Rig Veda 10.137.7: Mandala 10, Sukta 137, Mantra 7
Sukta 10.137
- Rishi
- Traditionally attributed in RV to a healer-seer context
- Devata
- Healing/wholeness-force
- Chandas
- Triṣṭubh
हस्ताभ्यां दशशाखाभ्यां जिह्वा वाचः पुरोगवी । अनामयित्नुभ्यां त्वा ताभ्यां त्वोप स्पृशामसि ॥
hastā́bhyāṁ dáśaśā́khābhyāṁ jihvā́ vā́caḥ purogavī́ | anāmayitnúbhyāṁ tvā tā́bhyāṁ tvópa spṛśāmasi ||
രണ്ടു കൈകളാൽ—ദശശാഖാ കര്മശക്തികളാൽ—വാക്കിന് മുമ്പേ പോകുന്ന മാർഗദർശിനിയായ ജിഹ്വയാൽ, അനാമയ (രോഗരഹിതത്വം) നൽകുകയും വ്യതിചലനം-വ്യാധി നീക്കുകയും ചെയ്യുന്ന ആ രണ്ടു ശക്തികളാൽ ഞങ്ങൾ നിന്നെ അടുത്തായി സ്പർശിക്കുന്നു—നിന്റെ സത്തയുടെ പൂർണ്ണത വീണ്ടും സ്ഥാപിക്കപ്പെടുവാൻ.
Word by Word
- हस्ताभ्याम्
- with (two) handsNounपुंलिङ्ग; तृतीया-विभक्ति; द्विवचनRole करणRoot हस्त (प्रातिपदिक)
- दशशाखाभ्याम्
- with the ten-branched (i.e., ten-fingered) [hands]Adjectiveस्त्रीलिङ्ग (शाखा-शब्द); तृतीया-विभक्ति; द्विवचन; विशेषणम् (हस्ताभ्याम्)Role करणRoot दश-शाखा (समास; प्रातिपदिक)
- जिह्वा
- the tongueNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग; प्रथमा-विभक्ति; एकवचनRole कर्तृRoot जिह्वा (प्रातिपदिक)
- वाचः
- of speechNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग; षष्ठी-विभक्ति; एकवचनRole सम्बन्ध (षष्ठी)Root वाच् (प्रातिपदिक)
- पुरोगवी
- going in front/leading (as a guide)Adjectiveस्त्रीलिङ्ग; प्रथमा-विभक्ति; एकवचन; विशेषणम् (जिह्वा)Role कर्तृRoot पुरो-गवी (समास; प्रातिपदिक; पुरस् + गवी < गो)
- अनामयित्नुभ्याम्
- with the two disease-removing (powers/means)Adjectiveनपुंसकलिङ्ग/विशेषण-प्रयोग; तृतीया-विभक्ति; द्विवचन; साधन-भावेRole करणRoot अनामयित्नु (प्रातिपदिक; अ-नामय + इत्नु)
- त्वा
- youPronounद्वितीया-विभक्ति; एकवचनRole कर्मRoot युष्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- ताभ्याम्
- with those twoPronounतृतीया-विभक्ति; द्विवचनRole करणRoot तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- त्वा
- youPronounद्वितीया-विभक्ति; एकवचनRole कर्मRoot युष्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- उप
- near, uponIndeclinableउपसर्ग; क्रियाविशेषण-भावRoot उप (उपसर्ग/अव्यय)
- स्पृशामसि
- we touchVerbलट् (वर्तमान); उत्तम-पुरुष; बहुवचन; परस्मैपदRole कर्तृRoot स्पृश् (धातु; स्पृशँ स्पर्शने)
Sandhi Notes
- पदच्छेदः: हस्ताभ्याम् | दशशाखाभ्याम् | जिह्वा | वाचः | पुरोगवी | अनामयित्नुभ्याम् | त्वा | ताभ्याम् | त्वा | उप | स्पृशामसि । 1) ‘वाचः पुरोगवी’ इति षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषसम्बन्धः: ‘speech’s leader’
- 2) ‘त्वोप’ = ‘त्वा उप’ (स्वर-सन्धिः/स्वर-लोपः: आ + उ → ओ)
- 3) ‘दशशाखाभ्याम्’ विशेषणं ‘हस्ताभ्याम्’ इत्यस्य (द्विवचन-तृतीया-साम्य)
The meaning
Outer meaning
With my two hands, which possess ten fingers (branches), and with my tongue which precedes speech, I touch you with these healing forces so that disease may be removed.
