Rig Veda 8.22.10: Mandala 8, Sukta 22, Mantra 10
Sukta 8.22
- Rishi
- Sobharī Kāṇva
- Devata
- Aśvinau
- Chandas
- Jagatī
- Rasa
- Karuna (compassion) and Vira (heroism)
याभिः पक्थमवथो याभिरध्रिगुं याभिर्बभ्रुं विजोषसम् । ताभिर्नो मक्षू तूयमश्विना गतं भिषज्यतं यदातुरम् ॥
yā́bhiḥ pakthám avatho yā́bhir ádhriguṃ yā́bhir babhrúṃ víjoṣasam | tā́bhir no makṣū́ tū́yam aśvinā gatam bhiṣajyátam yád ātúram ||
ఏ శక్తులతో మీరు పక్థను రక్షించారో, ఏ శక్తులతో అధ్రిగును ఆదరించారో, ఏ శక్తులతో ఆనందం కోల్పోయిన బభ్రువును ఉపకరించారో—అదే శక్తులతో, హే అశ్వినౌ, మా వద్దకు త్వరగా రండి; మా లోని ఏది ఆతురమై, వ్యాకులమై, అసమతుల్యమై ఉందో దానిని భిషజులై చికిత్స చేసి స్వస్థపరచండి।
Word by Word
- याभिः
- with which (fem. instruments)Pronounस्त्रीलिङ्ग, तृतीया विभक्ति, बहुवचनRole करणRoot यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक) → या-
- पक्थम्
- Paktha (a man/tribe)Noun (proper/tribal name)पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया विभक्ति, एकवचनRole कर्मRoot पक्थ (प्रातिपदिक; जन/नाम)
- अवथः
- you two helped/protectedVerbलिट् (परिपूर्ण/परोक्श भूत), मध्यमपुरुष, द्विवचन, परस्मैपदRole क्रिया (कर्तृ: अश्विनौ)Root अव् (रक्षण/पालन) धातु
- याभिः
- with whichPronounस्त्रीलिङ्ग, तृतीया, बहुवचनRole करणRoot यद् → या-
- अध्रिगुम्
- Adhrigu (a man)Noun (proper name)पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचनRole कर्मRoot अध्रिगु (प्रातिपदिक; नाम)
- याभिः
- with whichPronounस्त्रीलिङ्ग, तृतीया, बहुवचनRole करणRoot यद् → या-
- बभ्रुम्
- Babhrū (a man)Noun (proper name)पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचनRole कर्मRoot बभ्रु (प्रातिपदिक; नाम/विशेषण)
- विजोषसम्
- well-pleased / delighting (one)Adjective (epithet)पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन (बभ्रुम् इति विशेषणम्)Role कर्म (विशेषण-रूपेण)Root वि + जोष (√जुष् ‘to enjoy/be pleased’, क्तिन्/असुन्-प्रातिपदिक) → जोषस्; वि-जोषस्
- ताभिः
- with those (same means)Pronounस्त्रीलिङ्ग, तृतीया, बहुवचनRole करणRoot तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक) → ता-
- नः
- for us / ourPronounषष्ठी/चतुर्थी, बहुवचन (एन्क्लिटिक ‘नः’)Role सम्प्रदान (हितार्थे) / सम्बन्धRoot अस्मद् (सर्वनाम)
- मक्षु
- quicklyIndeclinableअव्ययRole क्रियाविशेषणRoot मक्षु (अव्यय)
- तूयम्
- swiftlyIndeclinableअव्ययRole क्रियाविशेषणRoot तूयम् (अव्यय)
- अश्विना
- O AśvinsNoun (dual deity name)पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन, द्विवचनRole सम्बोधनRoot अश्विन् (प्रातिपदिक; देवता-नाम)
- गतम्
- come (you two)!Verb (participle used imperatively)क्त-प्रत्ययान्त, पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, द्विवचन; आज्ञार्थे (लोट्-अर्थे) ‘go/come!’Role क्रियाRoot √गम् (गत्यर्थ) → गत (क्त)
- भिषज्यतम्
- treat (as physicians), heal!Verbलोट् (आज्ञार्थ), मध्यमपुरुष, द्विवचन, आत्मनेपदRole क्रियाRoot भिषज् (प्रातिपदिक ‘physician’) + √यम्/√यत्? (denom./causative sense ‘to treat’) → भिषज्यति;
- यत्
- whatever / that whichPronoun/Relativeनपुंसकलिङ्ग, एकवचन, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (सम्बन्धक)Role कर्म-सम्बन्ध (यद्… तद्-सम्बन्धः)Root यद् (सर्वनाम)
- आतुरम्
- the sick/afflicted (one)Adjective (substantivized)पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचनRole कर्मRoot आतुर (प्रातिपदिक)
