Rig Veda 1.67.2: Mandala 1, Sukta 67, Mantra 2
Sukta 1.67
- Rishi
- Gṛtsamada
- Devata
- Agni
- Chandas
- Triṣṭubh
- Rasa
- Shanta (peace) and Vira (heroism)
क्षेमो न साधुः क्रतुर्न भद्रो भुवत्स्वाधीर्होता हव्यवाट् ॥
kṣémो ná sādhúḥ krátur ná bhadró bhúvat svādhī́r hótā havyavā́ṭ
అతడు క్షేమం (కల్యాణ-శాంతి) వలె, సాధువు (సత్య-హితకరుడు) వలె అవుతాడు; అతని క్రతు (సంకల్పం/ప్రజ్ఞ) భద్రం—కల్యాణకర శక్తిగా మారుతుంది. స్వాధీః—సుప్రజ్ఞ హవ్యవాట్ హోతా—హవిష్యవాహకుడు—అంతరంలో ఋతం (ఋత-స్థితి)ను స్థాపిస్తాడు.
Word by Word
- क्षेमः
- welfare, securityNounपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचनRole KartāRoot क्षेम (प्रातिपदिक) < √क्षि/क्षेम् (रक्षण-शान्ति)
- न
- notIndeclinableनिषेधार्थक अव्ययRoot न (निपात) अव्यय
- साधुः
- good, right, effectiveAdjectiveपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचनRole Kartā (विशेषण) / विधेय-विशेषणRoot साधु (प्रातिपदिक) < √साध् (सिद्धौ/साधने)
- क्रतुः
- resolve, will; ritual power/planNounपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचनRole KartāRoot क्रतु (प्रातिपदिक)
- न
- notIndeclinableनिषेधार्थक अव्ययRoot न (निपात) अव्यय
- भद्रः
- auspicious, благоприятныйAdjectiveपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचनRole Kartā (विशेषण) / विधेय-विशेषणRoot भद्र (प्रातिपदिक)
- भुवत्
- may it be; let it becomeVerbलोट्/विधिलिङ्-प्राय (आशीर्लिङ्-भाव), परस्मैपद, 3 एकवचन (जुस्सिव/आशीर्वचनात्मक प्रयोग)Root √भू (सत्तायाम्)
- स्वाधीः
- self-empowered, independent, of good controlAdjectiveपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचनRole Kartā (विशेषण) / विधेय-विशेषणRoot स्वाधी (प्रातिपदिक) [सु-आधी/स्व-आधी ‘स्वाधीन/स्वाध्याय-शक्ति’]
- होता
- Hotṛ-priest; invokerNounपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचनRole KartāRoot होतृ (प्रातिपदिक) < √हु (यज्ञे आह्वाने/होमने)
- हव्यवाट्
- carrier of oblations (epithet of Agni)Noun/Adjectiveपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचनRole Kartā (विशेषण) / नामRoot हव्यवाट् (प्रातिपदिक) = हव्य-वाह्/वाट् ‘हव्यं वहति’
Sandhi Notes
- पदच्छेद (Vedic): क्षेमः | न | साधुः | क्रतुः | न | भद्रः | भुवत् | स्वाधीः | होता | हव्यवाट् । विशेष: ‘भुवत्’ वैदिक प्रयोग में √भू का आशीर्वचनात्मक/विधेयात्मक रूप है (‘भवतु’ के समकक्ष अर्थ ‘भुवत्’)
- ‘हव्यवाट्’ वैदिक समास-रूप (हव्य-वाह्/वह् ‘to carry’ से) अग्नि का विशेषण।
The meaning
Outer meaning
Agni, as Hotṛ who carries the oblation, becomes a secure peace and a true good; his kratu (purpose/will) becomes beneficent; he establishes the right condition within the sacrificer.
Inner meaning
When the soul’s Fire (Agni) is made the inner priest, the being settles into kṣema (protected peace). The will (kratu) is purified into a luminous, beneficent directive power rather than desire-driven impulse. Agni as svādhīḥ (self-governed intelligence) sets the inner order: right discernment, right aspiration, right offering of energies into the Divine.
Universal truth
Peace is not mere quietude but the result of an illumined will aligned to Truth. The inner guide-power, once awakened, organizes life from within so that action becomes a beneficence rather than a disturbance.
Themes
Agni as priest within, Peace through right will, Auspicious formation
The seer
- Rishi
- Gṛtsamada
- Lineage
- Bhārgava (traditionally connected with the Bhṛgu line)
- Other hymns
- RV 2.1–2.43 (Agni/Indra/Varuṇa cycle, major association), RV 1.67 (Agni hymn, traditional attribution)
Family tradition
Seer of RV Maṇḍala 2; in Maṇḍala 1 several hymns are also attributed to him in the Anukramaṇī tradition. His vision often stresses Agni as the organizer of the inner sacrifice and the bringer of right-mindedness (dhī).
Significance
Gṛtsamada’s poetics repeatedly present Agni as the psychological priest: the power that converts human will into a truth-will and founds inner peace (kṣema) through right order (ṛta) in the nature.
The deity
- Devata
- Agni
- Epithets
- Hotṛ, Havyavāṭ, Svādhīḥ, Jātavedas (implied Agni as knower of births)
- Related deities
- Indra (illumination and victory over obstruction), Soma (bliss that supports the sacrifice), Bṛhaspati (word and inner opening), Uṣas (awakening illumination)
Cosmic role
Mediator between human and divine worlds; the sacrificial Fire who brings the gods, carries the offering, and establishes harmony between earth and heaven.
