Rig Veda 4.27.2: Mandala 4, Sukta 27, Mantra 2
Sukta 4.27
- Rishi
- Vāmadeva Gautama
- Devata
- Soma/Śyena cycle with Purandhi as support-power
- Chandas
- Triṣṭubh
- Rasa
- Vira (heroism) and Shanta (peace)
न घा स मामप जोषं जभाराभीमास त्वक्षसा वीर्येण । ईर्मा पुरंधिरजहादरातीरुत वाताँ अतरच्छूशुवानः ॥
ná ghā sá mām ápa jóṣaṃ jabhārābhímāsa tvákṣasā vīryèṇa | ī́rmā puráṃdhir ajahād árātīr utá vātā́m̐ atarat śū́śuvānaḥ ||
ລາວບໍ່ໄດ້ພາຂ້ອຍໄປຈາກຄວາມຊົມຊື່ນຂອງຂ້ອຍ; ແຕ່ລາວໄດ້ກົດຂີ່ຂ້ອຍ ດ້ວຍພະລັງທີ່ສ້າງຮູບ ແລະ ຄວາມເປັນວິລະຊົນ. ຈາກນັ້ນ ປຸຣັນທິໄດ້ຂັບຂາດການປະຕິເສດ, ແລະ, ເຕີບໃຫຍ່ເຂັ້ມຂົ້ນຂຶ້ນ, ຂ້ອຍໄດ້ຂ້າມພົ້ນລົມ, ເຫນືອການເຄື່ອນໄຫວທີ່ບໍ່ສະຫມັກຂອງລົມຫາຍໃຈ ເຂົ້າໄປໃນຄວາມກວ້າງຂວາງທີ່ສະຫງົບກວ່າ.
Word by Word
- न
- notIndeclinableनिषेध (negation)Root न
- घा
- indeed / surelyIndeclinableनिपात (emphatic particle)Root घा
- स
- hePronounपुंलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, एकवचनम् (enclitic demonstrative ‘he’)Role KartāRoot स
- माम्
- mePronounद्वितीया, एकवचनम्Role KarmaRoot अस्मद्
- अपः
- watersNounस्त्रीलिङ्गः, द्वितीया, बहुवचनम्Role KarmaRoot अप्
- जोषम्
- enjoyment / satisfactionNounपुंलिङ्गः, द्वितीया, एकवचनम् (adverbial accusative)Role KarmaRoot जोष
- जभार
- bore / carried / broughtVerbलिट् (perfect), परस्मैपदम्, प्रथमपुरुषः, एकवचनम्Root √भृ
- अभीमास
- fearsome / formidableAdjectiveपुंलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, एकवचनम् (epithet)Role KartāRoot अभीमास
- त्वक्षसा
- with strength / with vigorNounनपुंसकलिङ्गः, तृतीया, एकवचनम्Role KaraṇaRoot त्वक्षस्
- वीर्येण
- with heroic powerNounनपुंसकलिङ्गः, तृतीया, एकवचनम्Role KaraṇaRoot वीर्य
- ईर्मा
- set in motion / impelledVerbलुङ्/आorist (injunctive-like), परस्मैपदम्, प्रथमपुरुषः, एकवचनम्Root √ईर्
- पुरंधिः
- Purandhi (personified Abundance/Providence)Nounस्त्रीलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, एकवचनम्Role KartāRoot पुरंधि
- अजहात्
- left / abandonedVerbलुङ् (aorist), परस्मैपदम्, प्रथमपुरुषः, एकवचनम्Root √हा
- अरातीः
- hostilities / harms / enemies’ maliceNounस्त्रीलिङ्गः, द्वितीया, बहुवचनम्Role KarmaRoot अराति
- उत
- and / alsoIndeclinableसमुच्चय (also/and)Root उत
- वातान्
- windsNounपुंलिङ्गः, द्वितीया, बहुवचनम्Role KarmaRoot वात
- अतरत्
- crossed over / passed throughVerbलुङ् (aorist), परस्मैपदम्, प्रथमपुरुषः, एकवचनम्Root √तॄ
- शूशुवानः
- having grown strong / having become vigorousParticipleपरस्मैपदीय-परिपूर्ण/परफेक्ट-कर्तरि कृदन्तः, पुंलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, एकवचनम्Role KartāRoot √श्वि/√शु (intens./perf. stem शूशुव-)
Sandhi Notes
- Sandhi resolution (principal): मामपः → माम् + अपः
- जभारा॒भीमा॑स → जभार + अभीमास
- पुरं॑धिरजहा॒दरा॑तीः → पुरंधिः + अजहात् + अरातीः
- वाताँ॑ अतर॒च्छूशु॑वानः → वातान् + अतरत् + शूशुवानः. Accent marks in the input are retained on the surface forms
- pada listing gives the resolved lexical words
The meaning
Outer meaning
He did not take me away from my delight; he pressed upon me with shaping force and hero-power. Purandhi cast off denials; growing intense, I crossed beyond the winds.
