Rig Veda 8.20.24: Mandala 8, Sukta 20, Mantra 24
Sukta 8.20
- Rishi
- Sobharī Kāṇva
- Devata
- Maruts
- Chandas
- Trishtubh
- Rasa
- Adbhuta (wonder) and Vira (heroism)
याभिः सिन्धुमवथ याभिस्तूर्वथ याभिर्दशस्यथा क्रिविम् । मयो नो भूतोतिभिर्मयोभुवः शिवाभिरसचद्विषः ॥
yā́bhiḥ síndhum ávatha yā́bhis tū́rvatha yā́bhir daśasyáthā krívim | máyō no bhūtotíbhir mayō-bhuvaḥ śivā́bhir asaca-dvíṣaḥ ||
ఏ సహాయాలతో మీరు సింధువును కాపాడారో, ఏ సహాయాలతో తూర్వను వేగపరిచారో, ఏ సహాయాలతో క్రివిని సమృద్ధి పరచారో—ఆ ఉతుల (సహాయాల)తో మాకు ఆనందస్వరూపులై ఉండండి, హే మయోభువః (ఆనందదాతలు); మీ శివ (కల్యాణకర) శక్తులతో మా అంతరంలోని ద్వేషి/శత్రు బలాలను అంటిపట్టి జయించండి.
Word by Word
- याभिः
- with which (fem. instr. pl.)Pronounस्त्रीलिङ्ग, तृतीया विभक्ति, बहुवचनRole करणRoot यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक) → या-
- सिन्धुम्
- the Sindhu (river/stream)Nounपुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया विभक्ति, एकवचनRole कर्मRoot सिन्धु-
- अवथ
- you helped/protectedVerbलङ् (इम्पर्फेक्ट्), मध्यमपुरुष, एकवचन, परस्मैपदRole (क्रिया)Root अव् (अव्/अवा) ‘रक्षणे, सहाय्ये’
- याभिः
- with whichPronounस्त्रीलिङ्ग, तृतीया, बहुवचनRole करणRoot यद् → या-
- तूर्वथ
- Tūrva (a person/tribe)Noun (proper/tribal name)पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचनRole कर्मRoot तूर्वि- (नाम/विशेषण-प्रातिपदिक; जन/वीर-नाम) → तूर्व-
- याभिः
- with whichPronounस्त्रीलिङ्ग, तृतीया, बहुवचनRole करणRoot यद् → या-
- दशस्यथाः
- you show favor / you helpVerbलट् (वर्तमान), मध्यमपुरुष, एकवचन, परस्मैपदRole (क्रिया)Root दशस्य् ‘दशस्यति = उपकारं करोति/प्रशंसति’
- क्रिविम्
- Krivi (a person/tribe)Noun (proper name)पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचनRole कर्मRoot क्रिवि- (नाम; जन/पुरुष-नाम)
- मयः
- well-being, blissNounनपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा विभक्ति, एकवचनRole कर्तृ (भू-क्रियायाः)Root मयस्- (नपुंसकलिङ्ग; ‘सुख/आनन्द/कल्याण’)
- नः
- to usPronounषष्ठी/चतुर्थी-एकवचन (एन्क्लिटिक ‘नः’ = our/to us; here dative sense)Role सम्प्रदानRoot अस्मद् (सर्वनाम)
- भूत
- be (become)!Verbलोट् (आज्ञार्थ), मध्यमपुरुष, एकवचन, परस्मैपदRole (क्रिया)Root भू ‘भवति’
- ऊतिभिः
- with helps/protectionsNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग, तृतीया, बहुवचनRole करणRoot ऊति- (स्त्री; ‘सहायता/रक्षा’)
- मयःभुवः
- O bliss-bringing oneAdjective (compound)पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन/प्रथमा, एकवचन (देव-सम्बोधन)Role सम्बोधनRoot मयः-भुव- (बहुव्रीहि/कर्मधारय-समास; ‘मयः’ + ‘भू’ से ‘भुव’)
- शिवाभिः
- with auspicious (powers/helps)Adjective (used substantively)स्त्रीलिङ्ग, तृतीया, बहुवचनRole करणRoot शिवा- (स्त्री; ‘कल्याणी/शुभा’)
- असचत्
- may he join/attach (or: he joined)Verbलङ् (इम्पर्फेक्ट्), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन, परस्मैपदRole (क्रिया)Root सच् ‘सचते = सह गच्छति/अनुगच्छति/संयुज्यते’
- द्विषः
- the haters, enemiesNounपुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया विभक्ति, बहुवचनRole कर्मRoot द्विष्- (द्विष् ‘द्वेष्टि’ से; ‘शत्रु/द्वेष्टा’)
Sandhi Notes
- पदच्छेदः (सन्धि-विच्छेद): याभिः | सिन्धुम् | अवथ | याभिः | तूर्वथ | याभिः | दशस्यथाः | क्रिविम् | मयः | नः | भूत | ऊतिभिः | मयःभुवः | शिवाभिः | असचत् | द्विषः । विशेषम्: (1) ‘याभिः’ त्रिवारं—करण-तृतीया बहुवचन, स्त्रीलिङ्ग (ऊतयः/शिवाः इत्यादि शक्तयः/सहायताः सूचयन्ति)। (2) ‘नः’ एन्क्लिटिक सर्वनाम—अत्र ‘to us’ (चतुर्थी-अर्थ) ग्रहणीयम्। (3) ‘मयःभुवः’ समास-विशेषणं देव-सम्बोधनरूपेण।
The meaning
Outer meaning
The poet recalls the aids by which the Maruts helped Sindhu, sped Tūrva, and made Krivi prosper. He asks them to be a delight with their succours and, with auspicious powers, to cling to and overcome hostile forces.
