Rig Veda 9.1.6: Mandala 9, Sukta 1, Mantra 6
Sukta 9.1
- Rishi
- Madhucchandas
- Devata
- Soma Pavamāna
- Chandas
- Gāyatrī
- Rasa
- Adbhuta (wonder) and Shanta (peace)
पुनाति ते परिस्रुतं सोमं सूर्यस्य दुहिता । वारेण शश्वता तना ॥
punā́ti te pari-srútaṃ sómaṃ sū́ryasya duhitā́ | vā́reṇa śáśvatā tánā ||
太陽の娘は、めぐり流れ出る汝のソーマを浄める。彼女の存在なる永遠の水の篩によって――光明にして識別する力が、歓喜を澄みわたる真理へと漉し分ける。
Word by Word
- पुनाति
- purifiesVerbलट् (वर्तमाने), परस्मैपदम्, प्र. (3) पुरुषः, एकवचनम्Role क्रिया (मुख्य क्रियापद)Root √पू (पूञ्) / पुनाति (present stem)
- ते
- for you / of youPronounषष्ठी/चतुर्थी एकवचनम् (enclitic ‘te’ = ‘of/for you’)Role सम्प्रदान (for you) / सम्बन्ध (of you)Root त्वद् (युष्मद्-प्रातिपदिक) सर्वनाम
- परिस्रुतम्
- flowed around; well-filteredParticiple (Adjective)नपुंसकलिङ्गम्, द्वितीया एकवचनम् (सोमम् इति विशेषणम्)Role कर्म (object-qualifier)Root परि-√स्रु (स्रु) + क्त (PPP) → परिस्रुत
- सोमम्
- Soma (the pressed/ritual drink)Nounपुंलिङ्गम्, द्वितीया एकवचनम्Role कर्मRoot सोम (प्रातिपदिक)
- सूर्यस्य
- of the SunNounपुंलिङ्गम्, षष्ठी एकवचनम्Role सम्बन्ध (genitive)Root सूर्य (प्रातिपदिक)
- दुहिता
- the daughterNounस्त्रीलिङ्गम्, प्रथमा एकवचनम्Role कर्ताRoot दुहितृ (प्रातिपदिक)
- वारेण
- with waterNounनपुंसकलिङ्गम्, तृतीया एकवचनम्Role करणRoot वारि/वार (प्रातिपदिक; ‘water’)
- शश्वता
- everlasting; continualAdjectiveनपुंसकलिङ्गम्, तृतीया एकवचनम् (तना इति विशेषणम्)Role करण (adverbial-instrumental: ‘continually’)Root शश्वत् (प्रातिपदिक)
- तना
- by herself; in her own personNoun (adverbial use)स्त्रीलिङ्गम्, तृतीया एकवचनम् (वैदिक-रूपम्)Role करण (adverbial: ‘by oneself, in one’s own person’)Root तनू/तन् (प्रातिपदिक; Vedic instr. ‘tana’ = ‘by/with the body, by oneself’)
Sandhi Notes
- पदच्छेदः: पुनाति | ते | परिस्रुतम् | सोमम् | सूर्यस्य | दुहिता | वारेण | शश्वता | तना ।
- ‘ते’ एन्क्लिटिक-रूपम् (त्वद्-षष्ठी/चतुर्थी एकवचन). ‘परिस्रुतम्’ = परि-उपसर्ग + √स्रु + क्त (PPP). ‘तना’ वैदिक-तृतीया एकवचनम् (तनू-शब्दस्य) adverbial-प्रयोगः।
The meaning
Outer meaning
The Daughter of the Sun purifies your Soma as it streams around, by an eternal sieve of water.
Inner meaning
A solar power—‘Sūryasya duhitā’—acts as the discriminating radiance that strains the flowing delight. As Soma moves through the being, this luminous faculty separates truth from mixture, refining joy into a clear, steady Ananda fit for the higher powers.
Universal truth
Illumination is not merely brightness; it is discrimination that purifies experience, turning raw emotion into clear truth and stable joy.
Themes
purification, solar illumination, Soma filtration, emanated powers
The seer
- Rishi
- Madhucchandas
- Other hymns
- Rig Veda 9.1 (Pavamāna set)
Family tradition
Early seer-poetry where cosmic processes (sun, waters, soma) mirror inner disciplines of purification and ascent.
Significance
The rishi frames purification as an intelligent, luminous action: delight is made true by the Sun’s lineage—illumination shaping Ananda.
The deity
- Devata
- Soma Pavamāna (with agency of Sūryasya duhitā)
- Epithets
- Pavamāna, Indu
- Related deities
- Sūrya, Uṣas, Sarasvatī (as purifier/stream, thematic), Indra
Cosmic role
Soma’s refinement through luminous agencies so it can empower the gods and maintain ṛta.
