Rig Veda 7.8.2: Mandala 7, Sukta 8, Mantra 2
Sukta 7.8
- Rishi
- Vasiṣṭha
- Devata
- Agni
- Chandas
- Triṣṭubh
- Rasa
- Adbhuta (wonder) and Vira (heroism)
अयमु ष्य सुमहाँ अवेदि होता मन्द्रो मनुषो यह्वो अग्निः । वि भा अकः ससृजानः पृथिव्यां कृष्णपविरोषधीभिर्ववक्षे ॥
ayám u ṣyá sumáhā̃ avedi hótā mandró mánuṣo yahvó agníḥ | ví bhā́ akāḥ sasṛjānáḥ pṛthivyā́ṃ kṛṣṇápavir oṣádhībhir vavakṣe ||
Ten oto, wielce rozległy, został objawiony, kapłan człowieka, radujący, pędliwy Agni. Rozpostarł blaski, wylewając się na ziemię; swą ciemnozadną siłą przyodział się w rośliny, formy życia.
Word by Word
- अयम्
- this (one)Pronounपुंलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, एकवचनम्Role KartāRoot इदम् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- उ
- indeed, surelyIndeclinableनिपातः (अविकारी)Root उ (निपात)
- ष्य
- now/just (emphatic particle)Indeclinableवैदिक-निपातः (अविकारी)Root ष्य (निपात; वैदिक)
- सुमहान्
- very greatAdjectiveपुंलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, एकवचनम्Role Kartā (विशेषणम्)Root सु- + महान् (प्रातिपदिक)
- अवेदि
- has been found/has become manifestVerbलुङ् (अorist), आत्मनेपदम्, प्रथमपुरुषः, एकवचनम्Root √विद् (विदँ ज्ञाने)
- होता
- the Hotṛ-priest (invoker)Nounपुंलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, एकवचनम्Role Kartā (सम्बन्धे/अप्पोजिशन्)Root √हु (जुहोति) → होतृ (प्रातिपदिक)
- मन्द्रः
- gladdening, pleasant (in chant)Adjectiveपुंलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, एकवचनम्Role Kartā (विशेषणम्)Root मन्द्र (प्रातिपदिक)
- मनुषः
- of Manu (i.e., of mankind/Manu’s)Nounपुंलिङ्गः, षष्ठी, एकवचनम्Role (सम्बन्धः)Root मनु (प्रातिपदिक)
- यह्वः
- mighty, impetuousAdjectiveपुंलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, एकवचनम्Role Kartā (विशेषणम्)Root यह्व (प्रातिपदिक)
- अग्निः
- Agni (Fire)Nounपुंलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, एकवचनम्Role KartāRoot अग्नि (प्रातिपदिक)
- वि
- apart, forthIndeclinableउपसर्गःRoot वि (उपसर्ग/अव्यय)
- भाः
- lights, radiancesNounस्त्रीलिङ्गः, द्वितीया, बहुवचनम्Role KarmaRoot भा (प्रातिपदिक; ‘प्रभा/दीप्ति’)
- अकः
- he drove forth/put in motionVerbलिट्/लुङ्-प्रयोगः (वैदिक), परस्मैपदम्, प्रथमपुरुषः, एकवचनम्Root √अञ्च्/√अक् (वैदिक; ‘to reach/drive’)
- ससृजानः
- creating, sending forthParticipleवर्तमानकृदन्तः (शतृ), आत्मनेपदी, पुंलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, एकवचनम्Role Kartā (सह-क्रिया)Root √सृज् (सृजति ‘to send forth, create’)
- पृथिव्याम्
- on/in the earthNounस्त्रीलिङ्गः, सप्तमी, एकवचनम्Role AdhikaraṇaRoot पृथिवी (प्रातिपदिक)
- कृष्णपविः
- having a dark blade/edge (dark-flamed)Noun (compound)पुंलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, एकवचनम्Role Kartā (विशेषण-भावेन अग्नेः)Root कृष्ण- + पवि (प्रातिपदिक; ‘blade/edge, ray’)
- ओषधीभिः
- with the plants/herbsNounस्त्रीलिङ्गः, तृतीया, बहुवचनम्Role KaraṇaRoot ओषधि (प्रातिपदिक)
- ववक्षे
- has grown strong/has waxedVerbलिट् (परिपूर्ण/परफेक्ट), आत्मनेपदम्, प्रथमपुरुषः, एकवचनम्Root √वह्/√वक्ष् (वैदिक; ‘to grow strong, to wax’)
Sandhi Notes
- संहिता-पाठः: अ॒यमु॒ ष्य = अयम् + उ + ष्य (निपात-समुच्चयः)
- सुम॑हाँ = सुमहान् (पुं. प्रथ. एक.)
