Rig Veda 6.7.4: Mandala 6, Sukta 7, Mantra 4
Sukta 6.7
- Devata
- Agni Vaiśvānara
- Chandas
- Trishtubh
- Rasa
- Shanta (peace) and Adbhuta (wonder)
त्वां विश्वे अमृत जायमानं शिशुं न देवा अभि सं नवन्ते । तव क्रतुभिरमृतत्वमायन्वैश्वानर यत्पित्रोरदीदेः ॥
tvā́ṃ víśve amṛta jā́yamānaṃ śíśuṃ na devā́ abhí sám navante | táva krátubhir amṛtatvám āyan vaiśvānara yát pitór adī́deḥ ||
Todos os deuses se ajuntam ao teu redor, ó Imortal, quando nasces — como ao redor de um recém-nascido. Por teus krátu, tuas forças de vontade, eles alcançam a imortalidade, ó Vaiśvānara, pois resplandeces entre os dois pais.
Word by Word
- त्वाम्
- you (as object)Pronounद्वितीया एकवचनRole कर्मRoot युष्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- विश्वे
- all (the gods)Adjective (used substantively)पुंलिङ्ग प्रथमा बहुवचनRole कर्तृRoot विश्व (प्रातिपदिक)
- अमृत
- immortalAdjectiveपुंलिङ्ग द्वितीया एकवचन (त्वाम् इति विशेषणम्)Role कर्मRoot अमृत (प्रातिपदिक)
- जायमानम्
- being born, coming into beingParticipleपुंलिङ्ग द्वितीया एकवचन (त्वाम् इति विशेषणम्)Role कर्मRoot √जन् (जनि) + शानच् (वर्तमानकाले कृदन्त)
- शिशुम्
- childNounपुंलिङ्ग द्वितीया एकवचनRole कर्मRoot शिशु (प्रातिपदिक)
- न
- Indeclinableउपमानार्थक-निपात (Root न (निपात)
- देवाः
- the godsNounपुंलिङ्ग प्रथमा बहुवचनRole कर्तृRoot देव (प्रातिपदिक)
- अभि
- towards, untoIndeclinableउपसर्गः (क्रियायोगे)Root अभि (उपसर्ग/अव्यय)
- सम्
- together, completelyIndeclinableउपसर्गः (क्रियायोगे)Root सम् (उपसर्ग/अव्यय)
- नवन्ते
- they praise / they do reverenceVerbलट् (वर्तमान) आत्मनेपद, प्रथमपुरुष बहुवचनRole क्रियाRoot √नु/नव् (वेदिकः; स्तुत्यर्थे/नमस्यर्थे)
- तव
- of you, yourPronounषष्ठी एकवचनRole सम्बन्धRoot युष्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- क्रतुभिः
- by (your) powers/insights, by (your) resolveNounपुंलिङ्ग तृतीया बहुवचनRole करणRoot क्रतु (प्रातिपदिक)
- अमृतत्वम्
- immortalityNoun (abstract)नपुंसकलिङ्ग द्वितीया एकवचनRole कर्मRoot अमृतत्व (प्रातिपदिक; अमृत + त्व)
- आयन्
- they attained / they went toVerbलुङ्/आर्ष-लुङ्, परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष बहुवचन (वेदिकः प्रयोगः)Role क्रियाRoot √या (गत्यर्थ) + लुङ् (वेदिक-आर्ष) / injunctive-like aorist form
- वैश्वानर
- O Vaiśvānara (Agni)Noun (vocative)पुंलिङ्ग सम्बोधन एकवचनRole सम्बोधनRoot वैश्वानर (प्रातिपदिक; अग्निविशेषः)
- यत्
- when/that whichRelative pronounनपुंसकलिङ्ग प्रथमा/द्वितीया एकवचन (सम्बन्धकः)Role सम्बन्धRoot यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- पित्रोः
- of (your) two parentsNounपुंलिङ्ग षष्ठी/सप्तमी द्विवचन (वेदे प्रायः षष्ठी: "of the two parents")Role सम्बन्धRoot पितृ (प्रातिपदिक)
- अदीदेः
- you have shone, you shone forthVerbलिट् (परिपूर्ण/परफेक्ट), परस्मैपद, मध्यमपुरुष एकवचनRole क्रियाRoot √दीद्/√दी (दीप्त्यर्थ) (वेदिकः; परिप्रयोगः)
Sandhi Notes
- Sandhi resolution: विश्वे॑ अमृत॒ → विश्वे अमृत
- अमृत॒ जाय॑मानं॒ → अमृत जायमानम्
- शिशुं॒ न → शिशुम् न
- दे॒वा अ॒भि → देवाः अभि
- अ॒भि सं न॑वन्ते → अभि सम् नवन्ते
- क्रतु॑भिरमृत॒त्वमा॑य॒न् → क्रतुभिः अमृतत्वम् आयन्
- यत्पि॒त्रोरदी॑देः → यत् पित्रोः अदीदेः. Accent marks (॑ etc.) are retained in the source but not repeated on each pada here
The meaning
Outer meaning
All the gods gather around Agni, the immortal, when he is born like a newborn child. By his powers of will they attain immortality, because he shines between the two parents.
