Rig Veda 1.23.19: Mandala 1, Sukta 23, Mantra 19
Sukta 1.23
- Rishi
- Kakṣīvān Dairghatamasa
- Devata
- Āpaḥ
- Chandas
- Triṣṭubh/Jagatī-like expansion is possible here
- Rasa
- Shanta (peace) and Adbhuta (wonder)
अप्स्वन्तरमृतमप्सु भेषजमपामुत प्रशस्तये । देवा भवत वाजिनः ॥
apsv àntár amṛ́tam apsú bheṣajám apā́m utá práśastaye | devā́ bhavata vājínaḥ ||
ആപഃകളിൽ അകത്ത് അമൃതമുണ്ട്; ആപഃകളിൽ ഭേഷജം (ചികിത്സാശക്തി) ഉണ്ട്. ഹേ ആപഃ, നമ്മുടെ പ്രശസ്തിക്കും യഥാർത്ഥ സ്തുതിക്കും വേണ്ടി—ഞങ്ങൾക്ക് ദൈവികശക്തികളായി, വാജിനഃ (വിജയബലം) ആയി ഭവിക്കുവിൻ.
Word by Word
- अप्सु
- in the watersNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, बहुवचनRole अधिकरणRoot अप् (प्रातिपदिक)
- अन्तः
- within, insideIndeclinableअव्यय (स्थानवाचक)Role अधिकरण (विशेषण/उपपद)Root अन्तर् (अव्यय/उपसर्गीय-प्रातिपदिक)
- अमृतम्
- the immortal (nectar), ambrosiaNoun/Adjectiveनपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचनRole कर्म (स्तुत्य/प्रार्थ्य वस्तु)Root अमृत (प्रातिपदिक) < a- + मृत (√मृ ‘to die’)
- अप्सु
- in the watersNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, बहुवचनRole अधिकरणRoot अप् (प्रातिपदिक)
- भेषजम्
- remedy, healing medicineNounनपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचनRole कर्म (स्तुत्य/प्रार्थ्य वस्तु)Root भेषज (प्रातिपदिक)
- अपाम्
- of the watersNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, बहुवचनRole सम्बन्ध (षष्ठी)Root अप् (प्रातिपदिक)
- उत
- and alsoIndeclinableअव्यय (समुच्चय/अधिक्य)Root उत
- प्रशस्तये
- for praise, for glorificationNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग, चतुर्थी, एकवचनRole सम्प्रदान (उद्देश्य)Root प्रशस्ति (प्रातिपदिक) < प्र-√शंस् ‘to praise’ (कृदन्त-निर्मित संज्ञा)
- देवाः
- O godsNounपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचनRole कर्तृRoot देव (प्रातिपदिक) < √दिव् ‘to shine’
- भवत
- be (become)Verbलोट् (आज्ञार्थ), मध्यमपुरुष, बहुवचन; परस्मैपदRole क्रियाRoot √भू (भव)
- वाजिनः
- prize-winning, strong, vigorousNoun/Adjectiveपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचनRole कर्तृ-विशेषण (सम्बोधनार्थे) / विधेय-विशेषणRoot वाजिन् (प्रातिपदिक) < वाज ‘prize/strength’
Sandhi Notes
- पदच्छेद (सन्धि-विग्रह): अप्सु + अन्तर् + अमृतम् + अप्सु + भेषजम् + अपाम् + उत + प्रशस्तये । देवाः + भवत + वाजिनः । विशेष: ‘अन्तरम्’ पदे अन्तः (अव्यय) + (अन्तर्-प्रातिपदिकस्य) रूप-प्रयोगः
- मन्त्रपाठे ‘अन्तरम्’ इति नपुंसक-आकारान्त-रूपवत् दृश्यते, पदपाठानुसारं ‘अन्तः’ (अव्यय) इति ग्रहणीयम्। ‘देवा भवत’ इति सम्बोधन-प्रयोगः
- ‘वाजिनः’ देवाः इत्यस्य विशेषणम्।
The meaning
Outer meaning
In the waters is immortality; in the waters is healing. O Waters, for our full affirmation and right praise—become divine, victorious powers for us.
Inner meaning
Within the purifying consciousness-streams lies amṛta—deathless delight/continuity of being—and bheṣaja—restorative force that heals fragmentation. The rishi asks these waters to become ‘devāḥ’ for the aspirant: active divine energies granting vāja (victorious force, plenitude) so the being can stand in true self-affirmation (praśasti).
Universal truth
The deepest healing is a return to the deathless essence; when consciousness is purified, it naturally restores wholeness and releases victorious strength.
Themes
immortality-in-waters, healing, praise-and-affirmation, vital-force
The seer
- Rishi
- Kakṣīvān Dairghatamasa
- Lineage
- Dīrghatamas/Aṅgirasa lineage (traditional attribution varies in later lists)
- Other hymns
- RV 1.23.17, RV 1.23.18, RV 1.23.20, RV 10.9 (thematic kinship)
Family tradition
Vision of transformation: purification leading to immortality (amṛta) and integral healing (bheṣaja).
Significance
He articulates a core yogic thesis: the waters of consciousness contain both amṛta (deathless essence) and bheṣaja (restorative power)—a bridge between Vedic symbol and experiential sādhanā.
