Rig Veda 9.30.5: Mandala 9, Sukta 30, Mantra 5
Sukta 9.30
- Devata
- Soma, with Indra as receiver of the draught
- Rasa
- Vira (heroism) and Adbhuta (wonder)
अप्सु त्वा मधुमत्तमं हरिं हिन्वन्त्यद्रिभिः । इन्दविन्द्राय पीतये ॥
apsú tvā mádhumattamaṃ háriṃ hinvánty ádribhiḥ | índav índrāya pītáye ||
W wodach jasności popychają cię, o najbogatszy w miód, o płowy lśniący, kamieniami do tłoczenia, o Indu, aby Indra mógł pić i napełnić się zwycięską siłą.
Word by Word
- अ॒प्सु
- in the watersNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग; सप्तमी; बहुवचनRole अधिकारणRoot अप् (प्रातिपदिक) ‘जल’
- त्वा
- you (thee)Pronounद्वितीया; एकवचनRole कर्मRoot युष्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- मधुमत्तमम्
- most honeyed / sweetestAdjectiveपुंलिङ्ग; द्वितीया; एकवचन; तमप्-प्रत्यय (superlative)Role कर्म (त्वा इत्यस्य विशेषणम्)Root मधुमत् (विशेषण-प्रातिपदिक) < मधु + मतुप्
- हरिम्
- the tawny one (Soma)Nounपुंलिङ्ग; द्वितीया; एकवचनRole कर्म (त्वा इत्यस्य समानाधिकरण/विशेषणभावः)Root हरि (प्रातिपदिक)
- हिन्वन्ति
- they impel / set in motionVerbलट् (वर्तमान); प्रथमपुरुष; बहुवचन; परस्मैपदRole (क्रिया)Root हिन्व् (धातु) ‘प्रेरणे/चोदने’
- अद्रिभिः
- with stones (pressing-stones)Nounपुंलिङ्ग; तृतीया; बहुवचनRole करणRoot अद्रि (प्रातिपदिक) ‘पाषाणः; सोमपेषण-पाषाणः’
- इन्दु
- the Soma-dropNounपुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा; एकवचनRole कर्तृ (हिन्वन्ति इत्यस्य कर्म/सम्बोधनार्थं न; वाक्ये विषयः)Root इन्दु (प्रातिपदिक) ‘सोमः, बिन्दु/रसः’
- इन्द्राय
- for IndraNounपुंलिङ्ग; चतुर्थी; एकवचनRole सम्प्रदानRoot इन्द्र (प्रातिपदिक)
- पीतये
- for drinkingNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग; चतुर्थी; एकवचनRole प्रयोजन/सम्प्रदान (अर्थे: पानाय)Root पीति (प्रातिपदिक) ‘पानम्’ < √पा (धातु) ‘पाने’
Sandhi Notes
- पदच्छेदः: अ॒प्सु | त्वा | मधु॑मत्तमम् | हरिम् | हिन्वन्ति | अद्रिभिः | इन्दुः | इन्द्राय | पीतये । संहितायाम्: इन्दु + इन्द्राय → इन्दविन्द्राय (उकारस्य वकारादेशः स्वरादौ; उ/व-सन्धिः)
The meaning
Outer meaning
In the waters they impel you, the most honey-rich tawny Soma, with pressing stones, O Indu, for Indra to drink.
Inner meaning
Within the clear waters of consciousness (apsu: inner clarity), the luminous Soma-delight is driven and intensified by the ‘stones’—firm disciplines and concentrated forces of will—so that Indra (the illumined mind) may drink: i.e., the mind receives bliss as fuel for victorious illumination and the breaking of inner resistances.
Universal truth
Joy becomes power when it is clarified and disciplined; then it nourishes the mind’s highest victory rather than feeding desire or inertia.
Themes
Soma-ritual, purification (pavamāna), Indra empowerment, delight-force (madhu)
The seer
- Other hymns
- RV 9.30, RV 9.31
Significance
The verse encodes a yogic method: clarity (waters) + disciplined pressure (stones) yields concentrated bliss (madhu) that empowers illumination (Indra).
The deity
- Devata
- Soma (Indu, Pavamāna) with Indra as recipient
- Epithets
- madhumattama, hari, indu
- Related deities
- Agni, Maruts, Sarasvatī
Cosmic role
Soma is the nectar that strengthens the gods; Indra is the victorious power that uses that nectar to shatter obstruction.
Inner power
Soma: bliss that becomes luminous energy; Indra: discriminating, conquering intelligence energized by Ananda.