Sandhi Notes
- पदच्छेदः (सन्धि-विच्छेद): याभिः | पक्थम् | अवथः | याभिः | अध्रिगुम् | याभिः | बभ्रुम् | विजोषसम् | ताभिः | नः | मक्षु | तूयम् | अश्विना | गतम् | भिषज्यतम् | यत् | आतुरम् । विशेषम्: (1) ‘याभिः … याभिः … याभिः’ इति तृतीया-बहुवचन-स्त्रीलिङ्ग सर्वनाम, ‘ताभिः’ इत्यनेन पुनरनुवादः। (2) ‘अश्विना’ सम्बोधन-द्विवचनम्। (3) ‘गतम्’ क्त-प्रत्ययान्तं रूपं, वेदेषु आज्ञार्थे (लोट्-अर्थे) प्रयुज्यते। (4) ‘नः’ एन्क्लिटिकं—षष्ठी/चतुर्थी-बहुवचनार्थे ‘अस्माकम्/अस्मभ्यम्’। (5) उच्चारण-स्वरचिह्नाः (॑, ॒) पाठगताः
- पदरूपे स्वरः पृथक् न निर्दिष्टः।
The meaning
Outer meaning
The Aśvins are invoked with the powers by which they helped Paktha, Adhrigu, and Babhrū; they are asked to come swiftly and heal whatever is sick.
Inner meaning
The rishi recalls archetypal rescues: past restorations symbolize perennial capacities of the Aśvins to repair broken joy (vijoṣasam) and remove affliction (ātura). The seeker asks that same harmonizing force to enter quickly (makṣū, tūyam) and heal inner disharmony—confused mind, wounded vital, fatigued body—so the journey toward light can continue.
Universal truth
The powers that once restored others are always available: remembrance of grace strengthens faith, and faith opens the being to rapid healing and reintegration.
Themes
Aśvins as healers, swift help, restoration of delight, affliction as disharmony
The seer
- Rishi
- Sobharī Kāṇva
- Lineage
- Kāṇva
- Other hymns
- RV 8.22.12 (similar ‘with those powers come’), RV 1.116–1.120 (Aśvin rescue catalogues; thematic parallels)
Family tradition
Kāṇvas frequently build mantric persuasion by citing earlier divine acts—memory as a spiritual lever that intensifies invocation.
Significance
Sobharī’s approach is therapeutic yoga: call the divine physicians to correct imbalance, not merely to grant external boons.
The deity
- Devata
- Aśvinau (Divine Physicians)
- Epithets
- bhiṣajā (physicians), swift saviors, helpers of the joyless (vijoṣasa)
- Related deities
- Soma (joy restored), Uṣas (renewal), Indra (illumination that removes obscurity)
Cosmic role
Restorers who repair fractures in the human instrument, enabling the dawn-forces to act; rescuers in crisis and transition.
Inner power
Rapid reconstitution—bringing back joy (ānanda), coherence (ṛta), and functional energy (iṣ).
In ritual
Where it is used
Aśvin invocation for protection and healing within Soma/pressing contexts; also suitable for ancillary healing prayers.
याभि॑: प॒क्थमव॑थो॒ याभि॒रध्रि॑गुं॒ याभि॑र्ब॒भ्रुं विजो॑षसम् । ताभि॑र्नो म॒क्षू तूय॑मश्वि॒ना ग॑तं भिष॒ज्यतं॒ यदातु॑रम् ॥
याभिः॑ । प॒क्थम् । अव॑थः । याभिः॑ । अध्रि॑ऽगुम् । याभिः॑ । ब॒भ्रुम् । विऽजो॑षसम् । ताभिः॑ । नः॒ । म॒क्षु । तूय॑म् । अ॒श्वि॒ना॒ । आ । ग॒त॒म् । भि॒ष॒ज्यत॑म् । यत् । आतु॑रम् ॥
yābhiḥ | paktham | avathaḥ | yābhiḥ | adhri-gum | yābhiḥ | babhrum | vi-joṣasam | tābhiḥ | naḥ | makṣu | tūyam | aśvinā | ā | gatam | bhiṣajyatam | yat | āturam
48
4 × ~12 syllables; catalogue-style first half, swift imperative second half
Narrative-to-urgent: remembrance builds, then accelerates into ‘come, heal’.
