Rig Veda 7.89.2: Mandala 7, Sukta 89, Mantra 2
Sukta 7.89
- Rishi
- Vasiṣṭha
- Devata
- Varuṇa
- Chandas
- Anuṣṭubh
- Rasa
- Karuna (compassion) and Bhayankara
यदेमि प्रस्फुरन्निव दृतिर्न ध्मातो अद्रिवः । मृळा सुक्षत्र मृळय ॥
yád émi prasphuránn iva dṛtír ná dhmā́to adrivaḥ | mṛḷā́ su-kṣatra mṛḷáya ||
நான் நடுங்கியபடி செல்கையில்—ஊதிப் பூர்த்தி செய்யப்பட்ட தோல்-பை அசைவதுபோல்—வலிமையுள்ளவனே (அத்ரிவஃ)! ஸு-க்ஷத்ரா! அருள் செய், அருள் செய்.
Word by Word
- यत्
- when / asIndeclinableसम्बन्ध/काल-निबन्धक अव्यय (यदा/यत् = ‘जब/जबकि’)Root यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक) अथवा यद् (अव्यय-सम्बन्ध)
- एमि
- I go / I comeVerbलट् (वर्तमाने), प्रथमपुरुषः? (वेदे), एकवचनम्; परस्मैपदम्; रूपम्: ‘एमि’ = ‘एति/इमि’ (वेदिक)Role Kartā (अहं-निहितः)Root इ (धातु)
- प्रस्फुरन्
- trembling, quiveringVerb (participle)वर्तमान कृदन्तः (शतृ), पुंलिङ्गे प्रथमा एकवचनम् (कर्तरि), ‘प्र-’ उपसर्गःRole Kartā (एमि इत्यस्य कर्तृ-विशेषणम्)Root स्फुर् (धातु)
- इव
- like, asIndeclinableउपमा-अव्ययम्Root इव (अव्यय)
- दृतिः
- a leather bag / skin (waterskin)Nounस्त्रीलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, एकवचनम्Role Kartā (उपमान-वाक्ये)Root दृति (प्रातिपदिक)
- न
- notIndeclinableनिषेध-अव्ययम्Root न (अव्यय)
- ध्मातः
- inflated, blown upVerb (participle)भूतकृदन्तः (क्त), पुंलिङ्गे प्रथमा एकवचनम्; ‘ध्मातः’ = ‘फुलाया/फूंका हुआ’Role Kartā (उपमान-वाक्ये; दृतिः इत्यस्य विशेषणम्)Root ध्मा (धातु; ध्मा/ध्मन् = फूंकना, फुलाना)
- अद्रिवः
- O wielder of the stone/bolt (Indra)Noun (epithet)पुंलिङ्गः, सम्बोधन (vocative), एकवचनम्Role Sampradāna/सम्बोधन (देवता-सम्बोधनम्)Root अद्रि-वस् (प्रातिपदिक; अद्रि ‘पत्थर/वज्र/सोम-पेषण-शिला’ + वस् ‘धारण/सम्बन्ध’)
- मृळा
- be gracious / show mercyVerbलोट् (आज्ञार्थे), मध्यमपुरुषः, एकवचनम्; परस्मैपदम्Role Kriyā (प्रार्थना/आज्ञा)Root मृळ्/मृड् (धातु; ‘अनुग्रह/शम’)
- सुक्षत्र
- O good ruler / of good powerAdjective (used as vocative)पुंलिङ्गः, सम्बोधन, एकवचनम्Role Sampradāna/सम्बोधनRoot सु-क्षत्र (प्रातिपदिक; सु ‘good’ + क्षत्र ‘dominion/power’)
- मृळय
- be gracious / have mercyVerbलोट् (आज्ञार्थे), मध्यमपुरुषः, एकवचनम्; परस्मैपदम् (वेदिक रूपान्तर)Role Kriyā (पुनः प्रार्थना)Root मृळ्/मृड् (धातु)
Sandhi Notes
- Sandhi resolution: प्रस्फु॒रन्नि॑व → प्रस्फुरन् + इव (final -न् before vowel; Vedic saṃhitā writing shows doubling/assimilation)
- ध्मा॒तो अ॑द्रिवः → ध्मातः + अद्रिवः (visarga before vowel in saṃhitā; here written as -ो)
- No further external sandhi in यदेमि (yad + emi is saṃhitā coalescence; treated as यत् + एमि for pada analysis)
The meaning
Outer meaning
When I go trembling, like a skin-bag shaking when inflated—O strong one—be gracious, O you of good sovereignty, be gracious.
Inner meaning
The seeker describes an inner trembling: the nervous-vital sheath quivers under the pressure of conscience, fear, or the approach of consequence. The ‘inflated skin-bag’ images the prāṇic being swollen by disturbed breath and emotion. He turns to Varuṇa, the strong upholder of order, to pacify and re-govern the life-force so the being can return to calm truth.
Universal truth
Agitation is often a symptom of inner misalignment; grace works by re-ordering breath, emotion, and mind, restoring steadiness.
Themes
inner-trembling, vital-pressurization, appeasement-refrain
The seer
- Rishi
- Vasiṣṭha
- Lineage
- Vasiṣṭha-gotra
- Other hymns
- RV 7.89 (entire hymn as a sequence of inner confession), RV 7.86 (Varuṇa’s bonds and the human condition)
Family tradition
The Vasiṣṭha voice is experiential and psychological: bodily/vital symptoms become symbols of inner states addressed to the divine Law.
