Rig Veda 5.48.2: Mandala 5, Sukta 48, Mantra 2
Sukta 5.48
- Devata
- Likely the Waters as cosmic powers operating under vṛta/ṛta
- Rasa
- Vira (heroism) and Adbhuta (wonder)
ता अत्नत वयुनं वीरवक्षणं समान्या वृतया विश्वमा रजः । अपो अपाचीरपरा अपेजते प्र पूर्वाभिस्तिरते देवयुर्जनः ॥
tā́ atnata vayúnam vīrávakṣaṇaṃ samānyā́ vṛtáyā víśvam ā́ rájaḥ | apó apā́cīr áparā́ ápējate prá pū́rvābhis tirate devayúr jánaḥ ||
त्या (शक्ती) वीरबल धारण करणारे कार्य-ज्ञान ‘वयुन’ पसरवितात; एकाच समान ‘व्रत’ (नियम/ऋत-क्रम)ाने त्या सर्व ‘रजस्’ (अंतरिक्ष) विस्तारतात. जल—काही पुढे, काही मागे—हलते व उसळते; आणि ‘देवयु’ (देवांना शोधणारे) जन पूर्वीच्या मर्यादांपलीकडे पुढे सरकतात.
Word by Word
- ताः
- those (f.)Pronounस्त्रीलिङ्ग; प्रथमा; बहुवचनRole KartāRoot तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- अत्नत
- they stretched/extendedVerbलुङ् (अोरिस्ट); परस्मैपद; 3 पुरुष; बहुवचनRole KriyāRoot √तन् (तनू) विस्तारॆ
- वयुनम्
- skill, wise device/planNounनपुंसकलिङ्ग; द्वितीया; एकवचनRole KarmaRoot वयुन (प्रातिपदिक)
- वीरवक्षणम्
- man-strengthening / hero-nourishingAdjectiveनपुंसकलिङ्ग; द्वितीया; एकवचन (वयुनम् इति विशेषणम्)Role KarmaRoot वीर-वक्षण (समास-प्रातिपदिक; कर्मधारय/बहुव्रीहि-प्राय)
- समान्याः
- common, unitedAdjectiveस्त्रीलिङ्ग; प्रथमा; बहुवचन (ताः इति विशेषणम्)Role KartāRoot समान्य (प्रातिपदिक)
- वृतयः
- bands/companies, circlesNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग; प्रथमा; बहुवचनRole KartāRoot वृतय (प्रातिपदिक; ‘वृत’/‘वृत्ति’ से)
- विश्वम्
- all, the wholeAdjectiveनपुंसकलिङ्ग; द्वितीया; एकवचनRole KarmaRoot विश्व (प्रातिपदिक)
- आ
- to, unto, towardsIndeclinableउपसर्ग (गत्यर्थे/समन्तात्)Role UpasargaRoot आ (उपसर्ग/अव्यय)
- रजः
- space/region; (also) dust, atmosphereNounनपुंसकलिङ्ग; द्वितीया; एकवचन (वैदिके रूपम्: रजः)Role KarmaRoot रजस् (प्रातिपदिक)
- अपः
- watersNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग; द्वितीया; बहुवचनRole KarmaRoot अप् (प्रातिपदिक)
- अपाचीः
- backward-flowing, turned awayAdjectiveस्त्रीलिङ्ग; द्वितीया; बहुवचन (अपः इति विशेषणम्)Role KarmaRoot अपाच्/अपाची (प्रातिपदिक)
- अपरा
- the later/other (one)Adjectiveस्त्रीलिङ्ग; प्रथमा; एकवचनRole KartāRoot अपर (प्रातिपदिक)
- अपेजते
- moves away, withdrawsVerbलट्; आत्मनेपद; 3 पुरुष; एकवचनRole KriyāRoot √इज् (इजँ) कम्पने/गत्यर्थे, उपसर्ग: अप-
- प्र
- forth, forwardIndeclinableउपसर्ग (प्रवृत्तौ/अग्रे)Role UpasargaRoot प्र (उपसर्ग/अव्यय)
- पूर्वाभिः
- with the former/earlier (ones)Adjectiveस्त्रीलिङ्ग; तृतीया; बहुवचन (स्त्री-बहुवचन-इभिः)Role KaraṇaRoot पूर्व (प्रातिपदिक)
- तिरते
- crosses over, passes throughVerbलट्; आत्मनेपद; 3 पुरुष; एकवचनRole KriyāRoot √तॄ (तॄ) तरणे
- देवयुः
- god-seeking, devoted to the godsAdjectiveपुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा; एकवचन (जनः इति विशेषणम्)Role KartāRoot देवयु (प्रातिपदिक; ‘देव’ + यु ‘seeking’)
- जनः
- the people, a man/folkNounपुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा; एकवचनRole KartāRoot जन (प्रातिपदिक)
Sandhi Notes
- पदच्छेद (वैदिक-सन्धि-निरसन): ताः | अत्नत | वयुनम् | वीरवक्षणम् | समान्याः | वृतयः | विश्वम् | आ | रजः || अपः | अपाचीः | अपरा | अपेजते | प्र | पूर्वाभिः | तिरते | देवयुः | जनः || विशेष: ‘विश्वमा रजः’ = ‘विश्वम् आ रजः’ (म् + आ)
- ‘अपो अपाचीः’ = ‘अपः अपाचीः’ (ः + अ)
- ‘अपा॑ची॒रप॑रा’ = ‘अपाचीः अपरा’ (ः + अ)
- ‘अपे॑जते॒ प्र’ पदान्त-प्रगृह्य/पादविरामे पृथक्।
The meaning
Outer meaning
They (the Waters/powers) extend a skillful working knowledge that supports heroic strength; by a single common law they widen the whole mid-region. The waters—some moving forward, some backward—surge; and the god-seeking people press beyond former boundaries.
