Rig Veda 2.13.13: Mandala 2, Sukta 13, Mantra 13
Sukta 2.13
- Rishi
- Gṛtsamada
- Devata
- Indra
- Chandas
- Triṣṭubh
- Rasa
- Vira (heroism) and Shanta (peace)
अस्मभ्यं तद्वसो दानाय राधः समर्थयस्व बहु ते वसव्यम् । इन्द्र यच्चित्रं श्रवस्या अनु द्यून्बृहद्वदेम विदथे सुवीराः ॥
asmábhyaṃ tád vaso dānā́ya rā́dhaḥ sáma arthayasva bahú te vasavyàm | índra yác citráṃ śravasyā́ ánu dyū́n bṛhád vadema vidáthe su-vī́rāḥ ||
ହେ ବସୁ (ଇନ୍ଦ୍ର), ଆମ ପାଇଁ ଦାନାର୍ଥ ତୁମର ସେଇ ରାଧଃ—ଆନନ୍ଦ-ସମୃଦ୍ଧିର ପରିପୂର୍ଣ୍ଣ ବଳ—ସୁସଂଗଠିତ କର; ତୁମର ବସବ୍ୟ (ପ୍ରକାଶମୟ) ଧନ ଅପାର। ହେ ଇନ୍ଦ୍ର, ତୁମ କୀର୍ତ୍ତିର ସେଇ ଅଦ୍ଭୁତ ଚିତ୍ର-ଯଶକୁ ଦିନେଦିନେ ଅନୁସରି, ଆମେ ବିଦଥମାନେ ବୃହତ୍ (ବିଶାଳ) ବାଣୀ କହିବା; ସୁବୀର (ବୀରଶକ୍ତିରେ ସମୃଦ୍ଧ) ହେବା।
Word by Word
- अस्मभ्यम्
- to usPronounद्वितीया/चतुर्थी? (प्रयोगतः चतुर्थी), बहुवचनम् (अस्मदः चतुर्थी बहु.)Role सम्प्रदानRoot अस्मद्
- तत्
- thatPronounनपुंसकलिङ्गम्, द्वितीया एकवचनम्Role कर्मRoot तद्
- वसो
- O good one / O wealthy oneNoun (vocative)पुंलिङ्गम्, सम्बोधन एकवचनम्Role सम्बोधनRoot वसु
- दानाय
- for givingNounनपुंसकलिङ्गम्, चतुर्थी एकवचनम्Role प्रयोजन/सम्प्रदानRoot दान
- राधः
- bounty, wealthNounनपुंसकलिङ्गम्, द्वितीया/प्रथमा एकवचनम् (अत्र कर्मरूपेण)Role कर्मRoot राधस्
- समर्थयस्व
- make (it) ready / provideVerbलोट् (आज्ञार्थे), मध्यमपुरुषः, एकवचनम्, परस्मैपदम्Role क्रियाRoot सम्-अर्थय्
- बहु
- much, abundantAdjective (indeclinable-like here)नपुंसकलिङ्गम्, द्वितीया एकवचनम् (वसव्यम् इति विशेष्यस्य)Role विशेषणRoot बहु
- ते
- of you / yourPronounषष्ठी एकवचनम्Role सम्बन्धRoot त्वद्
- वसव्यम्
- wealth, good (thing) to be wonNoun/Adjectiveनपुंसकलिङ्गम्, द्वितीया एकवचनम्Role कर्मRoot वसव्य
- इन्द्र
- O IndraNoun (vocative)पुंलिङ्गम्, सम्बोधन एकवचनम्Role सम्बोधनRoot इन्द्र
- यत्
- whatever / that whichRelative pronounनपुंसकलिङ्गम्, द्वितीया एकवचनम्Role कर्मRoot यद्
- चित्रम्
- bright, wondrousAdjective/Nounनपुंसकलिङ्गम्, द्वितीया एकवचनम्Role कर्म (यत् इत्यस्य विशेषणम्)Root चित्र
- श्रवस्याः
- of fame / of gloryNoun (abstract)स्त्रीलिङ्गम्, षष्ठी एकवचनम् (वा प्रथमा बहु. इति वैदिक-सम्भावना; अत्र ‘श्रवस्याः’ = ‘यशसः/कीर्तेः’)Role सम्बन्धRoot श्रवस्या
- अनु
- along, afterIndeclinable (preverb/preposition)अव्ययम्Role उपसर्ग/सम्बन्धRoot अनु
- द्यून्
- daysNounपुंलिङ्गम्, द्वितीया बहुवचनम्Role कर्म/अधिकरण (काल-पर्यायः)Root द्युन्
- बृहद्
- greatAdjective (indeclinable stem form)नपुंसकलिङ्गम्, द्वितीया एकवचनम् (वचः/वदेम इत्यर्थे)Role विशेषणRoot बृहन्त्
- वदेम
- may we speakVerbविधिलिङ्/लोट्-सदृश प्रार्थना (वेदे), उत्तमपुरुषः, बहुवचनम्, परस्मैपदम्Role क्रियाRoot वद्
