Rig Veda 7.32.3: Mandala 7, Sukta 32, Mantra 3
Sukta 7.32
- Rishi
- Vasiṣṭha
- Devata
- Indra
- Chandas
- Triṣṭubh
- Rasa
- Vira (heroism) and Shringara (love)
रायस्कामो वज्रहस्तं सुदक्षिणं पुत्रो न पितरं हुवे ॥
rāyáskāmo vájrahastaṃ sudákṣiṇaṃ putró ná pitáraṃ huve ||
富の充溢を希い、我は金剛を手にするインドラ、善く正しく導く吉祥の力を呼ぶ。子が助けと護りを求めて父を呼ぶがごとく。
Word by Word
- रायस्कामः
- desirous of wealthAdjectiveपुंलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, एकवचनम्Role कर्तृRoot रायस् (प्रा.) + काम (प्रा.)
- वज्रहस्तम्
- him whose hand holds the thunderboltNoun (bahuvrīhi epithet)पुंलिङ्गः, द्वितीया, एकवचनम्Role कर्मRoot वज्र (प्रा.) + हस्त (प्रा.)
- सुदक्षिणम्
- very generous / bountifulAdjectiveपुंलिङ्गः, द्वितीया, एकवचनम्Role कर्मRoot सु (उपसर्ग/अव्यय) + दक्षिण (प्रा.)
- पुत्रः
- a sonNounपुंलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, एकवचनम्Role कर्तृRoot पुत्र (प्रा.)
- न
- like, asIndeclinableउपमा/सादृश्यार्थक अव्ययRoot न
- पितरम्
- (his) fatherNounपुंलिङ्गः, द्वितीया, एकवचनम्Role कर्मRoot पितृ (प्रा.)
- हुवे
- I call / I invokeVerbलट् (वर्तमाने), उत्तमपुरुषः, एकवचनम्, आत्मनेपदम्Root √ह्वे (आह्वाने)
Sandhi Notes
- पदच्छेदः: रायस्कामः | वज्रहस्तम् | सुदक्षिणम् | पुत्रः | न | पितरम् | हुवे ।
- ‘रायस्कामः’ इति षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषसमासः (रायसः कामः), ‘वज्रहस्तम्’ बहुव्रीहिः/कर्मधारय-प्रायः (वज्रः हस्ते यस्य), ‘सुदक्षिणम्’ उपसर्ग ‘सु-’ युक्त विशेषणम्।
The meaning
Outer meaning
Desiring wealth/fullness, I call the thunderbolt-handed, the perfectly right-guiding one, as a son calls his father.
Inner meaning
The seeker yearns for rāyas—not merely possessions but the plenitude of being: light, force, joy, and right capacity. He calls Indra as vajrahasta: the power that strikes through falsehood and inertia. ‘Sudakṣiṇa’ is the right-discerning, right-distributing guidance—Indra as the intelligence that gives the true ‘dakṣiṇā’ (right result) of action. The relation is intimate and psychic: the soul calls the higher Father-Power for protection and for the authority to grow into its own truth.
Universal truth
True strength is not brute force but right-guided power. When the human being relates to higher intelligence with the trust of a child to a father, courage and guidance arrive together.
Themes
Indra-invocation, inner wealth (rāyas), filial devotion (putraḥ ~ pitṛ), obstruction-breaking force
The seer
- Rishi
- Vasiṣṭha
- Other hymns
- RV 7.18, RV 7.32.1, RV 7.32.2, RV 7.32.4
Family tradition
Vasiṣṭha’s hymns often combine kingly power with familial intimacy—divine authority approached through a relationship of trust and truth.
Significance
This verse is a compact yogic formula: aspiration (rāyas) + decisive force (vajra) + right guidance (dakṣiṇā) + surrendering trust (son-father).
The deity
- Devata
- Indra
- Epithets
- vajrahasta, sudakṣiṇa
- Related deities
- Bṛhaspati (word-force), Agni (will), Soma (delight)
Cosmic role
Champion of the gods; destroyer of obstructions; giver of riches and victory.
Inner power
Protective, fatherly authority of illumined mind that both guides and empowers.
In ritual
Where it is used
Personal invocation within Indra-stotra; used to call Indra for aid and protection in the Soma rite.
रा॒यस्का॑मो॒ वज्र॑हस्तं सु॒दक्षि॑णं पु॒त्रो न पि॒तरं॑ हुवे ॥
रा॒यःऽका॑मः । वज्र॑ऽहस्तम् । सु॒ऽदक्षि॑णम् । पु॒त्रः । न । पि॒तर॑म् । हु॒वे॒ ॥
rāyaḥ-kāmaḥ | vajra-hastam | su-dakṣiṇam | putraḥ | na | pitaram | huve
44
4 × ~11 (this verse is short in appearance but belongs to Triṣṭubh cadence within the hymn)
Direct, mantra-like, with a strong central epithet cluster.
