Rig Veda 9.35.4: Mandala 9, Sukta 35, Mantra 4
Sukta 9.35
- Devata
- Soma Pavamāna with the ṛṣi as participant-figure
- Rasa
- Vira (heroism) and Adbhuta (wonder)
प्र वाजमिन्दुरिष्यति सिषासन्वाजसा ऋषिः । व्रता विदान आयुधा ॥
prá vā́jam índur iṣyati sísāsan vāja-sā́ ṛ́ṣiḥ | vratā́ vidāná ā́yudhā ||
Indu paruje naprzód ku pełni mocy; pragnąc tej siły, wieszcz, zdobywca wadźi, znając prawa, uzbraja się do dzieła.
Word by Word
- प्र
- forth, forwardIndeclinableupasarga (preverb)Root प्र (upasarga)
- वाजम्
- prize; strength; (victory-)bootyNounपुंलिङ्ग; द्वितीया; एकवचनRole KarmaRoot वाज (प्रातिपदिक)
- इन्दुः
- Soma (the drop)Nounपुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा; एकवचनRole KartāRoot इन्दु (प्रातिपदिक)
- इष्यति
- seeks, strives forVerbलट् (वर्तमान); परस्मैपद; प्रथमपुरुष; एकवचनRoot इष् (धातु)
- सिषासन्वाजसा
- urging on, with might/with prize-winning powerParticiple + Noun (compound)सिषासन्वाजसा = सिषासन् (वर्तमान कृदन्त, पुं.; प्रथमा; एकवचन) + वाजसा (तृतीया; एकवचन; नपुं./पुं. ‘वाजस्’)Role Kartā (सिषासन्) / Karaṇa (वाजसा)Root सिषास् (इच्छार्थक/देशिदेरिवेटिव; √शास्/√सास् ‘to instruct/urge’ से) + वाजस (प्रातिपदिक)
- ऋषिः
- seer; inspired sageNounपुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा; एकवचनRole Kartā (apposition to इन्दुः)Root ऋषि (प्रातिपदिक)
- व्रता
- vows; sacred ordinancesNounनपुंसकलिङ्ग; द्वितीया; बहुवचन (व्रतानि का वैदिक रूप: व्रता)Role KarmaRoot व्रत (प्रातिपदिक)
- विदानः
- knowing; understandingParticiple/Adjectiveविदानः = क्त/निष्ठा-प्राय ‘knowing’; पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा; एकवचनRole Kartā (apposition to इन्दुः/ऋषिः)Root √विद् (धातु) → विदान (कृदन्त/विशेषण)
- आयुधा
- with a weapon; with arms (as means)Nounनपुंसकलिङ्ग; तृतीया; एकवचन (instrumental)Role KaraṇaRoot आयुध (प्रातिपदिक)
Sandhi Notes
- पदच्छेद (sandhi-resolution): प्र | वाजम् | इन्दुः | इष्यति | सिषासन्-वाजसा | ऋषिः | व्रता | विदानः | आयुधा । 1) इन्दुरिष्यति = इन्दुः + इष्यति (विसर्ग-सन्धि: उः + इ → उ + इ; लिखित रूप में ‘इन्दुरि…’)
- 2) सिषा॑सन्वाज॒सा = सिषासन् + वाजसा (न् + व → न्व्)
- 3) व्र॒ता = व्रतानि (नपुंसक द्वितीया बहुवचन का वैदिक संक्षिप्त रूप)
The meaning
Outer meaning
Indu (Soma) rushes forward toward vāja (victorious strength/plenitude). The seer, desiring that power and knowing the sacred laws (vratā), arms himself for the work.
Inner meaning
The purified current of delight-consciousness (Indu/Soma) presses toward an increase of effective force (vāja) in the being. The inner seer (ṛṣi—our awakened discernment) aspires for that strength and, by knowledge of the right workings (vratā as inner laws of the sacrifice), equips the nature with the needed powers (āyudhā) for spiritual action—steady will, clarity, and disciplined energies.
Universal truth
True power is not seized by ego-impulse but grows when aspiration is joined to knowledge of right law; then consciousness arms itself with the capacities needed to embody truth in works.
Themes
victory, discipline (vrata), Soma-ritual, seerhood
The seer
- Other hymns
- Rig Veda 9.35 (Pavamāna cycle), Rig Veda 9.36 (adjacent Pavāmāna hymn)
Significance
Even without a named seer, the ‘ṛṣi’ appears inside the verse as the awakened faculty in the practitioner: aspiration plus knowledge of inner law becomes the true equipment for transformation.
The deity
- Devata
- Soma Pavamāna (Indu)
- Epithets
- Indu (the bright drop), Pavamāna (self-purifying/flowing clear)
- Related deities
- Agni, Indra, Bṛhaspati
Cosmic role
Purifying power that clarifies the worlds, increases strength, and supports right order through luminous delight.
Inner power
Ananda-current that, when filtered, becomes a force of illumination and effective action (vāja) in mind and life.