- विदथे
- in the rite/assemblyNounनपुंसकलिङ्गम्, सप्तमी एकवचनम्Role अधिकरणRoot विदथ
- सुवीराः
- having good heroes/sons; well-mannedAdjectiveपुंलिङ्गम्, प्रथमा बहुवचनम्Role कर्तृ (वदेम इत्यस्य)Root सु-वीर
Sandhi Notes
- Sandhi resolution (padapāṭha-style): अस्मभ्यं तद् वसो दानाय राधः समर्थयस्व बहु ते वसव्यम् । इन्द्र यत् चित्रं श्रवस्याः अनु द्यून् बृहद् वदेम विदथे सुवीराः ॥ Key sandhis: तद्वसो = तत् + वसो
- राधः समर्थयस्व (visarga before s-)
- ते वसव्यम् (no change)
- यच्चित्रं = यत् + चित्रम्
- श्रवस्या अनु (ā + a → ā, written as श्रवस्या अनु)
- द्यून्बृहद्वदेम = द्यून् + बृहद् + वदेम (final -n before b; -d before v)
The meaning
Outer meaning
The poet asks Indra (called Vasu, lord of wealth) to rightly arrange for the sacrificers the power of giving and a plenitude of delight; Indra’s wealth is abundant. Following Indra’s marvellous fame day after day, they aspire to speak the Vast (Bṛhat) in the assemblies, strengthened with heroic energies.
Inner meaning
The seeker prays that the Divine Mind (Indra) harmonise (sam-arthayasva) the inner distribution of force—so that the capacity to give, to expand, and to enjoy the divine delight (rādhas) becomes rightly ordered within the being. Indra’s “wealth” is the luminous substance of consciousness (vasavya) that supports right action and right speech. By tracking Indra’s “citra śravas” (wonderful hearing/fame)—i.e., the progressive inner recognitions across the days of practice—the aspirant’s word in the inner assembly (vidatha) becomes bṛhat: vast, truth-bearing, and power-filled, supported by suvīraḥ, the heroic energies of the soul-nature.
Universal truth
Spiritual growth requires an intelligent ordering of our energies so generosity, joy, and strength arise from a deeper luminous substance; then speech and action become spacious, truthful, and beneficial to the collective life.
Themes
Indra-boon, spiritual wealth (rādhas/vasu), mantric speech of the Vast, inner heroism (su-vīra)
The seer
- Rishi
- Gṛtsamada (Āṅgirasa)
- Lineage
- Āṅgirasa
- Other hymns
- RV 2.12, RV 2.13, RV 2.14, RV 2.26
Family tradition
Gṛtsamada’s Mandala 2 hymns often build Indra as the illumining leader of the inner conquest, stressing right ordering of forces and the gaining of wide truth (bṛhat).
Significance
As an Āṅgirasa seer, Gṛtsamada stands in the lineage of “fire-priests” of inner aspiration: the Angirasas who recover the hidden Light (go) and establish luminous order in the human being.