Significance
A mantra for regulating the disturbed prāṇa through surrender to a higher order; it acknowledges vulnerability without losing aspiration.
The deity
- Devata
- Varuṇa
- Epithets
- sukṣatra, (addressed as) adrivaḥ—strong/pressing one, rājan (implicit from hymn context)
- Related deities
- Mitra, Aditi, Indra (as illuminator allied to order, thematic)
Cosmic role
Stabilizer of the waters (symbolically the life-energies) and guardian of right measure; he restrains excess and restores balance.
Inner power
The steadying force that calms prāṇic turbulence and replaces fear with a vast, clear peace.
In ritual
Where it is used
Personal expiation/prayer; could accompany water-related offerings to Varuṇa
यदेमि॑ प्रस्फु॒रन्नि॑व॒ दृति॒र्न ध्मा॒तो अ॑द्रिवः । मृ॒ळा सु॑क्षत्र मृ॒ळय॑ ॥
यत् । एमि॑ । प्र॒स्फु॒रन्ऽइ॑व । दृतिः॑ । न । ध्मा॒तः । अ॒द्रि॒ऽवः॒ । मृ॒ळ । सु॒ऽक्ष॒त्र॒ । मृ॒ळय॑ ॥
yat | emi | prasphuran-iva | dṛtiḥ | na | dhmātaḥ | adri-vaḥ | mṛḷa | su-kṣatra | mṛḷaya
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4×8 with refrain closure
Short pulses matching the theme of trembling; the refrain acts as a settling cadence.
Mirrors agitation in the first half then resolves it through the repeated mercy-call, aiding nervous system down-regulation.
- प्रस्फुरन् (prasphuran)
- Literal: trembling, quivering. Symbolic: vital-mental agitation; instability of the outer nature under inner pressure
- दृतिः (dṛtiḥ)
- Literal: skin-bag, leather vessel. Symbolic: the vital sheath/container of prāṇa and emotion
- ध्मातः (dhmātaḥ)
- Literal: blown up, inflated. Symbolic: overcharged prāṇa; anxiety-breath swelling the nervous system
- अद्रिवः (adrivaḥ)
- Literal: stone/press-bearing; strong one. Symbolic: the power that can ‘press’ out truth and restrain turbulence; firm spiritual force
- मृळा…मृळय
- Literal: be gracious. Symbolic: soothing, purifying descent of peace that steadies the life-force
Refrain for appeasement and stabilization; can accompany rites addressing fear, illness, or peril (inner trembling).
When anxious, before important decisions, during illness, or after moral conflict; also before sleep.
Japa with attention to breath; optional offering of water (arghya) as symbol of calming the inner waters.
Use as a breath-mantra for anxiety: acknowledge trembling, then invoke ‘sukṣatra’—right inner governance.
(prasphur) from pra- + √ ‘to quiver, tremble’. (dṛti) ‘leather bag’ (also ‘skin’), a concrete ritual object (container) turned into a body-metaphor. (dhmāta) from √ ‘to blow’ (cf. bellows). is formulaic epithet elsewhere (‘stone-possessing’ for Indra), but in this refrain context functions as ‘the firm/strong one’; philologically it may be inherited from earlier formulae and re-applied.
embodiment as vessel, need for divine steadiness (dhruva) against vital agitation, grace as pacification
Deviation from right measure appears as tremor/excess; Varuṇa restores measure.
Truth brings steadiness; false movement inflates and shakes the vessel.
The human as a vessel of energies needing right regulation by the cosmic Law.
Yoga-psychological reading: prāṇic imbalance as sign of inner disorder; divine peace as corrective.
wind/pressure imagery (blown bag) transposed inward as prāṇic disturbance
Wind inflating a bag = prāṇa overactivity; shaking = nervous agitation; the remedy is vast calm and right measure.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- The ‘shaking vessel’ mythologem: the human being as a container buffeted by forces; the deity’s grace is sought to steady and harmonize the pressured life-force.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- The body-as-container metaphor is widely IE. √ ‘blow’ corresponds to IE breath/wind semantics used in poetic descriptions of life-force inflation and disturbance.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The ṛṣi confesses vulnerability in the vital sheath and seeks Varuṇa’s benevolent governance (su-kṣatra) to restore balance rather than punish instability.
Witness the trembling prāṇa; invoke Varuṇa to restore measure; let breath become even and spacious.
Maṇipūra (prāṇic turbulence) and Anāhata (calming wideness)
Lengthen exhale (e.g., inhale 4, exhale 6–8) while chanting the refrain mentally on the exhale.
From reactive nervous vibration to vast, regulated calm.
Do not fight the tremor; name it, feel it as ‘dṛtiḥ dhmātaḥ’; then let ‘mṛḷā’ descend like cool water through the chest and belly.
Maintain clear udātta peaks on content words; let the refrain be identical each repetition to condition calm.
First hemistich slightly quicker (depicting agitation), refrain slower and more even (depicting mercy).
(yad emi): keep sandhi clean, no extra vowel between d-e, (prasphuran): ‘sph’ aspirated cluster, (dṛtiḥ): retroflex ‘ṛ’, short ‘iḥ’, (dhmātaḥ): ‘dhm’ cluster, long ‘ā’
begin with a slight quiver in tone, then smooth out on the refrain
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