Inner meaning
Āpaḥ are not merely physical waters but flowing currents of consciousness and life-force. They ‘stretch’ (atnata) the vayuna—organized discernment and effective inner functioning—so the vīra-śakti (hero-force) can act. Under one vṛta/ṛta (harmonizing law), the inner ‘mid-world’ (rajas: the vital-mental field) is widened: the practitioner’s range of experience expands. The alternating movements of waters (forward/backward) mirror prāṇa and thought-currents—progressive and regressive tendencies. Yet the devayú janaḥ (god-seeking nature in us) persists, crossing earlier limits (pūrvābhiḥ) into new ranges of being.
Universal truth
Growth is not linear: inner energies ebb and flow, advance and recoil. When life-currents are aligned to a single truth-law (ṛta), knowledge becomes effective power, and the seeker naturally outgrows former psychological boundaries.
Themes
Waters, Order and expansion, Progress of the seeker, Knowledge-for-force
The seer
- Other hymns
- Rig Veda 5.48.1, Rig Veda 5.48.3, Rig Veda 5.48.4, Rig Veda 5.48.5
Family tradition
Maṇḍala V is largely attributed to Atri/Vāmadeva lineages; this hymn’s precise ṛṣi attribution is not securely preserved in the provided data.
Significance
The anonymous seer speaks from an experiential yoga of the flows (āpaḥ) and the law (ṛta): a witness of inner expansion where alternating currents are mastered by aspiration.
The deity
- Devata
- Āpaḥ (Waters) under Vṛta/Ṛta (cosmic order)
- Epithets
- vṛtaya (moving by the Law), āpaḥ (flows/purifiers)
- Related deities
- Varuṇa (guardian of ṛta), Indra (breaker of obstruction, opener of the waters), Savitṛ (impeller of right movement)
Cosmic role
They circulate and distribute energies between planes (earth–midworld–heaven), widening rajas and enabling formation and growth.
Inner power
Purification and dynamism of consciousness; regulation of prāṇa-thought currents so knowledge becomes effective force.
In ritual
Where it is used
Āpaḥ-related recitation and general invocations for purification/flow in soma-yajña contexts (probable)
ता अ॑त्नत व॒युनं॑ वी॒रव॑क्षणं समा॒न्या वृ॒तया॒ विश्व॒मा रज॑: । अपो॒ अपा॑ची॒रप॑रा॒ अपे॑जते॒ प्र पूर्वा॑भिस्तिरते देव॒युर्जन॑: ॥
ताः । अ॒त्न॒त॒ । व॒युन॑म् । वी॒रऽव॑क्षणम् । स॒मा॒न्या । वृ॒तया॑ । विश्व॑म् । आ । रजः॑ । अपो॒ इति॑ । अपा॑चीः । अप॑राः । अप॑ । ई॒ज॒ते॒ । प्र । पूर्वा॑भिः । ति॒र॒ते॒ । दे॒व॒ऽयुः । जनः॑ ॥
tāḥ | atnata | vayunam | vīra-vakṣaṇam | samānyā | vṛtayā | viśvam | ā | rajaḥ | apo iti | apācīḥ | aparāḥ | apa | ījate | pra | pūrvābhiḥ | tirate | deva-yuḥ | janaḥ
44
4 pādas × ~11 syllables (with Vedic resolution/length variations possible)
Driving, expansive cadence suited to describing widening realms and surging flows.
