Sukta 70
Sukta 5.70
Atri (Ātreya)
Mitra-Varuṇa
Anuṣṭubh (shorter 8-syllable cadence; hymn 5.70 is characteristically compact)
This compact Anuṣṭubh hymn invokes Mitra–Varuṇa as present helpers whose orderly, luminous guidance (sumati) can carry the worshipper through wounds, hardships, and inner obstruction. It asks for protection, effective safeguarding power, and victory over dasyu-forces (darkness, disorder), concluding with a plea to be spared any harmful affliction (yakṣa) in body and vitality.
Mantras
Mantra 1
पुरूरुणा चिद्ध्यस्त्यवो नूनं वां वरुण । मित्र वंसि वां सुमतिम् ॥
Even with many woundings and difficulties, your help truly exists for us now, O Varuṇa; O Mitra, you two desire for us the good-mindedness—right and luminous understanding.
Mantra 2
ता वां सम्यगद्रुह्वाणेषमश्याम धायसे । वयं ते रुद्रा स्याम ॥
May we, moving in rightness and without betrayal, attain the impulse of your delight-nourishment; may we be, O Rudras, those who belong to you—strong in the uplifted force.
Mantra 3
पातं नो रुद्रा पायुभिरुत त्रायेथां सुत्रात्रा । तुर्याम दस्यून्तनूभिः ॥
Protect us, O Rudras, with your guardianships; and save us, O good saviours. May we, with our embodied powers, overpass and defeat the dasyus—the obstructing darknesses.
Mantra 4
मा कस्याद्भुतक्रतू यक्षं भुजेमा तनूभिः । मा शेषसा मा तनसा ॥
O you of wondrous will, let us not partake—within our embodied being—of any harmful visitation or affliction; not by remnant weakness, not by failing of our substance.
Frequently Asked Questions
They are paired Āditya deities who uphold ṛta (cosmic and moral order). Mitra emphasizes harmony and right relations, while Varuṇa emphasizes truth, law, and vigilant protection.
Sumati means good-mindedness or right understanding—clear, luminous counsel that aligns thought and action with ṛta. The hymn asks Mitra–Varuṇa to place this clarity in the worshipper.
In a ritual-spiritual reading, dasyus are obstructing forces—darkness, disorder, or hostile impulses that block progress. Yakṣa here refers to a harmful affliction or visitation the hymn asks to be kept away from one’s embodied life and vitality.
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