First steadies faith through recollection; then produces an energizing ‘call-response’ feeling—help is near.
- yābhiḥ
- Literal: by which (powers). Symbolic: specific operative energies of divine help, not vague blessing
- avathaḥ
- Literal: you helped/protected. Symbolic: you upheld the soul’s movement against collapse
- vijoṣasam
- Literal: deprived of joy. Symbolic: loss of ānanda; dryness, depression, disconnection from delight
- makṣū tūyam
- Literal: quickly, swiftly. Symbolic: immediate descent when receptivity is ready
- bhiṣajyataṃ
- Literal: heal, act as physicians. Symbolic: restore right vibration; re-harmonize parts of being
- āturam
- Literal: afflicted/sick. Symbolic: any disturbed formation—mental error, vital unrest, bodily strain
Healing-invocation within Soma praise; applicable where Aśvins are invoked for ārogya and restoration, including domestic/pravargya-adjacent Aśvin motifs (general).
When seeking restoration—before offerings, during moments of strain, or as protective call in rite.
Recitation as āhvāna (invitation) and prārthanā (supplication) for well-being.
Healing mantra for imbalance: use when anxious, depleted, or emotionally ‘joyless’; pair with breath and body-awareness.
(avathaḥ): √av ‘to protect, favor’. (jóṣa): enjoyment, satisfaction; √juṣ ‘to enjoy, be pleased’ (PIE *geus ‘taste/enjoy’ is sometimes compared, but cautiously). (bhiṣaj-): ‘physician/heal’; √bhiṣaj ‘to cure’ (Vedic medical lexicon). (ātúra): ‘distressed, sick’; possibly from ā- + √tur ‘to be overcome/pressed’ (semantic: overpowered). (makṣú): ‘quickly’, adverbial archaic form.
healing as re-harmonizing with ṛta, removal of vi-joṣa (loss of delight), divine assistance to human formations
Illness is a drift from ṛta; Aśvins re-establish right proportion and rhythm.
Citing past acts is satya-smṛti: truth remembered becomes present force.
Re-creation through repair—divine intervention renews the formation rather than abandoning it.
Yoga of transformation: health as harmony of consciousness-forces, not merely physical condition.
dawn/morning urgency (Aśvin swiftness)
Speed = unobstructed descent; healing = re-tuning of the instrument; joy restored = Soma returning to the nerves/mind.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- The Aśvins’ saving-healings of named figures (Paktha, Adhrigu, Babhrū) function as exempla: what they once restored outwardly, they can restore inwardly now. The mythologem is ‘divine medicine’—reconstituting the broken delight and right functioning of the being.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- The protective verb √av is archaic Indo-Iranian in function though not a clear PIE flagship like √yuj. The dual imperatives (gatam, bhiṣajyatam) preserve an old grammatical category used in Indo-European poetic address to paired gods.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The ṛṣi argues by precedent (‘as you helped them, so help us’), binding divine compassion to continuity of action. The gift sought is not material but psychic-physical wholeness: the Aśvins are asked to repair the afflicted part of the seeker’s nature.
Offer the afflicted part of the being to the divine physicians; invite rapid harmonization.
Svādhiṣṭhāna (joy/flow) and Anāhata (healing integration)
‘Healing exhale’: inhale 5, exhale 10 while mentally repeating ‘bhiṣajyataṃ yad āturam’.
Trustful vulnerability leading to renewed steadiness.
Name inwardly what is ‘ātura’ (disturbed). Recall one instance of past help/grace (your ‘Paktha/Adhrigu/Babhrū’). Then call the Aśvins to apply the same force now.
Keep the first half steady and even; intensify pitch/energy on ‘makṣū tūyam … ā gatam’ and soften slightly on ‘bhiṣajyataṃ’.
yā́bhiḥ … yā́bhiḥ … yā́bhiḥ … || tā́bhir no | mákṣū | tū́yam | aśvinā | gátam | bhiṣajyatáṃ | yád ātúram.
paktham: keep ktha cluster clear., adhriguṃ: dh + r; nasalized final ṃ., vijoṣasam: joṣa—keep long o; do not say ‘vijosh’., bhiṣajyataṃ: ṣa retroflex; ‘jy’ cluster clean., āturam: long ā; dental t.
Compassionate but firm; urgency without strain.
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