Rig Veda 10.129.2: Mandala 10, Sukta 129, Mantra 2
Sukta 10.129
- Rishi
- Prajāpati Parameṣṭhin
- Devata
- Tad Ekam as the implicit absolute
- Chandas
- Triṣṭubh
- Rasa
- Shanta (peace) and Adbhuta (wonder)
न मृत्युरासीदमृतं न तर्हि न रात्र्या अह्न आसीत्प्रकेतः । आनीदवातं स्वधया तदेकं तस्माद्धान्यन्न परः किं चनास ॥
ná mṛtyúr āsīd amṛ́taṃ ná tárhi ná rā́tryā áhna āsīt praketáḥ | ā́nīd avātáṃ svadháyā tád ékaṃ tásmād dhā́nyan ná paraḥ kíṃ canā́sa ||
అప్పుడు మృత్యువు లేదు, అమృతత్వమూ లేదు; రాత్రి గానీ పగలు గానీ అనే ఏ స్పష్ట సంకేతమూ లేదు. ఆ ఏకము—స్వధయా—శ్వాస లేకుండానే శ్వసించినట్లుండెను; దాని తప్ప మరేదీ అసలు లేదు.
Word by Word
- न
- notIndeclinableनिषेध (negation)Root न
- मृत्युः
- deathNounपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचनRole KartāRoot मृत्यु (प्रातिपदिक)
- आसीत्
- wasVerbलङ् (imperfect), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचनRoot √अस्
- अमृतम्
- immortality (deathlessness)Nounनपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचनRole KartāRoot अमृत (प्रातिपदिक)
- न
- notIndeclinableनिषेधRoot न
- तर्हि
- then; at that timeIndeclinableकालवाचक अव्ययRole AdhikaraṇaRoot तर्हि
- न
- notIndeclinableनिषेधRoot न
- रात्र्याः
- of nightNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, एकवचनRoot रात्रि (प्रातिपदिक)
- अह्नः
- of dayNounनपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, एकवचनRoot अहन् (प्रातिपदिक)
- आसीत्
- wasVerbलङ् (imperfect), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचनRoot √अस्
- प्रकेतः
- manifest; distinguishable (having clear sign)Adjectiveपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचनRole KartāRoot प्रकेत (प्रातिपदिक)
- आनीत्
- breathedVerbलङ् (imperfect), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचनRoot √अन् (अनिति ‘to breathe’)
- अवातम्
- without windAdjectiveनपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचनRole KaraṇaRoot अ-वात (प्रातिपदिक)
- स्वधया
- by its own power; by inherent law/forceNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग, तृतीया, एकवचनRole KaraṇaRoot स्वधा (प्रातिपदिक)
- तत्
- thatPronounनपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचनRole KartāRoot तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- एकम्
- one (alone)Numeral/Adjectiveनपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचनRole KartāRoot एक (प्रातिपदिक)
- तस्मात्
- from thatPronounनपुंसकलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी, एकवचनRole ApādānaRoot तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- ह
- indeedIndeclinableनिपात (emphatic particle)Root ह
- अन्यत्
- anything elsePronoun/Adjectiveनपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचनRole KartāRoot अन्य (प्रातिपदिक)
- न
- notIndeclinableनिषेधRoot न
- परः
- beyond; otherAdjectiveपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन (अर्थतः ‘beyond/other’)Role KartāRoot पर (प्रातिपदिक)
- किम्
- anything (whatsoever)Interrogative pronounनपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचनRole KartāRoot किम् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- चन
- at allIndeclinableनिपात (enclitic, with negation: ‘at all’)Root चन
- आसीत्
- wasVerbलङ् (imperfect), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचनRoot √अस्
Sandhi Notes
- Resolved padapāṭha-style segmentation: आसीत्प्रकेतः → आसीत् + प्रकेतः
- आनीदवा॒तं → आनीत् + अवातम् (Vedic sandhi: final -t + initial a- often yields -d a- in saṃhitā)
- तदेकं → तत् + एकम्
- तस्मा॑द्धा॒न्यन्न → तस्मात् + ह + अन्यत् + न (t + h → ddh in saṃhitā; final -t of अन्यत् before न gives -न्न in saṃhitā)
- किं चनासीत् → किम् + चन + आसीत् (m + c → ñc; and vowel sandhi a-). Accent marks in the saṃhitā text are not reproduced per-pada here
- analysis is morphological
The meaning
Outer meaning
There was no death then, nor immortality; no sign of night or day. The One breathed without breath by its own power. Other than That, nothing whatsoever existed.
