Sukta 135
Sukta 10.135
Yama (with the Devāḥ; ancestral-father principle also present)
हे संक्षिप्त, गूढार्थपूर्ण सूक्त यमाचे लोक आणि पितृमार्ग यांचे चिंतन करते. पितरांना “सुंदर पानांच्या वृक्षा”त कल्पिले आहे; तेथे यम देवांशी संवाद साधतो, आणि दिवंगत पिता प्राचीन मार्गात आनंद मानतो. रथाला गती देणाऱ्या तरुणाचे कोड्यासारखे रूपक आणि वाहकाप्रमाणे मागोमाग जाणारे सामन्-गान या प्रतिमांद्वारे, शिस्तबद्ध पवित्र वाणी व योग्य अर्पण आत्म्याच्या प्रवासाला आणि मुक्तीला कसे मार्गदर्शन करतात, याची सूचकता या सूक्तात आहे.
Mantras
Mantra 1
यस्मिन्वृक्षे सुपलाशे देवैः सम्पिबते यमः । अत्रा नो विश्पतिः पिता पुराणाँ अनु वेनति ॥
ज्या सुंदर पानांनी नटलेल्या वृक्षात देवांसह यम पान करतो, तिथेच आमचे पिता—जनपती—प्राचीनांच्या वाटेचा अनुकरण करीत आनंदाने विचरतात.
Mantra 2
पुराणाँ अनुवेनन्तं चरन्तं पापयामुया । असूयन्नभ्यचाकशं तस्मा अस्पृहयं पुनः ॥
प्राचीनांच्या पावलांवर रमून तो चालत असताना, एक विकृत शक्ती त्याच्यावर धावून आली; ईर्ष्येने तिने शत्रुदृष्टी टाकली. तरीही त्या (सत्य-पथ) कडेच मी पुन्हा आकांक्षा धरतो—अंधाराच्या ईर्ष्येपलीकडे, सम्यक् इच्छेकडे परतत.
Mantra 3
यं कुमार नवं रथमचक्रं मनसाकृणोः । एकेषं विश्वतः प्राञ्चमपश्यन्नधि तिष्ठसि ॥
हे कुमार, तू केवळ मनाने घडवलेला तो नवा रथ—चक्ररहित, एकच दंड (धुरा) असलेला, सर्व बाजूंनी अग्राभिमुख—त्यावर तू उभा आहेस, पाहत आहेस: विचारांनी घडलेले अंतर्गत गतीचे वाहन.
Mantra 4
यं कुमार प्रावर्तयो रथं विप्रेभ्यस्परि । तं सामानु प्रावर्तत समितो नाव्याहितम् ॥
हे कुमार! तू ऋषींच्या सभोवती चालविलेला जो रथ, त्याच्या मागोमाग सामन् चालला आणि त्याच्याबरोबरच वळला—जणू नौकेच्या नाभीत ठेवलेला निधिरत्न; तोच स्तोत्रगान प्रवासाचा वाहक होतो.
Mantra 5
कः कुमारमजनयद्रथं को निरवर्तयत् । कः स्वित्तदद्य नो ब्रूयादनुदेयी यथाभवत् ॥
कुमाराला कोणी जन्म दिला? रथाला कोणी पुढे चालविले? आज कोण आम्हाला ते गूढ सांगेल—अनु-देयी (अनुदेयी) कशी झाली: ज्यामुळे सत्य परंपरेचे संप्रेषण घडते तो नियम कोणता?
Mantra 6
यथाभवदनुदेयी ततो अग्रमजायत । पुरस्ताद्बुध्न आततः पश्चान्निरयणं कृतम् ॥
जेव्हा अनु-देयी (अनुगामी दान/अनुवर्ती अर्पण) प्रकट झाली, तेव्हा अग्र (प्रथम बिंदू) जन्मला. पुरस्तात् बुध्न (आधार) पसरविला गेला; आणि पश्चात् निरयण (निर्गमन/मुक्तीचा मार्ग) घडविला गेला—असा आधारापासून उद्घाटनापर्यंतचा पथ क्रमबद्ध झाला.
Inside Sukta 135
How it unfolds
- Where it opens
A visionary scene: Yama with the gods at a radiant tree, and the father as ‘lord of the people’ delighting in the ancient way.
- Development
The hymn shifts into symbolic mechanics of passage—youth/charioteer imagery and the Sāman following like a treasured support—suggesting mantra as vehicle.
- Climax
The ordering of the path is disclosed in cosmogonic terms: foundation laid, first point arising, and an ‘outlet’ (nirayaṇa) made—death and release framed as structured, not chaotic.
- Where it settles
The riddle resolves into reassurance: the ancestral route is established, guided by right offering and right speech, leading toward safe passage and continuity with the Ancients.
The deity: Yama
- In the VedaYama appears as the first of mortals who found the path, a king in the other world who gathers and hosts the departed among the Fathers, and who is approached with reverence rather than terror. Here he is pictured ‘drinking with the gods’ at a radiant, life-giving tree, while the father follows the ancients.
- Cosmic functionGuardian and regulator of the passage from mortal life to the ancestral realm; keeper of the ‘path of the Fathers’ and the order that integrates death into ṛta (cosmic rightness).
- Inner significanceRepresents the inner guide through endings and transitions: the capacity to relinquish, to follow the time-tested way (pitṛyāṇa), and to be carried by disciplined mantra/chant into clarity rather than confusion.
Famous verses
यस्मिन्वृक्षे सुपलाशे देवैः सम्पिबते यमः । अत्रा नो विश्पतिः पिता पुराणाँ अनु वेनति ॥यं कुमार प्रावर्तयो रथं विप्रेभ्यस्परि । तं सामानु प्रावर्तत समितो नाव्याहितम् ॥nirayaṇaṃ kṛtam
Attributes of the deity
- First-finder of the path
- King of the departed/Fathers
- Upholder of order (ṛta) in the transition of death
- Associated with ancestral communion and hospitality
- Linked with the ‘way out’/release (nirayaṇa) and right offering
Also by this seer
- Several hymns in Rigveda Mandala 10 are transmitted without stable rishi attribution; this hymn is typically treated within that anonymous/uncertain group in traditional listings.
The rite, step by step
- Establish the sacred fire (or ancestral offering place) and perform ācamana and sankalpa for pitṛs and Yama.
- Recite the hymn with mental visualization of the ‘fair-leaved tree’ and the Fathers’ assembly, requesting guidance on the ancient path.
- Offer oblations while naming the Fathers/ancestors (as appropriate to the performer’s tradition), asking for protection and right direction.
- Conclude with a prayer for ‘nirayaṇa’—a clear outlet/release—and for auspicious continuity for the living family line.
Offerings
- Piṇḍa (rice-balls) and water (tarpana) according to gṛhya custom
- Ghee oblations into fire (if agni is used)
- Sesame and water in ancestral libations
- Sāman/chanting as the non-material offering (vāc) emphasized by the hymn’s imagery
Frequently Asked Questions
It reflects on Yama and the realm of the Fathers, describing an ancient, established path for the departed and the role of sacred chant and right offering in guiding that passage.
The tree is a symbolic meeting-place of life and immortality: a luminous locus where Yama and the gods commune, and where the Fathers are imagined as moving in delight along timeless ancestral ways.
In context it points to an ‘outlet’ or ‘way of release’—the ordered opening that allows transition beyond death, framed as something established by cosmic order rather than random fate.
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