Rig Veda 9.63.12: Mandala 9, Sukta 63, Mantra 12
Sukta 9.63
अभ्यर्ष सहस्रिणं रयिं गोमन्तमश्विनम् । अभि वाजमुत श्रवः ॥
abhy àrṣa sahásriṇaṃ rayíṃ gómantam aśvínam | abhí vā́jam utá śrávaḥ ||
अभ्यर्ष सहस्रिणं रयिं गोमन्तमश्विनम् । अभि वाजमुत श्रवः ॥
Soma pressing/purification: invocation for Soma to bring rayi, vāja, śravas to the sacrificer
Go as light/knowledge, Aśva as dynamic force, Vāja as plenitude of energy
These boons are outcomes of right flow—Soma’s purified movement aligns life with Ṛta and thus yields increase.
Śravas as ‘heard truth’: attainment becomes communicable and confirmable in life.
From essence (Soma) emerges differentiated powers—light and force—supporting the soul’s evolution.
Integral yoga psychology: Ananda as basis for knowledge and power, not mere emotion.
Light-rays = cognitions/insights; horses = mobilized prāṇa and dynamism; flow = continuous infusion of higher joy.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- The mythic action is Soma’s forward rush bringing a triad of attainments: rayi (plenitude), vāja (victorious force), and śravas (radiant renown). ‘Cows’ and ‘horses’ appear as the classic Vedic pair: recovered lights (go) and released energies (aśva), now internalized as knowledge and dynamic power.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- śrávaḥ from √śru reflects PIE *ḱlew- ‘hear, fame’ (cf. Greek kléos). This anchors the Indo-European poetic value of ‘fame’ as the audible radiance of achievement. The repeated abhí marks directed motion, a common archaic intensifier.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The speaker commands/invites Soma to ‘flow toward’ the human vessel with specific inner boons. The relationship is functional and yogic: Soma is treated as an executable power that can be directed (abhí ... àrṣa) to intensify knowledge (go), energy (aśva), and effective victory (vāja).
Receive a ‘thousandfold’ inner resource: invite insight (go), mobilized energy (aśva), and effective power (vāja) to serve the soul’s direction.
Ājñā (illumination/go) and Maṇipūra (vāja/force)
Three-part breath: inhale (receive rayi), hold (stabilize go-light in brow), exhale (send aśva-energy into action pathways).
Expansive, empowered, luminous.
After chanting, write or speak one ‘śravas’ sentence: a truth you can live today; then take one decisive action (vāja) aligned with it.
Vedic accents per recension; keep crisp articulation on imperatives (‘abhi arṣa’).
Make the chant slightly rising through the list (sahasriṇam → gomantam → aśvinam → vājam → śravaḥ) to match accumulating force.
abhy arṣa: sandhi ‘abhy’ (abhi) with clear y glide; ṛ in arṣa is vocalic r, sahasriṇam: aspirate h; retroflex ṇ, gomantam: go-man-tam, nasal m, aśvinam: ś as palatal; v conjunct clear, vājam: long ā, śravaḥ: śra cluster; visarga lightly released at end
Bright and driving, like a forward-flowing stream.
Ask anything about this verse
Answers come straight from the texts, with the shlokas they draw on. Ask in your own words.
A free sign-in with Google or Apple keeps your chat saved across web and the app.
Read Rig Veda in the Vedapath app
Scan the QR code to open this directly in the app, with word-by-word meanings, Sanskrit recitation where available, and more.
