Rig Veda 7.88.5: Mandala 7, Sukta 88, Mantra 5
Sukta 7.88
- Rishi
- Vasiṣṭha — traditional attribution for RV 7.88
- Devata
- Varuṇa
- Chandas
- Triṣṭubh
- Rasa
- Karuna (compassion) and Shanta (peace)
क्व त्यानि नौ सख्या बभूवुः सचावहे यदवृकं पुरा चित् । बृहन्तं मानं वरुण स्वधावः सहस्रद्वारं जगमा गृहं ते ॥
kvá tyā́ni nau sakhyā́ babhūvuḥ sácāvahe yád avṛkáṃ purā́ cit | bृहántaṃ mā́naṃ varuṇa svadhāvaḥ sahásra-dvāraṃ jagamā gṛháṃ te ||
ఇప్పుడు మా ఆ పూర్వ సఖ్యాలు ఎక్కడ? మనం ఏకత్వంతో కలిసి నడిచినప్పుడు, ఎంతో ప్రాచీన కాలంలోనే అవృకం—హింసలేని, అనిష్టరహిత—ఆ విశాల్యంలో ప్రవేశించాము. హే వరుణా, స్వధావన్, సహస్రద్వారములైన నీ మహాగృహానికి నేను మళ్లీ వచ్చాను—ఆ విస్తృత ఋత్ (ఋత్) నన్ను స్వీకరించుగాక.
Word by Word
- क्व
- where?Indeclinableप्रश्नार्थक-अव्ययRoot क्व (प्रश्नाव्यय)
- त्यानि
- those (things/acts)Pronounनपुंसकलिङ्ग; प्रथमा/द्वितीया; बहुवचनRole KarmaRoot तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- नौ
- of us / to us (two)Pronounषष्ठी/चतुर्थी द्विवचन (एन्क्लिटिक रूप)Role SampradānaRoot अस्मद् (सर्वनाम)
- सख्या
- friendships, bonds of friendshipNounनपुंसकलिङ्ग; प्रथमा/द्वितीया; बहुवचनRole KarmaRoot सखि (प्रातिपदिक)
- बभूवुः
- have become / came to beVerbलिट् (परोक्शभूत/परफेक्ट); परस्मैपद; प्रथमपुरुष; बहुवचनRoot भू (धातु)
- सचावहे
- we two accompany / keep companyVerbलट् (वर्तमान); आत्मनेपद; उत्तमपुरुष; द्विवचनRole KartāRoot सच् (धातु) / सच्-आ (सचावह-)
- यत्
- that whichPronounनपुंसकलिङ्ग; प्रथमा/द्वितीया; एकवचन (सम्बन्धसूचक)Role KarmaRoot यद् (सर्वनाम)
- अवृकम्
- wolf-less; free from harm/robbersAdjectiveनपुंसकलिङ्ग; प्रथमा/द्वितीया; एकवचनRole KarmaRoot अ-वृक (प्रातिपदिक; नञ्-समास)
- पुरा
- formerly, beforeIndeclinableकालवाचक-अव्ययRole AdhikaraṇaRoot पुरा (अव्यय)
- चित्
- even, indeedIndeclinableनिपात (अपि/एव-अर्थे)Root चित् (अव्यय)
- बृहन्तम्
- great, loftyAdjectiveपुंलिङ्ग; द्वितीया; एकवचनRole KarmaRoot बृहन्त् (प्रातिपदिक)
- मानम्
- honour, dignity; (also) measure/standardNounपुंलिङ्ग; द्वितीया; एकवचनRole KarmaRoot मान (प्रातिपदिक)
- वरुण
- O VaruṇaNoun (proper)पुंलिङ्ग; सम्बोधन; एकवचनRoot वरुण (प्रातिपदिक)
- स्वधावः
- O self-sustaining/possessing svadhā (inherent power)Adjectiveपुंलिङ्ग; सम्बोधन; एकवचनRoot स्वधावन् (प्रातिपदिक)
- सहस्रद्वारम्
- thousand-dooredAdjectiveनपुंसकलिङ्ग; द्वितीया; एकवचनRole KarmaRoot सहस्र-द्वार (समास; प्रातिपदिक)
- जगम
- I have gone / I wentVerbलिट् (परफेक्ट); परस्मैपद; उत्तमपुरुष; एकवचनRoot गम् (धातु)
- आ
- unto, towardsIndeclinableउपसर्ग (आ- = towards, unto)Root आ (उपसर्ग/अव्यय)
- गृहम्
- house, dwellingNounनपुंसकलिङ्ग; द्वितीया; एकवचनRole KarmaRoot गृह (प्रातिपदिक)
- ते
- yourPronounषष्ठी; एकवचनRole SampradānaRoot त्वद् (सर्वनाम)
Sandhi Notes
- पदच्छेद (Vedic): क्व | त्यानि | नौ | सख्या | बभूवुः | सचावहे | यत् | अवृकम् | पुरा | चित् | बृहन्तम् | मानम् | वरुण | स्वधावः | सहस्रद्वारम् | जगम | आ | गृहम् | ते । प्रमुख-सन्धि: (1) सचा + वहे → सचावहे (आत्मनेपद द्विवचन)
- (2) जगम + आ → जगमा (पाठे संधि-रूप; पदे ‘जगम | आ’)
- (3) ‘त्यानि’ = तद्-प्रातिपदिकस्य नपुंसक बहुवचन (त्यानि) वैदिक-रूप
The meaning
Outer meaning
The seer asks where their former friendships are, when they moved together in oneness and entered the ancient harm-free wideness. He says he has come again to Varuṇa’s vast home with a thousand gates.
