Rig Veda 6.27.3: Mandala 6, Sukta 27, Mantra 3
Sukta 6.27
- Rishi
- Bharadvāja
- Devata
- Indra
- Chandas
- Triṣṭubh
- Rasa
- Shanta (peace) and Adbhuta (wonder)
नहि नु ते महिमनः समस्य न मघवन्मघवत्त्वस्य विद्म । न राधसोराधसो नूतनस्येन्द्र नकिर्ददृश इन्द्रियं ते ॥
náhi nú te mahimánaḥ samásya ná maghavan maghavattvásya vidmá | ná rā́dhaso-rā́dhaso nū́tanasya índra nákir dadṛśa indriyáṃ te ||
Zaprawdę nie znamy pełnej miary twojej wielkości, o hojny, ani twej samej hojności. Nikt, o Indro, nigdy nie ujrzał pełnej mocy twej ciągle odnawiającej się obfitości.
Word by Word
- नहि
- surely not / indeed notIndeclinableनिषेध/प्रत्यवायार्थक निपातRoot नहि (न + हि)
- नु
- now; indeedIndeclinableसम्बोधन/अन्वर्थक निपात (emphatic/now)Root नु
- ते
- of you / yourPronounषष्ठी एकवचन (enclitic)Role सम्बन्ध (genitive relation)Root युष्मद्
- महिमानः
- greatness, mightNounप्रथमा एकवचन (वैदिकः: -आन्-प्रत्ययान्तः)Role कर्तृ/विषय (subject/topic)Root महिमन्
- समस्य
- of anyone/any (at all)Pronoun/Adjective (pronominal)षष्ठी एकवचन (m./n.)Role सम्बन्धRoot सम
- न
- notIndeclinableनिषेध निपातRoot न
- मघवन्
- O bountiful one (Indra)Noun (epithet)सम्बोधन एकवचन (m.)Role सम्बोधनRoot मघवन्
- मघवत्त्वस्य
- of (your) bounty/bountifulnessNoun (abstract)षष्ठी एकवचन (n.)Role सम्बन्धRoot मघवत्त्व
- विद्म
- we knowVerbलिट् (परिपूर्ण/परफेक्ट), उत्तमपुरुष, बहुवचन, परस्मैपदRole कर्तृ (implicit ‘we’)Root √विद् (विदँ ज्ञाने)
- न
- notIndeclinableनिषेध निपातRoot न
- राधसः
- of bounty/giftNounषष्ठी एकवचन (n.)Role सम्बन्धRoot राधस्
- राधसः
- of bounty/giftNounषष्ठी एकवचन (n.)Role सम्बन्धRoot राधस्
- नूतनस्य
- of the new/freshAdjectiveषष्ठी एकवचन (m./n.)Role विशेषण (to राधसः)Root नूतन
- इन्द्र
- O IndraNounसम्बोधन एकवचन (m.)Role सम्बोधनRoot इन्द्र
- नकिः
- no oneIndeclinable (pronominal adverb)निषेधार्थक सर्वनाम-निपात (‘no one’)Role कर्तृ (of ददृश)Root नकिस्/नकिः
- ददृशे
- has seenVerbलिट् (परफेक्ट), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन, आत्मनेपदRole क्रिया (predicate)Root √दृश् (दृशिर् दर्शनॆ)
- इन्द्रियम्
- power, might, Indra-like forceNounद्वितीया एकवचन (n.)Role कर्म (object of ददृशे)Root इन्द्रिय
- ते
- yourPronounषष्ठी एकवचन (enclitic)Role सम्बन्धRoot युष्मद्
Sandhi Notes
- पदच्छेद (Vedic sandhi resolution): न॒हि | नु | ते | महि॒मनः | समस्य | न | मघवन् | मघव॒त्त्वस्य | वि॒द्म । न | राध॑सः | राधसः | नूतनस्य | इन्द्र | नकिः | ददृशे | इन्द्रियम् | ते । प्रमुख-सन्धयः: (1) महिमनः समस्य—षष्ठी-षष्ठी सम्बन्धः, सन्धि-परिवर्तनं न विशेषम्। (2) मघवन् + मघवत्त्वस्य—अनुस्वार/व्यञ्जन-सन्धिः न, केवलं पदसंयोगः। (3) नूतनस्य + इन्द्र—अकार/इकार संयोगे पदान्त-स्वरः संहितायां दीर्घ/यण् न दर्शितः, पदपाठे पृथक्। (4) इन्द्र + नकिः—पदपाठे पृथक्
- संहितायां ‘इन्द्र नकि॑ः’ इति। (5) नकिः + ददृशे—विसर्गादि न
- पदसंयोगः।
The meaning
Outer meaning
The singers confess they do not know the full measure of Indra’s greatness or bounty. No one has seen the complete power of Indra’s ever-renewing plenitude.
