Rig Veda 1.91.4: Mandala 1, Sukta 91, Mantra 4
Sukta 1.91
- Rishi
- Gautama Rāhūgaṇa
- Devata
- Soma
- Chandas
- Triṣṭubh
- Rasa
- Shanta (peace) and Adbhuta (wonder)
या ते धामानि दिवि या पृथिव्यां या पर्वतेष्वोषधीष्वप्सु । तेभिर्नो विश्वैः सुमना अहेळन्राजन्त्सोम प्रति हव्या गृभाय ॥
yā́ te dhā́māni diví yā́ pṛthivyā́m yā́ párvateṣv óṣadhīṣv apsú | tébhir no víśvaiḥ su-manā́ áheḷan rā́jan soma práti havyā́ gṛbhāya ||
హే సోమ-రాజా! నీ ధామములు (నివాసస్థానములు) దివిలో ఉన్నవి, పృథివిలో ఉన్నవి, పర్వతములలో, ఓషధులలో (ఔషధ వృక్షములలో), అప్సు (జలములలో) ఉన్నవి—అవి అన్నిటి ద్వారా మా వద్దకు విశ్వతో సుమనా (ప్రసన్నమనస్సుతో)గా, అహేళన్ (కోపరహితుడై)గా వచ్చి, మా హవ్యములను (ఆహుతులను) గ్రహించు।
Word by Word
- या
- which (those)Pronounस्त्रीलिङ्गे प्रथमा बहुवचनम्Role Karma (सम्बन्धः: धामानि इति विशेषण-सम्बन्धेन)Root यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- ते
- of you / yourPronounषष्ठी एकवचनम् (वैदिके ‘ते’ = ‘तव’)Role सम्बन्ध (षष्ठी-सम्बन्धः)Root त्वद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- धामानि
- abodes, stations, domainsNounनपुंसकलिङ्गे प्रथमा/द्वितीया बहुवचनम्Role Karma (गृभाय इति क्रियायाः)Root धामन् (प्रातिपदिक)
- दिवि
- in heavenNounस्त्रीलिङ्गे सप्तमी एकवचनम्Role AdhikaraṇaRoot द्यौ (प्रातिपदिक)
- या
- which (those)Pronounस्त्रीलिङ्गे प्रथमा बहुवचनम्Role Karma (सम्बन्धः: धामानि इति विशेषण-सम्बन्धेन)Root यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- पृथिव्याम्
- on earthNounस्त्रीलिङ्गे सप्तमी एकवचनम्Role AdhikaraṇaRoot पृथिवी (प्रातिपदिक)
- या
- which (those)Pronounस्त्रीलिङ्गे प्रथमा बहुवचनम्Role Karma (सम्बन्धः: धामानि इति विशेषण-सम्बन्धेन)Root यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- पर्वतेषु
- in the mountainsNounपुंलिङ्गे सप्तमी बहुवचनम्Role AdhikaraṇaRoot पर्वत (प्रातिपदिक)
- ओषधीषु
- in the plants / herbsNounस्त्रीलिङ्गे सप्तमी बहुवचनम्Role AdhikaraṇaRoot ओषधि (प्रातिपदिक)
- अप्सु
- in the watersNounस्त्रीलिङ्गे सप्तमी बहुवचनम् (वैदिक-रूपम्)Role AdhikaraṇaRoot अप् (प्रातिपदिक)
- तेभिः
- with those / by thosePronounतृतीया बहुवचनम्Role KaraṇaRoot तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- नः
- of us / ourPronounषष्ठी बहुवचनम् (एन्क्लिटिक)Role सम्बन्ध (षष्ठी-सम्बन्धः; सुमनाः इत्यस्य)Root अस्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- विश्वैः
- allAdjectiveपुं/नपुंसकलिङ्गे तृतीया बहुवचनम्Role Karaṇa (तेभिः इत्यस्य विशेषणम्)Root विश्व (प्रातिपदिक)
- सुमनाः
- kind-minded, graciousAdjectiveपुंलिङ्गे प्रथमा एकवचनम्Role Kartā (गृभाय इति क्रियायाः; सम्बोधनार्थं सोमस्य विशेषणम्)Root सु-मनस् (प्रातिपदिक; बहुव्रीहिः)
- अहेळन्
- non-hostile, not angryAdjectiveपुंलिङ्गे प्रथमा एकवचनम्Role Kartā (सोमस्य विशेषणम्)Root हेळ् (प्रातिपदिक ‘हेळ’ = क्रोध/द्रोह) + नञ्
- राजन्
- O kingNounपुंलिङ्गे सम्बोधन एकवचनम्Role सम्बोधनRoot राजन् (प्रातिपदिक)
- सोम
- O SomaNounपुंलिङ्गे सम्बोधन एकवचनम्Role सम्बोधनRoot सोम (प्रातिपदिक)
- प्रति
- towards, in response toIndeclinableअव्ययम्Role कर्मप्रवचनीय/दिशा-सम्बन्धः (गृभाय इत्यस्य)Root प्रति (उपसर्ग/अव्यय)
- हव्या
- oblations, offeringsNounनपुंसकलिङ्गे द्वितीया बहुवचनम्Role KarmaRoot हव्य (प्रातिपदिक)
- गृभाय
- take, accept (receive)Verbलोट् (आज्ञार्थे) मध्यम? न; परस्मैपदम्, द्वितीयपुरुष एकवचनम्Role क्रियाRoot ग्रह् (धातु) → गृभ् (वैदिक-रूप/प्रयोग)
Sandhi Notes
- पदच्छेदः (सन्धि-विग्रहः): या ते धामानि दिवि | या पृथिव्याम् | या पर्वतेषु ओषधीषु अप्सु | तेभिः नः विश्वैः सुमनाः अहेळन् राजन् सोम प्रति हव्या गृभाय || 1) पर्वतेष्वोषधीष्वप्सु = पर्वतेषु + ओषधीषु + अप्सु (उकार-सन्धि/विसर्गाभावः पदान्ते ‘-षु’). 2) तेभिर्नो = तेभिः + नः (विसर्ग-लोपः/रेफ-संयोगः). 3) विश्वैः: इत्यत्र ‘ः’ पदान्त-विसर्गः. 4) गृभाय: वैदिके √ग्रह् ‘गृभ्’ इति रूप-पर्यायः
- लोट् 2sg परस्मैपदम्
The meaning
Outer meaning
Soma is invoked as king through all his abodes—heaven, earth, mountains, plants, waters—to come kindly and without anger to accept the offerings.
