Rig Veda 3.62.17: Mandala 3, Sukta 62, Mantra 17
Sukta 3.62
- Rishi
- Viśvāmitra Gāthina
- Devata
- Mitra-Varuṇa
- Chandas
- Gāyatrī
- Rasa
- Shanta (peace) and Vira (heroism)
उरुशंसा नमोवृधा मह्ना दक्षस्य राजथः । द्राघिष्ठाभिः शुचिव्रता ॥
uruśáṃsā namovṛ́dhā mahnā́ dákṣasya rājathaḥ | drā́ghiṣṭhābhiḥ śucivratā ||
Szerocy w waszej chwale, pomnażacze czci duszy, przez wielkość panujecie poprzez Dakszę; waszymi dalekosiężnymi mocami, o czyści w waszym prawie działania.
Word by Word
- उरुशंसा
- O wide-praised (one)Adjective (vocative epithet)पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (voc.), एकवचनRole सम्बोधन (addressed deity)Root उरु- (प्रा.) + शंस (धातु √शंस् ‘स्तुति/प्रशंसा’) → उरुशंस- (प्रा.)
- नमोवृधा
- O increaser of reverence / who grows by homageAdjective (vocative epithet)पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (voc.), एकवचनRole सम्बोधनRoot नमस् (प्रा.) + वृध (धातु √वृध् ‘वर्धन’) → नमोवृध- (प्रा.)
- मह्ना
- by (your) greatness / by mightNoun (abstract/instrumental)नपुंसकलिङ्ग (वेद. प्रयोग), तृतीया विभक्ति, एकवचनRole करण (means: ‘by/with greatness’)Root महत्/महि- (प्रा. ‘महत्त्व/महिमा’) → मह्ना (इन्स्ट्र.)
- दक्षस्य
- of Dakṣa / of skill (power)Nounपुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी विभक्ति, एकवचनRole सम्बन्ध (genitive: ‘of Dakṣa/of skill’)Root दक्ष- (प्रा. ‘दक्षता/शक्ति’; also divine name Dakṣa) संभवतः √दक्ष्/√दश्-सम्बद्ध
- राजथः
- you two rule / reignVerbलट् (वर्तमान), मध्यमपुरुष, द्विवचन; परस्मैपदRole क्रिया (you two as kartā)Root √राज् ‘राज्ये/दीप्तौ’
- द्राघिष्ठाभिः
- with the farthest-reaching / most extended (ones)Adjective (instrumental plural, qualifying an implied feminine plural noun e.g., ‘स्तुतिभिः/धियाभिः/ऋचाभिः’ depending on padapāṭha tradition)स्त्रीलिङ्ग, तृतीया विभक्ति, बहुवचनRole करण (by/with the most far-reaching …)Root द्राघिष्ठ- (तमतम/अतिशय: द्राघीयस्/द्राघिष्ठ ‘अत्यन्त दीर्घ/विस्तीर्ण’) < द्राघ- (प्रा.)
- शुचिव्रता
- O of pure ordinances / pure-vowedAdjective (vocative epithet)पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (voc.), एकवचनRole सम्बोधनRoot शुचि- (प्रा. ‘पवित्र’) + व्रत- (प्रा. ‘व्रत/नियम’) → शुचिव्रत-
Sandhi Notes
- संहिता-पाठ: उरुशंसा नमोवृधा मह्ना दक्षस्य राजथः । द्राघिष्ठाभिः शुचिव्रता ॥ Sandhi resolution: (1) नमोवृधा = नमः + वृधा (visarga → o before voiced consonant v)
The meaning
Outer meaning
Wide in your praise, increasers of reverence, by greatness you reign through Dakṣa; with your far-reaching powers, O pure in your law.
Inner meaning
Mitra-Varuṇa are vast in the soul’s affirmation (uruśaṃsā) and increase the capacity for surrender and right receptivity (namovṛdhā). They rule by Dakṣa—not mere skill, but the discerning power that organizes right action and right seeing. Their ‘pure vow’ (śucivratā) is the unerring law of inner working; their far-reaching powers (drāghiṣṭhābhiḥ) extend order across all layers of the being.
Universal truth
True sovereignty in life comes from inner purity and discerning intelligence; when consciousness aligns with the law of truth, its power becomes wide and effective.
Themes
Sovereignty of Ṛta, Purity of divine law, Expansion of reverence, Wide-reaching power
The seer
- Rishi
- Viśvāmitra Gāthina
- Lineage
- Gāthina
- Other hymns
- RV 3.62.16-18 (unit), RV 3.62.10 (Sāvitrī context in same sūkta cluster)
Family tradition
Mantra-seer establishing ṛta through disciplined will and widening consciousness.
Significance
This verse emphasizes the ethical-spiritual mechanics of transformation: surrender (namaḥ), discernment (dakṣa), and purity of law (śuci-vrata).
