Rig Veda 2.27.5: Mandala 2, Sukta 27, Mantra 5
Sukta 2.27
- Rishi
- Gṛtsamada
- Devata
- Ādityas
- Chandas
- Triṣṭubh
- Rasa
- Karuna (compassion) and Shanta (peace)
विद्यामादित्या अवसो वो अस्य यदर्यमन्भय आ चिन्मयोभु । युष्माकं मित्रावरुणा प्रणीतौ परि श्वभ्रेव दुरितानि वृज्याम् ॥
vidyā́m ādityā́ ávaso vo asyá yád aryaman bhayá ā́ cin mayobhú | yuṣmā́kaṃ mitrāvaruṇā prá-nītau pári śvábhreva duritā́ni vṛjyām ||
Да познаем мы, о Адитьи, эту вашу спасительную помощь — о Арьяман, даже когда страх настигает нас, — вашу силу, что становится радостью. Ведомые вами, о Митра и Варуна, да отбросим мы вокруг все беды, словно бросают их в яму.
Word by Word
- विद्याम
- may I know / may we knowVerbविधिलिङ् (optative), परस्मैपद, उत्तमपुरुष, एकवचनRole KartāRoot √विद् (वेद्) ‘जानने’
- आदित्या
- O ĀdityasNounपुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन, बहुवचनRole SampradānaRoot आदित्य (प्रातिपदिक)
- अवसो
- of help / of protectionNounनपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, एकवचन (Vedic: अवसो = अवसः)Role SampradānaRoot अवस् (प्रातिपदिक) ‘सहायता/रक्षा’
- वः
- of you / yourPronounषष्ठी, बहुवचन (enclitic)Role SampradānaRoot युष्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- अस्य
- of this / herePronounषष्ठी, एकवचनRole AdhikaraṇaRoot इदम् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- यत्
- whatever (that which)Pronounनपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचनRole KarmaRoot यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- अर्यमन्
- O AryamanNounपुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन, एकवचनRole SampradānaRoot अर्यमन् (प्रातिपदिक; देवता-नाम)
- भयः
- fearNounनपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचनRole KarmaRoot भय (प्रातिपदिक)
- आ
- towards, unto; indeedIndeclinableउपसर्ग/अव्ययRole AdhikaraṇaRoot आ (उपसर्ग/निपात)
- चित्
- evenIndeclinableअव्यय (emphatic/‘even’)Role AdhikaraṇaRoot चित् (निपात)
- मयोभु
- O bliss-bestowing oneAdjectiveपुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन, एकवचन (Vedic voc.)Role SampradānaRoot मयोभू (प्रातिपदिक) ‘सुख-प्रद/कल्याणकारी’
- युष्माकम्
- of you (all)Pronounषष्ठी, बहुवचनRole SampradānaRoot युष्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- मित्रावरुणा
- O Mitra and VaruṇaNounपुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन, द्विवचनRole SampradānaRoot मित्रावरुण (द्वन्द्व-प्रातिपदिक)
- प्रणीतौ
- in (your) guidance / under (your) leadingParticiple/Adjectiveपुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, द्विवचन (Vedic loc. dual) — ‘under (your) leading’Role AdhikaraṇaRoot प्र-√नी ‘नेतृ/मार्गदर्शन’ → प्रणीत (कृदन्त)
- परि
- around; away, offIndeclinableउपसर्ग/अव्ययRole AdhikaraṇaRoot परि (उपसर्ग/अव्यय)
- श्वभ्रेव
- like (from/with) a pitNoun + Indeclinableश्वभ्र: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया, एकवचन; इव: अव्ययRole KaraṇaRoot श्वभ्र (प्रातिपदिक) + इव (उपमा-अव्यय)
- दुरितानि
- sins, misfortunesNounनपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, बहुवचनRole KarmaRoot दुरित (प्रातिपदिक) ‘दुष्कृत/पाप/दुःख’
- वृज्याम्
- may I remove / may I clear awayVerbविधिलिङ् (optative), परस्मैपद, उत्तमपुरुष, एकवचनRole KartāRoot √वृज् ‘अलग करना/हटाना/शुद्ध करना’
Sandhi Notes
- Sandhi resolution (pada-level): विद्यामा॑दित्या → विद्याम् + आदित्या
- अर्यमन्भ॒य → अर्यमन् + भयः
- चि॑न्मयो॒भु → चित् + मयोभु
- मित्रावरुणा॒ प्रणी॑तौ → मित्रावरुणा + प्रणीतौ
- श्वभ्रे॑व → श्वभ्रे + इव. Note: अवसो is Vedic for अवसः (gen. sg. of अवस्)
The meaning
Outer meaning
The poet asks to know the Ādityas’ saving help, especially when fear arises; that help becomes delight. Led by Mitra and Varuṇa, may they cast away difficulties like throwing them into a pit.