In ritual
Where it is used
Soma pressing and purification (pavamāna) recitation during Soma-yajña
प्र वाज॒मिन्दु॑रिष्यति॒ सिषा॑सन्वाज॒सा ऋषि॑: । व्र॒ता वि॑दा॒न आयु॑धा ॥
प्र । वाज॑म् । इन्दुः॑ । इ॒ष्य॒ति॒ । सिसा॑सन् । वा॒ज॒ऽसाः । ऋषिः॑ । व्र॒ता । वि॒दा॒नः । आयु॑धा ॥
pra | vājam | induḥ | iṣyati | sisāsan | vāja-sāḥ | ṛṣiḥ | vratā | vidānaḥ | āyudhā
Jagatī (probable for many RV 9 verses; 4×12 structure)
48
4 pādas of ~12 syllables
Forward-driving, expansive cadence suited to ‘pressing onward’.
Builds momentum and confidence; supports a sense of progressive ascent and readiness for inner work.
- इन्दुः (induḥ)
- Literal: bright drop; Soma. Symbolic: purified stream of delight-consciousness that clarifies and energizes the mind-life
- वाजम् (vājam)
- Literal: prize; strength; plenitude. Symbolic: effective spiritual force—victorious capacity to act from truth
- ऋषिः (ṛṣiḥ)
- Literal: seer. Symbolic: inner seeing consciousness that receives intuition and guides the sacrifice
- व्रता (vratā)
- Literal: vows; ordained laws. Symbolic: laws of right inner working (ṛta-in-action), disciplines that align nature to truth
- आयुधा (āyudhā)
- Literal: weapons; implements. Symbolic: spiritual instruments—will, discrimination, courage, concentrated energy
Soma hymn aligning seer’s discipline (vrata) and empowered means (āyudha) with Soma’s forward drive toward vāja (victorious plenitude).
During pressing/straining and offering sequences; chanted to accompany the flowing Soma
Invoking Soma’s purification and increase of strength; aligning the sacrificer with vrata (right rule)
Use as a mantra for ‘arming’ the day: set intention, recall inner disciplines, then act from clarity rather than impulse.
vāja: often ‘prize/food’, but from a strength/fullness semantic field—here ‘plenitude of force’ (supports inner victory). iṣyati: from √iṣ ‘to impel, set in motion, seek’. sisāsan: desiderative-like formation from √san/√sā ‘to win, gain’ (desire to obtain). vrata: ‘rule/vow’ tied to ordered action; in Vedic, the fixed workings of gods and disciplined human alignment. āyudha: ‘weapon/means’ from ā- + √yudh ‘fight’ → instruments for battle (outer/inner).
vāja as force-plenitude, vrata as law/right working (ṛta in practice), inner armament (āyudha) as capacities for transformation
Vratā are the operative forms of ṛta—how truth becomes right movement in the being.
The ‘knowing’ (vidānaḥ) implies truth-knowledge guiding force.
Purification leading to manifestation of higher power in works.
Proto-Vedāntic / integral (Aurobindonian) reading: Ananda as a transformer of mind-life.
The flowing Soma is the inward current of delight; ‘arming’ is organizing faculties for a disciplined spiritual battle against inertia and obscurity.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- The Soma-driven quest for vāja (victorious plenitude) and the seer’s arming through knowledge of vrata: the mythic pattern is ascent by right law—power is gained not by chaos but by disciplined alignment with ṛta, yielding effective ‘weapons’ of consciousness.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- √vid ‘know’ is a central IE root; vrata as ‘rule’ reflects the archaic sacral idea that cosmic order is enacted through fixed ‘workings’. The semantic shift of ‘weapons’ (āyudha) into ‘means’ is typical of IE poetic abstraction from warfare to inner struggle.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- Soma’s forward drive toward vāja is mirrored in the seer’s aspiration: knowing the vrata, the ṛṣi becomes fit to wield the means of transformation. The reciprocity is epistemic and energetic—Soma gives force, the seer provides right knowledge and disciplined action.
Aspiration for true strength guided by inner law (ṛta); feel a clear, bright current rising and organizing the faculties.
Manipura (will/force) with support from Ajna (clarity/seeing)
Inhale: ‘pra vājam’ (gather force); exhale: ‘vratā vidāna āyudhā’ (align and equip).
Dynamic concentration—calm power prepared for right action.
Before work, recall one or two personal ‘vratas’ (truthfulness, steadiness, non-reactivity). Let the Soma-current (quiet joy) fuel action without haste.
Use standard Rigvedic accenting from the saṃhitā tradition: observe udatta on marked syllables; svarita as the falling tone after udatta; anudatta as unaccented support (exact pada-svara requires śākhā-specific notation).
Keep a clear lift on accented syllables (udātta), do not over-stress consonants; let the cadence ‘press forward’ through each pāda.
Induḥ: final visarga lightly aspirated, iṣyati: keep ‘ṣy’ crisp (retroflex ṣ + y), sisāsan: long ‘ā’ sustained, vratā: retroflex ‘ṭ’ not present—here ‘vr’ cluster: roll lightly, āyudhā: long ‘ā’ at start; ‘dh’ voiced aspirate
Bright, steady, forward-moving; avoid heaviness.
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