Inner meaning
The human mind recognizes its limit before the vastness of the illumined Conscious-Force. Indra’s ‘mahiman’ is not merely a larger quantity of power but a different order of consciousness—wide, many-sided, and perpetually renewing (nūtanā). The seeker admits that even when illumination comes, its total scope cannot be grasped by the surface mentality; the divine power exceeds all conceptual capture. This humility is not weakness: it protects the sadhana from reducing revelation to a fixed doctrine and keeps the being open to ever-new descents of force and bounty (rādhas).
Universal truth
The highest powers of consciousness are inexhaustible; genuine spirituality combines experience with humility, staying open to continual renewal rather than claiming final possession.
Themes
inexhaustible greatness, divine bounty, limit of human knowing, ever-new power
The seer
- Rishi
- Bharadvāja (traditional)
- Lineage
- Bharadvāja
- Other hymns
- RV 6.27.1, RV 6.27.2, RV 6.27.4
Family tradition
A seer-family balancing heroic aspiration with truthful self-knowledge; acknowledges limits to invite greater descent.
Significance
This verse is a safeguard against spiritual pride: it places the seeker in right relation to the Infinite power working through illumination.
The deity
- Devata
- Indra
- Epithets
- Maghavan, Aparimita (immeasurable, implied), Nūtana-rādhas (ever-new bounty, implied)
- Related deities
- Varuṇa (vastness/order), Soma (renewing delight), Agni (aspiring will)
Cosmic role
Infinite reservoir of illumined force and gifts; renews the powers of consciousness.
Inner power
Ever-fresh revelation-force; the capacity to exceed current limits of mind and expand the being.
In ritual
Where it is used
Indra praise within Soma rites; acknowledges Indra’s immeasurable power while seeking further gifts.
न॒हि नु ते॑ महि॒मन॑: समस्य॒ न म॑घवन्मघव॒त्त्वस्य॑ वि॒द्म । न राध॑सोराधसो॒ नूत॑न॒स्येन्द्र॒ नकि॑र्ददृश इन्द्रि॒यं ते॑ ॥
न॒हि । नु । ते॒ । म॒हि॒मनः॑ । स॒म॒स्य॒ । न । म॒घ॒ऽव॒न् । म॒घ॒व॒त्ऽत्वस्य॑ । वि॒द्म । न । राध॑सःऽराधसः । नूत॑नस्य । इन्द्र॑ । नकिः॑ । द॒दृ॒शे॒ । इ॒न्द्रि॒यम् । ते॒ ॥
nahi | nu | te | mahimanaḥ | samasya | na | magha-van | maghavat-tvasya | vi dma | na | rādhasaḥ-rādhasaḥ | nūtanasya | indra | nakiḥ | dadṛśe | indriyam | te
44
4 × ~11
Grave and spacious; longer vowel flows support the theme of vastness.
Induces reverent wideness; a humbling yet uplifting sense of the Infinite at work.
