Rig Veda 5.65.5: Mandala 5, Sukta 65, Mantra 5
Sukta 5.65
- Rishi
- Atri
- Devata
- Mitra–Varuṇa
- Chandas
- Triṣṭubh
- Rasa
- Shanta (peace)
वयं मित्रस्यावसि स्याम सप्रथस्तमे । अनेहसस्त्वोतयः सत्रा वरुणशेषसः ॥
vayáṃ mitrásyā́vasi syā́ma sapráthatame | anehásaḥ tvótayaḥ satrā́ váruṇaśeṣasaḥ ||
మిత్రుని అవస్ (రక్షక అనుగ్రహం) లో మేము నివసించుదుము—అత్యంత విస్తారమైన సహాయంలో. ఓ వరుణ-శేషస (వరుణుని రక్షణలో ఏదీ అసంపూర్ణంగా విడువని వాడా), నీ అశ్రాంత, నిరంతర ఉతయః (సహాయాలు) సదా మా వెంట ఉండుగాక.
Word by Word
- वयम्
- wePronounपुं/स्त्री/नपुं (त्रिलिङ्ग), प्रथमा, बहुवचनRole कर्तृRoot अस्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- मित्रस्य
- of MitraNounपुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, एकवचनRole सम्बन्ध (षष्ठी)Root मित्र (प्रातिपदिक)
- आवसि
- in/under the protectionNounनपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, एकवचनRole अधिकारणRoot अवस् (प्रातिपदिक; ‘help, protection’)
- स्याम
- may (we) beVerbविधिलिङ् (optative), प्रथमपुरुष, बहुवचनRole (क्रिया)Root अस् (धातु)
- सप्रथस्तमे
- most widely famed / most expansiveAdjectiveपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन (वयम् इति सह)Role कर्तृ-विशेषणRoot स-प्रथस्-तम (प्रातिपदिक; superlative)
- अनेहसः
- untroubled, unneedyAdjectiveपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचनRole कर्तृ-विशेषणRoot अन्-एहस् (प्रातिपदिक; ‘without distress/need’)
- त्वोतयः
- your aids/protectionsNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचनRole कर्तृ (स्याम् इति सह; ‘we may be … your helps’ / ‘possessing your helps’)Root त्व-ऊति (प्रातिपदिक; ‘your help/protection’)
- सत्रा
- always, continuallyIndeclinableअव्ययRole क्रियाविशेषणRoot सत्रा (अव्यय)
- वरुणशेषसः
- (those) having Varuṇa’s grace/boonNoun (compound)पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचनRole कर्तृ-विशेषण (त्वोतयः/वयम् इत्यर्थे)Root वरुण-शेषस् (समास-प्रातिपदिक; ‘Varuṇa’s favor/mercy, remainder/boon’)
Sandhi Notes
- पदच्छेदः: वयम् | मित्रस्य | आवसि | स्याम | सप्रथस्तमे | अनेहसः | त्वोतयः | सत्रा | वरुणशेषसः || 1) मित्रस्य + आवसि → मित्रस्यावसि (स्वर-सन्धि/सवर्णदीर्घ)
- 2) त्वा + ऊतयः → त्वोतयः (स्वर-सन्धि: आ + ऊ → ओ)
The meaning
Outer meaning
May we be in Mitra’s protection, in his widest help; unwearying may your aids be with us always, O you who leave nothing undone within Varuṇa’s guardianship.
Inner meaning
The seeker asks to live inside Mitra’s avas (protective grace): a widening support (saprathastama) that expands the being. The ‘unwearying helps’ (anehasaḥ tvāūtayaḥ) are continuous descents of harmonizing force, safeguarded by Varuṇa’s comprehensive law—nothing in the nature is left ungoverned or unfinished (varuṇaśeṣasaḥ).
Universal truth
True protection is not mere shelter; it is an ever-renewing, tireless support that widens life and completes what is incomplete through a higher order.
Themes
Āditya-protection, inner wideness, truth-law guardianship, continuous help
The seer
- Rishi
- Atri Ātreya
- Lineage
- Ātreya
- Other hymns
- RV 5.65, RV 5.66, RV 5.63
Family tradition
Atri hymns to Adityas often combine Mitra’s harmony with Varuṇa’s vast guardianship, aiming at integral protection and wideness.
Significance
Atri’s vision frames grace as wideness: the divine help is expansive, continuous, and integrative—bringing all movements under a single luminous law.
The deity
- Devata
- Mitra–Varuṇa (with Mitra foregrounded)
- Epithets
- Mitra: saprathastama (most expansive), Varuṇa: guardian of ṛta, varuṇaśeṣasaḥ (leaving nothing undone/excluded)
- Related deities
- Aryaman, Bhaga, Savitar, Indra
Cosmic role
Mitra widens and harmonizes; Varuṇa encompasses, binds to law, and protects by vast vigilance—together ensuring ordered freedom.
Inner power
Harmonizing wideness (Mitra) + comprehensive truth-governance (Varuṇa) producing stable, tireless guidance.
In ritual
Where it is used
Aditya stotras within Soma ritual sequences; prayers for protection of community and rite.
