Rig Veda 5.4.10: Mandala 5, Sukta 4, Mantra 10
Sukta 5.4
- Rishi
- Atri
- Devata
- Agni
- Chandas
- Triṣṭubh
- Rasa
- Adbhuta (wonder) and Vira (heroism)
यस्त्वा हृदा कीरिणा मन्यमानोऽमर्त्यं मर्त्यो जोहवीमि । जातवेदो यशो अस्मासु धेहि प्रजाभिरग्ने अमृतत्वमश्याम् ॥
yás tvā hṛdā́ kīríṇā mányamāno 'mártyaṃ mártyo jóhavīmi | jā́tavedo yáśo asmā́su dhehi prajā́bhir agne amṛtatvám aśyām ||
Aquele que, sendo mortal, te invoca—ao Imortal—com o coração e com a palavra cantada, a esse eu chamo. Ó Jātavedas, põe em nós a glória; com a descendência, ó Agni, alcancemos a imortalidade.
Word by Word
- यः
- who (he who)Pronounपुंलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, एकवचनम्Role KartāRoot यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- त्वा
- you (object)Pronounद्वितीया, एकवचनम्Role KarmaRoot युष्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- हृदा
- with (his) heartNounनपुंसकलिङ्गः, तृतीया, एकवचनम्Role KaraṇaRoot हृद् (प्रातिपदिक)
- कीरिणा
- with a praising singer/poetNoun (agent) / Adjectiveपुंलिङ्गः, तृतीया, एकवचनम्Role KaraṇaRoot कीरिन् (प्रातिपदिक) < कीर्/कीर्ति ‘praise’
- मन्यमानः
- thinking, deemingVerb (participle)वर्तमान-कृदन्तः (शानच्), पुंलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, एकवचनम्Role KartāRoot √मन् (मन्यते) + शानच्
- अमर्त्यम्
- the immortal (one)Adjectiveपुंलिङ्गः, द्वितीया, एकवचनम्Role KarmaRoot अ-मर्त्य (प्रातिपदिक)
- मर्त्यः
- a mortalNounपुंलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, एकवचनम्Role KartāRoot मर्त्य (प्रातिपदिक) < √मृ ‘to die’
- जोहवीमि
- I repeatedly call/invokeVerbलट् (वेदिक-प्रयोगः), उत्तमपुरुषः, एकवचनम्; तीव्र/आवृत्त-आह्वानार्थक-रूपम्Role Kriyā (main verb)Root √ह्वे/√हू (आह्वाने) (Vedic intensive/iterative)
- जातवेदः
- O Jātavedas (Agni, knower of births)Noun (vocative use)पुंलिङ्गः, सम्बोधन, एकवचनम्Role SambodhanaRoot जातवेदस् (प्रातिपदिक; अग्नि-विशेषण)
- यशः
- glory, fameNounनपुंसकलिङ्गः, द्वितीया, एकवचनम्Role KarmaRoot यशस् (प्रातिपदिक)
- अस्मासु
- among us, in usPronounसप्तमी, बहुवचनम्Role AdhikaraṇaRoot अस्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- धेहि
- place, bestowVerbलोट् (आज्ञार्थे), मध्यमपुरुषः, एकवचनम्Role Kriyā (imperative)Root √धा (दधाति)
- प्रजाभिः
- with offspring/peopleNounस्त्रीलिङ्गः, तृतीया, बहुवचनम्Role KaraṇaRoot प्रजा (प्रातिपदिक)
- अग्ने
- O AgniNounपुंलिङ्गः, सम्बोधन, एकवचनम्Role SambodhanaRoot अग्नि (प्रातिपदिक)
- अमृतत्वम्
- immortalityNoun (abstract)नपुंसकलिङ्गः, द्वितीया, एकवचनम्Role KarmaRoot अमृतत्व (प्रातिपदिक) < अमृत + त्व
- अश्याम्
- may I attainVerbविधिलिङ्/आशीर्लिङ् (वेदिक-प्रयोगः), उत्तमपुरुषः, एकवचनम्Role Kriyā (optative/wish)Root √अश् (अश्नुते ‘to attain’)
Sandhi Notes
- Resolved Vedic sandhi: मन्यमानोऽमर्त्यम् → मन्यमानः अमर्त्यम् (अः + अ → ओऽ). Other padas are already in near-pada form
- vocatives जातवेदो/अग्ने taken as जातवेदः/अग्ने in analysis. Accent marks in the given Saṃhitā text are not reproduced in the pada list
- analysis is morphological
The meaning
Outer meaning
A mortal calls the Immortal Agni with heart and song. Agni is asked to place glory in the worshippers, and with progeny/powers of begetting may they attain immortality.