Inner meaning
When the inner fire is kindled, all higher powers (devāḥ) in us—illumined mind, right discernment, harmonizing forces—converge to nurture it, as one protects a newborn. Immortality (amṛtatva) here is not physical endlessness but participation in the deathless consciousness: stability in truth beyond the fluctuations of the lower nature. This is attained by Agni’s kratubhiḥ—effective wills, purposeful powers of the divine Will working in us. ‘Between the two parents’ (pitror) symbolically indicates the polarity that generates our experience: Heaven and Earth (higher consciousness and embodied nature), or Mind and Life, Purusha and Prakriti. Agni shines in the interval/meeting-point, mediating and transforming both into a unified divine becoming.
Universal truth
A new inner awakening must be protected and fed by all our higher capacities. When truth-will operates between our polarities—spirit and matter, aspiration and habit—it can establish a deathless poise of consciousness in life.
Themes
Birth-of-Agni, Immortality, Kratu (will-power), Heaven-earth mediation
The seer
- Rishi
- Bharadvāja lineage seers (specific rishi uncertain)
- Lineage
- Bharadvāja
- Other hymns
- RV 6.7.1 (Agni ṛta-born), RV 6.7.3 (Agni births seer and heroes), RV 6.5 (Agni’s protection and growth—theme parallel)
Family tradition
The Bharadvāja maṇḍala frequently uses birth imagery for inner realizations and frames immortality as a consciousness-attainment through Agni’s kratu.
Significance
A map of safeguarding awakening: when Agni is born within, all higher powers must gather to protect it; through effective will, the seeker enters amṛtatva—deathless poise in life.
The deity
- Devata
- Agni Vaiśvānara
- Epithets
- amṛta, jāyamāna, śiśu (as newborn), kratu-mān (by implication)
- Related deities
- Dyāvā-Pṛthivī (the two parents), Indra (supporting illumination), Soma (immortal delight that accompanies amṛtatva)
Cosmic role
Ever-born fire renewing creation; mediator between cosmic parents (Heaven and Earth); source through which gods attain and maintain immortality.
Inner power
The psychic flame that, once kindled, draws supportive higher forces; its effective will establishes deathless consciousness amid life’s dualities.
In ritual
Where it is used
Agni birth/kindling themes in yajña; praise during sustaining of fire and offerings
त्वां विश्वे॑ अमृत॒ जाय॑मानं॒ शिशुं॒ न दे॒वा अ॒भि सं न॑वन्ते । तव॒ क्रतु॑भिरमृत॒त्वमा॑य॒न्वैश्वा॑नर॒ यत्पि॒त्रोरदी॑देः ॥
त्वाम् । विश्वे॑ । अ॒मृ॒त॒ । जाय॑मानम् । शिशु॑म् । न । दे॒वाः । अ॒भि । सम् । न॒व॒न्ते॒ । तव॑ । क्रतु॑ऽभिः । अ॒मृ॒त॒ऽत्वम् । आ॒य॒न् । वैश्वा॑नर । यत् । पि॒त्रोः । अदी॑देः ॥
tvām | viśve | amṛta | jāyamānam | śiśum | na | devāḥ | abhi | sam | navante | tava | kratu-bhiḥ | amṛta-tvam | āyan | vaiśvānara | yat | pitroḥ | adīdeḥ
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4 x ~11 syllables
Nurturing yet majestic; balanced cadence fitting ‘gathering around’ and ‘attaining immortality’.
Elicits reverence and protective care; stabilizes the psyche around a tender but potent inner awakening.
