Rig Veda 8.2.17: Mandala 8, Sukta 2, Mantra 17
Sukta 8.2
- Rishi
- Kaṇva
- Devata
- Indra
- Chandas
- Anuṣṭubh
- Rasa
- Vira (heroism) and Adbhuta (wonder)
न घेमन्यदा पपन वज्रिन्नपसो नविष्टौ । तवेदु स्तोमं चिकेत ॥
ná ghém anyád ā́ papana vájrin apáso náviṣṭau | tavéd u stómaṃ ciketa ||
न हि खलु, वज्रिन्, अन्यत् किञ्चन बलं नवीष्टाम् अपसः प्राप। तव एव स्तोमः चेतसा ज्ञायते, स एव प्रभावं गच्छति।
Word by Word
- न
- notIndeclinableनिषेध (negation particle)Root न
- घ
- indeed/at allIndeclinableनिपात (emphatic particle)Root घ
- इम
- just/indeedIndeclinableनिपात (enclitic, emphatic/asseverative)Root इम (enclitic particle)
- अन्यदा
- at another time/otherwiseIndeclinableअव्यय (temporal adverb)Role AdhikaraṇaRoot अन्यदा
- पपन
- has drunk/drankVerbलिट् (perfect), परस्मैपद; 3rd person singular (Vedic perfect form)Root पा (धातु) / पिब् (पानार्थक)
- वज्रिन्
- O wielder of the thunderboltNoun (epithet)पुंलिङ्ग; सम्बोधन एकवचन (vocative sg.)Role SambodhanaRoot वज्रिन् (प्रातिपदिक; वज्र + इन्)
- अपसः
- the waters/streamsNounनपुंसकलिङ्ग (Vedic usage); प्रथमा/द्वितीया बहुवचन (nom./acc. pl.)Role KarmaRoot अपस् (प्रातिपदिक)
- न
- notIndeclinableनिषेध (negation particle)Root न
- अविष्टौ
- in (our) aid/help/protectionNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग; सप्तमी एकवचन (locative sg.)Role AdhikaraṇaRoot अविṣ्टि (प्रातिपदिक; a- + √विश्/वेष्ट्?; Vedic noun meaning ‘help/protection’)
- तव
- of you/yourPronounषष्ठी एकवचन (genitive sg.)Role SambandhaRoot युष्मद् (त्वद्-प्रातिपदिक)
- इदु
- indeedIndeclinableनिपात (emphatic: ‘indeed/just’)Root इदु (इद् + उ)
- स्तोमम्
- hymn of praiseNounपुंलिङ्ग; द्वितीया एकवचन (accusative sg.)Role KarmaRoot स्तोम (प्रातिपदिक)
- चिकेत
- let him perceive/recognize (it)Verbलोट् (imperative), परस्मैपद; 3rd person singularRoot चित् (धातु) ‘to perceive/notice’
Sandhi Notes
- Sandhi resolution (padapāṭha-style): न घे॑म॒न्यदा → न + घ + इम + अन्यदा (enclitic particles separated). प॑पन॒ वज्रि॑न्न॒पसो॒ → पपन + वज्रिन् + अपसः (वज्रिन्नपसो = वज्रिन् + अपसः). नवि॑ष्टौ → न + अविष्टौ. तवेदु॒ → तव + इदु. Accent marks are retained on the surface text
- analysis is by resolved padas
The meaning
Outer meaning
O Vajrin, no other has attained the newest workings; your hymn alone is recognized/understood.
Inner meaning
Only Indra’s force can reach and accomplish the ‘newest workings’ (naviṣṭau apasaḥ): fresh breakthroughs of consciousness beyond habitual patterns. Other powers in us (mere intellect, impulse, routine) cannot attain that frontier. The true stoma to Indra is ‘ciketa’—consciously seized and made effective—because it corresponds to the living illumined Mind, not to mechanical repetition.
Universal truth
Real transformation requires a higher power than habit; when aspiration is conscious and aligned, it becomes effective and opens new possibilities.
Themes
Indra’s supremacy, vajra as breaker of obstruction, ever-new works, stoma efficacy
The seer
- Rishi
- Kaṇva
- Lineage
- Kaṇva (Kaṇva lineage)
- Other hymns
- Rig Veda 8.2.1-20
Family tradition
Kaṇva poetry often stresses efficacy (kṛṇoti) and conscious recognition (ciketa) of the hymn—mantra as realized force, not mere sound.
Significance
The seer points to progressive revelation: the ‘newest works’ are successive unveilings of light—possible only by Indra’s breakthrough power.