Inner meaning
The divine force does not steal the soul’s true joy; it intensifies and shapes it (tvakṣasā) into power capable of conquest (vīrya). Purandhi—plentitude/right-mindedness that ‘fills’—casts away arātīḥ (denials, hostile negations, poverty of consciousness). Then the seeker crosses beyond the ‘winds’ (vāta)—the restless prāṇic movements and mental-vital fluctuations—into steadier vastness and silence where Ananda can be held without disturbance.
Universal truth
Spiritual discipline is not joyless suppression; it is the right shaping of delight into strength. Freedom includes mastery over restless inner currents and the abandonment of negating habits.
Themes
overcoming denial (arāti), tapas intensification, stability of Ananda, vital transcendence
The seer
- Rishi
- Vāmadeva Gautama
- Lineage
- Gautama
- Other hymns
- RV 4.26, RV 4.27, RV 4.28
Family tradition
Vāmadeva’s hymns frequently show an inner autobiography of ascent: delight recovered, resistances rejected, and the crossing into wideness.
Significance
The ṛṣi’s voice here is pedagogical: delight is safeguarded and transformed, while denial (arātī) is explicitly rejected—an important Aurobindonian theme of integral affirmation rather than world-negation.
The deity
- Devata
- Soma (with Purandhi as supporting power)
- Epithets
- Madhu (sweet), Śukra (bright, implied in the cycle), Priya (beloved, implied by joṣa)
- Related deities
- Indra, Tvaṣṭṛ (by association with tvakṣasā), Vāyu (winds/prāṇa domain, as the field crossed)
Cosmic role
Soma sustains the gods and gives rapture (mada) that empowers right action; Purandhi supports the ‘filling’ and right arrangement of the sacrifice.
Inner power
Ananda stabilized by formative force; the capacity to hold bliss beyond prāṇic disturbance; rejection of negation.
In ritual
Where it is used
Soma-yajña; recitation in Soma-related sequences emphasizing acquisition/guardianship and empowerment
न घा॒ स मामप॒ जोषं॑ जभारा॒भीमा॑स॒ त्वक्ष॑सा वी॒र्ये॑ण । ई॒र्मा पुरं॑धिरजहा॒दरा॑तीरु॒त वाताँ॑ अतर॒च्छूशु॑वानः ॥
न । घ॒ । सः । माम् । अप॑ । जोष॑म् । ज॒भा॒र॒ । अ॒भि । ई॒म् । आ॒स॒ । त्वक्ष॑सा । वी॒र्ये॑ण । ई॒र्मा । पुर॑म्ऽधिः । अ॒ज॒हा॒त् । अरा॑तीः । उ॒त । वाता॑न् । अ॒त॒र॒त् । शूशु॑वानः ॥
na | gha | saḥ | mām | apa | joṣam | jabhāra | abhi | īm | āsa | tvakṣasā | vīryeṇa | īmār | puram-dhiḥ | ajahāt | arātīḥ | uta | vātān | atarat | śūśuvānaḥ
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4 pādas × ~11 syllables
Firm, advancing rhythm with a sense of overcoming and crossing.
Creates a felt ‘push through’ turbulence; the cadence naturally supports the image of moving past the winds into steadiness.
