Rig Veda 9.45.3: Mandala 9, Sukta 45, Mantra 3
Sukta 9.45
- Rishi
- Ascription varies
- Devata
- Soma Pavamāna
- Chandas
- To be verified for RV 9.45.3
- Rasa
- Adbhuta (wonder) and Shringara (love)
उत त्वामरुणं वयं गोभिरञ्ज्मो मदाय कम् । वि नो राये दुरो वृधि ॥
utá tvām aruṇáṃ vayáṃ góbhir añjmó mádāya kám | ví no rāyé dúro vṛdhi ||
ແລະ ເຈົ້າ, ຜູ້ລຳພຸ່ງສົດ, ພວກເຮົາຊຸດເຈົ້າດ້ວຍຮົງແສງສະຫວ່າງເພື່ອຄວາມປິຕິຍິນ; ຈົ່ງເປີດປະຕູແຫ່ງຄວາມຮັ່ງມີທາງວິນຍານໃຫ້ພວກເຮົາ, ຂະຫຍາຍທາງເຂົ້າທີ່ຄວາມອຸດົມສາມາດເຂົ້າມາໄດ້.
Word by Word
- उत
- and, alsoIndeclinableनिपात/समुच्चयार्थक अव्ययRoot उत (निपात)
- त्वाम्
- you (as object)Pronounद्वितीया विभक्ति, एकवचनRole कर्मRoot युष्मद्
- अरुणम्
- ruddy, tawny, red(-hued)Adjectiveपुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया विभक्ति, एकवचन (त्वाम् इति सर्वनाम्नः विशेषणम्)Role कर्म (विशेषणरूपेण)Root अरुण (प्रातिपदिक)
- वयम्
- wePronounप्रथमा विभक्ति, बहुवचनRole कर्ताRoot अस्मद्
- गोभिः
- with cows; with cattle (as means/wealth)Nounस्त्रीलिङ्ग (वैदिके सामान्यतः), तृतीया विभक्ति, बहुवचनRole करणRoot गो (प्रातिपदिक)
- अञ्ज्मः
- we anoint/adornVerb (finite, Vedic injunctive) / archaic formलुङ्-इञ्जङ्क्टिव (अग्म-प्रकार), उत्तमपुरुष, बहुवचन; परस्मैपद; ‘अञ्ज्’ धातोः—‘we anoint/ador(n)’Role क्रिया (कर्ता = वयम्; कर्म = त्वाम्)Root अञ्ज् (धातु) → अञ्ज्मन् (प्रातिपदिक; ‘anointing/adorning’)
- मदाय
- for exhilaration; for intoxication/raptureNounपुंलिङ्ग, चतुर्थी विभक्ति, एकवचन (दत्त्यर्थ/प्रयोजनार्थ)Role सम्प्रदान (प्रयोजनम्)Root मद (प्रातिपदिक)
- कम्
- indeed; how/what (idiomatic intensifier)Pronoun (indefinite/interrogative used idiomatically)नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया/प्रथमा विभक्ति, एकवचन; यहाँ क्रियाविशेषणवत्/पूरकवत् प्रयोगः (‘how/indeed’)Root क (प्रश्न/अनिर्दिष्ट सर्वनाम; वैदिके ‘कं’ इति नपुंसक एकवचन)
- वि
- forth, widelyIndeclinableउपसर्गः (वृधि इत्यस्य सह) ‘apart, forth, widely’Root वि (उपसर्ग/अव्यय)
- नः
- to us; for usPronounषष्ठी/चतुर्थी विभक्ति, बहुवचन (एन्क्लिटिक) — ‘our/to us’ (अत्र ‘to us’ अधिक युक्तम्)Role सम्प्रदानRoot अस्मद्
- राये
- for wealthNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग (वैदिक), चतुर्थी विभक्ति, एकवचनRole सम्प्रदान (प्रयोजनम्)Root राय्/राय (प्रातिपदिक ‘wealth’)
- दुरः
- doors, gatesNounनपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया विभक्ति, बहुवचन (कर्म)Role कर्मRoot दुर्/द्वार् (प्रातिपदिक; वैदिक रूप ‘दुरः’ = ‘doors/gates’)
- वृधि
- increase; make (them) grow/openVerbलोट् (आज्ञार्थ), मध्यम? नहीं—प्रथमपुरुष?; वस्तुतः 2nd sg. imperative परस्मैपद: ‘वृधि’ = ‘increase, make grow’ (addressed to Soma)Role क्रिया (आज्ञा); कर्म = दुरः; सम्प्रदान = नः/रायेRoot वृध् (धातु)
