Rig Veda 4.32.18: Mandala 4, Sukta 32, Mantra 18
Sukta 4.32
- Rishi
- Vāmadeva Gautama
- Devata
- Indra
- Chandas
- Anuṣṭubh
- Rasa
- Adbhuta (wonder) and Vira (heroism)
सहस्रा ते शता वयं गवामा च्यावयामसि । अस्मत्रा राध एतु ते ॥
sahásrā te śatá vayáṃ gávām ā́ cyāvayāmasi | asma-trā́ rā́dha etu te ||
ಹೇ (ಇಂದ್ರ), ನಿನ್ನಿಗಾಗಿ ನಾವು ಬೆಳಕಿನ ಸಾವಿರ ಮತ್ತು ನೂರು ಕಿರಣಗಳನ್ನು ಗವಾಮ್ (ಗೋವುಗಳು/ಪ್ರಕಾಶ-ಧೇನುಗಳು) ಸಮಾನವಾಗಿ ಚಲನೆಗೆ ತರುತ್ತೇವೆ. ನಿನ್ನ ರಾಧಃ (ದಾನ-ಸಮೃದ್ಧಿ/ಮಂಗಳ-ಪೂರ್ಣತೆ) ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಬರಲಿ—ನಮ್ಮದೇ ಕ್ಷೇತ್ರಕ್ಕೆ.
Word by Word
- सहस्राः
- thousandsNounपुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग; प्रथमा विभक्ति; बहुवचनRole KarmaRoot सहस्र (प्रातिपदिक)
- ते
- of you / yourPronounषष्ठी विभक्ति; एकवचनRole SampradānaRoot युष्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- शताः
- hundredsNounपुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग; प्रथमा विभक्ति; बहुवचनRole KarmaRoot शत (प्रातिपदिक)
- वयम्
- wePronounप्रथमा विभक्ति; बहुवचनRole KartāRoot अस्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- गवाम्
- of cowsNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग; षष्ठी विभक्ति; बहुवचनRole ApādānaRoot गो (प्रातिपदिक)
- आ
- towards, forth (preverb)Indeclinableउपसर्ग (क्रियायोगे)Root आ (उपसर्ग/निपात)
- च्यावयामसि
- we cause to move/drive awayVerbलट् (वर्तमान); उत्तमपुरुष; बहुवचन; परस्मैपदम्; णिजन्त (causative)Role KriyāRoot च्यावय् (णिजन्त; धातु √च्यु/च्यव् ‘चलने/अपसारणे’)
- अस्मत्रा
- here, in our placeIndeclinableदेशवाचक अव्यय (अधिकारणार्थे)Role AdhikaraṇaRoot अस्मत्रा (अव्यय; अस्मद्-आधारित देशवाचक)
- राधः
- bounty, gift, favorNounनपुंसकलिङ्ग; प्रथमा विभक्ति; एकवचनRole KartāRoot राधस् (प्रातिपदिक)
- एतु
- let it comeVerbलोट् (आज्ञार्थ/विधिलिङ्ग-सदृश); प्रथमपुरुष; एकवचन; परस्मैपदम्Role KriyāRoot इ (धातु √इ ‘गत्यर्थे’)
- ते
- to youPronounचतुर्थी विभक्ति; एकवचनRole SampradānaRoot युष्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
Sandhi Notes
- पदच्छेदः: सहस्राः ते शताः वयम् गवाम् आ च्यावयामसि । अस्मत्रा राधः एतु ते ॥ 1) गवाम् + आ → गवामा (स्वर-संहितायां दीर्घ/आगम-प्रदर्शनम्; पदपाठे ‘गवाम् आ’)
- 2) राधः + एतु → राध एतु (विसर्गस्य लोपः स्वरादौ; संहितायां ‘राध॑ एतु’)
- 3) ते द्विवारम्: प्रथमं षष्ठी ‘ते’ (तव), अन्ते चतुर्थी ‘ते’ (तुभ्यम्)
The meaning
Outer meaning
The seers declare they set in motion for Indra a thousand and a hundred ‘cows’; may Indra’s wealth/felicity come here to them.
Inner meaning
The ‘cows’ are rays of knowledge (go). The practitioner actively releases and mobilizes many lights of understanding for the Indra-power to work with. As these rays move, Indra’s rādhas (accomplished felicity, effective abundance) descends into our field (asmatrā)—the embodied life where realization must take place.
Universal truth
Illumination is not passive: we must move the rays—practice, inquiry, aspiration—so that higher power can respond with a tangible increase of well-being and capacity in life.
Themes
recovery of light, bounty, inner increase, illumination
The seer
- Rishi
- Vāmadeva Gautama
- Lineage
- Gautama
- Other hymns
- Rig Veda 4.18, Rig Veda 4.24, Rig Veda 4.26, Rig Veda 4.27
Family tradition
Vāmadeva’s Indra hymns often emphasize the release and right movement of the ‘cows’ (rays) and the descent of rādhas into life.
Significance
Embodies the seer’s method: awaken knowledge (go), set it moving, invite divine force to establish felicity in the human field.
