Rig Veda 3.39.2: Mandala 3, Sukta 39, Mantra 2
Sukta 3.39
- Rishi
- Viśvāmitra Gāthina
- Devata
- Indra
- Chandas
- Triṣṭubh
- Rasa
- Adbhuta (wonder) and Shanta (peace)
दिवश्चिदा पूर्व्या जायमाना वि जागृविर्विदथे शस्यमाना । भद्रा वस्त्राण्यर्जुना वसाना सेयमस्मे सनजा पित्र्या धीः ॥
diváś cidā́ pū́rvyā́ jā́yamānā ví jā́gṛvir vidáthe śasyámānā | bhadrā́ vástrāṇy arjúnā vásānā sā́yám asmē saná-jā́ pitryā́ dhī́ḥ ||
ఆమె దివ్యలోకంనుండికూడా జన్మిస్తుంది—ప్రాచీనమైనా నిత్యనవ; జాగృతగా విదథే (యజ్ఞసభలో) ఆమె ఉచ్చరింపబడినప్పుడు విస్తరిస్తుంది. శుభ్రమైన, ప్రకాశవంతమైన వస్త్రాలు ధరించి—పితృపారంపర్యంలో పుట్టిన సనాతన ‘ధీ’ (అంతర్దృష్టి) ఇక్కడ మాకే చెందుతుంది.
Word by Word
- दिवः
- of heaven, of the skyNounपुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग (वेदे ‘दिव्’), षष्ठी एकवचनRole सम्बन्ध (genitive relation)Root दिव् (प्रातिपदिक: दिव्/द्यौ ‘स्वर्ग’)
- चित्
- indeed, evenIndeclinableनिपात (emphatic)Root चित् (अव्यय)
- आ
- towards, forthIndeclinableउपसर्ग/निपातRoot आ (उपसर्ग/अव्यय)
- पूर्व्या
- ancient, formerAdjectiveस्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा एकवचनRole कर्तृ (with implied subject ‘धीः’ later)Root पूर्व (प्रातिपदिक)
- जायमाना
- being born, coming into beingVerb (participle)वर्तमान कृदन्त (शानच्), स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा एकवचनRole कर्तृ (describing the subject)Root जन् (धातु) + शानच्
- वि
- apart, forth, widelyIndeclinableउपसर्गRoot वि (उपसर्ग/अव्यय)
- जागृविः
- wakeful, vigilantAdjective (participle-like)स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा एकवचन (वेदिक रूप; ‘जागृवी’/‘जागृवती’ अर्थे)Role कर्तृ (epithet of the subject)Root जागृ (धातु √जागृ ‘to be awake’) / ‘जागृवस्’ (प्रातिपदिक)
- विदथे
- in the rite/assembly (vidatha)Nounनपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी एकवचनRole अधिकरणRoot विदथ (प्रातिपदिक)
- शस्यमाना
- being praised, being recitedVerb (participle)वर्तमान कृदन्त, स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा एकवचनRole कर्तृ (describing the subject)Root शंस् (धातु) + यमान (मध्य/आत्मनेपद कृदन्त)
- भद्रा
- auspicious, goodAdjectiveनपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया बहुवचन (agreeing with ‘वस्त्राणि’)Role कर्म (object-qualifier)Root भद्र (प्रातिपदिक)
- वस्त्राणि
- garmentsNounनपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया बहुवचनRole कर्म (with ‘वसाना’)Root वस्त्र (प्रातिपदिक)
- अर्जुना
- bright/white, shiningAdjectiveनपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया बहुवचन (agreeing with ‘वस्त्राणि’)Role कर्म (object-qualifier)Root अर्जुन (प्रातिपदिक)
- वसाना
- wearing, clothed inVerb (participle)वर्तमान कृदन्त (शानच्), स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा एकवचनRole कर्तृ (describing the subject)Root वस् (धातु ‘to wear’) + शानच्
- सा
- shePronounस्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा एकवचनRole कर्तृRoot तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- इयम्
- this (one)Pronounस्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा एकवचनRole कर्तृ (apposition to ‘सा’)Root इदम् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- अस्मे
- to usPronounचतुर्थी बहुवचन (वेदिक रूप; = अस्मभ्यम्)Role सम्प्रदानRoot अस्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- सनजा
- from ancient times, of oldIndeclinable/Adverbial (Vedic)अव्यय (कालवाचक)Root सनज (प्रातिपदिक; ‘from of old, primeval’)
- पित्र्या
- ancestral, of the fathersAdjectiveस्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा एकवचन (agreeing with ‘धीः’)Role कर्तृ-विशेषणRoot पितृय (प्रातिपदिक; ‘paternal, ancestral’)
- धीः
- thought, insight, sacred inspirationNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा एकवचनRole कर्तृRoot धी (प्रातिपदिक)
Sandhi Notes
- Sandhi resolution: दिवश्चिदा → दिवः + चित् + आ (final -श् before च् gives -श्च-; ‘आ’ is separate particle)
- जागृविर्विदथे → जागृविः + विदथे (visarga before v becomes r: -र्व-)
- वस्त्राण्यर्जुना → वस्त्राणि + अर्जुना (i + a → ya)
- सेयमस्मे → सा + इयम् + अस्मे (a + i → e)
The meaning
Outer meaning
A heavenly-born, ancient-yet-renewing power awakens and expands in the assembly of seekers when praised; clothed in bright auspicious garments, this ancestral Insight becomes ours.