Sandhi Notes
- Sandhi resolution (pada-wise): उत | त्वाम् अरुणम् | वयम् | गोभिः | अञ्ज्मः | मदाय | कम् | वि | नः | राये | दुरः | वृधि. Notable: ‘त्वामरुणम्’ → त्वाम् + अरुणम् (m-sandhi). ‘गोभिरञ्ज्मो’ → गोभिः + अञ्ज्मः (visarga before vowel; RV saṃhitā shows -r-). ‘मदाय कम्’ kept as two padas
- ‘कम्’ is Vedic pronominal particle used idiomatically. ‘वि नो राये’ = वि + नः + राये (enclitic pronoun)
The meaning
Outer meaning
And you, the ruddy one, we anoint with cows (with their products) for ecstasy; open for us the doors for wealth.
Inner meaning
Soma is aruṇa—ruddy, dawn-tinted, the glowing delight-power. We ‘anoint’ him with go-bhiḥ: not cattle, but rays of light/knowledge that clarify and adorn the bliss-current, making it fit for madāya (spiritual ecstasy). Then comes the decisive inner request: ‘open the doors’ (duraḥ) for rāyaḥ—spiritual riches. Psychologically, these are blocked passages between inner rooms of consciousness; Soma’s clarified delight widens the entries so higher plenty can descend and circulate.
Universal truth
Illumined joy opens what force cannot: when delight is suffused with knowledge, inner doors unlock and abundance becomes a widening of being.
Themes
Illumination, Consecration (anointing), Opening the gates of abundance
The seer
- Rishi
- Ascription varies in Anukramaṇī for RV 9.45
- Other hymns
- RV 9.45.1–2
Significance
This verse states a key symbolic equation central to Aurobindo/Kashyap: ‘go’ as rays of knowledge. The rishi shows the method—illumination applied to delight—resulting in openings and wideness (rāyas duraḥ).
The deity
- Devata
- Soma Pavamāna
- Epithets
- aruṇa (ruddy)
- Related deities
- Uṣas (dawn—implicit in aruṇa hue), Indra (beneficiary of Soma-force, implicit)
Cosmic role
Bringer of luminous ecstasy; opener of the gates of abundance.
Inner power
Joy suffused with knowledge that dissolves inner blockages and expands the being.
In ritual
Where it is used
Soma purification and offering; ‘anointing’ resonates with consecration gestures in Soma rite imagery.
उ॒त त्वाम॑रु॒णं व॒यं गोभि॑रञ्ज्मो॒ मदा॑य॒ कम् । वि नो॑ रा॒ये दुरो॑ वृधि ॥
उ॒त । त्वाम् । अ॒रु॒णम् । व॒यम् । गोभिः॑ । अ॒ञ्ज्मः॒ । मदा॑य । कम् । वि । नः॒ । रा॒ये । दुरः॑ । वृ॒धि॒ ॥
uta | tvām | aruṇam | vayam | gobhiḥ | añjmaḥ | madāya | kam | vi | naḥ | rāye | duraḥ | vṛdhi
To be verified for RV 9.45.3 (likely Triṣṭubh-type).
44
4 pādas
Warm and expansive; final imperative ‘vṛdhi’ gives a widening cadence.
Invokes felt opening in chest and brow; the sound suggests ‘doors’ swinging wide.
