Rig Veda 8.14.2: Mandala 8, Sukta 14, Mantra 2
Sukta 8.14
- Devata
- Indra
- Chandas
- Likely Anuṣṭubh-like
- Rasa
- Shanta (peace)
शिक्षेयमस्मै दित्सेयं शचीपते मनीषिणे । यदहं गोपतिः स्याम् ॥
śíkṣeyam asmai dítsēyaṃ śácī-pate manīṣíṇe | yád aháṃ gó-patiḥ syām ||
Que eu aprenda por ele e que eu lhe dê, ó senhor de Śacī, ao sábio — para que eu me torne senhor dos raios (vacas), mestre das posses iluminadas.
Word by Word
- शिक्षेयम्
- may I learn / may I practiceVerbOptative (विधिलिङ्), 1st person singular, ParasmaipadaRole Kartā (implicit ‘I’)Root √शिक्ष् (शिक्षा/शिक्ष् ‘to learn, practice, train’)
- अस्मै
- to himPronounDative, singularRole SampradānaRoot अस्मद् (pronoun)
- दित्सेयम्
- may I wish to give / may I be ready to giveVerbOptative (विधिलिङ्), 1st person singular, ParasmaipadaRole Kartā (implicit ‘I’)Root √दा (ददाति) with desiderative stem दित्स- (‘wish to give’)
- शचीपते
- O Śacīpati (Indra)Noun (vocative epithet)Masculine, Vocative, singularRole SambodhanaRoot शची-पति (prātipadika; epithet of Indra: ‘lord of śacī/ शक्ति/ might’)
- मनीषिणे
- to the wise oneAdjective (used substantively)Masculine, Dative, singularRole SampradānaRoot मनीषिन् (prātipadika ‘wise, thoughtful’)
- यत्
- when / thatPronounNeuter, Nominative/Accusative, singular (relative particle ‘when/that’)Role (connective/relative; no independent kāraka)Root यद् (relative pronoun)
- अहम्
- IPronounNominative, singularRole KartāRoot अहम् (1st person pronoun)
- गोपतिः
- (as) lord of cattleNounMasculine, Nominative, singularRole Kartā / Predicate nominativeRoot गो-पति (prātipadika ‘lord of cows/keeper of cattle’)
- स्याम्
- may I beVerbOptative (विधिलिङ्), 1st person singular, ParasmaipadaRole (copula; links subject ‘अहम्’ with predicate ‘गोपतिः’)Root √अस् (भू/अस् ‘to be’) — optative stem स्या-
Sandhi Notes
- Mantra text: शिक्षे॑यमस्मै॒ दित्से॑यं॒ शची॑पते मनी॒षिणे॑ । यद॒हं गोप॑ति॒: स्याम् ॥ Sandhi resolution: शिक्षेयम् + अस्मै (…-म् + अ- → …म-; written as शिक्षे॑यमस्मै)
- यद् + अहम् → यदहम् (final -द् before vowel; in saṃhitā written यद॒हं)
- Other words are already padic
- Accents as in saṃhitā: शिक्षे॑यम् (udātta on -॑), अस्मै॒ (svarita/anudātta marking), दित्से॑यम्, शची॑पते, मनी॒षिणे॑, यद॒हं, गोप॑तिः, स्याम् (accent per RV tradition)
The meaning
Outer meaning
May I learn for him and give to him, O Śacīpati, to the wise one, so that I may become a lord of the cows.
Inner meaning
The seeker asks for true training (śikṣā) and the capacity to offer (dāna) to the divine Wisdom-Power in Indra (manīṣin). By learning the right inner movements and giving oneself/one’s energies to that higher guidance, one becomes gopatiḥ—not an owner of cattle, but master of the rays of knowledge: able to hold, organize, and apply illumination in life.
Universal truth
Learning and self-offering to a higher wisdom mature into mastery of knowledge; illumination becomes stable possession when it is served and practiced.
Themes
Self-training, Offering attitude, Wisdom-power (śacī), Illumination mastery
The seer
- Other hymns
- RV 8.14.1-4 (sequence of aspiration: rulership → learning/giving → milking of truth → limitless bounty)
Family tradition
Likely Kāṇva stream; verify.
Significance
A sādhanā formula: (1) learn the right inner law, (2) offer oneself to the higher power, (3) attain stable illumination (gopati).
The deity
- Devata
- Indra
- Epithets
- Śacīpati, Manīṣin
- Related deities
- Sarasvatī (learning/flow of inspired speech), Bṛhaspati (mantric wisdom), Agni (discipline of will)
Cosmic role
Holds and deploys effective power (śacī) guided by inspired intelligence; enables the seeker to possess and wield light.