The deity
- Devata
- Mitra-Varuṇa
- Epithets
- uruśaṃsā, namovṛdhā, śucivratā
- Related deities
- Ādityas, Savitṛ (as awakener of right impulse)
Cosmic role
Sovereigns of social and cosmic order; they uphold contracts of truth in heaven and in the human field.
Inner power
They establish inner governance: sincerity, clarity, disciplined action, and wide peace.
In ritual
Where it is used
Āditya offerings; prayers for ṛta and social/spiritual order
उ॒रु॒शंसा॑ नमो॒वृधा॑ म॒ह्ना दक्ष॑स्य राजथः । द्राघि॑ष्ठाभिः शुचिव्रता ॥
उ॒रु॒ऽशंसा॑ । न॒मः॒ऽवृधा॑ । म॒ह्ना । दक्ष॑स्य । रा॒ज॒थः॒ । द्राघि॑ष्ठाभिः । शु॒चि॒ऽव्र॒ता॒ ॥
uru-śaṃsā | namaḥ-vṛdhā | mahnā | dakṣasya | rājathaḥ | drāghiṣṭhābhiḥ | śuci-vratā
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3×8
measured, declarative, sovereign
Instills steadiness and moral clarity; supports a firm inner posture of truth.
- uruśaṃsā
- Literal: wide in praise. Symbolic: vast affirmation; expansive mantric recognition of the divine
- namovṛdhā
- Literal: increasers of homage. Symbolic: powers that grow surrender, receptivity, and right humility
- mahnā
- Literal: by greatness. Symbolic: by wideness and high potency of consciousness
- dakṣa
- Literal: skill, competence. Symbolic: discerning intelligence; right arrangement of energies for ṛta
- rājathaḥ
- Literal: you reign. Symbolic: you govern the inner kingdom—mind, life, body
- drāghiṣṭhābhiḥ
- Literal: with far-reaching (powers). Symbolic: extended efficacy across planes; long-range order
- śucivratā
- Literal: pure in vow/law. Symbolic: unmixed truth-principle in action; stainless governance
Praise-verse reinforcing the sovereign capacities of Mitra-Varuṇa; used to affirm their rule through dakṣa (effective order) and their śuci-vrata (pure law) as a condition for successful rite and inner alignment.
When seeking protection of law, right conduct, and stable governance of the rite and life
Recitation with ghṛta offerings; affirmation of the deities’ rule through dakṣa
Use for cultivating sincerity, ethical clarity, and disciplined routines in spiritual practice.
Key terms: (1) uru: wide, vast; (2) śaṃsa: praise/affirmation from √śaṃs 'to praise, recite'—also 'to make auspicious by word'. (3) namas: reverence; (4) vṛdh: √vṛdh 'increase'. (5) dakṣa: from √dakṣ 'be able, competent' ⇒ skill/power of right arrangement; in inner sense, effective intelligence that can execute ṛta. (6) vrata: 'law, vow, mode of working'—not moralism but a fixed divine manner of action; śuci indicates purity/clarity of that mode.
Dakṣa as effective intelligence-power, Vrata as divine law of action, Purity (śuci) as clarity of consciousness
Mitra-Varuṇa’s śucivratā is ṛta operating as a pure, practical law in consciousness.
Truth becomes governance—thought and action aligned without duplicity.
Order emerges when discernment organizes energies under a pure law.
Vedic integral ethics: cosmic law as inner psychology, not external command.
mid-morning clarity (implied by governance and wide sight)
unspecified
A wide, clean mental sky in which discernment rules and long-range harmony becomes possible.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- The sovereign twins ruling by Dakṣa (effective ordering power) and maintaining pure vrata (law of action). Innerly, it is the enthronement of a clean, far-reaching order in consciousness, where reverence itself is increased into a force.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- √rāj 'to rule' is an IE root (cf. Latin rēx, Celtic *rīxs). The abstract sovereignty vocabulary (rāj-, vrata-, dakṣa-) reflects the archaic IE concern with cosmic and social order as homologous.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The rishi’s praise is functional: by naming their operative principles (dakṣa, śuci-vrata), he aligns the rite and the inner being to those principles, strengthening the channel through which their order can act.
Establishing inner governance: sincerity, discernment (dakṣa), and purity of motive.
Viśuddha (truth-speaking)
Even breathing with brief pauses; mentally place ‘dakṣa’ as a steady light in the forehead
Quiet, wide, ethically lucid
After chanting, review the day’s motives without self-blame; offer them to the ‘pure law’ and choose one concrete alignment with truth.
Gāyatrī with clear udatta peaks; keep compounds articulated without losing accent contours.
Hold the dignity of ‘rājathaḥ’; keep ‘śucivratā’ cleanly separated (śuci-vratā) in articulation.
uruśaṃsā: retroflex ś, nasal ṃ, namovṛdhā: vṛ with vocalic ṛ, drāghiṣṭhābhiḥ: long ā, retroflex ṣṭh cluster, śucivratā: śuci with short u, dental t
steady, grave, clear
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