- मनु॑षो = मनुषः (षष्ठी एक.)
- वि भा अ॑कः = वि + भाः + अकः (उपसर्गः + कर्मपदम् + क्रियापदम्)
- ससृजा॒नः = ससृजानः (शतृ-कृदन्तः)
- पृ॑थि॒व्यां = पृथिव्याम् (सप्तमी)
- कृ॒ष्णप॑वि॒र् ओष॑धीभिः = कृष्णपविः + ओषधीभिः (रेफ-सन्धिः: -र् + ओ-)
The meaning
Outer meaning
This greatly vast one has become known—the priest of man, the gladdening, impetuous Agni. He has spread the radiances, being poured forth upon the earth; with dark-edged power he has clothed himself in the plants.
Inner meaning
Agni is ‘sumahān’—a vastness of conscious force disclosed to the seeker as the true Hotṛ, the priest who performs the inner offering in human nature. ‘Mandra’ indicates the gladness/rapture that accompanies right kindling; ‘yahva’ the swift, rushing power of ascent. He spreads radiances (bhāḥ): illuminations that distribute themselves through the embodied field (‘earth’ = physical consciousness). ‘Kṛṣṇa-pavi’—dark-edged—points to Agni’s power to work in the obscure and resistant layers, taking on limitation to transform it; he ‘clothes himself in the plants’ = assumes and energizes life-forms (oṣadhī) so that even the vital-physical becomes a vehicle of the flame.
Universal truth
The divine force reveals itself as vast and joyful, spreading light through embodied life; it can enter even the obscure layers of nature and turn them into instruments of growth.
Themes
Agni as Hotṛ, Light-diffusion, Fire in vegetation, Revelation (√vid)
The seer
- Rishi
- Vasiṣṭha
- Lineage
- Vasiṣṭha-gotra
- Other hymns
- RV 7.8.3 (seeking the path for speech and svadhā), RV 7.6 (Agni’s many workings, thematic)
Family tradition
Vasiṣṭha hymns often show Agni as both luminous revealer and worker in obscurity—bridging heaven’s light and earth’s embodiment.
Significance
The seer affirms Agni’s ‘knownness’ (avedi): realization is experiential disclosure, not belief; and it includes transformation of embodied life (oṣadhi) not escape from it.
The deity
- Devata
- Agni
- Epithets
- sumahān (vast), hotā manuṣaḥ (priest of man), mandra (gladdening), yahva (impetuous), kṛṣṇapavi (dark-edged)
- Related deities
- Soma (joy/bliss supporting mandra), Uṣas (radiances/dawns), Rudra (fierce transformative edge, conceptual kinship to kṛṣṇa-pavi)
Cosmic role
Brings light into manifestation; spreads radiance across earth; animates life-forms; mediates between planes.
Inner power
Joyous ascending will that also penetrates and reshapes the obscure vital-physical layers.
In ritual
Where it is used
Agni praise during kindling and offering; also interpretively linked to Agni’s presence in domestic hearth and in herbs (medicinal/fire principle).
अ॒यमु॒ ष्य सुम॑हाँ अवेदि॒ होता॑ म॒न्द्रो मनु॑षो य॒ह्वो अ॒ग्निः । वि भा अ॑कः ससृजा॒नः पृ॑थि॒व्यां कृ॒ष्णप॑वि॒रोष॑धीभिर्ववक्षे ॥
अ॒यम् । ऊँ॒ इति॑ । स्यः । सुऽम॑हान् । अ॒वे॒दि॒ । होता॑ । म॒न्द्रः । मनु॑षः । य॒ह्वः । अ॒ग्निः । वि । भाः । अ॒क॒रित्य॑कः । स॒सृ॒जा॒नः । पृ॒थि॒व्याम् । कृ॒ष्णऽप॑विः । ओष॑धीभिः । व॒व॒क्षे॒ ॥
ayam | oṃ iti | syaḥ | su-mahān | avedi | hotā | mandraḥ | manuṣaḥ | yahvaḥ | agniḥ | vi | bhāḥ | akar ity akaḥ | sasṛjānaḥ | pṛthivyām | kṛṣṇa-paviḥ | oṣadhībhiḥ | vavakṣe
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4 × ~11
Dynamic and descriptive; alternates breadth (sumahān) with swift motion (yahva).
Elicits a sense of vastness entering the body; energizes upward movement while grounding it in earth-life.
