Rig Veda 8.7.34: Mandala 8, Sukta 7, Mantra 34
Sukta 8.7
- Rishi
- Kaṇva lineage
- Devata
- Maruts
- Chandas
- Tr̥ṣṭubh
- Rasa
- Vira (heroism) and Raudra (fury)
गिरयश्चिन्नि जिहते पर्शानासो मन्यमानाः । पर्वताश्चिन्नि येमिरे ॥
giráyaś cid ní jihate párśānāso mányamānāḥ | párvatāś cid ní yemire ||
内なる「丘」さえも屈して沈み、抗う塊は自ら堅しと思いながら退く。さらに「山々」さえも抑えられ、引き留められる——神なる力が障碍を圧するとき。
Word by Word
- गिरयः
- mountainsNounपुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा; बहुवचनRole कर्तृRoot गिरि-
- चित्
- evenIndeclinableनिपात; बलार्थ/अपि-अर्थRoot चित् (अव्यय)
- नि
- down, awayIndeclinableउपसर्ग; अवरोह/न्यक्करणार्थRoot नि (उपसर्ग/अव्यय)
- जिहते
- they are driven off / they recoilVerbलट् (वर्तमान); प्रथमपुरुष; बहुवचन; आत्मनेपदRoot हन् (√हन्) → जिहते (वेदिक आत्मनेपद)
- पर्शानासः
- (their) ribs/sides (flanks)Nounपुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा; बहुवचनRole कर्तृRoot पर्शान-
- मन्यमानाः
- thinking, deeming (themselves)Participle (Adjective)पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा; बहुवचन; वर्तमानकाले; आत्मनेपदीय-भावRole कर्तृRoot √मन् (मन्य) + शानच् (वर्तमान कृदन्त)
- पर्वताः
- mountainsNounपुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा; बहुवचनRole कर्तृRoot पर्वत-
- चित्
- evenIndeclinableनिपात; बलार्थ/अपि-अर्थRoot चित् (अव्यय)
- नि
- down, awayIndeclinableउपसर्ग; अवरोह/न्यक्करणार्थRoot नि (उपसर्ग/अव्यय)
- येमिरे
- they have been restrained / they have yieldedVerbलिट् (परोक्श/परफेक्ट; वेदिक); प्रथमपुरुष; बहुवचनRoot √यम् (येमिरे; वेदिक परस्मैपद/आत्मनेपद-रूप)
Sandhi Notes
- पदच्छेदः: गिरयः चित् नि जिहते पर्शानासः मन्यमानाः । पर्वताः चित् नि येमिरे ॥ 1) गि॒रय॑श्चित् = गिरयः + चित् (विसर्ग-लोपः, ‘श्’ आगमः: -यः + चित् → -यश्चित्)
- 2) चि॒न्नि = चित् + नि (त् + न् → न्न्; ‘चित्’ → ‘चिन्’)
- 3) पर्शा॑नासो = पर्शानासः (पदान्त -अः → -ओ, संहितायाम्)
- 4) पर्व॑ताश्चित् = पर्वताः + चित् (विसर्ग-लोपः, ‘श्’ आगमः)
- 5) चि॒न्नि (द्वितीयवारम्) = चित् + नि (त् + न् → न्न्)
The meaning
Outer meaning
Even the hills sink down; the resisting masses, thinking themselves firm, give way. Even the mountains are restrained/held back.
Inner meaning
The mantra describes the collapse of inner resistances under divine pressure: ‘hills’ and ‘mountains’ are formations of hardened habit, subconscious inertia, and entrenched ego-structures. When the higher Force acts (often through Indra-Marut dynamism in this hymn-sequence), what seemed immovable yields; the proud resistance (manyamānāḥ) is compelled to subside.
Universal truth
No obstruction is absolute: when truth-force and sustained spiritual energy act, even the most entrenched patterns can be re-shaped and brought under control.
Themes
obstruction-breaking, inner battle: Light vs. resistance, divine constraint of the inconscient
The seer
- Rishi
- Kāṇva (contextual likelihood within RV 8.7)
- Lineage
- Kāṇva (probable)
- Other hymns
- RV 8.7.30–33 (context), RV 1.32 (Indra slays Vṛtra; mountains/waters imagery)
Family tradition
Within the Kāṇva Marut/Indra sequence, such verses often describe the effect of divine force on obstruction—typical of victory imagery.
Significance
A psychological ‘victory-verse’: it reassures the seeker that entrenched resistances can be made to yield under higher action.
The deity
- Devata
- Indra-Marut force (implied)
- Epithets
- breaker of obstacles (Indra), impelling host (Maruts)
- Related deities
- Indra, Maruts, Agni, Bṛhaspati
Cosmic role
Breaks the coverings, compels the fixed masses to move, and releases the blocked flows (waters/light).
Inner power
Irresistible pressure of illumination and dynamic energy that dislodges inertia and binds rebellious movements.
