Rig Veda 10.7.6: Mandala 10, Sukta 7, Mantra 6
Sukta 10.7
- Devata
- Agni
- Chandas
- Trishtubh
- Rasa
- Shanta (peace) and Vira (heroism)
स्वयं यजस्व दिवि देव देवान्किं ते पाकः कृणवदप्रचेताः । यथायज ऋतुभिर्देव देवानेवा यजस्व तन्वं सुजात ॥
svayáṃ yajasva diví deva devā́n kíṃ te pā́kaḥ kṛṇavad ápracetāḥ | yáthā́yaja ṛtúbhir deva devā́n evā́ yajasva tanváṃ sujāta ||
Ber-yajña-lah oleh dirimu sendiri di langit, wahai Dewa, kepada para dewa; apakah yang mampu dilakukan oleh yang tidak mengetahui bagimu? Sebagaimana dahulu engkau ber-yajña kepada para dewa bersama musim-musim (ṛtu), demikian juga kini ber-yajña—jadikan dirimu sendiri persembahan, wahai yang terlahir mulia.
Word by Word
- स्वयम्
- by yourself, yourselfIndeclinableअव्यय (निपात/क्रियाविशेषण)Role Kartā (कर्तृ-विशेषण: ‘स्वयं’ = ‘तू स्वयं’)Root स्वयम् (अव्यय) < स्व (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- यजस्व
- worship! perform sacrifice!Verbलोट् (आज्ञार्थ), मध्यम-पुरुष, एकवचन, आत्मनेपदRole (मुख्य क्रिया) —Root यज् (यजँ)
- दिवि
- in heaven, in the skyNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, एकवचनRole Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण: ‘in heaven’)Root दिव् (द्यु/दिव्) (प्रातिपदिक: दिव्/द्यौः)
- देव
- O godNounपुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन, एकवचनRole (सम्बोधन) —Root देव (प्रातिपदिक)
- देवान्
- the godsNounपुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, बहुवचनRole Karma (कर्म: object of ‘यजस्व’)Root देव (प्रातिपदिक)
- किम्
- what?Pronounनपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन (प्रश्न)Role Karma (कर्म: object of ‘कृणवत्’)Root किम् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- ते
- for you / yourPronounषष्ठी/चतुर्थी, एकवचन (एन्क्लिटिक ‘ते’ = ‘thy/for thee’); अत्र षष्ठी (सम्बन्ध)Role Sampradāna/सम्बन्ध (here: genitival relation ‘of/for you’)Root त्वद् (युष्मद्) सर्वनाम
- पाकः
- a simple/ignorant man; a ‘pāka’Noun/Adjectiveपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचनRole Kartā (कर्तृ: subject of ‘कृणवत्’)Root पाक (प्रातिपदिक; ‘पाक’ = पच्-सम्बद्ध ‘cooked/ripe’, ‘simple/ignorant’)
- कृणवत्
- did/madeVerbलङ् (अनद्यतन-भूत/इम्परफेक्ट), प्रथम-पुरुष, एकवचन, परस्मैपदRole (मुख्य क्रिया) —Root कृ (कृञ्) / कर्
- अप्रचेताः
- unwise, lacking insightAdjectiveपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन (विशेषण: ‘पाकः’)Role Kartā (कर्तृ-विशेषण)Root अ-प्रचेतस् (प्रचेतस् ‘wise, aware’ < प्र-चित्), नञ्-समास
- यथा
- as, in the manner thatIndeclinableअव्यय (उपमान/प्रकारवाचक)Role (क्रिया-विशेषण: manner) —Root यथा (अव्यय)
- अयजः
- you worshipped/sacrificedVerbलङ् (अनद्यतन-भूत), मध्यम-पुरुष, एकवचन, परस्मैपद; ‘अ-यजः’Role (मुख्य क्रिया) —Root यज् (यजँ)
- ऋतुभिः
- with the seasons; with the proper times/ritesNounपुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया, बहुवचनRole Karaṇa (करण: ‘with/through the seasons/rites’)Root ऋतु (प्रातिपदिक)
- देव
- O godNounपुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन, एकवचनRole (सम्बोधन) —Root देव (प्रातिपदिक)
- देवान्
- the godsNounपुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, बहुवचनRole Karma (कर्म: object of ‘अयजः/यजस्व’)Root देव (प्रातिपदिक)
- एव
- indeed, justIndeclinableअव्यय (निश्चय/एवकार)Role (निपात: emphasis) —Root एव (अव्यय)
- यजस्व
- worship! sacrifice!Verbलोट्, मध्यम-पुरुष, एकवचन, आत्मनेपदRole (मुख्य क्रिया) —Root यज् (यजँ)
- तन्वम्