Inner meaning
The seeker prays for experiential knowledge (vidyām) of divine aid—not mere belief. When fear (bhaya) rises from the vital/subconscient, the Ādityas’ protection can transmute it into māyobhu (delight-becoming): the higher peace and joy that replaces anxiety. Under Mitra-Varuṇa’s guidance (praṇīti), the yogin learns to ‘throw’ duritāni (hard passages, inner knots) into a ‘pit’—a symbol of consigning obscurations to dissolution in vast truth rather than wrestling in the ego.
Universal truth
Fear is transformed not by suppression but by alignment with higher truth and harmony; guidance by a larger consciousness enables decisive release of difficulties.
Themes
protection, removal of sin/difficulty, guidance by law-powers, inner peace
The seer
- Rishi
- Gṛtsamada (Āṅgirasa)
- Lineage
- Āṅgirasa
- Other hymns
- RV 2.27.6, RV 2.28.6-7
Family tradition
Aṅgirasa aspiration often seeks practical inner deliverance: knowledge of help, guidance, and removal of obstacles.
Significance
The seer’s prayer is psychological: fear is acknowledged, then offered to truth-powers for transformation into delight—an early Vedic template for inner alchemy.
The deity
- Devata
- Ādityas (Aryaman; Mitra-Varuṇa prominent)
- Epithets
- avasaḥ (helpers/saviours), mayobhu (delight-making), praṇītā (leaders/guides)
- Related deities
- Aditi, Bhaga, Savitar
Cosmic role
Saviours who guide beings through danger and restore harmony and truth; Mitra-Varuṇa as paired governors of concord and vast law.
Inner power
Aryaman strengthens noble courage and right relation under fear; Mitra brings calm harmony; Varuṇa dissolves inner knots by vast truth and purity.
In ritual
Where it is used
Protective prayer to Ādityas in contexts of danger, uncertainty, or moral difficulty; could accompany expiatory or safeguarding acts.
वि॒द्यामा॑दित्या॒ अव॑सो वो अ॒स्य यद॑र्यमन्भ॒य आ चि॑न्मयो॒भु । यु॒ष्माकं॑ मित्रावरुणा॒ प्रणी॑तौ॒ परि॒ श्वभ्रे॑व दुरि॒तानि॑ वृज्याम् ॥
वि॒द्याम् । आ॒दि॒त्याः॒ । अव॑सः । वः॒ । अ॒स्य । य॒त् । अ॒र्य॒म॒न् । भ॒ये । आ । चि॒त् । म॒यः॒ऽभु । यु॒ष्माक॑म् । मि॒त्रा॒व॒रुणा॒ । प्रऽनी॑तौ । परि॑ । श्वभ्रा॑ऽइव । दुः॒ऽइ॒तानि॑ । वृ॒ज्या॒म् ॥
vidyām | ādityāḥ | avasaḥ | vaḥ | asya | yat | aryaman | bhaye | ā | cit | mayaḥ-bhu | yuṣmākam | mitrāvaruṇā | pra-nītau | pari | śvabhrāiva | duḥ-itāni | vṛjyām
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4 x ~11 syllables
Dynamic and practical; suited to petition and decisive release.
Eases anxiety and builds confidence; supports a ‘letting go’ movement at the end of each pāda.
