Rig Veda 9.101.1: Mandala 9, Sukta 101, Mantra 1
Sukta 9.101
- Devata
- Soma Pavamāna
- Rasa
- Vira (heroism) and Raudra (fury)
पुरोजिती वो अन्धसः सुताय मादयित्नवे । अप श्वानं श्नथिष्टन सखायो दीर्घजिह्व्यम् ॥
purójitī vo ándhasaḥ sutā́ya mādayitnáve | ápa śvā́naṃ śnathiṣṭana sákhāyo dīrgha-jihvyám ||
O towarzysze, dla waszej esencji Somy wyciśniętej, by upajać rozkoszą i zdobywać przody, odepcijcie daleko długojęzycznego psa, który strzeże progu.
Word by Word
- पुरोजिती
- (O) two ‘fore-conquering/fore-leading’ onesNoun (dual)स्त्रीलिङ्ग; प्रथमा/द्वितीया द्विवचन (द्विवचनरूपम् ‘-ई’)Role सम्बोधन/कर्तृ (स्तुत्यौ/आहूतौ—‘हे पुरोजिती’)Root पुरोजित् (प्रातिपदिक; पुरस् + √जि ‘जयति’)
- वः
- of you; yourPronounषष्ठी बहुवचन (enclitic ‘वः’ = ‘your/of you’)Role सम्बन्ध (genitive relation)Root युष्मद् (सर्वनाम)
- अन्धसः
- of the soma-juice; of the pressed drinkNounनपुंसकलिङ्ग; षष्ठी एकवचन (Vedic usage)Role सम्बन्ध (genitive: ‘of the soma-juice’)Root अन्धस् (प्रातिपदिक)
- सुताय
- for the pressed (Soma)Adjective/Nounपुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग; चतुर्थी एकवचन (दातृ/सम्प्रदान)Role सम्प्रदान (for the pressed [soma])Root सुत (ppp of √सु ‘सुनोति/सुवति’ ‘to press (Soma)’)
- मादयित्नवे
- for exhilaration; for the exhilaratorNoun/Adjectiveपुंलिङ्ग; चतुर्थी एकवचनRole सम्प्रदान/प्रयोजन (for exhilaration / for the exhilarator)Root मादयित्नु (प्रातिपदिक; from causative √मद् ‘to exhilarate’ → मादयति)
- अप
- away; offIndeclinableउपसर्ग/क्रियाविशेषणRole क्रियाविशेषण (directional: ‘away/off’)Root अप (उपसर्ग/निपात)
- श्वानम्
- the dogNounपुंलिङ्ग; द्वितीया एकवचनRole कर्मRoot श्वान् (प्रातिपदिक)
- श्नथिष्टन
- strike/crush (you all)!Verbलोट् (आज्ञार्थ); मध्यमपुरुष; बहुवचन; परस्मैपदRole क्रिया (कर्तृ: ‘you [pl.]’)Root √श्नथ् (श्नथति ‘to strike/crush/hew’)
- सखायः
- friends; comradesNounपुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा बहुवचनRole कर्तृ/सम्बोधन (vocative-like address in Vedic; syntactically agents)Root सखि (प्रातिपदिक)
- दीर्घजिह्व्यम्
- the long-tongued oneAdjective (used substantively)पुंलिङ्ग; द्वितीया एकवचनRole कर्म (apposition to श्वानम्)Root दीर्घ-जिह्व्य (समास; दीर्घ ‘long’ + जिह्व्य ‘tongued’ < जिह्वा)
Sandhi Notes
- पदच्छेदः: पुरोजिती | वः | अन्धसः | सुताय | मादयित्नवे | अप | श्वानम् | श्नथिष्टन | सखायः | दीर्घजिह्व्यम् । प्रमुखसन्धयः: (1) ‘पुरोजिती वो’ इति—वः enclitic, no phonetic change beyond padapāṭha separation
- (2) ‘अन्धसः सुताय’—visarga before s- retained as ḥ in saṃhitā (अन्धसः सु-)
- (3) ‘अप श्वानम्’—no sandhi change
- (4) ‘श्नथिष्टन सखायः’—no external sandhi
- (5) ‘श्वानं … दीर्घजिह्व्यम्’—दीर्घजिह्व्यम् is adjectival apposition to श्वानम्
The meaning
Outer meaning
O comrades, for the Soma-essence pressed to exhilarate and win the fronts, strike away the long-tongued hound guarding the threshold.
Inner meaning
When the Soma-delight is pressed for victorious advance (purojitī), the inner workers (sakhāyaḥ: faculties/aspirants) must drive away the ‘hound’—the vigilant, long-tongued force of craving, gossiping mind, and sensory appetite that guards the threshold of entry into deeper states and keeps consciousness tied to lower enjoyments.
Universal truth
Spiritual joy becomes effective when we remove the guarding impulses of desire and restless speech that patrol the borders of consciousness.
Themes
Obstacle removal, Threshold myth, Soma pressing, Inner battle
The seer
- Other hymns
- Rig Veda 9.101 (opening verses)
Significance
The seer frames purification as an active inner battle: companions of the Yoga must guard the threshold by rejecting the lower ‘watchdog’ of craving and restless tongue.
The deity
- Devata
- Soma Pavamāna
- Epithets
- andhas (essence), suta (pressed), mādayitnu (delighting/intoxicating), purojit (front-winning)
- Related deities
- Indra, Agni, Bṛhaspati
Cosmic role
Gives victorious impetus to the gods and the sacrificer; clears the passage for offerings and inspirations to cross thresholds.
Inner power
Ananda that energizes progress; when protected, it becomes a force of breakthrough rather than a stimulus for desire.