Inner meaning
A cry of lost intimacy: the soul remembers earlier states of union (sakhyā, sacāvahe) with the divine Vast. ‘avṛkam’ (wolf-less, harm-free) points to a consciousness free from predatory impulses—no devouring ego or hostile vital movement. The ‘bṛhantam mānam’ is the great measure/standard: Varuṇa’s vast truth-norm (ṛta) in which the being once moved naturally. Now the seeker returns to the ‘house’ of Varuṇa—an inner realm of Truth with ‘thousand gates’: innumerable openings of perception and approaches of realization. It is a mantra of re-entry into wideness after contraction.
Universal truth
The spiritual path includes remembrance and return: when intimacy with the Infinite is obscured, one can re-approach the vast truth through sincerity, widening, and self-law.
Themes
return-to-the-Vast, loss-and-recovery-of-divine-intimacy, inner-purification, Varuṇa-as-guardian-of-Ṛta
The seer
- Rishi
- Vasiṣṭha (Maitrāvaruṇi)
- Lineage
- Vasiṣṭha
- Other hymns
- RV 7.86, RV 7.87, RV 7.88.6
Family tradition
The Vasiṣṭha-Varuṇa hymns uniquely combine confession, longing, and metaphysical wideness—often voiced as a personal relationship with the cosmic law.
Significance
This verse is a classic Vasiṣṭha motif: the soul’s nostalgia for earlier union with Truth and its deliberate return to the divine home.
The deity
- Devata
- Varuṇa
- Epithets
- svadhāvaḥ, urukṣaya (implicit), sahasradvāra-gṛhapati (implied lord of the thousand-gated home)
- Related deities
- Mitra, Aditi (wideness), Uṣas
Cosmic role
Lord of vastness and truth-measure; keeper of the safe, harm-free realm; receiver of the returning seeker.
Inner power
Restores intimacy by widening; offers multiple ‘gates’—many-sided access to truth (ethical, contemplative, intuitive).
In ritual
Where it is used
Varuṇa reconciliation/śānti; personal prayer after lapse, seeking restoration of friendship and protection.
क्व१॒॑ त्यानि॑ नौ स॒ख्या ब॑भूवु॒: सचा॑वहे॒ यद॑वृ॒कं पु॒रा चि॑त् । बृ॒हन्तं॒ मानं॑ वरुण स्वधावः स॒हस्र॑द्वारं जगमा गृ॒हं ते॑ ॥
क्व॑ । त्यानि॑ । नौ॒ । स॒ख्या । ब॒भू॒वुः॒ । सचा॑वहे॒ इति॑ । यत् । अ॒वृ॒कम् । पु॒रा । चि॒त् । बृ॒हन्त॑म् । मान॑म् । व॒रु॒ण॒ । स्व॒धा॒ऽवः॒ । स॒हस्र॑ऽद्वारम् । ज॒ग॒म॒ । गृ॒हम् । ते॒ ॥
kva | tyāni | nau | sakhyā | babhūvuḥ | sacāvahe iti | yat | avṛkam | purā | cit | bṛhantam | mānam | varuṇa | svadhāvaḥ | sahasra-dvāram | jagama | gṛham | te
44
4×11 (approx.)
Interrogative then expansive; the first half carries yearning, the second half opens into vast assurance.
Elicits remembrance and aspiration; naturally widens the breath and chest as the imagery turns to ‘bṛhantam’ and ‘sahasra’.
- sakhyā
- Literal: friendships. Symbolic: intimate communion with the Divine Presence
- sacāvahe
- Literal: we moved together, in company. Symbolic: conscious union; co-walking with the divine guidance
- avṛkam
- Literal: wolf-less, harm-free. Symbolic: state free of predatory ego/vital hostility; safe wideness
- bṛhantam mānam
- Literal: great measure/standard. Symbolic: the vast norm of ṛta; truth-measure of being
- svadhāvaḥ
- Literal: having self-law. Symbolic: autonomous truth-nature; inner governance aligned to ṛta
- sahasradvāram gṛham
- Literal: house with a thousand doors. Symbolic: the infinite Truth-realm with countless openings of approach and realization
Varuṇa-invocations in soma contexts; used as prayer for release from bonds (pāśa) and restoration to Ṛta; broadly applicable in expiatory/appeasement (śānti-prāyaścitta) moments within Śrauta performance.