Inner power
Practical wisdom—illumination that can act, organize, and conquer resistance.
In ritual
Where it is used
Indra stuti; general offering contexts
शिक्षे॑यमस्मै॒ दित्से॑यं॒ शची॑पते मनी॒षिणे॑ । यद॒हं गोप॑ति॒: स्याम् ॥
शिक्षे॑यम् । अ॒स्मै॒ । दित्से॑यम् । शची॑ऽपते । म॒नी॒षिणे॑ । यत् । अ॒हम् । गोऽप॑तिः । स्या॒म् ॥
śikṣeyam | asmai | ditseyam | śacī-pate | manīṣiṇe | yat | aham | go--patiḥ | syām
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4×8 (likely; needs exact scansion on saṃhitā)
Didactic and prayerful; suited to resolve and repetition.
Encourages a sense of training and offering; stabilizes intention.
- शिक्षेयम् (śikṣeyam)
- Literal: may I learn, be trained. Symbolic: discipline of consciousness; educating the nature to receive light
- दित्सेयम् (ditseyam)
- Literal: may I give. Symbolic: self-offering; surrender of energies to the higher working
- शचीपते (śacīpate)
- Literal: lord of Śacī. Symbolic: lord of effective power; mastery of luminous skill and victorious capacity
- मनीषिणे (manīṣiṇe)
- Literal: to the wise/thinker. Symbolic: Indra as inspired intelligence, intuition-guided mind
- गोपतिः (gopatiḥ)
- Literal: lord of cows. Symbolic: master of rays/knowledges—stable illumination and its governance
Devotional self-discipline: learning and giving as preparatory virtues for receiving Indra’s illumination in Soma context.
In Indra hymns during offerings; adaptable as daily study/practice invocation.
Recitation as request for right discipline and capacity to offer; inner ‘oblation’ of attention and effort.
Before learning/teaching: chant as a sankalpa for disciplined receptivity and generous sharing of knowledge.
√śikṣ ‘to learn, practice’ indicates disciplined acquisition. : desiderative of √dā ‘to give’—the will to offer is itself a power. : ‘power, skill, effective energy’; Indra as śacī-pati is lord of efficacious force. : inspired thought; manīṣin = one who has luminous intelligence. -: mastery over ‘go’ as rays/knowledges—stable possession through consciousness.
Discipline (śikṣā) and offering (dāna) as inner yajña, Manīṣā as inspired intelligence, Mastery of illumination (go-pati)
Śikṣā and dāna align the being to ṛta; then knowledge becomes orderly possession (gopati).
Manīṣā as truth-seeing intelligence; giving to it increases truth in the nature.
Transformation by education of the nature and offering to higher power.
Integral/psychological Veda: knowledge as power to be embodied, not merely known.
Cows = illuminations; ‘lordship’ = capacity to hold and apply them steadily.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- Becoming ‘go-pati’—lord of the cows/rays—through learning and giving to Indra. The mythic pattern of ‘recovering the cows’ is internalized: illumination is not seized but earned by discipline (śikṣ) and self-offering (dits-), under Indra’s wise power.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- The desiderative formation (dits-) is a classical Indo-Aryan morphological feature built on inherited verbal systems; √dā ‘give’ is IE (PIE *deh₃- ‘give’). The optatives (śikṣeyam, syām) preserve archaic modality expressing aspiration rather than assertion—typical of early Indo-European prayer diction.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The rishi frames himself as apprentice and giver to the divine teacher-power (manīṣin). The reciprocity is pedagogical: by offering and learning, the human becomes capable of holding the lights (go) as stable possessions rather than fleeting visitations.
Adopt a learner’s mind (śikṣeyam) and an offering heart (ditseyam); then invite stable illuminations to gather within.
Vishuddha (learning/true expression) supporting Ajna (wisdom)
Japa on exhale; brief pause after each half-verse to feel ‘offering’ as release of grasping.
From mental effort to guided intelligence; from acquisition to consecration.
Repeat 54 times as a study-prayer; after chanting, read one verse of wisdom and offer its fruit to the inner Indra (manīṣin).
Chant with saṃhitā accents when available; keep the rise on śacī́pate/manī́ṣiṇe as marked in the tradition.
Do not rush consonant clusters: śacī-pate, manī-ṣiṇe. Keep ‘gopatiḥ syām’ as a firm concluding intention.
śikṣeyam: kṣ cluster clear (k + ṣ), ditseyam: ts cluster crisp, śacī: long ī; palatal ś, manīṣiṇe: long ī; retroflex ṇ, gopatiḥ: light final ḥ (visarga)
Warm, prayerful, with clarity of diction.
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