Rig Veda 8.1.7: Mandala 8, Sukta 1, Mantra 7
Sukta 8.1
- Rishi
- Kāṇva
- Devata
- Indra
- Chandas
- Gāyatrī
- Rasa
- Adbhuta (wonder) and Vira (heroism)
क्वेयथ क्वेदसि पुरुत्रा चिद्धि ते मनः । अलर्षि युध्म खजकृत्पुरंदर प्र गायत्रा अगासिषुः ॥
kvéyatha kvédasi purutrā́ ciddhí té manaḥ | álarṣi yudhma khajakṛt-purandara prá gā́yatrā́ agāsiṣuḥ ||
Para onde conduzes teu ímpeto, e onde de fato habitas? Pois tua mente se estende por muitos lugares. Ó guerreiro impetuoso, rompedor de cercos, para ti irromperam no canto as potências do Gāyatrī — elas te cantaram.
Word by Word
- क्व
- where?Indeclinableप्रश्नार्थक-अव्यय (स्थान/अवसर-प्रश्न)Role Adhikaraṇa (प्रश्नरूपेण)Root क्व (प्रश्नाव्यय)
- इयथ
- have you gone? / did you go?Verbलिट् (परोक्शभूत/परफेक्ट), मध्यम-पुरुष, एकवचन; वेदिक-रूप ‘इयथ’ = ‘जगन्थ/अगच्छः’Role (क्रिया)Root इ (धातु) / इयथ (वेदिक-रूप)
- क्व
- where?Indeclinableप्रश्नार्थक-अव्ययRole Adhikaraṇa (प्रश्नरूपेण)Root क्व (प्रश्नाव्यय)
- इद्
- indeed, justIndeclinableनिपात; बल/निश्चय/एव-अर्थेRoot इद् (निपात)
- असि
- you areVerbलट् (वर्तमान), मध्यम-पुरुष, एकवचनRole (क्रिया)Root अस् (धातु)
- पुरुत्रा
- in many places, widelyIndeclinableअव्यय; स्थान/वितरण-अर्थेRole AdhikaraṇaRoot पुरुत्रा (अव्यय; पुरु + -त्रा)
- चित्
- evenIndeclinableअपि/एव-अर्थे; ‘even’Root चित् (निपात)
- हि
- for, indeedIndeclinableहेतु/निश्चयार्थक निपातRoot हि (निपात)
- ते
- of you, yourPronounषष्ठी (gen.), एकवचनRole सम्बन्ध (genitive)Root त्वद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- मनः
- mind, intentionNounनपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचनRole Kartā (यथासन्दर्भं) / Karma (यथासन्दर्भं)Root मनस् (प्रातिपदिक)
- अलर्षि
- you have rushed/started forth (Vedic)Verbलिट्/लुङ्-प्राय वेदिक-रूप; मध्यम-पुरुष, एकवचन (सम्बोधन-पर्याय: ‘त्वम् …’)Role (क्रिया)Root अलर्षि (वेदिक-क्रियापद; √ऋष्/√लर्ष् इत्यादि-सम्बद्ध)
- युध्म
- O warrior, battle-strongAdjectiveपुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन, एकवचनRole सम्बोधनRoot युध्म (प्रातिपदिक; √युध्)
- खजकृत्
- O maker of ‘khaja’ (crusher/striker; epithet)Noun (epithet)पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन, एकवचनRole सम्बोधनRoot खजकृत् (समास; खज + कृत् < √कृ)
- पुरंदर
- O fort-destroyer (Indra)Noun (epithet)पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन, एकवचनRole सम्बोधनRoot पुरंदर (प्रातिपदिक; पुरं + दर < √दॄ/√दर्)
- प्र
- forthIndeclinableउपसर्ग/निपात; ‘forth, forward’Root प्र (उपसर्ग/अव्यय)
- गायत्राः
- the Gāyatra-singers / chanters of the gāyatrīNounपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचनRole KartāRoot गायत्र (प्रातिपदिक)
- अगासिषुः
- they have sung/intonedVerbलिट् (परफेक्ट), प्रथम-पुरुष, बहुवचन; ‘अ-’ आगम सहित वेदिक-रूपRole (क्रिया)Root √गा (धातु)
Sandhi Notes
- पदच्छेद (सन्धि-विग्रह): क्व इयथ | क्व इद् असि | पुरुत्रा चित् हि ते मनः | अलर्षि | युध्म | खजकृत्-पुरंदर | प्र | गायत्राः | अगासिषुः । ‘क्वेयथ’ = ‘क्व + इयथ’
- ‘क्वेदसि’ = ‘क्व + इद् + असि’
- ‘चिद्धि’ = ‘चित् + हि’
- ‘खजकृत्पुरंदर’ = समास/सन्धि ‘खजकृत् + पुरंदर’।
The meaning
Outer meaning
The poet asks where Indra moves and where he abides, since his mind ranges widely. Indra is hailed as impetuous warrior, breaker of enclosures and forts; the Gāyatrī songs have gone forth toward him.
