Rig Veda 10.36.2: Mandala 10, Sukta 36, Mantra 2
Sukta 10.36
द्यौश्च नः पृथिवी च प्रचेतस ऋतावरी रक्षतामंहसो रिषः । मा दुर्विदत्रा निॠतिर्न ईशत तद्देवानामवो अद्या वृणीमहे ॥
dyáuś ca naḥ pṛthivī́ ca prácetasā ṛtā́varī rakṣatām áṃhaso ríṣaḥ | mā durvidátrā níṛtir na īśata tád devānām ávo adyā́ vṛṇīmahe ||
Niech Niebo i Ziemia, mądre i świadome, strażcy Prawdy, chronią nas przed udręką i krzywdą. Niech nie rządzi nami źle rozdzielająca Nirṛti. Tę ochronę bogów wybieramy dzisiaj.
Apotropaic protection verse; recitable for warding off misfortune and wrong destiny in domestic and śrauta settings
ṛta (truth-order) as protection, nirṛti (negation) as opposing force, choice (vṛṇīmahe) as act of alignment
Dyāvāpṛthivī as ṛtāvarī: when aligned to ṛta, they become protective supports of evolution.
Satya as the reliable ground (earth) and clear height (heaven) of consciousness.
Sustaining creation against forces of dissolution; maintaining the cosmic supports in the human field.
Vedic-psychological cosmology: world-powers as inner supports; Nirṛti as anti-evolutionary tendency.
Sky = clarity and wideness of mind; Earth = stability and patience of practice; Nirṛti = inner collapse/entropy.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- The ‘guardians of ṛta versus Nirṛti’ pattern: Heaven and Earth as conscious upholders protect the sacrificer, while Nirṛti is the hostile power of loss and wrong allotment. Innerly, the wide higher consciousness and the stable embodied basis together prevent the descent into negation.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- dyau- reflects PIE *dyew- (sky, bright), pṛthivī from √pṛth ‘broad’ parallels IE ‘broad earth’ formulas. The opposition of a protective cosmic pair vs. a personified misfortune is a widespread IE poetic structure (binary guardianship vs. hostile fate).
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The Rishi explicitly ‘chooses’ (vṛṇīmahe) divine protection—an inner consent. The devatās respond as protective consciousness-forms; Nirṛti is denied sovereignty by the seeker’s alignment with ṛta.
Establish the ‘axis’: feel a clear sky-like awareness above and a steady earth-like support below; affirm ‘mā nirṛtir na īśata’.
Mūlādhāra (earth stability) and Sahasrāra (sky openness) linked by Suṣumṇā awareness.
Inhale ‘dyauś ca naḥ’, exhale ‘pṛthivī ca’; then a longer exhale on ‘mā… nirṛtiḥ’ to release negation; end with a steady inhale-exhale on the refrain.
Protected poise; vertical alignment.
When negativity arises, name it as Nirṛti (the wrong apportioning), refuse its rule, and re-choose the devic protection ‘today’ (adyā) as a renewed commitment.
Triṣṭubh protection style: lift on ‘pracetasā’ and ‘ṛtāvarī’; strong prohibitive accent on ‘mā’; refrain chanted with even, sealing cadence.
Pause after ‘rakṣatām’; make ‘mā durvidatrā’ crisp; refrain slightly slower as a concluding seal.
Pronounce ‘nirṛtiḥ’ with clear retroflex ṛ (nir-ṛ-tiḥ), not ‘niriti’., Keep visarga in ‘aṃhasaḥ’ light but audible., ‘ṛtāvarī’—do not flatten ṛ; keep long ā.
Protective, steady, low-centered.
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