- your body; your own selfNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचनRole Karma (कर्म: object—‘yourself/your person’ as that which is offered/engaged)Root तनू (प्रातिपदिक: तनू/तन्व् ‘body, self’)
- सुजात
- O well-born one; noble-bornAdjective (Kṛdanta) / Vocative epithetपुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन, एकवचन (सम्बोधन-विशेषण)Role (सम्बोधन) —Root सु-जात (कृदन्त/विशेषण; जात < √जन् ‘be born’ with सु-)
Sandhi Notes
- पदच्छेदः: स्वयम् | यजस्व | दिवि | देव | देवान् | किम् | ते | पाकः | कृणवत् | अप्रचेताः || यथा | अयजः | ऋतुभिः | देव | देवान् | एव | यजस्व | तन्वम् | सुजात || सन्धि-विशेषाः: (1) दे॒वान्किं = देवान् + किम् (न् + क् → ङ्क्, परसवर्ण-सन्धि)
- (2) कृणव॒दप्र॑चेताः = कृणवत् + अप्रचेताः (त् + अ → द् + अ; जश्त्व/स्वर-सन्धि)
- (3) दे॒वाने॒वा = देवान् + एव (न् + ए → ने; संहितायां ‘देवानेव’)
- (4) त॒न्वं॑ = तनूम्/तन्वम् (RV-प्रयोगः: तनू-शब्दस्य द्वितीया एकवचन ‘तन्वम्’)
The meaning
Outer meaning
Agni is urged to sacrifice by himself in heaven to the gods; the unknowing cannot do anything for him. As he once sacrificed with the seasons, so should he now sacrifice, offering his own body/being, O well-born.
Inner meaning
The mantra shifts from outer rite to inner mastery: the divine Will in its own luminous plane (divi) performs the true sacrifice—self-offering of consciousness to higher powers. The ‘unknowing’ (apracetas) is the surface ego-mind that cannot truly conduct yoga’s transformative exchange. The right sacrifice happens according to ṛtus—rhythms and stages of growth—so the seeker learns to align with inner seasons. The climax is tanvaṃ yajasva: make your very being the offering—self-consecration rather than mere external act.
Universal truth
Real transformation is self-offering guided by inner knowledge and right timing; mechanical action without consciousness cannot substitute for awakened sacrifice.
Themes
Agni as divine sacrificer, inner yajña, self-transformation, order of seasons (ṛtu)
The seer
- Other hymns
- Rig Veda 10.7 (Agni’s priesthood and inner establishment)
Significance
This verse is a direct bridge to the Upaniṣadic interiorization: sacrifice becomes self-offering; the true officiant is the awakened inner Agni, not the ignorant surface agency.
The deity
- Devata
- Agni
- Epithets
- deva (god), sujāta (well-born), self-sacrificing priest (implicit)
- Related deities
- Ṛtu (cosmic order of seasons), Soma, Indra
Cosmic role
Performs the archetypal sacrifice in the luminous world, maintaining the interchange among divine powers.
Inner power
Autonomous inner will guided by knowledge; capacity for total consecration (ātma-yajña).
In ritual
Where it is used
Interpretive pivot verse used in Agni hymns; thematically suited to pravargya/agnicayana contemplations though not a fixed liturgical citation here
स्व॒यं य॑जस्व दि॒वि दे॑व दे॒वान्किं ते॒ पाक॑: कृणव॒दप्र॑चेताः । यथाय॑ज ऋ॒तुभि॑र्देव दे॒वाने॒वा य॑जस्व त॒न्वं॑ सुजात ॥
स्व॒यम् । य॒ज॒स्व॒ । दि॒वि । दे॒व॒ । दे॒वान् । किम् । ते॒ । पाकः॑ । कृ॒ण॒व॒त् । अप्र॑ऽचेताः । यथा॑ । अय॑जः । ऋ॒तुऽभिः॑ । दे॒व॒ । दे॒वान् । ए॒व । य॒ज॒स्व॒ । त॒न्व॑म् । सु॒ऽजा॒त॒ ॥
svayam | yajasva | divi | deva | devān | kim | te | pākaḥ | kṛṇavat | apra-cetāḥ | yathā | ayajaḥ | ṛtu-bhiḥ | deva | devān | eva | yajasva | tanvam | su-jāta
44
4 x ~11 syllables
Exhortative and incisive; rhetorical question sharpens the inner turn.
Cuts through mechanical religiosity; invokes sincerity and totality in practice.
