Rig Veda 9.62.13: Mandala 9, Sukta 62, Mantra 13
Sukta 9.62
- Rishi
- Traditionally attributed to a Soma-Pavamāna seer-family
- Devata
- Soma Pavamāna
- Chandas
- Gāyatrī
- Rasa
- Adbhuta (wonder) and Shanta (peace)
एष स्य परि षिच्यते मर्मृज्यमान आयुभिः । उरुगायः कविक्रतुः ॥
eṣá syá pári sicyate marmṛ́jyamāna āyú-bhiḥ | uru-gāyáḥ kaví-kratuḥ ||
Ia dicurahkan ke segenap arah, sedang dimurnikan oleh daya-daya hayat; luas nyanyiannya yang menzahirkan, dengan kehendak sang resi—Soma membentuk upacara batin menjadi lagu yang lapang dan wawasan yang berkesan.
Word by Word
- एषः
- this (one)Pronounपुंलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, एकवचनम्Role कर्तृRoot एतद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक) → एष-
- स्यः
- he/that one (Vedic: ‘syáḥ’)Pronounपुंलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, एकवचनम् (वैदिक-रूपम्)Role कर्तृ (एषः इत्यस्य सह-निर्देशकः)Root स (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक) → स्य- (वैदिकः)
- परि
- around; all aroundIndeclinable (Preverb/Adverb)अव्ययम्Root परि (उपसर्ग/अव्यय)
- षिच्यते
- is poured/sprinkledVerbलट् (वर्तमान), आत्मनेपदम्, प्रथमपुरुषः, एकवचनम्; कर्मणि-प्रयोगः (passive)Role (कर्मणि; कर्ता अप्रकृतः)Root √सिच् (सिञ्चति) ‘to pour, sprinkle’
- मर्मृज्यमानः
- being cleansed/purifiedParticipleवर्तमान-कर्मणि कृदन्तः (passive present participle), पुंलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, एकवचनम्Role कर्तृ (एषः/स्यः इत्यस्य विशेषणम्)Root √मृज् ‘to wipe/clean/purify’ (Intensive/Reduplicated base: मर्मृज्) + शानच्
- आयुभिः
- with vital powers / with lives (life-forces)Nounनपुंसकलिङ्गम्, तृतीया, बहुवचनम्Role करणRoot आयु (प्रातिपदिक) ‘life, vital force’
- उरुगायः
- wide-singing; far-resounding (in praise)Adjective (epithet)पुंलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, एकवचनम्Role कर्तृ (एषः/स्यः इत्यस्य विशेषणम्)Root उरुगाय (प्रातिपदिक; उरु ‘wide’ + गाय ‘song/praise’)
- कविक्रतुः
- whose resolve is that of a seer; seer-willedAdjective (bahuvrīhi epithet)पुंलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, एकवचनम्Role कर्तृ (एषः/स्यः इत्यस्य विशेषणम्)Root कविक्रतु (प्रातिपदिक; कवि ‘seer/poet’ + क्रतु ‘will/insight/ritual power’)
Sandhi Notes
- पदच्छेदः: एषः स्यः परि षिच्यते मर्मृज्यमानः आयुभिः । उरुगायः कविक्रतुः ॥ 1) ए॒ष स्य → एषः स्यः (विसर्ग-लोप/पदपाठे विसर्गः पुनः स्थाप्यते; ‘स्य’ वैदिक-प्रथमा-एकवचनम्). 2) परि षिच्यते: ‘परि’ उपसर्गः
- धातोः √सिच् कर्मणि-लट् ‘षिच्यते’ (वैदिक-रूपे ष्-आदेशः). 3) मर्मृ॒ज्यमा॑न → मर्मृज्यमानः (शानच्-प्रत्ययान्तः, प्रथमा-एकवचनम्). 4) आ॒युभि॑: → आयुभिः (विसर्गः)
The meaning
Outer meaning
This Soma is poured around; being cleansed by the life-powers; wide-sung, with a poet’s will.
Inner meaning
The Soma-force is made to circulate through the whole system (pari ṣicyate), and in that circulation it is cleansed by the ‘āyus’—the life-powers/prāṇas that churn and refine experience. As it becomes pure, it turns into a wide utterance/mantra of manifestation (urugāyaḥ) and acts with ‘kavi-kratu’—the seer’s discerning will—so the inner rite becomes spacious, effective, and illumined.
Universal truth
When life-energy participates in purification rather than impulse, consciousness becomes spacious and creative; insight and will unite, and expression becomes a force of transformation.
Themes
purification-process, life-force transformation, mantric expansion, seer-will
The seer
- Other hymns
- Rig Veda 9.62 (Pavamāna flow)
Significance
Highlights the cooperation of prāṇa (āyu) with purification: life is not rejected but refined to become a vehicle of wide mantra and seer-will.
The deity
- Devata
- Soma Pavamāna
- Epithets
- marmṛjyamāna, urugāya, kavikratu
- Related deities
- Maruts (life-force dynamics), Bṛhaspati (mantric wideness), Agni (ritual leader)
Cosmic role
Soma circulates through the worlds, becoming clarified and turning into effective hymn-force that upholds manifestation.