Inner meaning
The dhī (inspired seeing) descends from the higher mind (divaḥ) yet is perpetually reborn in the sādhanā. When the seeker gives voice (śasyamānā) to the aspiration in the inner ‘session’ (vidatha), the awakened consciousness widens. The ‘bright garments’ are the clarified movements of mind-vital made luminous and pure; the ancient insight of the Fathers (pitṛya dhīḥ)—the fore-runners of the path—reappears in us as a living faculty of discernment and revelation.
Universal truth
True knowledge is at once timeless and ever-new: it comes from above, awakens through sincere invocation, and becomes a shared inheritance when consciousness is purified and made luminous.
Themes
ancestral wisdom, awakening, illumined forms, inner tradition (ṛṣi-lineage)
The seer
- Rishi
- Viśvāmitra Gāthina
- Lineage
- Gāthina
- Other hymns
- RV 3.33, RV 3.62, RV 3.39
Family tradition
Viśvāmitra’s RV 3 cycle emphasizes the conquest of obscurity through Indra’s illumination and the right-led inner yajña; dhī/mati is central as the seer-power.
Significance
Viśvāmitra embodies the passage from forceful human striving to divine seeing: the awakening of dhī as a ‘heaven-born’ faculty is a hallmark of his revelatory psychology.
The deity
- Devata
- Indra (with dhī/mati as operative inspired power)
- Epithets
- māhināvān (mighty in greatness), daṃsanāvān (of effective power/deed)
- Related deities
- Agni, Sarasvatī (as speech/inspiration), Uṣas, Bṛhaspati
Cosmic role
Bringer of the Sun of truth-consciousness; opener of the concealed light; leader in the battle against the Coverer.
Inner power
Illuminating mind-force that awakens inspired discernment (dhī), widening the being and making ancestral truth active in the present.
In ritual
Where it is used
Recitation within Soma praise where the ‘ancestral’ inspired intelligence is invoked to become active in the present sacrifice; supports correct formation of śastra (recited praise) and inner right-seeing.
दि॒वश्चि॒दा पू॒र्व्या जाय॑माना॒ वि जागृ॑विर्वि॒दथे॑ श॒स्यमा॑ना । भ॒द्रा वस्त्रा॒ण्यर्जु॑ना॒ वसा॑ना॒ सेयम॒स्मे स॑न॒जा पित्र्या॒ धीः ॥
दि॒वः । चि॒त् । आ । पू॒र्व्या । जाय॑माना । वि । जागृ॑विः । वि॒दथे॑ शस्यमा॑ना । भ॒द्रा । व॒स्त्रा॒णि । अर्जु॑ना । वसा॑ना । सा । इ॒यम् । अ॒स्मे इति॑ । स॒न॒ऽजा । पित्र्या॑ । धीः ॥
divaḥ | cit | ā | pūrvyā | jāyamānā | vi | jāgṛviḥ | vidatheśasyamānā | bhadrā | vastrāṇi | arjunā | vasānā | sā | iyam | asme iti | sana-jā | pitryā | dhīḥ
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4 pādas of ~11 syllables each
Forward-driving, expansive cadence suited to awakening and widening movements of consciousness.
Builds an ascending insistence: from descent ‘from heaven’ to widening in the inner assembly, ending in a stabilizing possession of dhī.