Evening reflection, confession, or before sleep; also at new beginnings after moral/psychological contraction.
Recitation with water sips (ācamana) and a vow of truthfulness; mental offering of ‘return’.
A mantra for reconnection: when you feel spiritually ‘far’, chant as a homecoming into wideness and safety.
(interrogative adverb). (n. from ‘friend’, companionship; in RV often denotes intimate alliance between man and god). : 1pl middle (dual sense in meaning though form is plural) from √ ‘to accompany, be associated’; RV idiom ‘sacā’ = together. : a- + vṛka ‘wolf’; ‘wolf-less’ → free from devouring/destroying forces; psychologically: free from inner predation (fear, falsehood). : from √ ‘to grow, expand’ → vast, wide. : from √ ‘to measure’; in RV can be ‘measure/standard’ (right proportion), also ‘esteem’; here fits ‘the vast measure’ = the wide norm of Ṛta. : possessive from svadhā (sva + √ā ‘to place’) ‘one’s own placing/innate law, autonomous power’; epithet of deities acting by their inherent truth. : sahasra ‘thousand’ + ‘door’ (PIE *dhwer- ‘door’), many-gated domain. : perfect/preterite of √ ‘to go’.
Ṛta (cosmic order and right law), Satyam–Ṛtam–Bṛhat (truth, right-working, vastness), pāśa (bond) and release as moral-psychological liberation
Varuṇa’s ‘great measure’ is ṛta as the standard the seeker seeks to re-enter.
Truth as a dwelling-place with many gates—truth is approached from multiple angles but is one home.
The ‘house’ as cosmic order; multiplicity of gates suggests manifold worlds/powers within the One Vast.
Integral Vedism: return to the Infinite through widening and ethical purification, not mere ritual appeasement.
vast sky/waters imagery implicit in Varuṇa’s domain; ‘house with many doors’ as cosmic expanse (horizon/firmament) transposed inward
The psyche re-enters a spacious, safe inner domain; ‘gates’ are openings of perception and capacities of approach (silence, truth-speech, right action, devotion).
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- The ‘return to the god’s dwelling’ mythologem: the seer recalls an earlier companionship with Varuṇa in an ‘avṛka’ (harm-free) condition and now approaches the deity’s vast, many-gated home. Mythically this is re-entry into Varuṇa’s realm of Ṛta; psychologically it is the recovery of a former wideness and purity of consciousness after a lapse.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- Key lexemes preserve archaic Indo-European poetic material: ‘door’ aligns with PIE *dʰwer- (cf. Greek thýra, Latin forēs). √ ‘go’ is a core IE motion root (cf. English ‘come’ via Germanic *kweman, ultimately related motion semantics though not direct cognate; more securely: Latin venīre is different, but the IE system of suppletive motion verbs is comparable). √ ‘measure’ reflects PIE *meh₁- ‘to measure’ (cf. Latin mētīrī). The compound sahasra-dvāra is a typical RV compositional strategy: numeral + concrete noun to express cosmic magnitude.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- It is a relationship of remembered reciprocity: the ṛṣi speaks as a former companion (sakhyā) who once ‘moved together’ (√sac) with Varuṇa in a protected wideness, and now returns as a petitioner seeking restoration. Varuṇa is approached not as distant judge alone but as an intimate guide whose svadhā (self-law) can re-establish the seeker’s right measure (māna) in Ṛta.
Homecoming into wideness: remember a prior state of truth; ask for restoration; then rest in the ‘thousand-gated’ inner space.
anāhata (wideness/heart)
Coherent breathing (5–6 breaths/min); on inhale feel ‘bṛhantam’, on exhale release contraction and self-accusation.
Bhakti-tinged recollection moving into spacious stillness.
Chant slowly, letting the question be sincere, not dramatic. After chanting, visualize a vast inner hall with many doors; allow one door to ‘open’ as a simple next step (truthful act, apology, renewed practice).
Preserve interrogative lift on ‘kva’; maintain Vedic accents on ‘varuṇa’ and ‘svadhāvaḥ’.
First pāda: let the question be clear and slightly rising; later pādas broaden and settle, especially on ‘sahasradvāram’.
kva: labio-velar ‘kv’ cluster—no extra vowel (‘kuva’)., avṛkam: vocalic ṛ in vṛ., svadhāvaḥ: aspirated dh; long ā; visarga softly released., sahasradvāram: articulate -sr- cluster; keep long ā in -dvā-.
Warm, intimate, slightly plaintive then widening and assured.
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