Inner power
The union of Ananda (Soma) with illumined discrimination (solar daughter) that produces clear, effective spiritual force.
In ritual
Where it is used
Pavamāna chants during Soma filtration (pavitra) with water and wool strainer.
पु॒नाति॑ ते परि॒स्रुतं॒ सोमं॒ सूर्य॑स्य दुहि॒ता । वारे॑ण॒ शश्व॑ता॒ तना॑ ॥
पु॒नाति॑ । ते॒ । प॒रि॒ऽस्रुत॑म् । सोम॑म् । सूर्य॑स्य । दु॒हि॒ता । वारे॑ण । शश्व॑ता । तना॑ ॥
punāti | te | pari-srutam | somam | sūryasya | duhitā | vāreṇa | śaśvatā | tanā
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3×8
Bright, quick clarity; each pāda feels like a clean ‘cut’ of discrimination.
Supports mental purification—listeners often feel ‘clearing’ and uplift, as if breath and thought become transparent.
- punāti
- Literal: purifies, makes clean. Symbolic: psychic-mental clarification; removing mixture of desire, inertia, and falsehood
- pari-srutam
- Literal: flowing around, streaming. Symbolic: Ananda circulating through mind-life-body; experience in motion
- sūryasya duhitā
- Literal: daughter of the Sun. Symbolic: solar discernment (viveka-like power); dawn/illumined intelligence that filters
- vāreṇa
- Literal: with water / by a sieve-strainer (contextual). Symbolic: the medium of purification—clear consciousness that strains and orders
- śaśvatā tanā
- Literal: with eternal body/continuity. Symbolic: constant, self-renewing principle of discrimination present through all stages
Straining/clarification imagery in Soma ritual: purification through water/filter; mythic personification of the purifying agency
At the straining, when Soma is made fit for offering.
Recited as Soma is poured and filtered; invokes the purifying luminous agency.
Use in meditation when emotions are turbulent: invoke ‘solar daughter’ as inner discernment to clarify and sweeten experience.
punāti from √pū ‘purify’. pari-sruta from pari-√sru ‘flow around’. duhitā ‘daughter’ (kinship term used mythically for emanation). vāra/vāri ‘water’ tied to straining and cleansing; śaśvata ‘everlasting’ from śaśvat ‘always’; tanā ‘by the body/substance’ instrumental.
discernment (viveka-like purification), Sūrya as truth-light, R̥ta as clarified flow
Purification is the restoration of right order—each movement of delight finds its true channel.
Soma becomes satya when strained by solar discrimination—truth-joy rather than desire-joy.
Light differentiates and forms; the Sun’s power organizes the flowing essence into stable clarity.
Integral-psychological Vedic exegesis: discrimination (light) is a creative power shaping Ananda into effective consciousness.
dawn (implied by solar daughter/illumination)
unspecified
Solar light = discerning intelligence; waters = conscious flow; sieve = inner faculty that separates truth from mixture.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- The ‘Sun’s Daughter purifies Soma’ mythologem: a luminous feminine power born of the Sun strains Soma. Inner sense: the truth-light (Sūrya) emanates a discriminating faculty that clarifies delight into a pure, effective force for realization.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- √sru ‘flow’ is old IE (cf. related flow/stream semantics across branches). The kinship metaphor (duhitā) as ‘emanation’ is a shared archaic poetic strategy: genealogical language encodes cosmological derivation.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The rishi observes the inner mechanics of purification: Soma is not only invoked but shown to be refined by a solar power. The seer’s speech aligns the sacrificer with that process, inviting the same clarification in consciousness.
Invoke a ‘sunlit discernment’ above the brow that strains feelings into clear joy.
Ajna (brow)
Inhale imagining a golden light descending; exhale imagining it filtering the heart’s waters (6–8 cycles).
Clear, luminous, purified joy; quiet certainty.
When desire mixes with aspiration, call the ‘daughter of the Sun’: let insight separate what is true from what is merely pleasant.
Gāyatrī with careful accenting; keep ‘punāti’ crisp and uplifting; let svarita fall gently after udatta peaks.
Do not rush consonant clusters; keep a clear tonal lift on accented syllables to evoke ‘solar’ brightness.
punāti: long ā, parisrutam: articulate ‘sr’ cluster cleanly, sūryasya: long ū; palatal ‘ry’ smooth, duhitā: dental dh; long ā, śaśvatā: both ś sounds clear; long ā
Bright, clear, slightly higher placement (as if ‘sunlit’).
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