Rig Veda 9.4.9: Mandala 9, Sukta 4, Mantra 9
Sukta 9.4
- Devata
- Soma Pavamāna
- Rasa
- Shanta (peace) and Vira (heroism)
त्वां यज्ञैरवीवृधन्पवमान विधर्मणि । अथा नो वस्यसस्कृधि ॥
tvā́ṃ yajñáir avīvṛdhan pávamāna vídharmaṇi | áthā no vásyasas kṛdhi ||
Ofiarami zwiększyli cię, o oczyszczający Somo, w porządkowaniu prawa dzieł; wtedy ukształtuj nas w lepszy stan.
Word by Word
- त्वाम्
- you (as object)Pronounद्वितीया विभक्ति, एकवचनRole कर्मRoot युष्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- यज्ञैः
- with sacrificesNounपुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया विभक्ति, बहुवचनRole करणRoot यज्ञ (प्रातिपदिक)
- अवीवृधन्
- they increased / made growVerbलुङ् (अorist), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष, बहुवचनRole कर्तृRoot √वृध् (वर्धने)
- पवमान
- O Pavamāna (purifying Soma)Noun (epithet)पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन, एकवचनRole सम्बोधनRoot √पू (पवने/शोधने) → पवमान (प्रातिपदिक)
- विधर्मणि
- in the rite/ordinance (proper ritual order)Nounनपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी विभक्ति, एकवचनRole अधिकरणRoot विधर्मन् (प्रातिपदिक)
- अथ
- then / nowIndeclinableअव्ययRoot अथ
- नः
- of us / ourPronounषष्ठी विभक्ति, बहुवचन (enclitic)Role सम्बन्धRoot अस्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- वस्यसः
- of the better (thing), of welfareAdjective (substantivized)नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी विभक्ति, एकवचनRole सम्बन्धRoot वस्यस् (comparative adj. from वसु ‘good’)
- कृधि
- make / grantVerbलोट् (imperative), परस्मैपद, मध्यमपुरुष, एकवचनRole कर्तृ (आज्ञार्थे)Root √कृ (करणे)
Sandhi Notes
- पदच्छेदः: त्वाम् | यज्ञैः | अवीवृधन् | पवमान | विधर्मणि | अथ | नः | वस्यसः | कृधि । संधि: यज्ञैः + अवीवृधन् → यज्ञैरवीवृधन् (विसर्ग/रेफ-संधि: -ैः + अ- → -ैर-)
- अन्यत्र स्पष्ट संधि-परिवर्तनं न।
The meaning
Outer meaning
By the sacrifices they have increased you, O purifying Soma, in the ordering of the law of works; then make us into the better state.
Inner meaning
The ‘yajñas’ are inner offerings—acts of aspiration, self-giving, and disciplined practice—by which Soma grows in us. As Pavamāna, Soma clarifies the ‘vidharmaṇi’: the differentiated law and right arrangement of works in the being (right functioning of mind, life, body under ṛta). When delight is thus increased through conscious offering, it reshapes us into the higher condition.
Universal truth
What we repeatedly offer with sincerity increases the divine element in us; purified joy organizes our life according to a higher law, transforming character and action.
Themes
Reciprocity of sacrifice, Dharma/order, Increase of Soma, Inner yajña
The seer
- Other hymns
- Rig Veda 9.4.5, Rig Veda 9.4.6, Rig Veda 9.4.7, Rig Veda 9.4.8
Significance
The seer links Soma’s increase to yajña: transformation is not accidental; it is cultivated by sustained offering and right ordering of works.
The deity
- Devata
- Soma Pavamāna
- Epithets
- Pavamāna, Purifier, Clarifier
- Related deities
- Agni (yajña-leader), Indra (illumined force), Varuṇa (ṛta/dharma)
Cosmic role
Receives offerings and, through purification, establishes right law in action and consciousness.
Inner power
Ananda that, when increased, becomes a harmonizing intelligence in works—ordering motives and energies.
In ritual
Where it is used
Soma-yajña (pressing/purification) with emphasis on yajña as the means of increase
त्वां य॒ज्ञैर॑वीवृध॒न्पव॑मान॒ विध॑र्मणि । अथा॑ नो॒ वस्य॑सस्कृधि ॥
त्वाम् । य॒ज्ञैः । अ॒वी॒वृ॒ध॒न् । पव॑मान । विऽध॑र्मणि । अथ॑ । नः॒ । वस्य॑सः । कृ॒धि॒ ॥
tvām | yajñaiḥ | avīvṛdhan | pavamāna | vi-dharmaṇi | atha | naḥ | vasyasaḥ | kṛdhi
32
4×8 syllables
Measured and declarative; ‘tvāṃ yajñair avīvṛdhan’ has a narrative firmness.