Inner power
Divine Will and conscious force in the heart that purifies motives, founds peace, and forms a beneficent kratu (truth-directed resolve).
In ritual
Where it is used
Agnihotra / general Agni-invocation within Soma and non-Soma rites (hymnic usage)
क्षेमो॒ न सा॒धुः क्रतु॒र्न भ॒द्रो भुव॑त्स्वा॒धीर्होता॑ हव्य॒वाट् ॥
क्षेमः॑ । न । सा॒धुः । क्रतुः॑ । न । भ॒द्रः । भुव॑त् । सु॒ऽआ॒धीः । होता॑ । ह॒व्य॒ऽवाट् ॥
kṣemaḥ | na | sādhuḥ | kratuḥ | na | bhadraḥ | bhuvat | su-ādhīḥ | hotā | havya-vāṭ
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4 pādas × ~11 syllables (with possible Vedic resolution/elasticity)
Firm, forward-driving cadence suited to declarations of power and establishment.
Creates a steady, organizing pressure in the listener—supporting recollection, resolve, and the sense of inner order being set.
- क्षेम (kṣema)
- Literal: security, safe dwelling, peace. Symbolic: protected inner peace and stable foundation for sādhanā
- साधु (sādhu)
- Literal: good, right, true. Symbolic: harmonized nature aligned with the right law of being
- क्रतु (kratu)
- Literal: purpose, resolve, will-power. Symbolic: the executive will; in yoga, the power that chooses Truth over impulse
- भद्र (bhadra)
- Literal: auspicious, beneficent. Symbolic: action and force that heals and increases the good
- स्वाधीः (svādhīḥ / su-ādhīḥ)
- Literal: having good understanding / self-ruled intelligence. Symbolic: self-luminous discernment; the inner governance of consciousness
- होता (hotā)
- Literal: invoking priest. Symbolic: the inner mediator who calls down higher powers into the being
- हव्यवाट् (havyavāṭ)
- Literal: carrier/conveyor of the offering. Symbolic: the force that lifts human energies as oblation to the Divine
Agni as Hotṛ and havyavāṭ in Soma and iṣṭi contexts; invoked to secure kṣema (inner peace) and right kratu (effective will)
At kindling and offering moments when Agni is invoked as Hotṛ and carrier of havis.
Kindling, offering ghee/oblations, inviting the gods through Agni.
Use as a daily ‘inner-agnihotra’ mantra before meditation: offer breath, thoughts, and impulses into the heart-fire to establish kṣema and a beneficent will.
kṣema: ‘rest, security’ (cf. later kṣema). kratu: key Vedic term ‘will/intelligence’, possibly from √kṛ ‘do’ with power-of-doing nuance; functionally ‘effective intention’. bhadra: ‘good/auspicious’. bhū: PIE *bʰuH- ‘become’. hotṛ: from √hu ‘invoke, pour’ (PIE *ǵʰewh₁- ‘pour’ often cited for libation roots; Vedic √hu is ‘call/invoke’ with ritual specialization). havya: ‘to be offered’ from √hu ‘offer/invoke’.
Kratu (effective will), Kṣema (stable peace), Svādhī (self-possessed intelligence)
Agni as Hotṛ founds ṛta in the human system by making will and understanding right.
Truth manifests as ‘sādhu’ and ‘bhadra’—rightness and beneficence in action.
Order arises when the mediating Fire sets the divine powers into their proper functioning within the worlds.
Proto-Vedāntic / integral-psychological reading (Aurobindo: gods as powers of consciousness)
Fire = awakened will; offering = self-giving of energies; altar = concentrated heart-consciousness where order is established.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- Agni as the inner Hotṛ: the priestly archetype internalized—invocation and offering become psychological operations by which peace (kṣema) and beneficent will (kratu) are established.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- √bhū (bhuvat) is a transparent PIE inheritance (*bʰuH-). The priestly term hotā reflects an Indo-European ritual vocabulary where calling/pouring/offering verbs develop specialized sacral roles.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The rishi asks Agni not merely to carry offerings outward, but to become kṣema and bhadra within: the relationship is transformative—Agni’s presence reorganizes mind (svādhīḥ) and will (kratu) into auspicious stability.
Establish kṣema by offering restless impulses into the heart-fire; cultivate a ‘bhadra kratu’—a will that spontaneously chooses the true and the good.
Anāhata (heart)
Gentle nāḍī-śodhana or equal breathing (sama-vṛtti) while mentally ‘offering’ the exhale into Agni.
Collected, steady, quietly powerful (will aligned to inner guidance).
Before action, pause and invoke Agni as Hotṛ: ‘Let my will be beneficent.’ Then act only after the inner sense of rightness becomes clear and calm.
Follow śākala recitation rules: preserve udātta on marked syllables; svarita on following syllables; anudātta as the lowered background (exact accenting requires a pada-svara text).
Keep the natural rise on key words like kṣemo, kratuḥ, hotā; avoid flattening compounds (svādhīḥ, havyavāṭ).
kṣ in kṣemo: crisp ‘k’ + ‘ṣ’ cluster, not ‘kh’, svādhīḥ: lengthen ā; articulate dh (aspirated), havyavāṭ: keep ṭ retroflex; do not turn into dental t
Warm, steady, slightly resonant in the chest (heart-centered).
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