Rig Veda 5.52.3: Mandala 5, Sukta 52, Mantra 3
Sukta 5.52
- Rishi
- Atri
- Devata
- Maruts
- Chandas
- Triṣṭubh
- Rasa
- Adbhuta (wonder) and Vira (heroism)
ते स्यन्द्रासो नोक्षणोऽति ष्कन्दन्ति शर्वरीः । मरुतामधा महो दिवि क्षमा च मन्महे ॥
te syandrā́so nókṣaṇo ’tí skandanti śárvarīḥ | marútām ádhā máho diví kṣamā́ ca manmahe ||
Mereka—yang bertenaga dan menggerakkan—melompat melampaui malam-malam laksana lembu jantan yang gagah; maka kami menaruh dalam hati kebesaran Marut yang luas, di langit yang tinggi dan di bumi yang rendah.
Word by Word
- ते
- they (those)Pronounपुंलिङ्गे प्रथमा बहुवचनम्Role कर्तृRoot तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- स्य
- indeed, justIndeclinable (particle)निपातः (पादपूरण/प्रग्रह) — अव्ययम्Root सि (निपात) / वैदिक-एन्क्लिटिक
- इन्द्रासः
- Indras (Indra-like ones; the Maruts)Nounपुंलिङ्गे प्रथमा बहुवचनम्Role कर्तृ (ते इन्द्रासः) / सम्बोधन-भावः (स्तुत्यर्थे)Root इन्द्र (प्रातिपदिक)
- न
- notIndeclinableनिषेधः — अव्ययम्Root न (निषेध-निपात)
- उक्षणः
- sprinklers, rainers (bestowers of rain)Nounपुंलिङ्गे प्रथमा बहुवचनम्Role कर्तृ (ते … उक्षणः) / विशेषण-भावःRoot उक्षन् (प्रातिपदिक) / उक्ष् (धातु: ‘सिञ्चति/वर्षति’ इत्यादि; वैदिक-नाम)
- अति
- over, beyondIndeclinableउपसर्ग/क्रियाविशेषणम् — अव्ययम्Root अति (उपसर्ग/अव्यय)
- स्कन्दन्ति
- they leap, they springVerbलट् (वर्तमाने), परस्मैपदम्, प्रथमपुरुषः, बहुवचनम्Role कर्तृ-क्रियाRoot स्कन्द् (धातु)
- शर्वरीः
- the nightsNounस्त्रीलिङ्गे द्वितीया बहुवचनम्Role कर्मRoot शर्वरी (प्रातिपदिक)
- मरुताम्
- of the MarutsNounपुंलिङ्गे षष्ठी बहुवचनम्Role सम्बन्ध (षष्ठी)Root मरुत् (प्रातिपदिक)
- अधा
- then, now, indeedIndeclinableकाल/अनुक्रम-निपातः — अव्ययम्Root अधा (निपात)
- महो
- of the great (greatness)Adjective (used substantively)नपुंसकलिङ्गे षष्ठी/पञ्चमी एकवचनम् (वैदिक-रूप: महो)Role सम्बन्ध (षष्ठी) / अपादान-छाया (पञ्चमी) प्रसङ्गानुसारम्Root महत् (प्रातिपदिक)
- दिवि
- in heavenNounस्त्रीलिङ्गे सप्तमी एकवचनम्Role अधिकरणRoot द्यौ/दिव् (प्रातिपदिक)
- क्षमा
- the earthNounस्त्रीलिङ्गे प्रथमा एकवचनम्Role कर्तृ/विषय (समुच्चित-विषयः: दिवि … क्षमा च)Root क्षमा (प्रातिपदिक)
- च
- andIndeclinableसमुच्चयः — अव्ययम्Root च (समुच्चय-निपात)
- मन्महे
- we think, we revere/considerVerbलट् (वर्तमाने), आत्मनेपदम्, उत्तमपुरुषः, बहुवचनम्Role कर्तृ-क्रिया (वयं) / भाव-प्रकाशनम्Root मन् (धातु: ‘मन्यते/मनुते’)
Sandhi Notes
- पदच्छेदः (सन्धि-विग्रह): ते | स्य | इन्द्रासः | न | उक्षणः | अति | स्कन्दन्ति | शर्वरीः || मरुताम् | अधा | महो | दिवि | क्षमा | च | मन्महे || 1) नोक्षणोऽति = न + उक्षणः + अति (अ + अ → ‘ऽ’ अवग्रह). 2) ते स्य॒न्द्रासः: ‘स्य’ वैदिक-निपातः
- ‘स्य’ + ‘इन्द्रासः’ संहितायां संयोगः (पाठभेदानुसारं ‘स्येन्द्रासः’ इति पदपाठे)
The meaning
Outer meaning
They, vibrating like strong bulls, leap beyond the nights; then we contemplate the Maruts’ great vastness in heaven and on earth.