Produces confidence and a sense of being protected; sharpens resolve.
- रायस्काम (rāyaskāma)
- Literal: desiring wealth. Symbolic: aspiration for inner plenitude and perfection
- वज्रहस्त (vajrahasta)
- Literal: thunderbolt-handed. Symbolic: power of decisive illumination that breaks resistance (Vṛtra-force)
- सुदक्षिण (sudakṣiṇa)
- Literal: having good/right dakṣiṇā; well-guiding. Symbolic: right discernment and right distribution of force and result
- पुत्रो न (putro na)
- Literal: like a son. Symbolic: psychic intimacy, trust, surrender without servility
- पितरम् (pitaram)
- Literal: father. Symbolic: originating and protecting higher power within consciousness
- हुवे (huve)
- Literal: I call/invoke. Symbolic: act of inner turning; concentrated invocation
Soma sacrifice context (Indra-invocation at pressing; general Indra-stotra usage in Soma-liturgies such as Agniṣṭoma)
At moments of intensified calling—before/around offering and request for boons.
Āhvāna with a personal relational tone; request for rāyas and victory.
A brief daily prayer before challenging tasks: call the ‘right-guiding force’ to act through one’s decisions and speech.
Key terms: rāyas (gen. sg. rāyaḥ) from a semantic field of richness/plenitude; interpreted inwardly as fullness of consciousness and being. vajra ‘thunderbolt’ (instrument of rupture) + hasta ‘hand’ → vajra-hasta ‘wielder of the force that smashes the coverers’. su-dakṣiṇa: su- ‘well’ + dakṣiṇa ‘right/skillful; giving’; dakṣiṇa relates to √dakṣ ‘to be able, competent’ and to ‘right-handed/right direction’, hence ‘right-guiding power’. huve from √hū ‘to call, invoke’ (present 1sg middle/active in Vedic usage).
R̥ta (right order as right-guidance: dakṣiṇa), reciprocity of offering and grace (dakṣiṇā as right return)
Sudakṣiṇa implies action aligned with ṛta—right giving and right outcome.
The fatherly Indra supports the growth of truth in the child-soul.
Evolutionary growth: the ‘son’ calls the higher power to mature into plenitude.
Integral yoga reading: surrender to higher Mind-force for transformation of action.
Vajra is the lightning of insight cutting through clouded habits; father-son is the psychic relation between evolving soul and higher guiding consciousness.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- The Indra-mythologem of the vajra-wielder: the divine power that breaks the inner ‘coverers’ (Vṛtra-type obstruction) so that plenitude (rāyas) can manifest. The son–father simile reframes the battle-myth as an intimate reliance of the aspiring human on the protecting, empowering deity.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- pitár- ‘father’ continues PIE *ph₂tḗr (cf. Latin pater, Greek patḗr). putrá- ‘son’ is Indo-Iranian (cf. Avestan puθra-), likely from a formation meaning ‘offspring/child’. The vocative-like relational simile (putró ná pitáraṃ) is a common Indo-European poetic device of kinship to express covenantal reciprocity with a god.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The speaker approaches Indra not as a distant storm-god but as a paternal upholder of the seeker’s growth. The request for rāyas implies a reciprocal economy: the human offers aspiration and Soma/word, and Indra returns ‘su-dakṣiṇa’—right-guidance, protection, and effective force in the inner struggle.
Invoke decisive clarity and right guidance; offer the day’s actions to Indra as inner Father-Power.
maṇipūra (will/force)
kapālabhāti light (30–60 strokes) then calm breathing; chant once with full voice
From wavering to strong aligned will.
Hold a specific obstruction in mind (fear, procrastination, confusion). Chant, then pause and feel a clean ‘strike’ of insight; commit to one right step (dakṣiṇā) immediately after.
Keep the epithet cluster ‘vajrahastaṃ sudakṣiṇam’ with clear udātta prominence; avoid rushing—let the weight of the names land.
Slight pause after ‘rāyaskāmo’; strongest stress on ‘vajrahastaṃ’.
‘rāyaḥ-kāmo’: visarga before k; keep it light but audible., ‘vajra’: jra conjunct clear, not ‘vajara’., ‘sudakṣiṇam’: retroflex ṣ; keep i short., ‘huve’: pronounce hu-ve, not ‘hve’ swallowed.
firm, protective, sincere
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