- सुमहान् (sumahān)
- Literal: very great/vast. Symbolic: widened consciousness-force beyond the small ego
- होता (hotā)
- Literal: priest. Symbolic: inner officiant: will that offers and transforms
- मन्द्रः (mandraḥ)
- Literal: gladdening/joyous. Symbolic: ananda-tone in the working of Agni
- यह्वः (yahvaḥ)
- Literal: impetuous, swift. Symbolic: ascending force that rushes upward toward light
- भाः (bhāḥ)
- Literal: radiances. Symbolic: illumined perceptions, rays of knowledge
- पृथिव्याम् (pṛthivyām)
- Literal: on earth. Symbolic: in the physical consciousness/body-field
- कृष्णपविः (kṛṣṇapaviḥ)
- Literal: dark-edged/dark-bladed. Symbolic: power that cuts through obscurity; transformative force working in the subconscient
- ओषधीभिः (oṣadhībhiḥ)
- Literal: with plants. Symbolic: life-forces/forms that can be infused by the flame
Agni as Hotṛ in the rite; also a contemplative identification of Agni’s presence in earth and plants (domestic fire, forest-fire imagery sublimated into inner immanence)
During Agni-stuti portions emphasizing manifestation of light in the earthly field.
Recitation accompanying offerings; contemplation of Agni pervading the worlds.
Meditation for integrating spiritual force into body-life: ‘spread the radiances in my earth; work even in my dark edges’.
avedi from √vid ‘know’ → revelation of Agni; hotā from √hu ‘invoke/offer’ (agent noun) → mediator; mandra- possibly from √mand ‘to rejoice’ → delight; yahvá- from √yah/√yāh ‘to hasten, to impel’ → impetuous ascent; √sṛj ‘release’ indicates emanation of lights; paví ‘blade/edge’ (cf. sharpening/cutting imagery) used psychologically as discriminating force working in the darker material sheath; oṣadhi (plants) ties Agni to immanent life in matter.
Immanence of the divine in matter, Radiance (bhāḥ) as knowledge, Embodiment: the One Fire taking forms in life
Implicit: spreading radiance is the establishment of order in earth; Agni’s work in obscurity supports ṛta’s manifestation.
‘Avedi’—truth is what is known by revelation; satya as experiential certainty.
Descent/expansion of light into earth and life-forms; spiritual force clothing itself in nature to evolve it.
Evolutionary yoga reading: divine force assumes life and matter to transform them (Aurobindo’s ‘involution/evolution’ lens).
spring (suggested by oṣadhi imagery; not explicit)
Earth = body-consciousness; plants = life-energy patterns; dark-edged = subconscient resistance; radiances = illumined thoughts/intuition.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- Agni as the immanent cosmic priest: known as the human Hotṛ, he spreads lights upon earth and enters/clothes himself in the plant-world—mythically, the one Fire present in terrestrial life, psychologically the will and knowledge latent in embodied nature.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- √vid ‘know’ is a central IE root (Skt veda, Lat vidēre, Eng wit). The agent noun hotṛ from √hu reflects a specialized Indo-Iranian ritual lexicon. The imagery of ‘spreading light’ and ‘release’ (√sṛj) parallels IE poetic motifs of dawn/light expansion.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The rishi testifies to recognition (avedi): the deity is not merely invoked but ‘known’ as present in human and earthly domains. The relationship is experiential—Agni reveals himself as the operative intelligence within embodiment.
Feel Agni as vast inner priest; let radiances spread through the ‘earth’ of the body; invite transformation in obscure habitual layers.
Maṇipūra (fire) descending to Mūlādhāra (earth) for integration; rising to Ājñā as radiance spreads.
On inhale, sense widening (sumahān); on exhale, spread light through limbs; add gentle ujjāyī to kindle warmth safely.
Widening + embodied illumination; integration of higher force into life.
After chanting, scan the body and ‘offer’ one dark/reactive pattern into the flame; visualize it becoming a living, helpful energy (oṣadhi).
Respect accent marks where present; keep ‘ayam u ṣya’ as a gentle lead-in, then brighten on ‘sumahān’.
Make a clear caesura after ‘avedi’; emphasize ‘hotā’ and ‘agniḥ’; let ‘vi bhāḥ’ open the tone (widen vowel).
‘oṣadhībhir’ with long ī in -dhī-, kṛṣṇa = retroflex ṣṇ cluster; keep it crisp, yahvaḥ: pronounce h distinctly (ya-hvaḥ), mandraḥ: roll ‘r’ lightly, avoid schwa insertion
Expansive and luminous, with a slightly stronger edge on ‘kṛṣṇapaviḥ’ to convey transformative power.
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