Inner meaning
The Maruts are ‘spandrāsaḥ’—vibratory, awakening forces. As bulls (ukṣaṇaḥ) they symbolize potent, fertilizing energy. ‘Leaping beyond the nights’ is the overcoming of inner obscurity, tamas, and subconscient inertia. Having crossed darkness, the seeker holds (manmahe) their greatness in both ‘divi’ (higher mind/heaven) and ‘kṣamā’ (earth/body field): the divine life-force must be integrated above and below—illumining thought and transforming embodied life.
Universal truth
Awakening energy must conquer darkness and then establish itself both in higher vision and in practical embodiment.
Themes
Nature-praise (innerized), Overcoming darkness, Marut-force (prāṇa dynamics), Heaven-and-earth integration
The seer
- Rishi
- Atri (Ātreya tradition)
- Lineage
- Ātreya
- Other hymns
- RV 5.40 (darkness/cover and solar release motifs), RV 5.52 (Marut sequence)
Family tradition
The Atri collection often moves from darkness to light (night → dawn/sun motifs) and from heaven to earth integration—an integral ascent-and-descent dynamic.
Significance
Atri’s vision stresses conquest of obscurity and establishment of a wide, luminous consciousness in all planes.
The deity
- Devata
- Maruts
- Epithets
- spandrāsaḥ (vibrant ones), ukṣaṇaḥ (bull-like strong ones), maho (of vast greatness)
- Related deities
- Uṣas (illumination after night), Indra (breaker of obstruction), Agni (inner fire leading transformation)
Cosmic role
Storm energies that break stagnation and renew the worlds; expand spaces (mahaḥ).
Inner power
Awakening vibration that overcomes tamas and widens consciousness; force that can inhabit both mind and body.
In ritual
Where it is used
Marut praise within offerings; symbolic of passing through darkness toward renewed force
ते स्य॒न्द्रासो॒ नोक्षणोऽति॑ ष्कन्दन्ति॒ शर्व॑रीः । म॒रुता॒मधा॒ महो॑ दि॒वि क्ष॒मा च॑ मन्महे ॥
ते । स्प॒न्द्रासः॑ । न । उ॒क्षणः॑ । अति॑ । स्क॒न्द॒न्ति॒ । शर्व॑रीः । म॒रुता॑म् । अध॑ । महः॑ । दि॒वि । क्ष॒मा । च॒ । म॒न्म॒हे॒ ॥
te | spandrāsaḥ | na | ukṣaṇaḥ | ati | skandanti | śarvarīḥ | marutām | adha | mahaḥ | divi | kṣamā | ca | manmahe
44
4 × ~11 syllables
Springing, kinetic; imagery of leaps is supported by brisk caesuras.
Energizes and ‘shakes’ dullness; helpful when the mind is heavy or clouded.
- spandrāsaḥ/syandrāsaḥ
- Literal: vibrating, quivering, impelling. Symbolic: awakening prāṇa that shakes inertia and stirs consciousness
- ukṣaṇaḥ
- Literal: bulls. Symbolic: potent life-force; strength that fertilizes and increases the inner wealth
- ati skandanti
- Literal: they leap beyond. Symbolic: decisive transcendence of limiting states
- śarvarīḥ
- Literal: nights. Symbolic: periods of obscurity, ignorance, depression, subconscient cover
- mahaḥ
- Literal: greatness, vastness. Symbolic: wideness of being; expansive force of the divine life
- divi
- Literal: in heaven. Symbolic: in the luminous mind-world; higher consciousness
- kṣamā
- Literal: earth. Symbolic: the embodied field—physical nature to be transformed
- manmahe
- Literal: we think/hold in mind, we contemplate. Symbolic: steady remembrance and assimilation of the force in consciousness
Marut-invocation within Soma rites (general śrauta usage: praising Maruts as helpers of Indra; employed as stotra/śastra material in Soma liturgy depending on śākhā tradition)
In sequences invoking dynamic gods for victory over obstacles and renewal
Recitation with offering; contemplation (manmahe) as inward appropriation of invoked force
Chant at night or during low states to invoke ‘leaping beyond the nights’—a practice for overcoming inertia and depressive fog.