Inner meaning
The seeker wonders where the divine Mind-Force is presently active—at what level of consciousness it is moving and stationed—because Indra’s action can manifest in many fields (purutrā). He is invoked as the breaker of inner ‘forts’ (pura) and the cutter of obstructing formations. The ‘gāyatrāḥ’ are not merely meters but powers of luminous rhythm—mantric energies that surge forward to call Indra into the inner sacrifice, awakening his force within us and breaking the subconscient cover.
Universal truth
The higher Intelligence works in many domains and often invisibly; steady mantric aspiration (rhythmic truth-speech) draws it near, and its arrival breaks the closed structures that imprison consciousness.
Themes
Indra-invocation, Fort-breaker motif, Power of mantra (Gayatrī), Inner battle: breaking obstructions
The seer
- Rishi
- Kaṇva (Kāṇva lineage; traditional attribution for RV 8.1)
- Lineage
- Kāṇva
- Other hymns
- RV 8.1 (entire hymn), RV 1.62 (Kāṇva tradition; release of light/cows theme)
Family tradition
The Kāṇvas are renowned for mantric craftsmanship and dynamic Indra hymns; here they explicitly foreground the gāyatrī-power as an active force in invocation.
Significance
This verse makes the meter itself a yogic instrument: gāyatrī becomes a conscious power that goes forth to summon Indra and break inner enclosures.
The deity
- Devata
- Indra
- Epithets
- Yudhma (fighter), Puraṃdara (fort-breaker), Alarṣi (impetuous), Khajakṛt (knot-cutter/formation-breaker)
- Related deities
- Bṛhaspati (breaker of the cave), Agni (leader of sacrifice), Uṣas (illumination)
Cosmic role
Breaker of obstructions; mover across the worlds; responder to mantric call; liberator of the rays/waters.
Inner power
Wide-ranging luminous intelligence that can act suddenly to shatter entrenched patterns and release imprisoned energies of knowledge.
In ritual
Where it is used
Indra-gāyatrī stotra usage in Soma praise; also functions as a self-referential mantra about the power of gāyatrī chant.
क्वे॑यथ॒ क्वेद॑सि पुरु॒त्रा चि॒द्धि ते॒ मन॑: । अल॑र्षि युध्म खजकृत्पुरंदर॒ प्र गा॑य॒त्रा अ॑गासिषुः ॥
क्व॑ । इ॒य॒थ॒ । क्व॑ । इत् । अ॒सि॒ । पु॒रु॒ऽत्रा । चि॒त् । हि । ते॒ । मनः॑ । अल॑र्षि । यु॒ध्म॒ । ख॒ज॒ऽकृ॒त् । पु॒र॒म्ऽद॒र॒ । प्र । गा॒य॒त्राः । अ॒गा॒सि॒षुः॒ ॥
kva | iyatha | kva | it | asi | puru-trā | cit | hi | te | manaḥ | alarṣi | yudhma | khaja-kṛt | puram-dara | pra | gāyatrāḥ | agāsiṣuḥ
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3 pādas × 8 syllables (gāyatrī); the explicit mention reinforces the metrical identity as power.
Bright, quick, and piercing; suited for calling and breakthrough.
Acts like a rhythmic key that unlocks inner doors; stimulates alertness and invokes swift force.
- क्व (kva)
- Literal: where?. Symbolic: search for the locus of divine action in one’s consciousness
- इयथ (iyatha)
- Literal: you go/move. Symbolic: dynamic workings of the illumined force through different parts of nature
- असि (asi)
- Literal: you are. Symbolic: the stable seat of the divine presence (adhāra)
- पुरुत्रा (purutrā)
- Literal: in many places/directions. Symbolic: multiple planes and movements of consciousness
- मनः (manaḥ)
- Literal: mind. Symbolic: Indra’s wide-ranging luminous intelligence-force
- अलर्षि (alarṣi)
- Literal: you rush/are impetuous. Symbolic: swift decisive descent of force; sudden breakthroughs
- युध्म (yudhma)
- Literal: warlike, fighter. Symbolic: power to contend with resistance (Vṛtra-forces)
- खजकृत् (khajakṛt)
- Literal: breaker/cutter (obscure word). Symbolic: cutter of knots, splitter of rigid formations in the being
- पुरंदर (puraṃdara)
- Literal: fort-destroyer. Symbolic: breaker of closed subconscient enclosures that imprison light
- गायत्राः (gāyatrāḥ)
- Literal: gāyatrī chants. Symbolic: rhythmic powers of illumination; mantra-forces that carry aspiration upward
- अगासिषुः (agāsiṣuḥ)
- Literal: have gone forth/surged in song. Symbolic: the outflow of inspired speech that calls down the deity
Indra-invocation within Soma praise: recitation as an āhvāna (calling) during Soma pressing/chanting sequences (general Soma-yajña context; not uniquely fixed by this single verse)
When invoking Indra for breakthrough and release; in personal use, when stuck in repetitive patterns or mental heaviness.