- विद्याम् (vidyām)
- Literal: may we know. Symbolic: experiential realization; yogic knowing
- अवसः (avasaḥ)
- Literal: help, protection. Symbolic: saving grace/supporting power of truth-consciousness
- भये (bhaye)
- Literal: in fear. Symbolic: vital contraction; rising of subconscient insecurity
- मयोभु (mayobhu)
- Literal: becoming delight. Symbolic: transmutation of fear into ānanda through higher influence
- प्रणीति (praṇīti)
- Literal: leading, guidance. Symbolic: inner governance; being led by truth rather than impulse
- दुरितानि (duritāni)
- Literal: difficulties, misfortunes. Symbolic: inner obstacles, wrong turnings, knots of habit
- श्वभ्र (śvabhra)
- Literal: pit, chasm. Symbolic: a place of dissolution/forgetting for hostile formations; consigning to the inconscient to be neutralized
Prayer for protection and removal of durita; suitable for rites seeking expiation, safe passage, and right guidance under Varuṇa-Mitra.
When fear or threat is felt; when seeking guidance and removal of durita.
Recitation as supplication; symbolic act of casting away (e.g., offering into fire/water) can accompany.
Use as an anti-anxiety mantra: chant when fear surges; then visualize throwing the fear-knot into a ‘pit’ of vast silence.
avaḥ ‘help’ is a recurrent RV term for saving grace. mayas ‘delight, ease’ (mayaḥ-bhu ‘becoming delight’) indicates the psychological transformation of fear into peace through divine law. durita ‘mis-going’ (dur- ‘bad’ + ita ‘gone’ from √i ‘go’) is not fate but wrong movement; √vṛj ‘to set right, remove crookedness’ links back to vṛjina ‘crooked’—the Ādityas enable rectification.
fear transformed into delight (bhaya → mayas), guidance (pra-nī), rectification of wrong movement (dur-ita)
Guidance (praṇīti) is alignment with ṛta’s straight movement.
Knowing (vidyām) as truth-realization rather than concept.
Higher order converts disturbance into delight by re-establishing harmony.
Integral yoga: fear as vital formation; Ādityas as truth-forces that transform it into ānanda.
Pit = place to drop formations without feeding them; path = progressive guidance of consciousness; sun = fearless clarity.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- The saving help of the Ādityas that removes durita: a mythic purification/expiation motif. The pit (śvabhra) image dramatizes the casting away of psychic burdens and wrong movements under divine guidance.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- dur- ‘bad’ is a productive IE prefixal pattern (cf. Lat. durus is different, but the negative prefixing strategy is comparable across IE). √nī ‘lead’ is PIE *neh₂-. The moral metaphor of ‘wrong path/mis-going’ (dur-ita) is broadly IE.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The rishi seeks experiential knowledge of divine help (vidyām avaḥ) and asks to be led (pra-nītau). The devatās are not merely protectors but guides who convert fear into mayas (delight/peace) by restoring right movement.
Transform fear into delight by surrender to truth-guidance; practice ‘drop and widen’.
anāhata (fear release into trust)
extended exhale (1:2 inhale:exhale) for 5 rounds; chant on a long exhale; after chanting, one deep sigh to ‘cast away’ durita.
from contracted vital to widened heart-peace; emerging gladness.
Name the fear precisely; chant once; visualize Mitra-Varuṇa leading you on a clear path; then mentally throw the fear-image into a dark pit that immediately fills with light and silence.
Keep a gentle lift on ‘vidyām’ and ‘avasaḥ’; soften tone on ‘bhaye’; brighten slightly on ‘mayobhu’.
Pause after ‘mayobhu’ to feel the turn from fear to delight; articulate ‘praṇītau’ clearly (retroflex ṇ).
(vidyām): ‘dy’ cluster clean, long ‘ā’, (avaso): light ‘v’, not ‘w’, (bhaye): aspirate ‘bh’, (mayobhu): ‘yo’ clear, aspirate ‘bh’, (praṇītau): retroflex ‘ṇ’, long ‘ī’, (śvabhreva): ‘śva’ palatal ‘ś’, ‘bh’ aspirated, (duritāni): short vowels, dental ‘t’
soothing, reassuring, heart-centered resonance
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