- स्वयम् (svayam)
- Literal: by oneself. Symbolic: the inmost divine agency acting directly in consciousness
- यजस्व (yajasva)
- Literal: sacrifice, worship. Symbolic: self-consecration; exchange of lower for higher
- दिवि (divi)
- Literal: in heaven. Symbolic: in higher mind/light; the clarified plane of consciousness
- देव देवान् (deva devān)
- Literal: O god, the gods. Symbolic: Agni as divine power offering to other divine powers within the integral being
- पाकः (pākaḥ)
- Literal: one who cooks; inexperienced/simple. Symbolic: the crude ego-nature trying to ‘do yoga’ without knowledge
- अप्रचेताः (apracetāḥ)
- Literal: unknowing, without consciousness. Symbolic: mechanical mind-life incapable of true inner offering
- ऋतुभिः (ṛtubhiḥ)
- Literal: with the seasons. Symbolic: with ordered stages and rhythms of transformation
- तन्वम् (tanvam)
- Literal: the body/one’s own person. Symbolic: the whole being as oblation—mind, life, body offered to the Divine
- सुजात (sujāta)
- Literal: well-born. Symbolic: purely originated flame—aspiration rightly kindled from the soul
Metaritual reflection: Agni as self-sacrificer; can accompany contemplative portions of yajña emphasizing the god’s autonomous priesthood.
When emphasizing inner agency and right timing; as a teaching verse within recitation sequences
Instructional recitation; mental offering rather than additional outer act
A core mantra for consecration: use before meditation to shift from ‘doing practice’ to ‘offering oneself’.
√yaj (yajasva, ayajaḥ); deva ‘shining’ (from √div ‘shine’); pāka ‘cooked/ripe’ → in RV often ‘immature, unskilled’ by irony/contrast; pra-cit ‘to perceive clearly’ → apra-cetas ‘without clear awareness’; ṛtu ‘season/right time’ (ordered movement). Psychological reading: the human ‘pāka’ cannot perform the divine work; Agni must self-offer—self-transforming action—according to ṛtu (right order) to align all inner powers (devāḥ).
self-offering, ṛtu as ordered progression, limits of ignorant human agency (apracetas)
Ṛtus represent ordered manifestation; sacrifice follows cosmic law, not whim.
True sacrifice needs prajñā/chetas; the unknowing cannot reach satya by rote.
Self-offering sustains the worlds—inner yajña mirrors cosmic yajña.
Upaniṣadic interiorization (karma as yajña → ātma-yajña); compatible with Aurobindo’s psychic consecration.
all seasons explicitly (ṛtu)
Heaven = higher mind; seasons = stages of growth; cooking/heat (pāka) = crude processing vs conscious transformation.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- The self-sacrificing god: Agni performs yajña in heaven to the gods. This is a reflexive mythologem where the divine agency sustains the cosmic order; the human is ‘pāka’ and cannot substitute for that luminous intelligence.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- deva from the ‘shine’ root complex (PIE *dei̯wos, ‘celestial/shining’). The ritual verb √yaj is Indo-Iranian central (cf. Avestan yaz-). ṛtu as ordered time parallels Indo-European sacral time-reckoning.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The rishi yields initiative to Agni: the human confesses limitation (apracetas) and asks the god to carry the work by self-offering (tanvam). Reciprocity shifts from ‘human gives, god gives’ to ‘human consents and aligns; god accomplishes the transformation in right order (ṛtu)’.
Ātma-yajña: offer thoughts, impulses, and body-sense into the inner flame in the light of awareness.
Sahasrāra (divi: higher light) with grounding in Anāhata (offering)
Slow exhale emphasis (e.g., inhale 4, exhale 8) while mentally ‘offering’ on the exhale
Consecrated quietude; sense of higher guidance performing the practice.
Begin by observing the ‘apracetas’ tendency (mechanical repetition). Then invoke Agni ‘svayam’—let the mantra chant you. End with a simple inner gesture: ‘I offer my tanū (whole being) to the Truth.’
Default Vedic accents; verify exact svara from RV śākhā source for precise udatta/svarita placement.
Emphasize the imperative ‘yajasva’ and vocatives ‘deva’ ‘sujāta’; make the rhetorical question crisp: ‘kiṃ te pākaḥ…’
svayaṃ: nasalized ‘aṃ’ (anusvāra), apracetāḥ: pra-ce-tāḥ with long āḥ at end, ṛtubhiḥ: vocalic ṛ; bhis with light aspiration
Clear, introspective, slightly elevated pitch on imperatives; allow silence after each pāda.
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