Inner meaning
The delight-principle has many ‘stations’ (dhāmas) across our whole being: higher mind (heaven), embodied life (earth), firm elevations of consciousness (mountains), healing energies and habits (plants), and the flowing emotional-vital field (waters). The seeker calls Soma to pervade all these levels with luminous goodwill (sumanāḥ), free of reactive disturbance (aheḻan), so the inner offering—attention, aspiration, breath—can be received and transformed.
Universal truth
True joy must inhabit every layer of life. When delight is invited into thought, body, strength, healing, and feeling—without inner anger or revolt—it becomes an integrating power that accepts and sanctifies our efforts.
Themes
Soma-invocation, acceptance-of-offering, many-abodes-of-the-deity, inner-ritual-psychology
The seer
- Rishi
- Gautama Rāhūgaṇa
- Lineage
- Gautama
- Other hymns
- RV 1.91.1, RV 1.91.2, RV 1.91.3, RV 1.91.5, RV 1.91.6, RV 1.91.7
Family tradition
Gautama seers frequently frame the gods as inner powers organizing the sacrifice of consciousness; here Soma is invoked as all-pervasive across worlds.
Significance
The rishi’s method is integrative yoga: call the divine delight into every ‘world’ of the being so the offering becomes acceptable and transformative.
The deity
- Devata
- Soma (Rājan)
- Epithets
- rājan (king), sumanāḥ (gracious), aheḻan (non-wrathful), sarvadhāman (dwelling in all abodes—implied)
- Related deities
- Agni (carrier of offering), Aśvins (healing), Varuṇa (waters/order)
Cosmic role
Soma as kingly nectar pervades heaven and earth, mountains, plants, and waters—supporting vitality, healing, and the coherence of worlds.
Inner power
All-pervading Ananda that calms reactivity and makes the whole nature receptive to the divine exchange (havis ↔ grace).
In ritual
Where it is used
Soma-yajña (invocation for Soma to accept havis)
या ते॒ धामा॑नि दि॒वि या पृ॑थि॒व्यां या पर्व॑ते॒ष्वोष॑धीष्व॒प्सु । तेभि॑र्नो॒ विश्वै॑: सु॒मना॒ अहे॑ळ॒न्राज॑न्त्सोम॒ प्रति॑ ह॒व्या गृ॑भाय ॥
या । ते॒ । धामा॑नि । दि॒वि । या । पृ॒थि॒व्याम् । या । पर्व॑तेषु । ओष॑धीषु । अ॒प्ऽसु । तेभिः॑ । नः॒ । विश्वैः॑ । सु॒ऽमनाः॑ । अहे॑ळन् । राज॑न् । सो॒म॒ । प्रति॑ । ह॒व्या । गृ॒भा॒य॒ ॥
yā | te | dhāmāni | divi | yā | pṛthivyām | yā | parvateṣu | oṣadhīṣu | ap-su | tebhiḥ | naḥ | viśvaiḥ | su-manāḥ | aheḷan | rājan | soma | prati | havyā | gṛbhāya
11
4 pādas × 11 syllables
Expansive and world-striding; suited to enumerations of cosmic locations and a strong concluding invitation.
Builds a sense of totality (all abodes) and ends in a clear imperative that focuses intention and receptivity.