The deity
- Devata
- Indra
- Epithets
- Vajrin, Vṛtrahan, Śacīvān
- Related deities
- Bṛhaspati (word-force), Agni (will), Soma (delight)
Cosmic role
Opener of the closed; brings new light and new action into the world-order.
Inner power
Breakthrough illumination that makes aspiration conscious and operative; destroys stagnation and repetitiveness.
In ritual
Where it is used
Indra-stotra within Soma ritual cycles; affirmation of Indra’s unique efficacy
न घे॑म॒न्यदा प॑पन॒ वज्रि॑न्न॒पसो॒ नवि॑ष्टौ । तवेदु॒ स्तोमं॑ चिकेत ॥
न । घ॒ । ई॒म् । अ॒न्यत् । आ । प॒प॒न॒ । वज्रि॑न् । अ॒पसः॑ । नवि॑ष्टौ । तव॑ । इत् । ऊँ॒ इति॑ । स्तोम॑म् । चि॒के॒त॒ ॥
na | gha | īm | anyat | ā | papana | vajrin | apasaḥ | naviṣṭau | tava | it | oṃ iti | stomam | ciketa
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4 × ~8
Assertive and exclusive—‘none other’—then a pointed affirmation.
Cuts through doubt; creates confidence in the chosen inner power and renews aspiration.
- vajrín
- Literal: thunderbolt-wielder. Symbolic: the decisive illuminative force that breaks fixed formations
- ápaḥ / apasaḥ
- Literal: works, labors (also ‘waters’ in other contexts). Symbolic: operations of consciousness; effective doings that change the inner state
- naviṣṭau
- Literal: in the newest, most recent (state). Symbolic: the ever-new frontier of growth; non-repetitive progress of sadhana
- stómaṃ
- Literal: hymn of praise. Symbolic: the formed aspiration that calls and builds the divine power in us
- ciketa
- Literal: perceives/recognizes. Symbolic: becomes conscious, effective, realized (not merely spoken)
Affirmation of Indra’s unique efficacy in the rite; strengthens confidence that the invoked power alone accomplishes the ‘new works’ of transformation
After invoking Indra, as a strengthening assertion before offerings or before a decisive rite-moment.
Recitation to magnify Indra and confirm the hymn’s effectiveness.
Use when stuck in repetitive patterns: chant to invite a ‘new working’—a fresh insight or decisive inner shift.
वज्रिन् from vajrá ‘thunderbolt’ (decisive force that breaks obstruction). apas from √ap ‘to work, be active’ → effective action/energy. naviṣṭa from nava ‘new’ with superlative/strengthening; suggests ever-fresh manifestation of power. √cit again foregrounds consciousness/recognition as the key to efficacy.
renewal (nava) as perpetual becoming, conscious recognition (cit) as condition of power, unique divine agency
‘Newest workings’ are Ṛta’s progressive unfoldment—order that is living, not static.
The hymn becomes effective when it is consciously true (ciketa), not merely traditional.
Ever-new creation through divine action: the cosmos and the sadhana advance by fresh manifestations of power.
Evolutionary Vedānta (Aurobindo): divine powers drive progressive transformation.
Lightning that splits clouds = insight that splits mental inertia; ‘new rain’ = new force entering the being.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- Indra’s exclusive capacity to accomplish the ‘newest works’—a compressed form of the victory-myth: only the vajra-bearing power can break through to fresh manifestation beyond old limits.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- The semantic cluster of ‘new’ (nava) is PIE *néwos. The cognition verb √cit aligns with IE cognition roots, reinforcing that Vedic power is inseparable from consciousness/recognition.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The rishi asserts exclusivity to intensify the bond: the hymn is ‘tava’—belonging to Indra—because Indra is the inner agent who recognizes and activates it; praise becomes a channel for Indra’s own conscious force.
Invoke ‘the newest working’: ask for one genuinely new insight or decisive release from a fixed pattern.
Ājñā (illumined discernment)
Kapalabhāti light (30 strokes) if suitable, then stillness; chant once; sit in silence.
Alert, breakthrough-ready attention; openness to sudden clarity.
After chanting 3 times, hold the question: ‘What must break today?’ Wait without forcing; act on the simplest clear instruction that arises.
Rigvedic tones as per recension; keep the ‘vajrín’ address prominent with correct udātta lift.
Make ‘na ghem anyad’ crisp (clear negation), then broaden slightly on ‘taved u stomaṃ’.
vajrin: ‘j’ as in ‘judge’, not ‘y’, naviṣṭau: retroflex ‘ṣṭ’ cluster precise, stomaṃ: ‘o’ long-ish; final anusvāra nasalization, ciketa: ‘ke’ clear, not ‘kye’
Bright, cutting, confident.
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