In ritual
Where it is used
Soma pressing (abhisava) and offering to Indra
अ॒प्सु त्वा॒ मधु॑मत्तमं॒ हरिं॑ हिन्व॒न्त्यद्रि॑भिः । इन्द॒विन्द्रा॑य पी॒तये॑ ॥
अ॒प्ऽसु । त्वा॒ । मधु॑मत्ऽतम॑म् । हरि॑म् । हि॒न्व॒न्ति॒ । अद्रि॑ऽभिः । इन्दो॒ इति॑ । इन्द्रा॑य । पी॒तये॑ ॥
ap-su | tvā | madhumat-tamam | harim | hinvanti | adri-bhiḥ | indo iti | indrāya | pītaye
32
4 pādas × 8 syllables
Compact, percussive; suited to the ‘pressing’ action
Creates a sense of rhythmic impetus—like repeated pressure—ending in an offering cadence toward Indra.
- अप्सु (apsu)
- Literal: In the waters. Symbolic: In planes of clarity; purified mind-stuff; flowing consciousness
- मधुमत्तम (madhumattama)
- Literal: Most honey-rich. Symbolic: Most concentrated sweetness of Ananda
- हरि (hari)
- Literal: Tawny/yellow; also a steed. Symbolic: Luminous, dynamic delight-energy that carries consciousness forward
- अद्रि (adri)
- Literal: Stone, pressing-stone. Symbolic: Disciplined pressure of tapas; focused will that extracts essence
- इन्दु (indu)
- Literal: Bright drop. Symbolic: A concentrated point of luminous delight
- इन्द्राय पीतये (indrāya pītaye)
- Literal: For Indra to drink. Symbolic: For the illumined mind to be filled with bliss-power for conquest of darkness
Soma pressing (Soma-yajña); purification/pressing and offering for Indra’s draught in the Soma ritual sequence
During Soma-yajña when Soma is pressed and prepared for Indra’s graha (draught)
Pressing with adri-stones, mixing/flowing through waters, offering for drinking
A mantra for channeling joy into focused clarity: before study, decision-making, or inner battle with tamas—‘let Indra drink’.
: loc. pl. of (ap) ‘water’ from PIE *h₂ep- ‘water’. - ‘honey/sweetness’ (PIE *médʰu) + - possessive + superlative -: ‘most full of madhu’. - ‘tawny, golden’ (often of Soma/Indra’s steeds; here Soma as luminous force). : √/ ‘to impel, set in motion’ (3pl pres.). - ‘stone, rock’ (instrumental pl.), in Soma context ‘pressing stones’. - ‘drop; bright Soma’ from √ ‘to be bright/滴?’, Vedic lexeme for Soma. : dat. of verbal noun from √ ‘to drink’.
R̥ta (right movement/order through purification and right flow), madhu (delight as a mode of truth-consciousness), inner sacrifice (assimilation of force by the illumined mind)
Waters symbolize rita’s clarity; Soma must be aligned to it to be fit for Indra.
True delight is ‘honey-rich’ when free from admixture; it becomes nourishment for right seeing.
Extraction of essence from matter through pressure mirrors evolution: consciousness distilled from nature.
Integral-Vedic psychology (Aurobindo): Ananda as a power that supports vijñāna/illumined mind.
Waters = clarified mind; stones = tapas/discipline; tawny radiance = energized delight that can act.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- The extraction and forward-driving of Soma (the luminous delight-essence) through the ‘stones’ and its offering to Indra: a recurring mythic action where purified delight empowers the victorious, illumined mind to overcome obstructing forces.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- ‘water’ continues PIE *h₂ep-; ‘honey/sweetness’ continues PIE *médʰu (cf. Avestan madu-, Greek méthy ‘wine’). The superlative formation - (-tama) is inherited Indo-European morphology used to intensify the quality of Soma as ‘most honeyed’.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The seer voices a sacrificial cooperation: human agencies (pressers) ‘impel’ Soma in the clarified waters so that Indra may ‘drink’—a reciprocity where the practitioner prepares the inner essence, and the divine power (Indra) receives it to act as victorious illumination within the human field.
Offer purified sweetness to the illumined mind: feel joy rising in clarity, then direct it upward to empower insight.
Ājñā (brow)
Bhrāmarī or gentle ujjāyī; on exhale, ‘offer’ the sweetness upward to the brow-space.
Bright, victorious clarity (tejas with sukha).
1) Settle in inner ‘waters’ (quiet mind). 2) Apply steady will (adri) by returning attention again and again. 3) Let a sweet luminous current gather. 4) Mentally ‘give it to Indra’: ask for decisive insight and courage.
Rigvedic accentuation varies by śākhā; emphasize udatta lifts on key vocatives/epithets (madhumattamam, indo).
Keep ‘apsu tvā’ light and flowing; give weight to ‘madhumattamam hariṃ’; resolve with offering tone on ‘indrāya pītaye’.
In ‘apsu’, keep cluster ‘ps’ crisp (ap-su)., ‘madhumattamam’: articulate double ‘tt’ (mat-ta)., ‘adribhiḥ’: clear retroflex/flapped ‘r’ and aspirate ‘bh’., ‘pītaye’: long ī (pī-ta-ye).
Bright, steady, slightly energizing.
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