Inner meaning
The 'Two Hands' represent the dual power of the Divine Will acting through the human instrument (Knowledge and Action). The 'Ten Branches' symbolize the ten faculties of consciousness (Indriyas) working in perfect unison. The 'Tongue' leading speech signifies the Vak (Divine Word) guiding the manifestation of Truth. The act of touching is the transmission of spiritual consciousness to dissolve the resistance of the subconscient (illness/darkness).
Universal truth
True healing occurs when the active will (Hands) and the expressive consciousness (Speech) are aligned with the Divine intention, allowing the higher force to contact and rectify the lower disorder.
Themes
Healing, Mantra-application, Embodied spirituality, Restoration of order
In ritual
Where it is used
Applied as a healing/warding formula (bhaiṣajya-prayoga): mantra used for restoring harmony in the embodied being; ‘touching’ indicates direct therapeutic application (mantra-sparśa).
हस्ता॑भ्यां॒ दश॑शाखाभ्यां जि॒ह्वा वा॒चः पु॑रोग॒वी । अ॒ना॒म॒यि॒त्नुभ्यां॑ त्वा॒ ताभ्यां॒ त्वोप॑ स्पृशामसि ॥
हस्ता॑भ्याम् । दश॑ऽशाखाभ्याम् । जि॒ह्वा । वा॒चः । पु॒रः॒ऽग॒वी । अ॒ना॒म॒यि॒त्नुऽभ्या॑म् । त्वा॒ । ताभ्या॑म् । त्वा॒ । उप॑ । स्पृ॒शा॒म॒सि॒ ॥
hastābhyām | daśa-śākhābhyām | jihvā | vācaḥ | puraḥ-gavī | anāmayitnu-bhyām | tvā | tābhyām | tvā | upa | spṛśāmasi
Applied as a healing/warding formula (bhaiṣajya-prayoga): mantra used for restoring harmony in the embodied being; ‘touching’ indicates direct therapeutic application (mantra-sparśa).
Key roots: √ (spṛś) ‘to touch, contact, apply’ → spṛśāmasi (1pl. pres.); √ (vac) ‘to speak, utter, express’ → vācaḥ (gen. sg.); √ (gam) with - (puraḥ) ‘forward, in front’ → puro-gavī ‘leading in front’ (fem. adj./agentive); āmaya ‘illness, disorder’ (ā- + √/√? traditional derivations vary; semantic core: disturbance/affliction) with privative a- → an-āmaya ‘free from disorder’; itnu/itnu- (in anāmayitnu-) as an agentive ‘that which drives away/wards’ (interpreted functionally as ‘healer/repeller’). Symbolic justification: ‘hands/ten-branches’ naturally denote complete executive instrumentation; ‘tongue leading speech’ indicates discernment/intuitive foretaste preceding articulated Word—inner guidance of mantra.
Anāmaya (freedom from disorder/illness), Vāc (creative Word as consciousness-force), Rita implicit as right ordering expressed through rightly guided speech/action
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- The ‘healing by contact’ mythologem: the sacred power is not merely invoked but applied—‘we touch you near (upa spṛśāmasi)’—suggesting transmission of an ordering force that expels āmaya (disorder). The hands/ten-branches and tongue-leading-speech form a complete psycho-physical instrument for restoring wholeness.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- √ ‘speak’ aligns with PIE *wekʷ- ‘to speak’ (cf. Latin vox, vocāre; English ‘voice’ via Latin); √ ‘go’ reflects PIE *gʷem- ‘to go/come’ (cf. Greek baínō is different root; but Indo-Iranian *gam is well-established); √ ‘touch’ relates to a broader IE semantic field of contact (Skt sparśa ‘touch’), though direct one-to-one PIE mapping is less certain than for *wekʷ-. The verse’s compact instrumental plurals (hastābhyām, daśaśākhābhyām) show inherited IE case-functionality used to encode agency/instrumentality.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The relation is practical and reciprocal: the seer does not only praise but ‘handles’ the force—approaches (upa) and applies (spṛś) it through disciplined instruments (hands, tongue, guided speech). The Devata is experienced as an operative power within the human vessel; the rishi’s offering is right action and right utterance, and the return is anāmaya—restored integral harmony.
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