Rig Veda 5.74.4: Mandala 5, Sukta 74, Mantra 4
Sukta 5.74
- Rishi
- Atri
- Devata
- Aśvinau
- Chandas
- Triṣṭubh
- Rasa
- Vira (heroism) and Karuna (compassion)
पौरं चिद्ध्युदप्रुतं पौर पौराय जिन्वथः । यदीं गृभीततातये सिंहमिव द्रुहस्पदे ॥
pauráṃ cíd dhy udaprútam paura paurā́ya jínvathaḥ | yád īṃ gṛbhītá-tātaye siṃhám iva drúhaḥ padé ||
Mesmo o homem da cidade, ó Pūra — ainda que submerso na cheia — vós o fortaleceis por seu concidadão. Quando é agarrado para o ataque hostil, vós o libertais como um leão do apoio do enganador.
Word by Word
- पौरम्
- city-born; belonging to the townAdjectiveनपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया/प्रथमा एकवचन (अत्र कर्मरूपेण)Role KarmaRoot पौर (प्रातिपदिक; < पुर ‘नगर’)
- चित्
- even; indeedIndeclinableनिपातः (बलवर्धक/अपि-अर्थे)Root चित् (अव्यय/निपात)
- हि
- for; indeedIndeclinableनिपातः (हेतौ/निश्चये)Root हि (अव्यय/निपात)
- उदप्रुतम्
- overflowing; surging up (with water/strength)Adjective (past participial) / Kṛdantaनपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया/प्रथमा एकवचन (पौरम् इति विशेषयति)Role KarmaRoot उद-प्रुत (कृदन्त/विशेषण; प्रुत < √प्लु/√प्लव् ‘प्लवने/प्रवहणे’)
- पौर
- O townsman; O citizenNoun (vocative) / Adjective used substantivelyपुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन एकवचनRoot पौर (प्रातिपदिक; < पुर)
- पौराय
- for the townsman; to the citizenNounपुंलिङ्ग, चतुर्थी एकवचनRole SampradānaRoot पौर (प्रातिपदिक)
- जिन्वथः
- you two quicken; you two invigorateVerbलट् (वर्तमान), मध्यमपुरुष, द्विवचनRoot √जिव्/√जिन्व् (जिन्वति ‘प्रेरणे/तर्पणे/वर्धने’)
- यत्
- when; sinceIndeclinable (relative) / Pronoun stemअव्ययवत् प्रयोगः (यदा/यत् ‘when/that’)Root यद् (सम्बन्ध-प्रत्यय)
- ईम्
- him; itIndeclinableनिपातः (प्रत्यवस्थान/अन्वादेशे; ‘him/it’)Role KarmaRoot ईम् (अव्यय; एनम्/इमम्-प्रयोगः)
- गृभीततातये
- for the state/act of being seized; for captureNoun (compound)स्त्रीलिङ्ग, चतुर्थी एकवचनRole SampradānaRoot गृभीत-ताति (कृदन्त+सुबन्त; गृभीत < √ग्रह् ‘ग्रहणे’; ताति ‘विस्तार/प्रवृत्ति/अवस्था’)
- सिंहम्
- a lionNounपुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया एकवचनRole KarmaRoot सिंह (प्रातिपदिक)
- इव
- like; asIndeclinableउपमा-निपातःRoot इव (अव्यय)
- द्रुहः
- of the hostile one; of the injurerNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग/पुंलिङ्ग (वेदे चल), षष्ठी एकवचनRole Adhikaraṇa (सम्बन्धेन)Root द्रुह् (प्रातिपदिक; < √द्रुह् ‘द्रोहे’)
- पदे
- in/at the place; at the footingNounनपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी एकवचनRole AdhikaraṇaRoot पद (प्रातिपदिक)
Sandhi Notes
- पौ॒रं चि॒द्ध्यु॑द॒प्रुतं॒ → पौरम् + चित् + हि + उदप्रुतम् (चित् + हि = चिद्धि)
- पौर॑ पौ॒राय॒ → पौर + पौराय (सम्बोधन + चतुर्थी)
- यदीं॑ → यत् + ईम् (यद् + ईम् → यदीम्)
- गृभी॒तता॑तये → गृभीत + तातये (समास/तत्पुरुषभावः)
- सिं॒हमि॑व → सिंहम् + इव
- द्रु॒हस्प॒दे → द्रुहः + पदे (षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष/सम्बन्धः)
The meaning
Outer meaning
Even a townsman, though sunk in a flood, you strengthen for another townsman. When he is seized for hostile assault, you free him like a lion from the deceiver’s footing.
Inner meaning
The Aśvins help not only the ascetic but also the ‘paura’—the consciousness tied to the outer collective life. Even if it is submerged in the flood of impulses, emotions, and circumstances, the twin helpers strengthen it toward solidarity and right relation (paurāya). When the being is caught by hostile forces (druḥ—deception, falsehood, inner enemy formations), they deliver it with leonine power: freeing the soul from the ‘footing’ (pada) where falsehood gains leverage.
Universal truth
No condition is too worldly or too overwhelmed for divine aid; when one calls sincerely, the powers of healing and right movement can rescue the being from deception and re-establish strength and right companionship.
Themes
Rescue, Protection, Release from capture, Vital flood symbolism
The seer
- Rishi
- Atri
- Lineage
- Ātreya
- Other hymns
- RV 5.74.1, RV 5.74.2, RV 5.75
Family tradition
Ātreya hymns often show compassion for the bound human and confidence in swift divine rescue; the seer speaks for those ‘in the city’ as well as those in the forest.