Inner meaning
Before manifestation, there is no mortality/immortality because these belong to formed existence and its contrasts. Night/day (ignorance/knowledge, inactivity/activity) are not yet differentiated. ‘Breathing without breath’ indicates self-existent vibration or pulsation of consciousness (ānīd) not dependent on prāṇa—pure self-moved power (svadhā). The One alone is—beyond all supports, prior to all others.
Universal truth
The Absolute is self-existent and self-powered; all dualities arise only after manifestation. The deepest source of life is not physical breath but consciousness-force that can ‘move’ without material conditions.
Themes
Cosmogony, Non-dual origins, Inner breath (prāṇa archetype)
The seer
- Rishi
- Prajāpati Parameṣṭhin
- Other hymns
- Rig Veda 10.129.1, Rig Veda 10.129.3, Rig Veda 10.129.4, Rig Veda 10.129.5, Rig Veda 10.129.6, Rig Veda 10.129.7
Significance
The seer articulates the ‘self-existent’ nature of the Origin: a living stillness (ānīd avātam) that anticipates later Upaniṣadic notions of the Self as the ground of prāṇa and mind.
The deity
- Devata
- Tad Ekam (the One)
- Epithets
- tad ekam, svadhayā (self-powered), ānīd avātam (breathing without breath)
- Related deities
- Prajāpati, Hiraṇyagarbha, Ātman/Brahman (Upaniṣadic articulation)
Cosmic role
Absolute reality prior to time, space, and causality; source of all later powers and worlds.
Inner power
Self-existent consciousness-force: silent yet capable of initiating manifestation without external conditions.
In ritual
Where it is used
Contemplative cosmogonic recitation; later central to Upaniṣadic-style reflection; not a typical oblation formula.
न मृ॒त्युरा॑सीद॒मृतं॒ न तर्हि॒ न रात्र्या॒ अह्न॑ आसीत्प्रके॒तः । आनी॑दवा॒तं स्व॒धया॒ तदेकं॒ तस्मा॑द्धा॒न्यन्न प॒रः किं च॒नास॑ ॥
न । मृ॒त्युः । आ॒सी॒त् । अ॒मृत॑म् । न । तर्हि॑ । न । रात्र्याः॑ । अह्नः॑ । आ॒सी॒त् । प्र॒ऽके॒तः । आनी॑त् । अ॒वा॒तम् । स्व॒धया॑ । तत् । एक॑म् । तस्मा॑त् । ह॒ । अ॒न्यत् । न । प॒रः । किम् । च॒न । आ॒स॒ ॥
na | mṛtyuḥ | āsīt | amṛtam | na | tarhi | na | rātryāḥ | ahnaḥ | āsīt | pra-ketaḥ | ānīt | avātam | svadhayā | tat | ekam | tasmāt | ha | anyat | na | paraḥ | kim | cana | āsa
44
4 × 11 syllables
Measured and paradoxical; negations create stillness, then ‘ānīd’ introduces a subtle pulse
Induces deep quiet; the phrase ‘ānīd avātam svadhayā’ can produce a visceral sense of subtle inner vibration.