- अरुणम् (aruṇam)
- Literal: ruddy, dawn-colored. Symbolic: Illumined delight with the hue of awakening consciousness
- गोभिः (gobhiḥ)
- Literal: with cows. Symbolic: With rays of light/knowledge; illuminations that ‘anoint’ consciousness
- अञ्ज्मः (añjmaḥ)
- Literal: we anoint. Symbolic: We consciously apply illumination to refine and consecrate delight
- मदा॑य (madāya)
- Literal: for ecstasy. Symbolic: Rapture that energizes transformation
- रा॒ये (rāye)
- Literal: for wealth. Symbolic: Spiritual richness: wideness, peace, power, joy, truth
- दुरः (duraḥ)
- Literal: doors, gates. Symbolic: Inner openings/passages between planes and parts of the being
Anointing/adorning Soma in the rite; psychologically, consecration by ‘rays’ (go) and prayer for opening the ‘doors’ of abundance.
During pavamāna flow; as Soma is bright and ready for offering.
Chant while imagining Soma clothed in rays and the ‘doors’ of the rite/worlds opening for prosperity.
Chant when feeling blocked or constrained: visualize inner doors opening (opportunities, insight, emotional release) through luminous joy rather than struggle.
aruṇá ‘ruddy’ links Soma to dawn/fire-like radiance—innerly the warm illumination that makes ecstasy safe and luminous. gó- in Vedic is multivalent: ‘cow’ as ‘ray/light/knowledge’; with gobhiḥ añjmaḥ = ‘we anoint with rays’—consecrating Soma by illumination, not by material cattle. dvar/dur ‘door’ imagery: thresholds between subconscient closure and conscious plenty; √vṛdh expands these access-points. rayí: not gold but plenitude, the soul’s richness.
go as light/knowledge, rayi as fullness of being, opening of inner passages (vi-dur)
Open doors signify restored movement of ṛta through the being—free circulation of higher forces.
Rays (go) are truth-illuminations; they consecrate delight and make openings stable.
Light anoints delight; together they open the gates from the hidden to the manifest—abundance as expansion.
Psychological Veda aligned with Integral Yoga: illumination (go) + Ananda (soma) = opening of consciousness.
dawn (implied by aruṇa)
Dawn hue = awakening; rays = cognitions/insights; doors = thresholds between subconscient and higher mind/heart opening.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- The ‘opening of the doors’ for rayi: a recurrent Vedic image where divine powers unseal the gates to abundance/light. Innerly, Soma—consecrated by rays of knowledge—expands the thresholds in consciousness so plenitude can enter.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- √añj ‘anoint’ corresponds to PIE *h₂engʷ-/*h₂eng- type ‘smear/anoint’ fields (cognate relations debated but ritual anointing is archaic). √vṛdh ‘grow’ is Indo-Iranian; ‘door’ (dur/dvar) reflects PIE *dʰwer- ‘door’ (cf. English door, Greek thýra).
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The ṛṣi performs an act of consecration—anointing Soma with ‘gos’ (rays/knowledges)—and asks for a concrete inner effect: the widening/opening of the doors to rayi. The exchange is direct: human illumination-offering elicits divine opening of access.
Consecrate joy with insight: recall one clear truth-perception (a ‘ray’) and let it bathe the feeling-nature; then rest in the sense of inner doors opening.
Anāhata (opening through joy) and Ājñā (rays of knowledge).
Slow inhalation imagining rays entering brow; exhale imagining doors in the chest opening outward into wideness.
Warm luminous openness; release of constriction and entry into wideness.
When blocked, do not force. Bring one ray of clear understanding, let delight become purified; then openings happen naturally and sustainably.
Exact Vedic svara needs śākhā markings; maintain clear accentual peaks on key words (aruṇam, gobhiḥ, duraḥ).
Articulate ‘gobhir añjmo’ with clear separation; keep ‘vi no rāye’ as a distinct opening gesture in sound.
(aruṇam): flap ṛ (vocalic) and dental n., (gobhiḥ): long o; aspirated bh; visarga soft at end., (añjmaḥ): palatal ñ; ‘jm’ cluster crisp., (duraḥ): dental d; short u; visarga audible but light.
Warm, glowing, expansive; slightly elongated vowels on ‘rāye’ to suggest wideness.
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