Rig Veda 10.21.1: Mandala 10, Sukta 21, Mantra 1

Sukta 10.21

Rishi: Unknown from provided excerpt (hymn-level attribution not supplied here)

Devata: Agni (Hotar, Pāvakaśociṣ)

Chandas: Jagatī or Triṣṭubh (uncertain from the excerpt alone; requires full metrical count by pāda)

Samhita Patha (Devanagari)

आग्निं न स्ववृक्तिभिर्होतारं त्वा वृणीमहे । यज्ञाय स्तीर्णबर्हिषे वि वो मदे शीरं पावकशोचिषं विवक्षसे ॥

Sanskrit recitationRig Veda 10.21.1

Transliteration

ā́gniṃ na svavṛ́ktibhir hótāraṃ tvā vṛṇīmahe | yajñā́ya stīrṇábarhiṣe ví vo made śīráṃ pāvakáśociṣaṃ vívakṣase ||

Translation

To Agni, with our self-fashioned workings, we choose you as the Hotar for the sacrifice, for the rite with the strewn seat. In our ecstasy you desire to manifest the strong, the purifier with radiant flame.

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Word by Word

• अग्निम्: Agni (as object of choice/praise)
• अग्निम्: कर्म
• Type: Noun
• Root: अग्नि- (प्रातिपदिक)

• न: like, as
• न: —
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न (निपात)

• स्ववृक्तिभिः: with our choices/acts of choosing (i.e., with our own selections/means)
• स्ववृक्तिभिः: करण
• Type: Noun
• Root: स्व-वृक्ति- (प्रातिपदिक; स्व + वृक्ति < √वृज्/वृञ्ज् ‘to choose/arrange, prepare’ → ‘choice/selection; (ritual) preference/act of choosing’)

• होतारम्: the Hotṛ-priest; the invoker
• होतारम्: कर्म
• Type: Noun
• Root: होतृ- (प्रातिपदिक; कर्तृ-नाम; √हु ‘to sacrifice, offer’)

• त्वा: you
• त्वा: कर्म
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: युष्मद्- (सर्वनाम)

• वृणीमहे: we choose
• वृणीमहे: —
• Type: Verb
• Root: √वृ (वृणीते) ‘to choose, select’

• यज्ञाय: for the sacrifice
• यज्ञाय: सम्प्रदान
• Type: Noun
• Root: यज्ञ- (प्रातिपदिक; √यज् ‘to worship/sacrifice’)

• स्तीर्णबर्हिषे: for (him/it) whose sacrificial grass is strewn
• स्तीर्णबर्हिषे: सम्प्रदान
• Type: Adjective (compound epithet)
• Root: स्तीर्ण-बर्हिस्- (समास; स्तीर्ण < √स्तृ ‘to strew’ (कृदन्त) + बर्हिस् ‘sacrificial grass’)

• वि: apart, forth, widely (intensifier)
• वि: —
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: वि (उपसर्ग/अव्यय)

• वः: of you; your
• वः: सम्बन्ध
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: युष्मद्- (सर्वनाम)

• मदे: in (your) exhilaration/rapture
• मदे: अधिकरण
• Type: Noun
• Root: मद- (प्रातिपदिक; √मद् ‘to be exhilarated’)

• शीरेम्: refreshing drink/sap (milk-like draught)
• शीरेम्: कर्म
• Type: Noun
• Root: शीरा- / शीर- (प्रातिपदिक; ‘milk/refreshing drink, sap’; RV usage)

• पावकशोचिषम्: having purifying flame/radiance
• पावकशोचिषम्: कर्म
• Type: Adjective (compound epithet)
• Root: पावक-शोचिस्- (समास; पावक ‘purifying’ < √पू ‘to purify’ + शोचिस् ‘flame, radiance’)

• विवक्षसे: you wish to speak/utter
• विवक्षसे: —
• Type: Verb
• Root: √वच् ‘to speak’ with desiderative stem विवक्ष-