- मृत्युः (mṛtyuḥ)
- Literal: death. Symbolic: Principle of division and finitude in manifested nature
- अमृतम् (amṛtam)
- Literal: deathless state/nectar. Symbolic: Undecaying continuity within manifestation; here also a category not yet applicable
- रात्रि/अहन् (rātri/ahan)
- Literal: night/day. Symbolic: Obscurity/illumination; passive/active manifestation
- प्रकेतः (praketaḥ)
- Literal: sign, manifest perception. Symbolic: Cognitive differentiation; recognisable order not yet arisen
- आनीत् (ānīt) / आनीद (ānīd)
- Literal: breathed/moved. Symbolic: Primordial self-stirring of consciousness-force
- अवातम् (avātam)
- Literal: without wind/breath. Symbolic: Not dependent on prāṇic life; supra-physical self-motion
- स्वधया (svadhayā)
- Literal: by its own power/nature. Symbolic: Self-existent energy (cit-śakti) inherent in the One
- तदेकम् (tad ekam)
- Literal: That One. Symbolic: Non-dual absolute; the sole reality prior to manifestation
- अन्यत् न परः (anyat na paraḥ)
- Literal: no other beyond. Symbolic: Nothing outside or second to the Absolute
Contemplative cosmogonic recitation; later central to Upaniṣadic-style reflection; not a typical oblation formula.
Meditation on the self-existent Self: useful for breath-aware practices where one shifts from prāṇa to awareness itself.
√an ‘to breathe’ (ānīt) is used paradoxically with avātam ‘without vāta (wind/breath)’, expressing self-subsistent life/impulse. svadhā (sva- ‘own’ + dhā/√dhā ‘to place, set’) denotes an inherent power/law ‘set in itself’, not borrowed. mṛtyu is from √mṛ ‘to die’ (PIE *mer-), and amṛta is a- privative + mṛta ‘mortal/dead’, emphasizing polarity not yet arisen.
non-duality prior to opposites, self-existent power (svadhā), life-principle without external support
Ṛta is latent; the hymn describes the pre-ṛta condition where law is not yet expressed.
Satya as the sheer fact of the One—truth as self-existence.
First stir of manifestation as self-moved vibration (‘breathing without breath’).
Proto-Vedānta / Integral Yoga metaphysics: consciousness-force as the ultimate ground, not material process.
before dawn (symbolically, before the first ‘day’ of manifestation)
Breathless breathing = awareness moving without prāṇa; no day/night = beyond alternating mental states; no death/deathless = beyond life-process categories.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- A primordial One that ‘breathes’ by its own power before the emergence of cosmic rhythms (day/night) and existential boundaries (death/immortality). The mythic action is self-arousal: life and order are latent as an inner capacity, not imposed from outside.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- mṛtyu/√mṛ aligns with PIE *mer- ‘die’ (English mortal, Latin mors). The hymn retools inherited mortality vocabulary into metaphysical discourse by denying even the polarity ‘mortal/immortal’ at the origin.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The ṛṣi witnesses the One not as a petitioned deity but as the ground of all deities and states. The stance is revelatory listening: language is stretched through paradox (ānīt avātam) to indicate an experience beyond ordinary categories.
Shift identity from breathing to the awareness that knows breathing; contemplate ‘ānīd avātam’ as consciousness independent of prāṇa.
Sahasrara (non-dual stillness) and Ajna (witness)
Natural breath observation → then feel the ‘breath of awareness’ (a subtle sense of aliveness) without manipulating respiration
Silent, formless presence; subtle vibratory stillness
Chant slowly; pause after ‘tad ekam’; sit and notice that awareness remains even when the breath becomes very subtle. Let the sense of ‘svadhā’ be felt as self-sustaining existence.
Tri-svara; let ‘ānīd avātam svadhayā’ be chanted as one flowing unit with gentle rise-fall, avoiding sharp accents.
Clear articulation of negations: na mṛtyur… na amṛtam… na rātryā…; then soften into ‘tad ekam’.
mṛtyuḥ: cluster ‘mṛ-tyu’ cleanly, amṛtam: short a, dental t, ānīd: long ā and ī, avātam: v not b; long ā, svadhayā: aspirated dh; long ā at end
Very soft, even, inward; allow silence after the mantra
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