The deity
- Devata
- Indra
- Epithets
- Vasu, Vīra (Hero), Maghavan (Bounteous), Vṛṣan (Bull/Forceful)
- Related deities
- Agni, Soma, Bṛhaspati, Uṣas
Cosmic role
Breaker of obstructions and releaser of the waters/lights; establishes victorious order and expansive truth in the worlds.
Inner power
The divine Mind-force that brings illumination, courage, and victorious discrimination; it arranges the energies for right action and vast speech.
In ritual
Where it is used
Soma-yajña / Indra-stotra context (praise to Indra accompanying offering)
अ॒स्मभ्यं॒ तद्व॑सो दा॒नाय॒ राध॒: सम॑र्थयस्व ब॒हु ते॑ वस॒व्य॑म् । इन्द्र॒ यच्चि॒त्रं श्र॑व॒स्या अनु॒ द्यून्बृ॒हद्व॑देम वि॒दथे॑ सु॒वीरा॑: ॥
अ॒स्मभ्य॑म् । तत् । व॒सो॒ इति॑ । दा॒नाय॑ । राधः॑ । सम् । अ॒र्थ॒य॒स्व॒ । ब॒हु । ते॒ । व॒स॒व्य॑म् । इन्द्र॑ । यत् । चि॒त्रम् । श्र॒व॒स्याः । अनु॑ । द्यून् । बृ॒हत् । व॒दे॒म॒ । वि॒दथे॑ । सु॒ऽवीराः॑ ॥
asmabhyam | tat | vaso iti | dānāya | rādhaḥ | sam | arthayasva | bahu | te | vasavyam | indra | yat | citram | śravasyāḥ | anu | dyūn | bṛhat | vadema | vidathe | su-vīrāḥ
11
4 pādas of ~11 syllables (11×4), with strong caesura tendencies typical of Indra hymns
Forward-driving, declarative, heroic cadence suited to invocation and affirmation.
Builds confidence and expansive intensity; supports a felt widening (bṛhat) and energises the will to persevere through ‘days’ of practice.
- वसो (vaso)
- Literal: O Vasu; one of the Vasus / wealthy one. Symbolic: Indra as the power of luminous wealth: inner resources of consciousness and force
- राधः (rādhaḥ)
- Literal: gift, bounty, favour, delight. Symbolic: plenitude of inner delight and effective grace that empowers right giving and growth
- समर्थयस्व (sam-arthayasva)
- Literal: set in order, make effective, rightly arrange. Symbolic: harmonise the parts of the being so the inner sacrifice functions integrally
- वसव्यम् (vasavyam)
- Literal: wealth belonging to the Vasus. Symbolic: luminous substance/energy that supports clarity, stability, and right action
- चित्रं श्रवस्याः (citraṃ śravasyāḥ)
- Literal: marvellous fame/glory. Symbolic: wondrous inner recognitions and illumined renown of the divine within consciousness
- अनु द्यून् (anu dyūn)
- Literal: following the days. Symbolic: steady practice through successive states of waking consciousness
- बृहत् (bṛhat)
- Literal: the Vast. Symbolic: vast consciousness (bṛhat/brahmanic wideness) expressed in speech and being
- विदथे (vidathe)
- Literal: in the assembly/rite. Symbolic: inner gathering of faculties; the conscious forum where truth is affirmed
- सुवीराः (suvīrāḥ)
- Literal: possessing good heroes/strong men. Symbolic: heroic soul-forces: courage, endurance, victorious energy in sadhana
Soma-yajña context (Indra as primary Soma-drinker); suitable for Indra-stotras in pressing rites where the boon is ‘rādhas’ (bounty) and ‘su-vīra’ (heroic force).
During Indra-focused stotras at Soma pressing/offerings; also adaptable as a general prosperity and strength invocation.
Recitation while offering Soma/oblations and praising Indra’s bounteous power.
Use as a daily invocation for inner order: before work or practice, ask for harmonised energies, generous action, and vast truthful speech.