The deity
- Devata
- Āpaḥ (Waters)
- Epithets
- amṛta-nidhayaḥ (treasuries of immortality, implied), viśvabheṣajīḥ (universal healers, echoed next verses), devīḥ (divine)
- Related deities
- Soma, Aśvins (healers), Varuṇa (purity/ṛta)
Cosmic role
Waters hold the seed of life and the renewing potency that sustains worlds; they are carriers of soma-like essence.
Inner power
They dissolve inner toxicity (confusion, grief, inertia) and reveal the deathless continuity of awareness.
In ritual
Where it is used
Healing/purification recitation; water consecration; possibly used with sprinkling for well-being
अ॒प्स्व१॒॑न्तर॒मृत॑म॒प्सु भे॑ष॒जम॒पामु॒त प्रश॑स्तये । देवा॒ भव॑त वा॒जिन॑: ॥
अ॒प्ऽसु । अ॒न्तः । अ॒मृत॑म् । अ॒प्ऽसु । भे॒ष॒जम् । अ॒पाम् । उ॒त । प्रऽश॑स्तये । देवाः॑ । भव॑त । वा॒जिनः॑ ॥
ap-su | antaḥ | amṛtam | ap-su | bheṣajam | apām | uta | pra-śastaye | devāḥ | bhavata | vājinaḥ
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4 pādas × ~11 syllables (Vedic flexibility; some recensions scan loosely)
Broader, more declarative—suited to proclamation (‘apsu… amṛtam’).
Gives a mantra of assurance: a spacious rhythm that can carry healing suggestion deep into the nervous system.
- अ॒प्सु (apsu)
- Literal: in the waters. Symbolic: in the field of purified consciousness, in the subtle life-currents
- अमृतम् (amṛtam)
- Literal: immortality, nectar. Symbolic: deathless being-consciousness, enduring delight (ānanda) beyond decay
- भेषजम् (bheṣajam)
- Literal: medicine, healing. Symbolic: power that restores harmony of mind-life-body; integration of the parts
- प्रशस्तये (praśastaye)
- Literal: for praise/affirmation. Symbolic: right self-expression of truth; luminous consent of the being
- देवाः भवत (devāḥ bhavata)
- Literal: become gods/divine. Symbolic: turn into active divine powers within us (functional divinities)
- वाजिनः (vājinaḥ)
- Literal: possessing vāja; winners. Symbolic: energies of victorious progress, plenitude, effective force
Classic Apah (waters) healing formula; used for purification, medicine, longevity; cited in later healing and consecration traditions
When seeking restoration, after illness, before important rites, or as part of āpaḥ-prokṣaṇa
Consecrate water as ‘bheṣaja’; sip/sprinkle while contemplating amṛta within
Use as a healing affirmation: chant over drinking water, then drink mindfully as a carrier of clarity and wholeness.
: a-mṛta ‘not-death’ from √mṛ (to die); signifies deathless principle. : from √bhiṣaj (physician/heal), ‘healing remedy’. : from √śaṃs (to praise, proclaim) with pra- intensifying ‘right proclamation’. : from vāja (strength, prize, plenitude of force), linked to √vaj/√vāj (to be strong/impel) in Vedic semantics.
amṛta (deathless consciousness), healing as restoration of ṛta in the body-being, vāja as plenitude of force
Healing is restoration of ṛta in mind and body—right vibration and right flow.
Praśasti as truth-speaking/true affirmation: the being aligns its expression with satya.
Waters as original matrix containing the ‘nectar’ that sustains evolution toward immortality-consciousness.
Aurobindonian psychological reading: amṛta as higher consciousness; bheṣaja as integrative transformation.
Water = psychic/vital flow; immortality = unbroken awareness; medicine = harmonizing force that removes inner disorder.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- Waters as the repository of amṛta and bheṣaja: the life-stream holds deathless essence and healing. Mythically, sacred waters confer longevity; psychologically, when the vital currents are purified, they carry the deathless consciousness and restore wholeness.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- amṛta is a transparent Indo-Iranian formation (*n̥-mr̥-to- type negation + ‘mortal’) paralleling IE negated adjectives. The praise root √śaṃs has IE cognates in ‘chant/proclaim’ functions across ritual poetics.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The rishi identifies the waters’ inner essence (amṛta, bheṣaja) and then commands a transformation: ‘become devāḥ…vājinaḥ’—let the waters act as conscious, force-bearing allies for the seeker’s affirmation and right utterance.
Rest in the sense of a deathless awareness within the flow of experience; let that awareness heal the parts that feel divided or fatigued.
anāhata (healing integration) and sahasrāra (amṛta)
Slow exhale-lengthening (1:2 ratio) for 5 minutes; chant on long exhale
Restorative, integrative, quietly luminous
During japa, feel ‘amṛtam’ as a cool nectar above the crown, descending as ‘bheṣajam’ through the whole system; end by affirming one truthful intention (praśasti).
Keep proclamation-like udātta on amṛtam and bheṣajam; allow a gentle rise-fall that supports ‘healing speech’.
Do not rush the repeated ‘apsu’; let it mark a steady anchoring point.
apsv antar: pronounce ‘apsv’ as apsu with sandhi; keep ‘antar’ with clear dental ‘t’., amṛtam: vocalic ‘ṛ’ clean and short., bheṣajam: ‘ṣ’ retroflex; ‘ja’ soft., vājinaḥ: long ‘ā’; final visarga as light breath.
Deep, steady, soothing
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