Inner meaning
Past victories of the Marut-force symbolize earlier inner breakthroughs: they have supported the flow (Sindhu), accelerated progress (Tūrva), and increased prosperity/competence (Krivi). The seeker asks for the same ‘ūtis’ (helps) to become ‘mayaḥ’—a delight/joyous ease—within the being. ‘Śivābhiḥ’ indicates beneficent, harmonizing energies that attach themselves to the aspirant and press upon the inner adversaries (dviṣaḥ): doubts, depressions, inertia, and hostile formations.
Universal truth
The powers that once helped us through earlier passages can be invoked again: spiritual growth is cumulative. When higher energies adhere to us in auspiciousness, they naturally dislodge what is hostile to our progress.
Themes
precedent-based invocation, aid to peoples/streams, joy and auspiciousness, overcoming hostility
The seer
- Other hymns
- Rig Veda 8.20.22, Rig Veda 8.20.23, Rig Veda 8.20.25, Rig Veda 8.20.26
Significance
The seer uses remembered divine ‘helps’ as a template for present sadhana—an inner hermeneutic where historical names encode psychological movements and capacities.
The deity
- Devata
- Maruts
- Epithets
- mayobhuvaḥ (makers of delight), śivāḥ (auspicious)
- Related deities
- Indra, Soma, Agni
Cosmic role
They aid and protect the forward-moving powers, ensuring victory over opposition and establishing gladness after struggle.
Inner power
Joy-bearing dynamic force that both energizes and harmonizes; it ‘clings’ to the being as a protective, transformative pressure against hostility.
In ritual
Where it is used
Protective and beneficent invocation recalling prior divine interventions (itihāsa-like exempla) to secure present aid; suitable in Soma contexts calling Maruts for support against inner/outer hostility.
याभि॒: सिन्धु॒मव॑थ॒ याभि॒स्तूर्व॑थ॒ याभि॑र्दश॒स्यथा॒ क्रिवि॑म् । मयो॑ नो भूतो॒तिभि॑र्मयोभुवः शि॒वाभि॑रसचद्विषः ॥
याभिः॑ । सिन्धु॑म् । अव॑थ । याभिः॑ । तूर्व॑थ । याभिः॑ । द॒श॒स्यथ॑ । क्रिवि॑म् । मयः॑ । नः॒ । भू॒त॒ । ऊ॒तिऽभिः॑ । म॒यः॒ऽभु॒वः॒ । शि॒वाभिः॑ । अ॒स॒च॒ऽद्वि॒षः॒ ॥
yābhiḥ | sindhum | avatha | yābhiḥ | tūrvatha | yābhiḥ | daśasyatha | krivim | mayaḥ | naḥ | bhūta | ūti-bhiḥ | mayaḥ-bhuvaḥ | śivābhiḥ | asaca-dviṣaḥ
44
4 pādas (approx. 11 syllables each; estimated)
Narrative-to-invocation movement: recollection (first half) shifting to blessing and conquest (second half).
Builds faith through remembrance, then turns into a forceful request for protection and delight.