- divaḥ
- Literal: from heaven, from the luminous world. Symbolic: from the higher consciousness / supramental or illumined mind-range
- pūrvyā
- Literal: ancient, prior. Symbolic: primordial wisdom inherent in the tradition of the seers
- jāyamānā
- Literal: being born. Symbolic: continual rebirth of insight in the practitioner
- jāgṛviḥ
- Literal: wakeful. Symbolic: vigilant awareness, conscious receptivity
- vidathe
- Literal: in the vidatha, session/assembly. Symbolic: inner gathering of faculties for the yajña of consciousness
- śasyamānā
- Literal: being praised/uttered. Symbolic: mantric articulation of aspiration that calls down light
- dhīḥ
- Literal: thought, insight. Symbolic: inspired intuition/seeing (mati), the operative power of revelation
- bhadrā vastrāṇi arjunā
- Literal: auspicious bright garments. Symbolic: purified, luminous mental-vital coverings that allow dhī to shine
- pitryā
- Literal: of the Fathers/ancestors. Symbolic: attainments of earlier seers; archetypal pioneers of inner realization
Recitation within Soma praise where the ‘ancestral’ inspired intelligence is invoked to become active in the present sacrifice; supports correct formation of śastra (recited praise) and inner right-seeing.
Indra-focused recitations in Soma/Indra contexts; also applicable as a stotra-like praise in assemblies of reciters.
Śastra/stotra-style voicing to invoke illumination and right inspiration.
Use as a pre-meditation invocation for ‘awakening the dhī’: chant, then sit to receive intuitive guidance and widen awareness.
dhīḥ from √dhī/√dhā (Vedic semantic overlap: ‘to hold/put in mind’, ‘to conceive’): inspired vision that supports right action. arjuna ‘bright/white’ relates to clarity (not mere color): the root sense points to shining/whitening, hence symbolic purity of the cognitive forms (vastrāṇi) assumed by insight.
dhī as transmitted seer-knowledge (pitryā), rebirth/renewal of inspiration (jāyamānā), expansion of consciousness (vi)
The ‘widening’ (vi…) expresses alignment with R̥ta—consciousness expanding into right order.
Truth is ‘pūrvyā’ (primordial) yet ‘jāyamānā’ (ever-born).
Descent of higher knowledge into embodied life; renewal of the timeless in time.
Vedāntic/Integral (Aurobindonian) reading: higher planes of mind descending as inspiration.
Heaven = higher mind; bright garments = purified mental-vital sheaths; ‘birth’ = emergence of intuition in waking awareness.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- The recurring Vedic mythologem of ‘heaven-born inspiration’—the dhī descends/awakens from the luminous plane (divaḥ) and takes bright forms (arjunā vastrāṇi), becoming effective in the rite and in the seeker. It is the myth of knowledge’s descent and renewal.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- diváḥ ‘of heaven’ reflects PIE *dyew- ‘sky, shining day’ (cf. Zeus, Jupiter). The verse leverages this inherited Indo-European ‘sky = light/knowledge’ equation to ground dhī as a luminous, supra-mental origin.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The ṛṣi positions himself as heir to the fathers’ seeing (pitryā dhīḥ) and asks for its present activation ‘for us’ (asme). The deity-world is approached through the continuity of inspired knowledge: what the ancestors realized is to be reborn now as living power in the sacrificer.
Receive and stabilize dhī: silent openness after chanting, noticing ‘widening’ and subtle intuitive cues.
Ājñā (brow) and Sahasrāra (crown)
Nādī-śodhana (6–6) for 7 rounds, then natural breath while listening inwardly.
Waking vigilance (jāgṛti) opening to illumined intuition.
Chant once slowly to set the descent, once moderately to widen, then sit 8–12 minutes; end by offering any insight to action (Indra’s effective power).
Mixed udātta/anudātta with svarita on marked syllables; follow the provided Saṃhitā accents (e.g., jā́yamānā, jāgṛ́viḥ, śasyámānā).
Keep udātta as a slight pitch rise; svarita as a fall from the raised tone; do not over-musicalize—clarity over melody.
(divaś cidā): keep sandhi ‘ści’ crisp, (jāgṛviḥ): vocalic ṛ short and clear, (arjunā): ‘rj’ cluster light, not ‘arjuna’ with heavy schwa
Clear, bright, steady; slightly lifted tone on udātta syllables.
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