Rig Veda 1.1.6: Mandala 1, Sukta 1, Mantra 6
Sukta 1.1
- Rishi
- Madhucchandā Vaiśvāmitra
- Devata
- Agni
- Chandas
- Gāyatrī
- Rasa
- Shanta (peace) and Adbhuta (wonder)
यदङ्ग दाशुषे त्वमग्ने भद्रं करिष्यसि । तवेत्तत्सत्यमङ्गिरः ॥
yád aṅgá dāśúṣe tvám agne bhadráṃ kariṣyási | tavéttát satyám aṅgiraḥ ||
Apa jua kebaikan yang terang akan Engkau wujudkan bagi sang dāśuṣ (pemberi-persembah), wahai Agni—itulah sesungguhnya kebenaranmu sendiri dalam perbuatan, wahai Angiras; kebajikan yang Kaujanji menjadi kenyataan yang pasti di dalam kami.
Word by Word
- यत्
- when/that whichIndeclinableसम्बन्ध/निदर्शनार्थक अव्यय (relative particle)Root यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक) अथवा यद्-सम्बन्धी अव्यय
- अङ्ग
- indeed, O (emphatic particle)Indeclinableनिपात (सम्बोधन/उद्बोधन-बलवर्धक)Root अङ्ग (निपात) अव्यय
- दा॒शुषे॒
- to the worshipper/offererNounपुंलिङ्गे चतुर्थी-एकवचन (दाशुष्/दाशु- ‘दाता/यजमान’)Role SampradānaRoot √दाश्/दश् (to worship, to offer) → दाशु (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
- त्वम्
- youPronounप्रथमा-एकवचनRole KartāRoot युष्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- अग्ने
- O AgniNounपुंलिङ्गे सम्बोधन-एकवचनRoot अग्नि (प्रातिपदिक)
- भद्रम्
- good, auspicious (boon)Adjectiveनपुंसकलिङ्गे द्वितीया-एकवचन (कर्मपदं)Role KarmaRoot भद्र (प्रातिपदिक)
- करिष्यसि
- you will do/makeVerbलृट् (भविष्यत्काल), परस्मैपद, मध्यम-पुरुष, एकवचनRoot √कृ (to do, make)
- तव
- of you/yourPronounषष्ठी-एकवचनRoot युष्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- इत्
- indeed, justIndeclinableनिपात (एव/नूनम्-अर्थे, बलवर्धक)Root इत् (निपात) अव्यय
- तत्
- thatPronounनपुंसकलिङ्गे प्रथमा/द्वितीया-एकवचन; अत्र ‘तत्’ = उक्तं कर्म/वचनम्Role KarmaRoot तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- सत्यम्
- true, truthNoun/Adjectiveनपुंसकलिङ्गे प्रथमा-एकवचन (विधेय/विशेषण)Root सत्य (प्रातिपदिक)
- अङ्गिरः
- O Aṅgiras (seer)Nounपुंलिङ्गे सम्बोधन-एकवचन (वैदिक रूप: अङ्गिरः < अङ्गिरस्)Root अङ्गिरस् (ऋषि-नाम, प्रातिपदिक)
Sandhi Notes
- पदच्छेदः: यत् | अङ्ग | दाशुषे | त्वम् | अग्ने | भद्रम् | करिष्यसि | तव | इत् | तत् | सत्यम् | अङ्गिरः || 1) यद॒ङ्ग = यत् + अङ्ग (त् + अ → द्/द्-प्रकृति; संहितायां ‘यदङ्ग’)
- 2) तवेत्तत् = तव + इत् + तत् (इद्-निपातस्य संधिः: तव + इत् → तवेत्; तत् परे ‘तवेत्तत्’)
- 3) अङ्गिरः वैदिक सम्बोधन-एकवचन (अङ्गिरस्-शब्दस्य)
The meaning
Outer meaning
Whatever auspicious good you, O Agni, will do for the offering-giver, that indeed is your true (reliable) act, O Angiras.