In ritual
Where it is used
Victory/obstacle-breaking praise within Indra/Marut contexts (general)
गि॒रय॑श्चि॒न्नि जि॑हते॒ पर्शा॑नासो॒ मन्य॑मानाः । पर्व॑ताश्चि॒न्नि ये॑मिरे ॥
गि॒रयः॑ । चि॒त् । नि । जि॒ह॒ते॒ । पर्शा॑नासः । मन्य॑मानाः । पर्व॑ताः । चि॒त् । नि । ये॒मि॒रे॒ ॥
girayaḥ | cit | ni | jihate | parśānāsaḥ | manyamānāḥ | parvatāḥ | cit | ni | yemi re
Triṣṭubh (probable by sūkta pattern; not verified)
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4 × ~11
Heavy, descending cadence mirroring ‘sinking’ and ‘subduing’; emphatic repetition of ‘cit’ (even) intensifies inevitability.
Conveys certainty of victory; gives the listener a felt sense of pressure that pushes obstacles down.
- गिरयः (girayaḥ)
- Literal: hills. Symbolic: smaller fixed formations of habit and resistance in the nature
- पर्वताः (parvatāḥ)
- Literal: mountains. Symbolic: major subconscious/egoic blocks; long-standing karmic formations
- नि जिहते (ni jihate)
- Literal: sink down, are made to fall. Symbolic: collapse of resistance; lowering of pride and rigidity
- पर्शानासः (parśānāsaḥ)
- Literal: resisting masses/blocks (hard, obstructive). Symbolic: compressed forces of obstruction; coagulated inertia
- मन्यमानाः (manyamānāḥ)
- Literal: thinking (themselves), imagining. Symbolic: ego-sense of solidity; false self-certainty of the resistant nature
- नि येमिरे (ni yemire)
- Literal: are restrained/held back. Symbolic: obstruction checked and bound; forces brought under higher governance
General praise/invocation context; specific Śrauta assignment not determinable from the isolated verse without full hymn metadata.
When invoking the removal of impediments to the rite and the release of powers (waters/rays).
Recitation to affirm the overpowering of resistance and the establishment of unobstructed movement.
Mantra for breaking habits, fear, procrastination, or depressive inertia—used as an affirmation of inevitable change under sustained practice.
: middle 3pl; intens./descriptive use from √hā ‘leave, abandon’ (with sense of ‘give way, recoil’ in context). : perfect/middle 3pl from √yam ‘to hold, restrain’; conveys ‘being constrained’ rather than mere motion. : pres. mid. participle nom. pl. from √man ‘to think, suppose’; here ‘self-conceiving as solid’. : preverb indicating downward/inward subduing—symbolically, the descent of force that breaks rigid formations.
R̥ta (right ordering through divine pressure on disorder), tapas/force that compels transformation, overcoming of obstruction (nirodha of tamasic formations)
Obstructions are deviations from ṛta; divine force compels them to yield so right movement can reassert itself.
The resistant nature ‘imagines’ solidity; satya reveals its impermanence and subdues it.
Release through breaking of fixed formations; evolution by overcoming the ‘coverer’ principle.
Vedic psychology of obstruction (Vṛtra/covering) and liberation (release of waters/light)
Mountains/hills = hardened samskāras; sinking/being restrained = ego and inertia losing dominance under higher will and light.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- The ‘making even mountains yield’ mythologem: the divine power compels the seemingly immovable to give way. It is contiguous with the wider Vedic theme of breaking firmholds (parvata/giri) that conceal or block the flow of light/force—an inner analogue of releasing what is held in the hard formations of ignorance.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- √yam ‘to hold, restrain’ continues PIE *yem- ‘to hold, tame, restrain’ (cf. Sanskrit yama ‘restraint’, Avestan yama- related semantic field). The preverb ní adds a directional ‘down/into’ constraint. √man (manyamāna-) reflects PIE *men- ‘to think’ (cf. English ‘mind’, Greek menos), here marking the self-assertion of resistance as a cognitive formation.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The verse speaks from the seer’s vision of efficacy: when the invoked Power acts, even the hardest resistances are forced to yield. The reciprocity is implicit—praise/attention (stuti) aligns the human instrument with the divine action, enabling the descent that subdues the ‘mountainous’ obstructions.
Contemplate the ‘mountain’ you face (one entrenched pattern) and invoke the descending pressure of truth-force until the sense of immovability softens.
muladhara (deep inertia/fear)
Slow, grounding breaths; on exhale, feel the obstruction ‘sink’; on inhale, feel a higher pressure descending from above the head into the spine.
From intimidation by resistance to calm certainty and steady power.
Name the resistance without drama (‘manyamāna’—its imagined solidity). Chant, then sit silently noticing micro-shifts: tension releases, mental rigidity loosens, a new space appears—this is the beginning of the ‘mountain’ yielding.
Rigvedic accenting; emphasize the repeated ‘cit’ (even) without over-stressing; keep the cadence weighty and controlled.
Padapāṭha segmentation: girayaḥ | cit | ni | jihate | parśānāsaḥ | manyamānāḥ | parvatāḥ | cit | ni | yemire.
girayaḥ: soft g; final ḥ light, jihate: j voiced; h clearly aspirated, parśānāsaḥ: ś palatal; long ā; final ḥ, manyamānāḥ: ny cluster; long ā; final ḥ, parvatāḥ: rv cluster clear; long ā; final ḥ, yemire: ye- mi- re distinct, not ‘yemre’
Grave, forceful, steady—like a pressure that does not waver.
11
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