Stotra emphasizing chandas-shakti: the chant itself is the offering that ‘goes forth’.
Use as a ‘breakthrough’ chant before meditation when the mind is scattered; treat the gāyatrī rhythm as a tool to gather and pierce.
Key terms: (1) : from √i ‘go’ (PIE *h₁ey- ‘to go’), marking Indra as dynamic force. (2) (manas) from √man ‘think’ (PIE *men- ‘think’), the instrument of inner formation. (3) (puraṃ-dara): pura ‘enclosure/fort’ + √dṝ/√dar ‘split’ (PIE *der- ‘split, tear’), mythically ‘fort-breaker’, psychologically ‘breaker of limiting formations’. (4) / √gai ‘sing’ (PIE *gʷeh₂- ‘to sing/cry’), speech as power that evokes the god.
Rita as right movement (questioning ‘where you go/are’ seeks alignment of human mind with divine order), Vāc as formative power (Gayatrī as inspired speech that manifests the god)
Indra’s many-directioned mind moves according to ṛta; the seeker seeks to align with that movement rather than personal preference.
True speech (mantric) is effective because it carries satya-force through chandas.
Release of imprisoned light by breaking inner ‘puras’; the new creation is an opened, widened consciousness.
Mantra-yoga within Vedic integral psychology (speech-power as instrument of realization).
Forts = hard crusts of habit/subconscient; lightning-strike = sudden illumination; gāyatrī vibration = ordering wave that opens blocked channels.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- The ‘Purandara’ mythologem: Indra as breaker of forts/enclosures. Outer image: smashing fortified obstacles; inner image: the divine force shattering mental/emotional knots that imprison the rays of knowledge, enabling the many-ranging mind (manas) to be recollected into victorious movement.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- Core verbs and nouns align with PIE inheritances: √i ‘go’ (movement of the god) reflects PIE *h₁ey-; manas from √man reflects PIE *men- (mind/thought). The compound puraṃ-dara uses a ‘split/tear’ root (PIE *der-) typical of Indo-European storm-god diction (cf. cleaving, breaking, opening), supporting a shared poetic grammar of the thunderer who opens what is closed.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The rishi’s speech-power (Gayatrī as vāc-śakti) actively ‘goes forth’ to Indra; the reciprocity is: inspired utterance offers a pathway, and Indra’s force answers by entering and reordering the many-moving mind. The question ‘where do you go/where are you?’ is not doubt but a deliberate inner call to localize the god’s action within the seeker’s consciousness.
Track where the divine force is moving in you (mind, heart, life). Use gāyatrī rhythm to call it into the stuck place and break the enclosure.
ājñā (breakthrough insight)
moderate: inhale naturally; chant each pāda on a smooth exhale; brief pause between pādas to feel the ‘strike’ of meaning
Bright, questioning receptivity leading to decisive opening.
Begin with the inquiry ‘kva?’—observe where attention habitually goes. Then chant with force on ‘purandara’. After chanting 9 times, sit and locate one ‘fort’ (rigid thought, fear). Invite a single decisive insight rather than many thoughts.
Three-tone Vedic contour; keep a bright lift on vocatives and epithets (yudhma, purandara). Exact svara requires a marked text for RV 8.1.7.
Shape the first pāda as an inquiry (slight rise on ‘kva’), the second as a declaration of wide-ranging mind (steady), the third as a forward surge (strong onset on ‘pra gāyatrāḥ’).
(kva): pronounce as ‘kva’ (not ‘kuh-va’), (purutrā): short u’s, long ā at end, (khajakṛt): ‘kh’ aspirated; retroflex ṛ, (puraṃdara): nasal ‘ṃ’ before ‘d’ lightly, (gāyatrāḥ): long ā in gā-, retroflex ṭr cluster
Bright, ringing, forward-projected; crisp consonants to ‘strike’ the enclosure.
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