Inner meaning
The psychic Fire (Agni), when invoked by the sincere giver (dāśuṣ—one who offers will, attention, and substance), inevitably shapes bhadra—an inner good: clarity, protection, right movement of energies. This is not mere promise but satyam—truth-effective action: the Divine Will acts infallibly when the seeker’s offering is genuine.
Universal truth
When aspiration is sincere and self-giving, the inner guiding Power responds with tangible transformation; true help is what becomes real in consciousness, not merely wished or believed.
Themes
Agni as divine will, truth of the word and act, boon as inner formation, assurance to the seeker-offerer
The seer
- Rishi
- Madhucchandā Vaiśvāmitra
- Lineage
- Vaiśvāmitra
- Other hymns
- RV 1.1.1-9, RV 1.2.1-9 (attributed in the same opening sequence to Madhucchandas tradition)
Family tradition
Viśvāmitra lineage; early Rigvedic seers emphasizing the inner fire and inspired speech (dhī) as instruments of realization.
Significance
Madhucchandas opens the Rigveda with a program of yoga: establish Agni as inner priest, ensure the truth-effectiveness (satyam) of aspiration, and ground the path in a reliable divine response.
The deity
- Devata
- Agni
- Epithets
- Angiras, Priest (hotṛ implied), Truth-guardian (by function in this hymn sequence)
- Related deities
- Indra, Soma, Ushas, Bṛhaspati
Cosmic role
Mediator between human and divine worlds; carrier of offerings; establisher of ṛta in the sacrifice.
Inner power
Conscious will-force that transforms desire into aspiration and makes the promised good real in the being.
In ritual
Where it is used
Agnihotra / Agni-stuti opening of soma and daily offerings (general invocatory usage)
यद॒ङ्ग दा॒शुषे॒ त्वमग्ने॑ भ॒द्रं क॑रि॒ष्यसि॑ । तवेत्तत्स॒त्यम॑ङ्गिरः ॥
यत् । अ॒ङ्ग । दा॒शुषे॑ । त्वम् । अग्ने॑ । भ॒द्रम् । क॒रि॒ष्यसि॑ । तव॑ । इत् । तत् । स॒त्यम् । अ॒ङ्गि॒रः॒ ॥
yat | aṅga | dāśuṣe | tvam | agne | bhadram | kariṣyasi | tava | it | tat | satyam | aṅgiraḥ
24
3 pādas of 8 syllables
Compact, swift, mantra-like; declarative assurance.
Builds confidence and inner trust; the cadence seals the thought ‘it becomes real’ into the listener’s psyche.
- यत् (yat)
- Literal: whatever/that which. Symbolic: the specific inner result shaped by the Divine in response to offering
- अङ्ग (aṅga)
- Literal: indeed/come now (particle). Symbolic: intimate assurance; the seer’s confident emphasis in the yoga of the hymn
- दा॒शुषे (dāśuṣe)
- Literal: to the giver, worshipper. Symbolic: the practitioner who offers ego, desire, and effort into the inner sacrifice
- अग्ने (agne)
- Literal: O Fire. Symbolic: Divine Will and conscious force leading the inner yajña
- भ॒द्रम् (bhadram)
- Literal: good, auspicious, bright good. Symbolic: harmonious formation of life and mind under the soul’s guidance
- करिष्यसि (kariṣyasi)
- Literal: you will do/make. Symbolic: the shaping power of Agni that forges new inner order
- तव इत् (tava it)
- Literal: that is yours indeed. Symbolic: the action belongs to the Divine Power, not the ego
- स॒त्यम् (satyam)
- Literal: truth, true. Symbolic: truth-force: what is effective, sure, and aligned with ṛta
- अङ्गिरः (aṅgiraḥ)
- Literal: O Angiras (seer-family title). Symbolic: Agni as the Angiras-power: luminous priesthood that discovers the hidden light
Agnyādhāna / Agnihotra and general Agni-invocation at the opening of sacrifice (also paradigmatic for the daily kindling of the inner and outer fire).
At the kindling/praise of Agni; also suitable for daily recitation at the start of practice.
Kindling fire, offering ghee, reciting praise to establish Agni as priest and protector.
Use before meditation as a sankalpa: ‘May the inner Fire make the good real’—a brief invocation before japa or breathwork.