In ritual
Where it is used
Soma pressing chants addressed to the pressing team/priests
पु॒रोजि॑ती वो॒ अन्ध॑सः सु॒ताय॑ मादयि॒त्नवे॑ । अप॒ श्वानं॑ श्नथिष्टन॒ सखा॑यो दीर्घजि॒ह्व्य॑म् ॥
पु॒रःऽजि॑ती । वः॒ । अन्ध॑सः । सु॒ताय॑ । मा॒द॒यि॒त्नवे॑ । अप॑ । श्वान॑म् । श्न॒थि॒ष्ट॒न॒ । सखा॑यः । दी॒र्घ॒ऽजि॒ह्व्य॑म् ॥
puraḥ-jitī | vaḥ | andhasaḥ | sutāya | mādayitnave | apa | śvānam | śnathiṣṭana | sakhāyaḥ | dīrgha-jihvyam
Commanding, martial rhythm—an exhortation to comrades.
Creates resolve and collective will; helpful for cutting off impulsive speech/desire at the start of practice.
- सखाय़ः (sakhāyaḥ)
- Literal: comrades/friends. Symbolic: inner collaborators: will, mind, life-forces aligned to sadhana
- अन्धस् (andhas)
- Literal: Soma juice/essence. Symbolic: essence of delight extracted from experience by aspiration
- सुत (suta)
- Literal: pressed. Symbolic: consciousness distilled by practice and concentration
- पु॒रोजि॑ती (purojitī)
- Literal: winning the fronts/foremost victories. Symbolic: breaking through first lines of resistance; opening new ranges
- श्वान (śvāna)
- Literal: hound/dog. Symbolic: guarding desire-nature; instinctive vigilance of the lower mind
- दीर्घजिह्व्य (dīrghajihvya)
- Literal: long-tongued. Symbolic: excess speech, taste-craving, mental ‘licking’ of objects; discursiveness that blocks entry
- अप श्नथिष्टन (apa śnathiṣṭana)
- Literal: strike away, smite off. Symbolic: decisive rejection/detachment at the threshold
In the Soma pressing context, an exhortation to remove impediments to the rite and to the flow of Soma; symbolically to clear the threshold before offering.
At the beginning of a pressing sequence; to ‘clear the way’ for Soma’s effective offering
Exhortation while pressing/straining; protective rejection of impurity/obstacle
Before meditation, use as a vow against compulsive speech, doom-scrolling, taste-craving—anything that ‘guards the threshold’ of silence.
puraḥ- ‘front, before’ + √ji ‘conquer’ → ‘front-conquering’; andhas- Soma ‘juice/essence’; √su ‘press’ in suta-; √mad ‘be exhilarated’ in mādayitnu-; śvan- ‘dog’ (PIE *ḱwṓn, cf. Greek κύων, Latin canis); jihvā ‘tongue’ (PIE *dn̥ǵʰwéh₂s often proposed for ‘tongue’ sets; Sanskrit jihvā is an IE reflex).
Obstacle-clearing before illumination, Guardians of the threshold (psychological resistances), Collective effort (sakhāyaḥ) in the yajña of the being
The ‘fronts’ (puraḥ) are opened when obstructive impulses are removed, allowing right movement of consciousness.
Truth-joy is protected from being distorted into mere sensation.
Breakthrough into new ‘fronts’ of being—progressive manifestation.
Integral psychological symbolism: obstacles as inner formations rather than external demons.
Threshold = entry to deeper mind/heart; hound = instinctive desire-guard; Soma = purified delight that must not be stolen by craving.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- The ‘guardian at the threshold’ motif: a hound blocks access to the Soma-delight; the companions must strike it away. Innerly, the hound is the obstructing force (habitual desire/speech or instinct) that guards the entry to the clarified Ananda; the yogic act is to remove it so the ‘fronts’ (puraḥ) can be won.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- śvā́n- ‘dog’ is a clear IE inheritance (PIE *ḱwṓn), one of the strongest comparative anchors. The compound puraḥ-jitī shows productive compounding typical of early Indo-Iranian poetic diction, paralleling IE epithet formation (hero ‘gate-conqueror’ types).
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The hymn positions the human collective (sakhāyaḥ) as collaborators with Soma: the Devatā’s delight is prepared by human/inner faculties actively removing obstruction. The reciprocity is practical—clear the passage, and Soma’s māda (rapture-force) can act to win the ‘fronts’ of consciousness.
At the start of sitting, identify the ‘long-tongued hound’ as compulsive speech/thought-taste; practice firm inner ‘no’.
Viśuddha (speech purification) and Maṇipūra (decisive will)
3–7 rounds of slightly stronger exhale (not strain) to ‘push out’ restlessness; then settle into even breath.
Alert, guarded, ready for entry into silence and joy.
Keep a ‘threshold rule’: for the first 10 minutes, no inner commentary—each time the tongue-mind starts licking objects, gently but firmly ‘strike it away’ and return to the Soma-flow (felt delight in the breath/heart).
Not fully determinable from the provided text; chant with clear stress on imperatives (‘apa… śnathiṣṭana’).
Make a slight lift on ‘purojitī’ and ‘mādayitnave’; deliver ‘apa śvānaṃ śnathiṣṭana’ as a crisp command.
purojitī: ‘puraḥ’ sandhi feel; keep ‘ji’ clear, andhasaḥ: ‘dh’ voiced aspirate; final ‘ḥ’ audible but light, śvānam: ‘śv’ cluster clean, not ‘s’, dīrghajihvyam: ‘dīrgha’ long ‘ī’; ‘jihv’ with clear ‘hv’
Bright, assertive, not harsh; like a protective call.
3
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