व॒यं मि॒त्रस्याव॑सि॒ स्याम॑ स॒प्रथ॑स्तमे । अ॒ने॒हस॒स्त्वोत॑यः स॒त्रा वरु॑णशेषसः ॥
व॒यम् । मि॒त्रस्य॑ । अव॑सि । स्याम॑ । स॒प्रथः॑ऽतमे । अ॒ने॒हसः॑ । त्वाऽऊ॑तयः । स॒त्रा । वरु॑णऽशेषसः ॥
vayam | mitrasya | avasi | syāma | saprathaḥ-tame | anehasaḥ | tvāūtayaḥ | satrā | varuṇa-śeṣasaḥ
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4×11 (approx.)
Expansive and even; the long vowels support a feeling of breadth (pra-tha).
Induces trust and sustained calm; supports a sense of continuous protection ‘always’ (satrā).
- अवस् (avas)
- Literal: help, protection, favor. Symbolic: grace that upholds the sadhaka; sustaining higher influence
- सप्रथस्तम (saprathastama)
- Literal: most wide/expansive. Symbolic: maximum wideness of consciousness; broad field for right action
- अनेहस् (anehas)
- Literal: unwearied, not slack. Symbolic: ceaseless divine assistance; steady pressure of the higher Force
- ऊति (ūti)
- Literal: aid, succor. Symbolic: interventions/impulses of guidance and protection in inner life
- सत्रा (satrā)
- Literal: always, continuously. Symbolic: unbroken continuity of the yoga-force
- वरुणशेषस (varuṇaśeṣasa)
- Literal: leaving nothing to Varuṇa / leaving nothing undone (with Varuṇa). Symbolic: integral governance by vast law; no part of the being excluded from truth-order
Invoked in soma and daily offering contexts as guardians of ṛta; suitable for recitation in rites seeking social harmony, truth-keeping, and protection (general Āditya-prayoga rather than a single exclusive śrauta niche).
Daily/morning recitations; also in communal rites seeking harmony and lawful order.
Recitation with offerings; invocation of protective ‘avas’ and ‘ūti’.
A daily protection-and-widening mantra: chant before work to set an atmosphere of harmony and thoroughness (nothing left undone).
Key terms: avas ‘help, protection’ from √av ‘to protect, favor’. prath ‘to spread, widen’ (cf. pr̥thú ‘broad’), hence saprathastama ‘most expansive help’. ūti ‘aid, succour’ from √av/√ū? (traditional: noun of assistance; functionally ‘uplifting protection’). an-ehasa ‘unwearied’ with privative a- + ehas ‘strain/fatigue’. varuṇa-śeṣasa: śeṣa ‘remainder, residue’ (√śiṣ ‘to leave over’), suggesting ‘complete, leaving nothing lacking’ under Varuṇa’s ṛta.
Ṛta (cosmic rightness, law), protection/grace (avas, ūti), integration of harmony (Mitra) with law/containment (Varuṇa)
Varuṇa’s guardianship represents the binding of life to ṛta; Mitra makes ṛta livable through harmony.
Truth manifests as reliable help and completion—support that does not fail or fatigue.
Sustained cosmic maintenance: continuous aids that keep the worlds ordered and progressive.
Integral/Aditya theology: wideness plus law as conditions for divine life.
day (Mitra) with overarching sky-vastness (Varuṇa)
The ‘widest help’ is spacious awareness; Varuṇa’s ‘guardianship’ is the inner law that holds the practice intact.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- The mythic action is the establishment and maintenance of ṛta through the paired powers Mitra and Varuṇa: harmony (Mitra) and binding law/guardianship (Varuṇa). The ‘unwearying helps’ (anehasaḥ ūtayaḥ) are the continuous interventions of these cosmic powers to keep the human collective within right order.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- Mitra (contract/friendship) aligns with Indo-Iranian *mitra- ‘agreement, covenant’ (cf. Avestan miθra). Varuṇa’s semantic field of binding/covering is often connected to roots of enclosing/tying; while etymologies vary, the poetic pairing mirrors an Indo-European juridical-cosmic dyad: social concord plus sovereign law.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The seer speaks as a collective ‘we’, asking not for outer gain but for abiding in avas (protective grace) and for ever-present ūti (succour). The reciprocity is ethical-psychological: the humans consent to live in widened consciousness (saprathastama) and the gods respond by sustaining unbroken protection within Varuṇa’s order.
Rest in ‘avas’—feel the protecting field around the body and mind; offer all unfinished movements to Varuṇa’s comprehensive order.
Viśuddha (truth-alignment) and Anāhata (trust)
Slow 1:2 breathing (inhale 4, exhale 8) while mentally repeating ‘satrā’.
Sustained equanimity with widening clarity; feeling of being continuously accompanied.
Begin with a brief sankalpa: ‘May my work be harmonious and complete.’ Chant once slowly, then sit 2 minutes noticing where life feels ‘unfinished’; offer that space to Varuṇa’s law and Mitra’s wideness.
Rigvedic accenting per śākala tradition (exact svara requires marked text); maintain clear udātta on ‘váyam’, ‘mítrasya’, ‘ávyasi’, ‘saprathastáme’, ‘satrā’.
Keep pāda pauses distinct; let ‘saprathastame’ broaden in tone (slightly lengthened).
: articulate ‘prath’ with aspirated ‘th’, : ‘neh’ long e; avoid ‘niha’, /: keep ‘tv’ cluster clean; lengthen ‘ū’, : retroflex ‘ṣ’ in śeṣa; visarga audible
soft, steady, reassuring.
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