.
Universal truth
When illumination and formative skill protect the aspirant, inspired thought becomes victorious knowledge, and right vital energy carries that knowledge into accomplished life.
Themes
Protection, Inner victory, Growth of intelligence
The seer
- Rishi
- Vāmadeva Gautama
- Lineage
- Gautama
- Other hymns
- RV 4.20 (dhī/Indra themes), RV 4.33–4.37
Family tradition
The seer links divine protection to inner faculties (dhī, medhā) and to right vital force—typical of Vāmadeva’s integrative psychology.
Significance
He presents a soteriology of cooperation: illumination + craftsmanship = victorious understanding embodied in action.
The deity
- Devata
- Rbhus and Indra (joint protectors)
- Epithets
- avatha (protectors), Indra (lord of illumination)
- Related deities
- Agni, Soma, Aśvins
Cosmic role
Indra opens and defends the light; the Rbhus shape and perfect the instruments so the light can be held and used.
Inner power
A combined force: clarity and courage (Indra) plus precise formative capacity (Rbhus), resulting in stable intelligence (medhā) and effective energy (aśva/arvat).
In ritual
Where it is used
Protective and success-invoking recitation within praise; could function as a benedictive close within a section
सेदृ॑भवो॒ यमव॑थ यू॒यमिन्द्र॑श्च॒ मर्त्य॑म् । स धी॒भिर॑स्तु॒ सनि॑ता मे॒धसा॑ता॒ सो अर्व॑ता ॥
सः । इत् । ऋ॒भ॒वः॒ । यम् । अव॑थ । यू॒यम् । इन्द्रः॑ । च॒ । मर्त्य॑म् । सः । धी॒भिः । अ॒स्तु॒ । सनि॑ता । मे॒धऽसा॑ता । सः । अर्व॑ता ॥
saḥ | it | ṛbhavaḥ | yam | avatha | yūyam | indraḥ | ca | martyam | saḥ | dhībhiḥ | astu | sanitā | medha-sātā | saḥ | arvatā
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4 × ~8 syllables
Balanced and didactic; suited for a blessing formula
Creates steadiness and confidence; supports affirmation of protection and attainment.
- अवथ (avatha)
- Literal: you protect. Symbolic: divine holding-force that safeguards the inner journey from dispersion
- धी (dhī) / धीभिः (dhībhiḥ)
- Literal: thoughts, inspirations. Symbolic: illumined intuitions that guide transformation
- सनीता (sanitā)
- Literal: winner, gainer. Symbolic: one who wins the light and establishes it in the being
- मेधसाता (medhasātā)
- Literal: attainer of medhā (intelligence). Symbolic: conquest of luminous understanding; stable discerning mind
- अर्वता (arvatā)
- Literal: with the steed. Symbolic: with disciplined vital force/energy that executes truth
Prayer for the sacrificer’s success: protection leading to victory in medhā (understanding) and energetic progress (arvant).
When seeking divine safeguarding and attainment of understanding in the rite and life
Recitation with intent of protection and empowerment of dhī/medhā
Use as a protective affirmation before study, decision-making, or sadhana—asking for illumined thought and right energy.
√av 'protect' (avatha) from PIE *h₂ew- 'to help/protect' (proposed); √san 'win' (sanitā) from PIE *sen-/*sneh₂? (uncertain; Vedic san is well-established as 'gain'); dhī from √dhī 'to think/vision' (Vedic: inspired thought); medhā from √medh 'to be wise/measure'—intelligence as right discrimination.
dhī (inspired vision), medhā (intelligence as light of understanding)
Medhā is the mind’s alignment with ṛta—right discernment and right movement.
Victorious understanding implies truth held and acted upon, not merely glimpsed.
Evolution of the human instrument: protection enables higher intelligence to be formed and embodied.
Integral/psychological Vedism: knowledge-power must descend into life-energy.
Horse = vital energy disciplined for the journey; protection = inner shelter of higher consciousness enabling growth of medhā.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- The protected mortal becomes a 'winner'—a standard Vedic motif where divine guardianship turns the human into a conqueror of light (medhā) and force (arvant). The mythic action is transformation-through-protection, not merely external safeguarding.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- dhī relates to the IE *dʰeyh₁- 'to think/put' semantic field (though exact mapping debated), and medhā is part of an Indo-Iranian intellectual lexicon (cf. Avestan mazda- 'wisdom' is different root, but comparable semantic domain). The agent noun sanitā (winner) is a productive IE derivational pattern (agent in -tā).
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The rishi frames the devatās as active protectors whose protection must express itself as inner capability: dhī becomes the human instrument, while the devatās supply the empowering safeguard. The reciprocity is: divine aid → human illumination → victory/attainment.
Rest in the sense of being protected by illumination and skill; then invite dhī to arise and guide action; finally, feel energy (horse) align under that guidance.
ajna (dhī/medhā) and manipura (energy for execution)
Slow-meditative breathing 6-6; on inhale feel ‘protection’, on exhale offer the mind to become dhī
Protected inwardness moving into clear discernment and poised action
1) Invoke Indra above the brow; 2) Invite the Rbhus to refine speech/thought; 3) Wait for a clean intuition; 4) Act only when the ‘steed’ feels obedient to that intuition.
Tri-svara; keep gentle udātta rises on dhī- and medhā-words per accent tradition.
Treat as blessing: slightly soften at ‘avatha’ and ‘astu’; strengthen at ‘sanitā’ and ‘medhasātā’.
sed: crisp dental d, ṛbhavo: vocalic ṛ, then bh, medhasātā: aspirate dh; long ā in sā, arvatā: roll lightly into rv cluster
warm, steady, protective
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