Inner meaning
The human being (martya) invokes the deathless Fire (amartya) not merely by rite but by heart (hṛdā) and inspired speech (kīriṇā). Agni is asked to establish ‘yaśas’—the effective radiance of true becoming, the soul’s recognized stature in truth. ‘Prajābhiḥ’ signifies the generative powers of consciousness—new births of light, right impulses, and transformed faculties—through which the seeker grows into amṛtatva: a stable participation in the deathless consciousness.
Universal truth
When aspiration is sincere (heart) and expressive (mantra), the inner divine answers by giving luminous power and creative growth, leading toward freedom from the law of inner death (ignorance).
Themes
invocation (johavīmi), glory (yaśas), creative power (prajā), immortality aspiration
The seer
- Rishi
- Atri
- Lineage
- Ātreya
- Other hymns
- RV 5.4.9, RV 5.4.11
Family tradition
Ātreya emphasizes heart-invocation and transformative results (glory, protection, plenitude) as inner attainments.
Significance
Atri here frames the central Vedic paradox: the mortal can call and receive the Immortal by psychic sincerity and inspired word.
The deity
- Devata
- Agni (Jātavedas)
- Epithets
- Jātavedas, Amartya
- Related deities
- Soma (bliss that supports immortality), Indra (illumination that breaks limitation)
Cosmic role
Immortal power within mortal forms; awakener of evolution through creative ‘births’ of light.
Inner power
Psychic fire that grants luminous effectiveness (yaśas) and generates new faculties (prajā).
In ritual
Where it is used
Agni praise within offering sequences; prayer for vitality and continuity (prajā)
यस्त्वा॑ हृ॒दा की॒रिणा॒ मन्य॑मा॒नोऽम॑र्त्यं॒ मर्त्यो॒ जोह॑वीमि । जात॑वेदो॒ यशो॑ अ॒स्मासु॑ धेहि प्र॒जाभि॑रग्ने अमृत॒त्वम॑श्याम् ॥
यः । त्वा॒ । हृ॒दा । की॒रिणा॑ । मन्य॑मानः । अम॑र्त्यम् । मर्त्यः॑ । जोह॑वीमि । जात॑ऽवेदः । यशः॑ । अ॒स्मासु॑ । धे॒हि॒ । प्र॒ऽजाभिः॑ । अ॒ग्ने॒ । अ॒मृ॒त॒ऽत्वम् । अ॒श्या॒म् ॥
yaḥ | tvā | hṛdā | kīriṇā | manyamānaḥ | amaryaḥ | johavīmi | jāta-vedaḥ | yaśaḥ | asmāsu | dhehi | pra-jābhiḥ | agne | amṛta-tvam | aśyām
44
4×11 (approx.)
Intimate yet forceful; alternates mortal limitation with immortal invocation and attainment.
Opens the chest/heart region; evokes uplift and a sense of destined victory over limitation.