- अमृत (amṛta)
- Literal: immortal, deathless. Symbolic: deathless consciousness; stable truth-being
- जायमान (jāyamāna)
- Literal: being born. Symbolic: new awakening of the inner fire/psychic presence
- शिशु (śiśu)
- Literal: infant. Symbolic: tender early stage of realization needing protection and constancy
- विश्वे देवाः (viśve devāḥ)
- Literal: all the gods. Symbolic: all higher faculties/powers of consciousness cooperating
- क्रतु (kratu)
- Literal: will, resolve, effective power. Symbolic: divine intentional force that accomplishes transformation
- अमृतत्व (amṛtatva)
- Literal: immortality. Symbolic: participation in the timeless; freedom from lower compulsions
- पित्रोः (pitror)
- Literal: of the two parents. Symbolic: the two generating poles (Heaven–Earth; Spirit–Nature; Mind–Life)
- अदीदेः (adīdeḥ)
- Literal: you shone, blazed. Symbolic: the illuminating presence that mediates and unites opposites
Kindling/birth of Agni: emphasizes collective support of the gods and Agni as means to amṛtatva; suitable in rites highlighting Agni’s birth from araṇis and his role as mediator.
At kindling or re-kindling; when affirming Agni’s immortality and mediating role
Tending the fire, adding fuel (samidh), offering ghee; recitation as consecration of the flame
Use when a new practice/habit of consciousness begins—protect the ‘newborn fire’ by supportive routines, ethical alignment, and steady aspiration.
kratu is not mere ‘sacrifice’ here but effective will/intelligence (decisive power of consciousness). amṛtatva is attained by alignment with Agni’s kratu: immortality as stable truth-consciousness. ‘Between the two parents’ is a classic Agni birth image (heaven/earth; or araṇis): psychologically, the flame arises between higher and lower poles of being, mediating them.
Amṛtatva (immortality) through kratu (effective will), Mediation of higher and lower principles, Collective divine powers supporting inner awakening
Agni’s shining between the parents signifies ṛta as the harmonizing law linking higher and lower worlds.
Amṛtatva is satya-stability—truth-consciousness not subject to inner falsehood.
Perpetual birth of the divine flame in creation; renewal as spiritual evolution.
Upanishadic-leaning Vedism: immortality as consciousness-realization; bridge between cosmic dualities through inner fire.
Dawn (suggested by birth/renewal motif)
Newborn flame = nascent realization; gods gathering = supportive higher habits and faculties; sky-earth = spirit-matter; shining between = integrative consciousness.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- The birth of Agni as a divine child surrounded by the gods, and the attainment of immortality through his kratu: a cosmogonic-psychological myth where the awakened fire mediates the two parents (heaven/earth) and grants deathless consciousness.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- √dī ‘shine’ is Indo-Iranian luminous diction; the ‘two parents’ heaven/earth is a pan-IE cosmogonic structure. The child/birth metaphor for fire appears across IE traditions as a poetic way to encode ignition and renewal.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The rishi presents Agni’s birth in the seeker as a moment when all divine powers converge; the devotee aligns with Agni’s kratu so that the human consciousness can partake of amṛtatva.
Protect the newborn inner fire; gather all ‘gods’—attention, sincerity, discipline, goodwill—around it; contemplate immortality as stable witnessing and truth-being.
Anāhata (psychic birth) with Sahasrāra/Ājñā as ‘heaven’ support; grounding into Mūlādhāra as ‘earth’ stability
Soft coherent breathing (5–6 breaths/min). On inhale: ‘gathering’ (abhi saṃ navante). On exhale: ‘shining between’ (adīdeḥ).
Quietly luminous, protected, integrated; sense of a steady flame unaffected by outer fluctuations.
When a new insight arises, do not expose it to agitation. Chant 3 times, then sit with the feeling of a small flame in the heart; let mind and life (the two parents) become calm supports rather than rivals.
Precise Vedic svara requires śākhā notation; keep tri-tone discipline; let udātta rise lightly on key words (amṛta, jāyamānam, kratubhiḥ).
Do not rush ‘abhi saṃ navante’; it should feel like ‘gathering’. Keep ‘pitror adīdeḥ’ clear with audible retroflex ḍ in adīdeḥ.
‘amṛta’: vocalic ṛ clean; avoid ‘amrita’ with inserted vowel, ‘śiśuṃ’: palatal ś, short i; anusvāra light, ‘kratubhiḥ’: aspirate bh; visarga at end audible but gentle, ‘pitror’: roll/light tap r; keep long ‘o’, ‘adīdeḥ’: retroflex ḍ; long ī; final ḥ soft
Warm, protective, inward; sustain vowels to cradle the ‘newborn’ sense.
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