Key terms: dāśuṣe is dative singular of the participial stem dāśuṣ- from √dāś/√daś ‘to offer, to serve by giving’ (Vedic: to worship with oblation); kariṣyasi is 2nd sg future of √kṛ ‘to do, make, effect’ with future suffix -iṣya- indicating deliberate bringing-into-being; bhadra- ‘fortunate, auspicious, good’ (semantic field of well-being, harmony, beneficence); satya- from sat ‘being, real’ (from √as ‘to be’) + -ya, meaning ‘that which is in accord with being/reality’, hence ‘truth-effective’; aṅgiraḥ: vocative of Aṅgiras (seer-family name and epithet), associated with the fire-principle that ‘kindles’ (traditional linkage with aṅg/añj ‘to glow/mark/anoint’ is debated; functionally in RV it signifies the inspired, flame-bearing seer-power). Particles aṅga and it emphasize assurance and inevitability: Agni’s beneficence is not contingent but rooted in his satya-nature.
Satya (truth as effective reality), Ṛta (cosmic order implied by the unfailing nature of Agni’s action), dakṣiṇā/reciprocity (exchange between offering and divine response)
Agni’s ‘true action’ is action aligned with ṛta—right arrangement of forces in the being.
Satyam here is reliability: divine intention becomes an accomplished fact in consciousness.
Formation (kṛ) of the ‘good’ as an inner creation—new order in mind-life by the fire of aspiration.
Proto-Vedāntic and yogic reading (Aurobindo/Kashyap): evolution of consciousness through inner sacrifice.
Fire = aspiration and will; offering = self-giving; ‘good’ = harmonized psyche under truth-order.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- The mythologem is the unfailing efficacy of the sacred Fire as a truth-acting mediator: Agni does not merely ‘grant’ boons but ‘forms’ (√kṛ) the bhadra for the dāśuṣ (the one who offers). The divine promise is identical with satya—truth that becomes event—implying Ṛta as the reliable law by which aspiration and offering are met by a corresponding descent/formation of good.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- satya derives from sat (present participial formation of √as ‘to be’), continuing PIE *h₁es- ‘to be’ (cf. Latin est, Greek ἐστί). The verb √kṛ ‘to do/make’ corresponds to PIE *kwer-/*ker- ‘to do, make’ (broadly reflected in Indic √kṛ and related making/doing lexemes across IE). The verse’s relative-correlative framing (yat ... tat) is a common Indo-European syntactic strategy for marking a guaranteed correspondence: ‘whatever X, that indeed is Y.’
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The relationship is one of reciprocal covenant in consciousness: the rishi (as dāśuṣ, the offering-seeker) gives himself/energies into the fire of aspiration, and Agni responds not arbitrarily but by his own inherent satya—his nature as truth-effective will. Addressing Agni as Aṅgiras intensifies intimacy: Agni is the seer-fire within, so the boon is an inner formation of bhadra (harmonized good) that confirms the seeker’s faith in the law of Ṛta.
Trust in the truth-force of aspiration: offer a difficulty into Agni and watch the ‘bhadra’ formation arise.
manipura
Gentle kapalabhati-like warming or slow diaphragmatic breathing while visualizing a steady inner flame.
Shanta with alert will; receptive confidence.
Make a clear inner offering (habit, fear, desire). Repeat the mantra, then sit silently; notice the shift from mental wish to settled certainty and right impulse.
Gāyatrī with Vedic udātta/anudātta/svarita as per Śākala recension; maintain clear udātta lifts on key verbs/nouns (e.g., agné, bhadrám, satyám) according to the pada tradition.
Keep the pitch rise on udātta syllables; avoid flattening the enclitic particle ‘aṅga’—treat it lightly without stress.
aṅga: nasal ‘ṅ’ (velar) before ‘g’, dāśuṣe: long ‘ā’; ś as palatal ‘sh’, kariṣyasi: retroflex ‘ṣ’; clear ‘rya’ cluster, aṅgiraḥ: final visarga-like aspiration in chanting tradition varies; keep ‘ḥ’ soft
Warm, steady, devotional with confident clarity.
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