Builds a sense of forward momentum and inner ‘space-opening’; supports meditation on expansion beyond limits.
- वयुनम् (vayunam)
- Literal: working knowledge, skill, orderly functioning. Symbolic: organized discernment; the right arrangement of inner faculties enabling spiritual action
- वीरवक्षणम् (vīravakṣaṇam)
- Literal: that which bears/supports the hero. Symbolic: capacity that sustains courageous aspiration and effective will (vīra-śakti)
- वृतया (vṛtayā)
- Literal: by the encompassing law/order. Symbolic: ṛta as harmonizing truth-law governing inner movements
- रजः (rajaḥ)
- Literal: mid-region, atmosphere. Symbolic: vital-mental field between physical and luminous mind; the arena of struggle and expansion
- आपः (āpaḥ)
- Literal: waters. Symbolic: currents of consciousness, life-energy, and purifying flow
- देवयुर्जनः (devayur janaḥ)
- Literal: god-seeking people. Symbolic: the aspiring parts of the being that turn toward the Divine and exceed past limits
Verses about Āpaḥ and vṛta are commonly apt for purification and for rites emphasizing ordered flow and increase (waters as carriers of inspiration and force).
During rites emphasizing purification, flow, and orderly movement—especially where ‘waters’ and ‘mid-region’ symbolism is invoked.
Recitation accompanying water-offerings/sprinkling or contemplative alignment to ṛta.
Use as a mantra for navigating fluctuating emotions/prāṇa: affirming that alternating currents can still widen consciousness under a single inner law.
vayúna: from √vī/√vi ‘to separate, discern’ (semantic: discrimination, skill) + nominal formation; RV sense ‘effective understanding’. vṛtá/vṛtáyā: from √vṛ ‘to cover/encompass’ but in Vedic often ‘fixed order, law’ closely allied to ṛta; indicates a binding cosmic regularity. √tṝ (tirate): PIE *terh₁ ‘cross over’ (cf. English through), frequently used for crossing waters/darkness—psychologically crossing limiting formations.
Vayuna (practical gnosis), Vṛta/Ṛta (law of order), Crossing beyond former limits (tṛ)
Explicit: ‘samānyā vṛtayā’ indicates one common law governing diverse movements.
Truth as effective knowledge (vayuna) that ‘works’ when aligned to ṛta.
Expansion of the mid-realm through ordered energies; opening of passages beyond former limits.
Proto-Vedāntic/Integral (Aurobindo-style) reading: planes of being and transformation through ordered force.
Waters = prāṇa and consciousness-currents; atmosphere = vital-mental field where aspiration must stabilize movement under law.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- The waters as world-builders: they ‘extend’ ordered knowledge and widen the realm under a common law (vṛta). The mixed currents (forward/backward) encode the tension of evolutionary movement; the devayuj jana crosses beyond earlier boundaries—an initiation-like passage.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- tirate (√tṝ) continues PIE *terh₁ ‘cross’, a widespread IE metaphor for overcoming obstacles. The ‘waters’ as carriers of power and knowledge mirror an old IE poetic complex where waters are not only physical but also numinous (cf. Avestan āpō).
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The seer identifies the human collective as devayuj—yoked to the divine—whose progress depends on aligning with the waters’ ordered operation (vṛta). The devatā powers provide the field and the gnosis; humans respond by crossing beyond prior formations.
Witness and harmonize the forward/backward currents of prāṇa and thought under a single inner rule (ṛta).
Svādhiṣṭhāna (flow, waters) and Anāhata (expansion in the mid-region)
Nāḍī-śodhana or gentle sama-vṛtti to experience alternating currents without losing aspiration.
From restless vital-mental movement toward a widened, regulated field of awareness.
During meditation, note regressions without discouragement; re-align to one governing intention (truth-law), then ‘press beyond’ yesterday’s limit by a small, sincere step.
Use standard Rigvedic three-tone approach (udātta/anudātta/svarita) as per śākhā tradition; exact svara requires a pada-svara source.
Lean on udātta peaks at key verbs (atnata, tirate) and thematic nouns (vayunam, āpaḥ, rajaḥ) for intelligibility.
Maintain retroflex ṇ in vayunaṃ, Clear aspiration in vṛtayā (vṛ-), avoid turning it into ‘vrit’, Distinct long ā in rajaḥ’s preceding ā (viśvam ā rajaḥ), Keep devo-yur as deva-yuḥ (visarga) with light release
Steady, flowing, with slight lift on phrases describing widening/pressing onward.
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