Creates a sense of lawful progression: offering → increase → order in works → transformation.
- यज्ञैः (yajñaiḥ)
- Literal: by sacrifices. Symbolic: Inner offering—aspiration, self-consecration, disciplined practice
- अवीवृधन् (avīvṛdhan)
- Literal: they increased, made to grow. Symbolic: Growth of the divine force through repeated conscious engagement
- पवमान (pavamāna)
- Literal: purifying, clarifying. Symbolic: The clarifying movement that refines mixed impulses into luminous delight
- विधर्मणि (vi-dharmaṇi)
- Literal: in the ordering/arrangement of dharma (law). Symbolic: Right distribution of energies and functions; alignment of works with ṛta
- वस्यस् (vasyas)
- Literal: better condition. Symbolic: Higher ethical-spiritual formation; a nobler mode of being and acting
Meta-ritual verse: the rite itself (yajña) increases Soma within the structured dharman of the sacrifice
In the Pavamāna sequences accompanying purification and offering; also as reflective praise of the sacrificial process
Chant to affirm that offerings increase Soma and establish right order
A mantra for karma-yoga: consecrate actions as yajña; let purified joy reorganize habits and motives.
avīvṛdhan is perfect-like intensive/reduplicated form from √vṛdh ‘to grow, increase’ (causative/strengthening sense in context). vídharmaṇi: vi- + dhárman (from √dhṛ ‘to hold, support’) meaning ‘arrangement/order, ordinance’; here locative singular—‘in the ordering (framework) of sustaining law.’ yajñá from √yaj ‘to worship, sacrifice, offer’.
Ṛta-Dharma as ordered law of action, mutual reinforcement of divine power and human offering
‘Vidharmaṇi’ indicates works arranged by ṛta—right order manifesting in action.
Purification reveals true motive and truth-guided action.
Order as creative principle: right arrangement of energies gives birth to a higher life.
Karma-yoga seed within Vedic yajña symbolism (integral reading).
The ‘filtering’ of motives: raw impulses clarified into a clean current of joy that can govern action rightly.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- The myth of reciprocal empowerment: the gods are ‘increased’ by yajña. Soma grows through offerings within the cosmic/ritual order (dharman), and in turn reshapes the sacrificer—an economy of ṛta.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- √yaj reflects Indo-Iranian *yaz- (Avestan yaz- ‘worship’), pointing to a shared Indo-Iranian ritual lexicon. √dhṛ ‘hold’ corresponds to PIE *dʰer- ‘to hold, support’ (cf. Greek thronos ‘seat’ is not direct, but the root is widely attested; Sanskrit dhárman as ‘supporting law’ is a characteristic Vedic abstraction). √vṛdh ‘grow’ aligns with PIE *werdʰ- ‘to grow’ (cf. English worth via Germanic semantic shifts; more directly, Latin viridis ‘green’ is related to *gʷreh₁- not this root—so best kept to Indo-Iranian evidence).
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The rishi articulates the contract of the inner yajña: human offerings intensify Soma in the right order of action; Soma then grants the deeper transformation requested in the refrain—becoming ‘vasyas’.
Consecrate works as inner yajña so that purified delight can order life rightly.
Anāhata (consecration) to Viśuddha (truthful expression in works)
Before action: 3 slow breaths with the intention ‘this is yajña’; after action: one soft repetition of the refrain to integrate.
Consecrated action-awareness; calm governance of impulses.
Review your day as offerings; identify where delight became mixed (restless pleasure) and offer it to be purified; invoke Pavamāna to ‘re-order’ motives; practice one deliberate, truth-aligned action as vidharma—right placement of energy.
Observe udatta on marked syllables (e.g., pávamāna when accented; vídharmaṇi with proper rise/fall per śākhā).
Phrase as: ‘tvāṃ yajñair avīvṛdhan | pavamāna vidharmaṇi’ with a clear mid-pause; refrain slightly slower.
tvāṃ: long ‘ā’ before anusvāra, yajñaiḥ: ‘jñ’ palatal cluster; visarga at end as light breath, avīvṛdhan: long ī, vocalic ‘ṛ’ in vṛ, vidharmaṇi: ‘dh’ aspirated; ‘ṇi’ retroflex nasal, pavamāna: keep ‘va’ soft, not ‘ba’
Steady, ritually precise, contemplative.
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