- joṣam
- Literal: delight, enjoyment. Symbolic: soul-joy/Ananda that is preserved and purified, not denied
- tvakṣasā
- Literal: by shaping power (Tvaṣṭṛ-like). Symbolic: formative divine action that refines raw experience into luminous capacity
- vīryeṇa
- Literal: by hero-power. Symbolic: spiritual strength for inner battle and breakthrough
- puraṃdhir
- Literal: Purandhi (plentitude), also ‘she who fills’. Symbolic: the power of integrative fullness; right discernment that supports attainment
- arātīḥ
- Literal: hostilities/denials, non-giving. Symbolic: negating forces: doubt, inertia, inner poverty, refusal of light
- vātān atarat
- Literal: crossed the winds. Symbolic: went beyond prāṇic turbulence and mental-vital restlessness
- śūśuvānaḥ
- Literal: growing, intensifying. Symbolic: tapas increasing—aspiration ripening into steady force
Affirmation against ‘arāti’ (non-giving forces) and against dispersion by vāta (restless vital movements) during Soma uplift; supports steadiness in offering and inner concentration.
In Soma liturgy and thematic recitation cycles; also suitable as a contemplative verse on prāṇa-mastery
Strengthening intent (saṅkalpa) to reject arātī and stabilize the offering/inner delight
Chant before pranayama/meditation to move from agitation to calm wideness; use as affirmation that true joy is refined, not rejected.
joṣa ‘enjoyment/consent’ from √juṣ ‘to enjoy, be pleased’; tvakṣasā from √tvakṣ ‘shape, fashion’ (connected to artisan-formative semantics, and to the divine craftsman sphere); vīrya from vīra ‘hero’ (strength as victorious potency); √tṛ ‘cross’ (atarat: imperfect/aorist), a standard Vedic metaphor for passing beyond limiting currents (here vātāḥ).
steadfast delight (joṣa) versus dispersal, formative power (tvakṣas) shaping the being, crossing beyond prāṇic restlessness
Right order is experienced as right formation—divine shaping that removes denial and aligns energies.
Crossing the winds suggests moving from mixed truth/falsehood of the vital to a clearer truth-plane of steadier perception.
Transformation rather than escape: delight is shaped into power; denial is cast off to allow a higher formation.
Integral Yoga resonance: affirmation of Ananda, purification of prāṇa, ascent into wideness.
unspecified
unspecified
Winds = restless prāṇa and thought-currents; crossing them = entering stable, wide awareness where delight can be held.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- A trial-and-transcendence motif: hostile forces attempt to separate the seeker from delight (joṣa), but the encounter becomes a forging (tvakṣasā) of greater hero-force (vīrya). The crossing beyond winds signals transcendence of unstable vital currents.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- √tṛ ‘cross’ (atarat) reflects PIE *terh₁- ‘cross over, overcome’ (cf. Eng. ‘through’ via related formations). √juṣ ‘enjoy’ is Indo-Iranian; the semantic pair arāti (non-gift) vs. rāti (gift) is a characteristically Vedic morphological opposition used for ethical/psychological polarity.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The ṛṣi’s inner state (joṣa) is protected not by withdrawal but by transformation: divine plenitude (Purandhi) removes denial, enabling the seeker to pass beyond the winds. The Devata’s action is experienced as an inner shaping (tvakṣasā) that converts pressure into power.
Hold delight without scattering; let the inner Shaper refine emotion into strength; consciously drop ‘no’ patterns (arātī) and move beyond prāṇic restlessness.
Anāhata (joy/expansion) supported by Ājñā (discernment) to cross agitation
Nadi-śodhana 6–8 rounds; then observe the ‘winds’ quieting; chant once after the final exhale.
From stirred prāṇa to calm, wide, quietly joyous awareness.
On ‘ajahād arātīḥ’ mentally release one habitual denial (doubt, self-criticism, despair). On ‘vātān atarat’ feel the breath settle into a spacious stillness.
Vedic tri-svara (udātta/anudātta/svarita) according to śākhā; keep accents light but precise in connected recitation.
Emphasize firmness on ‘tvakṣasā vīryeṇa’; make ‘ajahād arātīḥ’ crisp (as a decisive rejection); slightly lengthen the sense of passage on ‘vātān atarat’.
tvakṣasā: pronounce ‘kṣ’ clearly (not ‘ks’)., puraṃdhir: keep the nasalization before ‘dh’., arātīḥ: long ‘ā’ and long ‘īḥ’ at the end., śūśuvānaḥ: both ‘ū’ long; keep ‘ś’ palatal.
Steady, forging tone; end with a quieter, widened resonance on the final pāda.
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