Inner power
Transforms prāṇa into a carrier of insight; unites vision (kavi) and will (kratu) to make the sadhana effective.
In ritual
Where it is used
Soma filtration and ‘pariṣecanā’ (sprinkling/circulation) imagery within Soma rite
ए॒ष स्य परि॑ षिच्यते मर्मृ॒ज्यमा॑न आ॒युभि॑: । उ॒रु॒गा॒यः क॒विक्र॑तुः ॥
ए॒षः । स्यः । परि॑ । सि॒च्य॒ते॒ । म॒र्मृ॒ज्यमा॑नः । आ॒युऽभिः॑ । उ॒रु॒ऽगा॒यः । क॒विऽक्र॑तुः ॥
eṣaḥ | syaḥ | pari | sicyate | marmṛjyamānaḥ | āyu-bhiḥ | uru-gāyaḥ | kavi-kratuḥ
24
3×~8
Circular-flowing then widening
Encourages a feeling of circulation in breath and energy; then a widening in the chest/head as the mantra opens.
- परि सिच्यते (pari ṣicyate)
- Literal: is poured around, sprinkled all about. Symbolic: the force is distributed through all parts of the nature; integral permeation
- मर्मृज्यमानः (marmṛjyamānaḥ)
- Literal: being cleansed, rubbed/polished. Symbolic: progressive refinement through friction of practice and experience
- आयुभिः (āyubhiḥ)
- Literal: by the life-powers. Symbolic: prāṇic energies disciplined to serve purification
- उरुगायः (urugāyaḥ)
- Literal: wide-sung, wide-chanting. Symbolic: spacious mantra-vibration; expansive expression of truth
- कविक्रतुः (kavikratuḥ)
- Literal: having the seer’s will. Symbolic: illumined intention—will guided by vision, not desire
Describes the act of pouring and cleansing Soma in the rite; supports the contemplative identification of ritual action with inner purification.
During moments emphasizing cleansing and distribution of Soma
Pouring/straining; chanting to accompany the polishing purification
Somatic meditation: let breath circulate through the body; use mantra to refine restless prāṇa into calm power.
√sic ‘pour, sprinkle’ (PIE *seyḱ- ‘to pour’). √mṛj ‘wipe/cleanse’ → repeated purification (marmṛj- intensive). āyus from √i ‘to go, live’ → life-duration/life-force. uru ‘wide’ from PIE *wer- ‘broad’ (semantic field of wideness). gāya from √gai/√gā ‘sing’ → mantra as effective utterance. kratu ‘will, power of intention’ from √kṛ ‘do’ with semantic development ‘effective resolve’; kavi ‘seer/poet’ from √kav ‘to see/poetically conceive’.
kratu as conscious will shaping experience, mantra (gāya) as expansive manifestation of truth
Purified prāṇa moves in ṛta: orderly circulation rather than impulsive discharge.
kavikratu implies satya-guided intention—will aligned with true seeing.
From refined life emerges wide expression sustaining manifestation (urugāya).
Yoga-psychology of the Veda: prāṇa as instrument; mantra as expansive force; will as illumined executive.
Pouring around = permeation of consciousness through the body-mind; cleansing = tapas of practice; life-powers = breath/vital energies; wide chant = expansive awareness.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- The ‘cleansing of Soma’ is the mythic-ritual image of consciousness being poured into the system and purified by the life-forces, emerging as wide-manifesting mantra and seer-will—an inner alchemy where vitality becomes luminous speech and effective intention.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- √sic ‘pour’ corresponds to PIE *seyḱ- ‘pour’ (cf. Latin sīcāre?; more securely in Indo-Iranian cognacy and semantic stability). The passive sicyate preserves old middle/passive behavior typical of archaic IE ritual diction, where the substance ‘undergoes’ transformation.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The Rishi witnesses and names the process: Soma is not merely handled externally but undergoes an inner cleansing ‘by āyus.’ By articulating Soma as uru-gāya and kavi-kratu, the poet aligns his own inspired will with the deity’s transformative action.
Let breath-energy (āyu) cleanse the system; unify insight and will (kavi-kratu) before action.
Svādhiṣṭhāna (waters/vital) refined toward Anāhata (wideness) and Ājñā (seer-will)
Body-scan with slow breathing; imagine inhale ‘pouring around’ and exhale ‘polishing’ tensions
Circulating calm; spacious, creative clarity
Recite slowly 9 times, sensing the sound washing through limbs; then sit silently and form one clear intention from a quiet, wide awareness—act only after that intention feels luminous and steady.
RV accenting as marked; keep flow-contour smooth across ‘pari ṣicyate’.
Avoid hard breaks; let pādas connect like a continuous pour; slightly broaden tone on urugāyaḥ.
pari: roll ‘r’ lightly, ṣicyate: ṣ retroflex; ‘cy’ cluster clear, marmṛjyamānaḥ: keep double ‘rm’; vocalic ṛ; ‘jy’ cluster distinct, āyubhiḥ: long ā; aspirate bh, kavikratuḥ: split kavi-kratuḥ; keep ‘t’ dental
Smooth, liquid, evenly resonant
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