- हृद् (hṛd/hṛdā)
- Literal: heart. Symbolic: psychic center; sincerity and soul-contact
- कीरि (kīriṇā)
- Literal: with song/praise. Symbolic: inspired mantra-speech; vibration that opens consciousness
- अमर्त्य (amartya)
- Literal: immortal. Symbolic: deathless divine principle within; Agni as immortal will-consciousness
- यशस् (yaśas)
- Literal: glory, fame. Symbolic: radiant effectiveness of truth-being; spiritual luminosity recognized in life
- प्रजा (prajā)
- Literal: offspring, progeny. Symbolic: creative emanations—new powers, new births of consciousness
- अमृतत्व (amṛtatva)
- Literal: immortality. Symbolic: stable higher consciousness beyond ignorance and inner decay
Aspirational verse linking invocation to attainment of amṛtatva; used in contexts emphasizing longevity, continuity, and the higher fruit of sacrifice beyond material gains.
After offerings, as a boon-request for glory and amṛta.
Praise + boon-request; may accompany oblation and concluding prayers.
As a heart-mantra for self-offering and inner renewal; ‘prajā’ can be taken as creative projects, virtues, and inner births.
johavīmi: intensive/reduplicated form from √hū ‘call, invoke’ → persistent aspiration. amṛta- ‘deathless’ (a- privative + mṛta ‘dead’ from √mṛ ‘die’) → immortality as state of consciousness. prajā- from pra + √jan ‘beget, generate’ → not only physical progeny but generative powers/emanations of the realized state. √aś ‘attain’ is an old IE root (cf. Avestan as-, ‘reach’).
mortal-immortal polarity, amṛtatva (immortality) as realized consciousness, creative manifestation (prajā) as expansion of truth
Yaśas as the effective manifestation of ṛta in life—truth that ‘works’.
Immortality as truth-consciousness; mortal-to-immortal bridge via heart and mantra.
Prajā as conscious creation—new formations of being emerging from Agni’s tapas.
Integral Vedism: immortality as a progressive realization, not merely post-mortem.
spring (symbolically: generation)
Fire = conscious will; seed = new birth of faculty; sun = glory of illumination.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- The ascent from mortality to immortality through Agni: the mortal invokes the Immortal Fire and receives yaśas (radiant glory) and prajā (creative multiplication), culminating in amṛtatva—an archetypal Vedic movement from limited life to deathless consciousness.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- amṛta (a- + √mṛ) matches IE privative formation and the widespread death/immortality polarity. √jan (prajā) reflects PIE *ǵenh₁- ‘beget’ (English kin, gen-). √dheh₁- (dhehi) again shows PIE continuity. The reduplicated intensive (johavīmi) is a common Indo-Iranian morphological strategy for iterative action.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The rishi positions the human as mortal yet capable of calling the Immortal with heart and inspired speech; Agni is asked to ‘place’ yaśas within—an inward installation—so that through creative expansions (prajā) the seeker may reach amṛtatva.
Invoke the immortal flame in the heart; request ‘yaśas’ as luminous truth-effectiveness; invite new births of consciousness (prajā).
Anāhata (heart) and Ājñā (illumined direction)
Bhrāmarī (gentle) after chanting to feel mantra-vibration; or slow inhale to heart on ‘amartyam’, exhale on ‘amṛtatvam aśyām’.
Psychic openness with upward aspiration.
Chant with palm lightly on chest; feel sincerity. After 3–7 repetitions, sit silently and watch for a ‘new will’ or ‘new idea’ arising—treat it as prajā (a birth) to be nurtured.
Triṣṭubh; emphasize contrast words with accent clarity: martya/amartya; keep cadence steady.
Slight lift on ‘amartyam’; firm landing on ‘dhehi’; expansive finish on ‘amṛtatvam aśyām’.
(johavīmi): keep ‘h’ audible; do not collapse to ‘jovimi’., : pronounce ‘tva’ conjunct cleanly (t-v)., : aspirate ‘bh’ clearly; short ‘iḥ’ visarga at end.
Warm, heart-led, resonant; allow natural vibration in chest.
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