- ऊतिऽभिः (ūtibhiḥ)
- Literal: helps, succours. Symbolic: interventions of higher force supporting transformation
- सिन्धु (sindhu)
- Literal: river/stream (Sindhu). Symbolic: the great flow of consciousness; life-current moving toward wideness
- तूर्व (tūrva)
- Literal: a name (Tūrva). Symbolic: the impulse of swift progress; accelerated movement in yoga
- क्रिवि (krivi)
- Literal: a name (Krivi). Symbolic: the field of growth/prosperity; capacity-building in nature
- मयः (mayaḥ)
- Literal: delight, gladness. Symbolic: ease of the soul; ananda-touch in life-energy
- शिवाभिः (śivābhiḥ)
- Literal: auspicious, gracious (powers). Symbolic: harmonizing forces that heal and protect
- द्विषः (dviṣaḥ)
- Literal: hostile ones. Symbolic: inner resistances and adversarial impulses
Protective and beneficent invocation recalling prior divine interventions (itihāsa-like exempla) to secure present aid; suitable in Soma contexts calling Maruts for support against inner/outer hostility.
Protective Marut recitations; invoked when seeking victory over adversities and for well-being after struggle.
Praise of past aid followed by petition for present succour and overcoming of hostility.
Use when facing obstacles (inner or outer): recall prior breakthroughs, then invoke auspicious force to ‘cling’ and support.
√av ‘help/protect’ (Latin aveo is not cognate; but PIE *h₂ew- ‘favor/help’ is sometimes proposed for Vedic av-). √bhū ‘become, be’ PIE *bʰuH-. dviṣ- ‘to hate’ (PIE *dweyḱ- ‘to show hostility’ often compared). maya- ‘delight, refreshment’ possibly linked to √mā ‘measure/form’ in semantic developments of ‘well-formed ease’; in RV primarily experiential ‘gladness/soothing’.
ṛta as victorious alignment over hostility, anugraha (divine favor) through remembered precedents, śiva as benign power (not later sectarian Śiva)
The Maruts’ helps restore right movement of the stream and the journey—Ṛta as right dynamism.
Memory of effective divine action becomes a truth-support for present aspiration.
Sustaining and prospering the evolving being by recurring descents of force.
Integral psychological interpretation: names as soul-movements; delight as a spiritual criterion.
River = flow of consciousness; wind = prāṇa-force; ‘auspicious powers’ = harmonizing vibrations that adhere and protect.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- The mythologem is ‘recalling former rescues’—the Maruts’ past aid to named powers (Sindhu, Tūrva, Krivi) becomes the warrant for present intervention. Psychologically, memory of prior inner victories stabilizes faith (śraddhā) and reactivates the same divine modalities (yābhiḥ) to overcome present ‘haters’—forces of division and resistance.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- √bhū ‘be/become’ is a clear PIE inheritance (*bʰuH-; cf. English be, Latin fuī via *bʰuH- developments). The imperative bhūta ‘be!’ marks the performative nature of Vedic speech: utterance is an act meant to effect being.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The rishi uses a contractual rhetoric: ‘as you did then, do now’. The devatā is not flattered for spectacle but invoked as an operative power whose consistent action in ṛta can be relied upon; the human seeks transformation into mayaḥ (glad ease) and active pressure upon inner adversaries.
Invoke Marut ‘succours’ as protective, auspicious energies that attach to your field and press out hostile formations.
Anahata (protective wideness) and Manipura (victory-force)
Breath with gentle emphasis on the exhale to ‘release hostility’ (e.g., inhale 4, exhale 6) while repeating śivābhiḥ… dviṣaḥ.
Protected dynamism—active yet inwardly glad.
Begin by recollecting one prior inner victory; chant; then sit silently imagining auspicious wind-currents wrapping the body like armor, dissolving inner opposition.
Not specified; chant with rising emphasis on yābhiḥ… (anaphora) and a firm cadence on śivābhir asacadviṣaḥ.
Mark the repeated yābhiḥ as rhythmic anchors; stress mayobhuvaḥ and śivābhiḥ.
yābhiḥ: long ā; visarga on -hiḥ lightly aspirated, daśasyathā: keep śa clear; avoid ‘dasas’, mayobhuvaḥ: ‘bh’ aspirated; v as ‘va’, asacadviṣaḥ: sandhi cluster—articulate a-sa-cad-dvi-ṣaḥ with retroflex ṣ
Clear, rhythmic, slightly faster to match the repeated ‘yābhiḥ’ momentum.
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