spandrāsaḥ: from √spand ‘to throb, vibrate, quiver’ → ‘vibrant/impelling’; here as an epithet of Maruts highlighting kinetic consciousness. ukṣaṇaḥ: from √ukṣ ‘to sprinkle, be strong, grow; bull’ → emblem of virile force and fertilizing energy. skandanti: √skand ‘to leap, spring, rush’ (present 3pl) → sudden emergence of force. śarvarīḥ: śárvarī ‘night’ (acc.pl.) → symbolic of tamas/covering. mahaḥ: ‘the Vast’ (neut. nom/acc.sg.), often resonant with bṛhat. divi: loc.sg. of dyú ‘heaven’ (luminous mentality). kṣamā: nom/acc.sg. ‘earth’ (field of action/embodiment). manmahe: 1pl middle of √man ‘to think, to form in mind’ → inward affirmation/conception.
R̥ta (order through overcoming obscuration), Bṛhat/Vast (mahaḥ as wideness of consciousness), tamas → jyotis transition (darkness to light)
The movement beyond night implies a lawful progression from obscurity to illumination.
Contemplation (manmahe) stabilizes the truth of the force in mind and life.
Renewal through storm-force: breaking stagnation and expanding space in heaven and earth.
Integral ascent (to divi) and descent (to kṣamā) psychology.
night moving toward dawn (implied)
Crossing inner darkness via awakened prāṇa; establishing widened force in higher mind and embodied life.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- The storm-host’s overpassing of ‘nights’—a standard Vedic mythic action where the Maruts’ onrush breaks through obscuration. In the inner sense, the vibrating life-forces (Maruts) surge beyond recurrent states of darkness (śarvarīḥ), enabling the seeker to ‘hold’ (manmahe) the Vast (mahaḥ) simultaneously in the luminous mind (divi) and in embodied life (kṣamā).
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- Key motion/force verbs and images align with inherited Indo-European poetics: √skand ‘leap’ parallels the widespread IE motif of the storm-gods’ rushing advance; dyú- ‘sky/heaven’ continues PIE *dyew- ‘bright sky/day’ (cf. Latin diēs, Greek Zeus < *dyēws). The bull-image (ukṣaṇaḥ) participates in an IE strength/fertility symbol-set used for divine power and victorious impetus.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The rishi does not bargain materially but performs an inner act of alignment: ‘we conceive/hold in mind’ (manmahe) the Maruts’ greatness. This is reciprocal: the seer offers attentive consciousness (manas as oblation), and the Maruts respond by breaking the nights—granting widened force and victorious movement in both higher (divi) and lower (kṣamā) domains of the being.
Use vibration to cross tamas: feel a subtle inner ‘spanda’ lifting you beyond obscurity.
Maṇipūra (awakening force) rising to Ājñā (luminous clarity)
Kapalabhati (gentle, 30 strokes) or 6 rounds of bhastrikā-lite, then chant once slowly to stabilize.
Energized clarity; widened awareness.
When dullness arises, first awaken breath (light practice), then chant; visualize ‘night’ as a veil being leapt over, and end by placing the force both ‘above’ (clear mind) and ‘below’ (steady body).
Triṣṭubh with lively articulation on ‘ati skandanti’; allow a slight rise on ‘śarvarīḥ’ then resolve into a broader tone on ‘maho’.
Make ‘ati skandanti śarvarīḥ’ crisp and forward; broaden and slow slightly on ‘maho divi kṣamā ca’.
spandrāsaḥ: cluster ‘sp’ clear; retroflex ‘ṇ’ if present in your recension; keep ‘ā’ long, ukṣaṇaḥ: retroflex ‘ṣ’; ‘kṣ’ conjunct clean, skandanti: ‘sk’ cluster; dental ‘nt’, śarvarīḥ: roll ‘rv’; long ‘īḥ’, kṣamā: ‘kṣ’ conjunct; long ‘ā’
Energized but expansive; end with a wide, contemplative resonance.
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