Key terms: (1) rā́dhaḥ: often ‘bounty, grace’; connected with √rādh ‘to succeed, accomplish, be favorable’ → inner sense: accomplished plenitude that arrives rightly. (2) arthayasva: causative/desiderative nuance from √arth ‘to aim at, seek, make meaning/goal’; here imperative middle: ‘make it effective/attainable for us’, i.e., organize the boon into realization. (3) vasu: ‘bright, good, wealth’; from √vas ‘to dwell’ and semantic field of ‘abiding riches’ → spiritual substance one can ‘dwell in’. (4) bṛhat: from √bṛh ‘to grow, expand’ → the Vast (a Vedic constant paired with Satyam-Ritam-Bṛhat). (5) śravas: from √śru ‘to hear’ → inspired hearing/word; becomes ‘glory’ as the radiance of the heard truth made manifest.
Bṛhat (the Vast), integration/harmonization of energies (sam-), śravas as inspired hearing → truth made manifest
The prayer ‘sam-arthayasva’ implies aligning inner movements to Ṛta so giving and joy become rightly distributed.
Truth manifests as bṛhat-vāk: wide, clear, effective speech in the ‘assembly’ of consciousness.
Expansion from limited human state into vast consciousness through ordered force and illumined mind.
Proto-Vedāntic wideness (bṛhat/brahman) interpreted psychologically (Aurobindonian) as expansion of consciousness.
daytime (anu dyūn)
The succession of days mirrors successive awakenings; ‘wealth’ is the stable luminous energy that supports growth; the ‘Vast’ is the sunlike widening of consciousness.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- Not an outer combat scene but the recurrent Indra-mythologem of ‘bestowing rādhas/vasu’ after inner victory: Indra as the Power that makes the seeker’s plenitude workable (sam-arthayasva) and enables the utterance of Bṛhat in the vidatha. The mythic action is the conversion of divine ‘wealth’ into realized wideness and effective speech in the human field.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- bṛhat (√bṛh ‘grow, expand’) aligns with PIE *bʰerǵʰ- ‘rise, high, exalted’ (cf. ‘berg’ semantic of height/expanse). śravas (√śru ‘hear’) continues PIE *ḱleu̯- ‘hear, fame’ (cf. Greek κλέος kléos, ‘glory’), showing the inherited equation ‘heard-of-ness = glory’, here interiorized as inspired hearing becoming manifest radiance.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The rishi positions the human collective ‘asmabhyam’ as recipients who must be made capable: Indra is asked not merely to give, but to ‘set into harmony’ the gift so it can be possessed as vasavyam (abiding wealth). In return, the seekers offer articulation and affirmation—‘bṛhad vadema vidathe’—speech of the Vast in the sacred assembly, a reciprocity of boon and proclamation that stabilizes the god’s power in the human instrument.
Invite Indra as illumined mind to organise the psyche: align thought, speech, and action to a single luminous intention.
ājñā (inner vision)
moderate nāḍī-śodhana for balance before chanting; then steady exhale on ‘bṛhad vadema’.
From active aspiration to wide, steady awareness (bṛhat).
Chant once, pause, feel where energies are scattered; chant again with the intention ‘set my forces in right order’; end by resting in a sense of wideness and truthful speech.
Vedic accenting with udatta/anudatta/svarita as per Śākala tradition; key lifts often on invocatory vocatives (e.g., índra) and emphatic nouns (rādhaḥ, bṛhat).
Keep anudatta low and steady; let udatta rise cleanly without strain; svarita as a controlled fall—avoid melodic improvisation.
Hold retroflex ḍ in ‘rāḍhaḥ’ clearly; visarga ḥ light but audible., ‘bṛhat’ with vocalic ṛ (bṛ-), not ‘barhat’., ‘śravas(y)āḥ’ keep ś (palatal) distinct from s., Cluster in ‘sam arthayasva’: do not drop the m; articulate ‘sam-ar-’.
Bright, steady, slightly heroic (firm chest resonance) while preserving clarity of accents.
3
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