The deity
- Devata
- Indra
- Epithets
- Maghavan (bountiful), Gopati (lord of the cows/rays), Vṛtrahan, Śūra
- Related deities
- Sarasvatī (inspiration/flow of knowledge), Bṛhaspati (word/illumination), Uṣas (dawn of light)
Cosmic role
Receives the rays, enlarges them, and uses them to conquer obstruction; brings rādhas—successful fulfillment.
Inner power
The luminous mind-force that turns insight into effective power and joy in action.
In ritual
Where it is used
Indra invocation with offerings that ‘set the cows in motion’ (symbolically: release of light)
स॒हस्रा॑ ते श॒ता व॒यं गवा॒मा च्या॑वयामसि । अ॒स्म॒त्रा राध॑ एतु ते ॥
स॒हस्रा॑ । ते॒ । श॒ता । व॒यम् । गवा॑म् । आ । च्या॒व॒या॒म॒सि॒ । अ॒स्म॒ऽत्रा । राधः॑ । ए॒तु॒ । ते॒ ॥
sahasrā | te | śatā | vayam | gavām | ā | cyāvayāmasi | asma-trā | rādhaḥ | etu | te
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8+8+8+8
Balanced and declarative; good for statements of inner action and invitation.
Creates a sense of mobilization and arrival—movement of light followed by descent of grace.
- sahasrā śatā
- Literal: a thousand, a hundred. Symbolic: fullness and completeness of the awakened rays
- gavām
- Literal: of cows. Symbolic: rays of light/knowledge; illuminations released from the cave
- ā cyāvayāmasi
- Literal: we set in motion, we cause to move toward. Symbolic: activate inner lights; make knowledge dynamic in thought and life
- asmatrā
- Literal: here, in our place/field. Symbolic: the embodied consciousness; the present becoming
- rādhaḥ
- Literal: gift, wealth, success, felicity. Symbolic: effective grace: a formed power of happiness and right result
Prayer for rādhas (bounty) and the ‘movement’ of illumined herds (go) within the Soma-sacrifice framework; can accompany offerings seeking increase.
In Soma rites or Indra-focused recitations seeking increase of light and prosperity
Calling Indra; offering; symbolic ‘driving’/releasing of cows as wealth
Use before creative work or decision-making: ‘set in motion’ insights (journaling/contemplation), then invite the higher mind to bring a concrete, happy outcome.
go- ‘cow’ also ‘ray/light’ by Vedic polysemy; √cyu ‘to move, fall, shift’ → causative cyāvayati ‘set in motion’; rādhas- from √rādh ‘to succeed, accomplish, grant’ → ‘accomplishing bounty’ rather than material wealth only.
ṛta as right dynamism (ordered movement of lights), rādhas as accomplished fullness
Right movement of the rays aligns the being with ṛta; then fulfillment can lawfully arrive.
The ‘cows’ are Satya’s lights; they must be released from concealment into active circulation.
From concealment to manifestation: lights move; felicity descends into the human field.
Integral-Vedic psychology of descent of higher powers into life.
dawn-like (implicit through rays)
unspecified
Rays of knowledge begin to move like a herd released; the field of becoming becomes bright and fruitful.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- The ‘cows’ as recoverable/mobilizable lights: a central Vedic mythic complex (finding/releasing the cows). Here it is internalized: the seeker sets the rays of knowledge in motion for Indra’s action, and asks Indra’s rādhas to descend into the human field.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- go- ‘cow’ as a wealth/light symbol is pan-Indo-European (cf. cattle/wealth equation). √i ‘to go’ (etu) reflects PIE *h₁ei- ‘go’. The causative morphology (cyāvayāmasi) shows the Vedic tendency to encode deliberate inner agency.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The r̥ṣi offers a movement of lights (go) as a supportive condition for Indra’s presence; Indra reciprocates by sending rādhas ‘here’. The exchange is consciousness-based: illumination offered upward, fullness returned downward.
Release and circulate insights; invite Indra to convert them into lived felicity.
ājñā (illumination) flowing into viśuddha (expression) and maṇipūra (effective action)
4-4-6 breathing; chant on the 6-count exhale to feel ‘movement’ of rays
Brightening, outward-moving clarity with inward receptivity.
After chanting, name (mentally) 3 ‘rays’ you will set in motion today (a truth to remember, a habit to change, a work to complete). Then sit 2 minutes receptive: ‘asmatrā rādha etu’—let fulfillment come into life.
Rigvedic three-tone framework (udātta/anudātta/svarita) as per recensional marking; keep the chant even and avoid melodic improvisation.
Let ‘gavām’ be clear and open; slightly brighten on ‘rādhaḥ etu’ to suggest arrival.
cyāvayāmasi: ‘cyā’ palatal; long ā; avoid ‘ch’—it is ‘cy’, asmatrā: keep ‘trā’ conjunct crisp; long ā, rādhaḥ: long ā; final ḥ light but audible, sahasrā: long ā at end
Clear, luminous, inviting; gently expansive.
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