Significance
Atri’s vision universalizes the path: the Divine can enter ordinary life and lift it from inundation and hostile seizure.
The deity
- Devata
- Aśvinau
- Epithets
- Dasrā (wondrous doers), Nā́satyā (true, not-false)
- Related deities
- Varuṇa (truth-law), Indra (victory over coverings), Uṣas (awakening)
Cosmic role
Rescuers from peril, restorers of vitality, protectors in transitions and crises.
Inner power
Rapid intervention that cuts through deception (druḥ) and restores strength to the struggling will.
In ritual
Where it is used
Invocations to Aśvins for protection, rescue, and strengthening; used in Soma contexts and protective prayers
पौ॒रं चि॒द्ध्यु॑द॒प्रुतं॒ पौर॑ पौ॒राय॒ जिन्व॑थः । यदीं॑ गृभी॒तता॑तये सिं॒हमि॑व द्रु॒हस्प॒दे ॥
पौ॒रम् । चि॒त् । हि । उ॒द॒ऽप्रुत॑म् । पौर॑ । पौ॒राय॑ । जिन्व॑थः । यत् । ई॒म् । गृ॒भी॒तऽता॑तये । सिं॒हम्ऽइ॑व । द्रु॒हः । प॒दे ॥
pauram | cit | hi | uda-prutam | paura | paurāya | jinvathaḥ | yat | īm | gṛbhīta-tātaye | siṃham-iva | druhaḥ | pade
44
4 × ~11
Strong, rescuing momentum; the simile ‘siṃham iva’ lands with emphatic force.
Builds confidence and courage; the rhythm feels like pulling upward from a current, then a decisive release.
- पौर (paura)
- Literal: citizen, townsman. Symbolic: the outer-oriented human consciousness embedded in social/vital life
- उदप्रुतम् (uda-prutam)
- Literal: plunged/sunk in the waters/flood. Symbolic: submerged in the surge of desire, emotion, and subconscious currents
- जिन्वथः (jinvathaḥ)
- Literal: you strengthen, invigorate. Symbolic: infusion of prāṇa and courage; restoring the will to progress
- द्रुहः पदे (druhaḥ pade)
- Literal: in the deceiver’s place/footing. Symbolic: the point of grip where falsehood hooks the nature—habit, suggestion, or fear
- सिंहमिव (siṃham iva)
- Literal: like a lion. Symbolic: fearless force of liberation; decisive break from hostile hold
Recited to invoke rescue/protection; thematically aligned with Aśvin healing and deliverance episodes
At dawn rites; also in moments of danger or illness within ritual narrative
Calling the Aśvins to ‘invigorate’ and ‘release’ the sacrificer from hostile influences
For overwhelm (anxiety, compulsions): chant as a rescue-mantra, visualizing release from the ‘druḥ foothold’ and return of strength.
√druh ‘to harm/betray’ is central to Vedic ethics of truth vs. hostility; druhaḥ pade = ‘in the enemy’s footing’ i.e., a trap. uda ‘water’ often symbolizes the vital/subconscient flood; udapruta ‘swept/immersed’ indicates being carried by lower movements. √jinv ‘quicken, invigorate’ expresses the Aśvins’ restorative energizing. siṃha is emblem of released mastery (not mere animal image).
Deliverance from hostility (druh), Restoration of strength (jinv), Social/human collective (paura) as field of action
The Aśvins restore right functioning when the being is displaced by flood and deception.
Nā́satyā quality: the true powers oppose druh (falsehood).
Order emerging from undifferentiated waters: lifting consciousness from inundation into formed strength.
Psychological Vedism: hostile forces as inner formations; rescue as yogic deliverance.
dawn
Waters = vital/subconscious surge; lion = courageous divine force; ground/footing = the habitual base where ignorance stands.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- Rescue from capture and from the flood: the Aśvins deliver a person seized by hostile powers, releasing him ‘like a lion’ from the deceiver’s foothold. Innerly, it is liberation of the soul-force from constricting falsehood and overwhelming vital turbulence.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- uda ‘water’ continues the widespread Indo-European water lexicon (cf. English water is different root, but PIE has multiple water terms; Indo-Iranian udán- is well-attested). √druh ‘harm’ reflects an archaic moral-legal vocabulary of hostility. The abstract formation -tāti (tātaye) is a characteristic Indo-Iranian nominal device for states/conditions.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The rishi highlights the Aśvins’ concrete saving power for the human being embedded in collective life (paura). The gods are approached as liberators from hostile seizure; the implied reciprocity is trust and invocation in danger, answered by strengthening and release.
Release from overwhelm and hostile suggestion: identify the ‘flood’ and the ‘deceiver’s foothold’; invite swift aid to re-ground in truth.
maṇipūra (courage/strength)
Exhale-lengthening (1:2) to calm the ‘waters’; on inhale, feel ‘jinvathaḥ’ (invigoration).
Protected, courageous, re-centered.
When caught in a reactive loop, pause, name the loop as ‘udaprutam’, then chant once with full attention; end in silence imagining the grip released.
Use śākala accents; emphasize semantic pivots ‘jinvathaḥ’, ‘gṛbhītatātaye’, ‘siṃham iva’.
Let the first half be slightly heavier (submergence), then brighten and strengthen on ‘jinvathaḥ’; strike ‘siṃham iva’ firmly.
pauraṃ: nasalized ‘aṃ’ clean, not ‘am’, udaprutam: split uda-prutam; clear retroflex in ‘pr’ cluster, gṛbhīta-: vocalic ṛ sustained, druhaḥ: aspirate ‘h’ audible
Protective, firm, heartening.
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