- धामानि (dhāmāni)
- Literal: abodes, luminous stations. Symbolic: Planes/centers of consciousness where a power can be established
- दिवि (divi)
- Literal: in heaven. Symbolic: Higher mind/supramental orientation; luminous thought
- पृथिव्याम् (pṛthivyām)
- Literal: on earth. Symbolic: Body and grounded life-nature
- पर्वतेषु (parvateṣu)
- Literal: on mountains. Symbolic: Elevated, firm realizations; stable peaks of consciousness
- ओषधीषु (oṣadhīṣu)
- Literal: in healing plants. Symbolic: Restorative forces, pranic remedies, renewing habits
- अप्सु (apsu)
- Literal: in the waters. Symbolic: Life-flows, emotions, the subtle currents of being
- सुमनाः (sumanāḥ)
- Literal: good-minded, gracious. Symbolic: Luminous benevolence; clarity that wishes harmony
- अहेळन् (aheḻan)
- Literal: not angry, without wrath. Symbolic: Non-reactive consciousness; freedom from inner revolt
- हव्या (havyā)
- Literal: offerings. Symbolic: Acts of aspiration, attention, breath, and will offered inwardly
Soma-yajña context (notably Agniṣṭoma and related Soma pressings); verse functions as an invitation for Soma to accept havis and to descend through his many ‘stations’ (waters/plants/mountains).
During Soma pressing/offerings; also appropriate at the start of meditation as an ‘invocation of pervasion’
Calling Soma to ‘take up’ offerings; in inner practice, offer breath and attention into the heart/inner altar
A whole-being alignment practice: recite while scanning body–breath–mind, inviting calm goodwill into each layer before work, healing, or study.
(dhā́man-, n.): from √dhā ‘to place, establish’; ‘stations/abodes’ → also ‘fixed law or settled mode of being’. (su-manāḥ): su- ‘good’ + manas- ‘mind’; goodwill as a clarified mental force. : a- (privative) + heḷ-/heḍ- ‘anger, hostility’; indicates a pacified, non-reactive divine movement. : imperative of √grabh ‘grasp, take’; in ritual-psychological reading, the Power ‘takes up’ the offered energies and transforms them.
ṛta as ordered ‘stations’ (dhāman) of a cosmic power, descent of delight into embodied life (divi → pṛthivyām), integration of multiple planes of consciousness (heaven/earth/mountain/waters)
Soma’s non-wrathful goodwill indicates alignment with ṛta—no inner rebellion against truth-order.
‘Taking the offerings’ signifies a truthful exchange: sincere aspiration evokes real descent of delight.
Soma’s many dhāmas suggest a pervading principle that inhabits all forms as sap/essence.
Integral Vedic psychology: worlds as states of consciousness; Soma as Ananda permeating them.
Heaven=clear thought; Earth=body stability; Mountains=firm realizations; Plants=healing prana; Waters=emotional flow—Soma as the delight that can inhabit and purify all.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- The ‘many abodes of Soma’ mythologem: Soma is not confined to one altar-location but pervades heaven, earth, mountains, plants, and waters. Mythically this encodes Soma’s omnipresence (as the pressed god in plants and waters) and psychologically it maps the descent of Ananda (Soma) through all levels of the being so it can receive and transform the offering.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- Key locatives diví, pṛthivyā́m, apsú show inherited Indo-European case usage for spatial/ontological location. √dhā in dhā́man- continues PIE *dʰeh₁- ‘to put, place’ (cf. Greek títhēmi). √grabh ‘seize’ is commonly compared with PIE *gʰrebʰ- ‘grab’ (cf. Slavic *grab-). The distributive relative yā́…yā́…yā́ structures a totalizing catalogue typical of PIE poetic enumerations.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The ṛṣi approaches Soma as rājan (sovereign power) but asks for a specific mode of relation: su-manāḥ (benevolent, luminous-minded) and aheḷan (non-hostile). The reciprocity is explicit: the human side offers havya (inner oblations through speech and will), and Soma responds by ‘taking’ (gṛbhāya) and thus entering the rite and the seeker’s system without disturbance, establishing harmony across Soma’s many stations.
Invite Soma into all ‘abodes’ of your being: above the head (divi), heart/body (pṛthivyām), spine/inner peaks (parvateṣu), healing currents (oṣadhīṣu), and breath-emotion flow (apsu).
Sahasrāra/Ājñā (divi), Anāhata (sumanāḥ), Svādhiṣṭhāna (apsu)
Slow inhalation imagining cool nectar descending; exhalation offering ‘havyā’ (intention).
Pervasive calm with gentle luminosity and receptivity.
On ‘aheḻan’, release any grievance/inner anger; on ‘prati havyā gṛbhāya’, feel the offering being accepted—rest in gratitude and wideness.
Maintain clear udātta peaks on repeated ‘yā’ clauses; keep the final imperative ‘prati havyā gṛbhāya’ well-articulated with a resolving cadence.
Do not rush the enumerations; each location phrase gets its own micro-pause to preserve meaning and meter.
parvateṣv oṣadhīṣv apsu: keep v-sandhi light; avoid swallowing consonant clusters, aheḻan: pronounce ḻ (retroflex lateral in transliteration) per your tradition; in many recitations it approximates a retroflex ‘ḍh/ḷ’ sound—follow your śākhā teacher/audio, gṛbhāya: clear ṛ and aspirated bh
Cool, inviting, prayerful (not forceful)
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