- mahiman (महिमनः)
- Literal: greatness, vastness. Symbolic: the wideness and supramental amplitude of illumined consciousness
- maghavan / maghavattva (मघवन् / मघवत्-त्व)
- Literal: bountiful one / the state of bounty. Symbolic: the divine generosity of force, light, and joy poured into the seeker
- rādhas (राधस्)
- Literal: gift, bounty, plenitude. Symbolic: effective grace: power that accomplishes inner change
- nūtana (नूतन)
- Literal: new, ever-renewing. Symbolic: perpetual fresh revelation; living truth not fossilized
- indriyam (इन्द्रियम्)
- Literal: Indra’s power/sovereign energy. Symbolic: illumined executive force in consciousness beyond mental measure
- nakir dadṛśe (नकिः ददृशे)
- Literal: no one has seen. Symbolic: the totality is not an object for the limited gaze; it must be lived progressively
Praise acknowledging the inexhaustibility of Indra’s śakti; used to widen receptivity before further petitions/offering sequences in Soma rites.
As a reflective stanza amid victory hymns—balancing triumph with reverence.
Recitation accompanying offering; confession of limitation to invite greater bounty.
Use when feeling stuck or overconfident—reorient to openness and patience for gradual transformation.
mahimán from √mah ‘to be great’ (expansive magnitude); maghá ‘gift, bounty’ → maghávant ‘bountiful’; rā́dhas ‘gift, boon, prosperity’ (inner: effective increase of being); nū́tana ‘new’ from √nū/nu ‘now’ + adjectival formation, suggesting perpetual freshness of the divine action; indriyá from Indra + -ya, ‘belonging to Indra/sovereign power’.
ananta (inexhaustibility of divine power, implicit), Satya as ever-new manifestation, Rayi as plenitude of being
Ṛta is not static; it renews—Indra’s power manifests as continual re-ordering toward truth.
Truth is larger than what the mind can ‘know’; it is approached by widening consciousness.
Perpetual renewal (nūtana) as a law of manifestation; divine plenitude endlessly expresses.
Upaniṣadic-leaning Vedic mysticism: the Infinite exceeds thought; realization is progressive.
Sky = wideness of consciousness; bounty = inflow of force/light; ever-new = continual dawning of insight.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- The mythologem is Indra as inexhaustible giver whose power cannot be fully measured or seen—an RV theme where the god’s might and boons exceed human enumeration. It underwrites the later narrated victories (slayings) as expressions of an unbounded indriya.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- √vid ‘know’ reflects PIE *weyd- ‘see/know’; √dṛś ‘see’ corresponds to PIE *derk- ‘to see’ (cf. Greek dérkomai). The semantic pairing ‘know/see’ preserves the archaic Indo-European equation of vision with cognition.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The Rishi confesses the limits of mental measure before Indra’s total greatness, which is itself a yogic move: humility widens receptivity. Indra is approached not as a finite patron but as an ever-renewing source of rayi (plenitude) and indriya (sovereign force) within the seeker.
Widening into the immeasurable: sense a vast luminous expanse above and around the head; let thought fall quiet.
Sahasrāra (wideness)
Box breathing 4-4-4-4 for 7 rounds, then silent sitting; recite once at the end as an offering of humility.
Reverent wideness; surrender of mental measuring.
Replace ‘I must understand everything’ with ‘Let the truth reveal progressively.’ Note one area where you demand quick mastery; offer it to the ever-renewing power.
Śākala accents; maintain a broad, unhurried contour; verify exact udātta placements via RV 6.27 recitation.
Let the caesura after key phrases (e.g., mahimanaḥ… vidma) be audible; it supports the meaning of ‘not knowing fully’.
mahimanah: keep ‘h’ audible; do not collapse vowels, maghavan: gh as aspirated; not hard ‘g’, rādhaso-rādhaso: clear sandhi; repeat with equal weight, nakir: ‘kir’ crisp, short i
Deep, reverent, spacious; softer volume with sustained breath.
Ask anything about this verse
Answers come straight from the texts, with the shlokas they draw on. Ask in your own words.
A free sign-in with Google or Apple keeps your chat saved across web and the app.
Read Rig Veda in the Vedapath app
Scan the QR code to open this directly in the app, with word-by-word meanings, Sanskrit recitation where available, and more.
