Rig Veda 8.6.35: Mandala 8, Sukta 6, Mantra 35
Sukta 8.6
- Rishi
- Kaṇva
- Devata
- Indra
- Chandas
- Triṣṭubh
- Rasa
- Vira (heroism) and Shanta (peace)
इन्द्रमुक्थानि वावृधुः समुद्रमिव सिन्धवः । अनुत्तमन्युमजरम् ॥
índram ukthā́ni vāvṛdhuḥ samudrám iva síndhavaḥ | ánuttamanyum ajáram ||
ఉక్థాలు ఇంద్రుని వృద్ధి చేశాయి—నదులు సముద్రాన్ని పెంపొందించునట్లు; ఆయన అనుత్తమ మన్యు (అతుల తేజస్సు) కలవాడు, అజరుడు—అవినాశి.
Word by Word
- इन्द्रम्
- Indra (as object)Nounपुंलिङ्ग; द्वितीया विभक्ति; एकवचनRole कर्मRoot इन्द्र (प्रातिपदिक)
- उक्थानि
- hymns, recitations (ukthas)Nounनपुंसकलिङ्ग; प्रथमा विभक्ति; बहुवचनRole कर्तृRoot उक्थ (प्रातिपदिक; √वच् ‘to speak’ से निष्पन्न स्तुति/उक्थ)
- वावृधुः
- have increased, have strengthenedVerbलिट् (परिपूर्ण/परफेक्ट); परस्मैपद; तृतीय पुरुष; बहुवचनRole क्रियाRoot √वृध् (वर्धने)
- समुद्रम्
- the oceanNounपुंलिङ्ग; द्वितीया विभक्ति; एकवचनRole कर्मRoot समुद्र (प्रातिपदिक)
- इव
- like, asIndeclinableउपमा-अव्ययRoot इव
- सिन्धवः
- rivers, streamsNounपुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा विभक्ति; बहुवचनRole कर्तृRoot सिन्धु (प्रातिपदिक)
- अनुत्तमन्
- unsurpassed, bestAdjectiveपुंलिङ्ग; द्वितीया विभक्ति; एकवचन (इन्द्रम् विशेषण)Role कर्म (विशेषण-रूपेण)Root अनुत्तम (प्रातिपदिक; अनु-उत्तम ‘unsurpassed, best’)
- युम्
- himPronounपुंलिङ्ग; द्वितीया विभक्ति; एकवचन (इन्द्रम् का पुनरुक्ति-सूचक)Role कर्मRoot यु (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक; एनम्/इमम्-समूह का वैदिक रूप)
- अजरम्
- unaging, agelessAdjectiveपुंलिङ्ग; द्वितीया विभक्ति; एकवचन (इन्द्रम्/युम् विशेषण)Role कर्म (विशेषण-रूपेण)Root अजर (प्रातिपदिक; अ-जर ‘not aging’)
Sandhi Notes
- पदच्छेद: इन्द्रम् | उक्थानि | वावृधुः | समुद्रम् | इव | सिन्धवः | अनुत्तमन् | युम् | अजरम् || सन्धि: (1) इन्द्रम् + उक्थानि → इन्द्रमु॒क्थानि (अ + उ = उ; पररूप/सवर्णदीर्घ-न होकर ‘उ’ प्रकट)
- (2) समुद्रम् + इव → समुद्रमिव (म् + इ → मि; अनुनासिक ‘म्’ का परसवर्ण)
- (3) अनुत्तमन् + युम् → अनुत्तमन्युम् (न् + य् → न्य्)
The meaning
Outer meaning
The recited hymns have increased Indra, as rivers increase the ocean; he has unsurpassed ardour and is ageless.
Inner meaning
Ukthas—strong, truth-bearing recitations—do not merely praise but ‘increase’ Indra within the human field: illumination grows by the power of rightly voiced insight. As many rivers pour into one ocean, diverse movements of aspiration, understanding, and energy converge into a vastness of awakened mind. Indra is anuttamanyum: his fiery force of consciousness is unsurpassed; ajara: not subject to decay—because the principle of true illumination does not age, though our access to it may wax and wane.
Universal truth
Illumination strengthens through repeated truthful articulation and convergence of all parts of life toward one inner center; the highest ardour of consciousness is inexhaustible.
Themes
uktha-power, Indra-growth, unsurpassed-ardour, ageless-force
The seer
- Rishi
- Kaṇva
- Other hymns
- RV 8.6.33-37, RV 8.2.1-2 (Indra praised as strengthened by hymns, thematic parallels)
Family tradition
Kaṇvas repeatedly emphasize the strengthening of Indra by uktha/stoma—speech as a means to enlarge consciousness into wideness (samudra).
Significance
The seer’s art is to gather scattered ‘rivers’ of the being into one oceanic wideness where Indra’s force becomes steady and ageless in experience.
The deity
- Devata
- Indra
- Epithets
- Anuttamanyú (unsurpassed ardour), Ajara (ageless)
- Related deities
- Varuṇa (wideness/ṛta), Soma (delight that feeds Indra), Agni (will that kindles the sacrifice)
Cosmic role
Champion who wins the light and releases the waters; sovereign of expansive luminous mind.
Inner power
Unsurpassed intensity of illumination that can persist beyond fluctuations; the power to widen consciousness into an ‘ocean’.
In ritual
Where it is used
Uktha/stotra strengthening Indra in Soma sacrifice
इन्द्र॑मु॒क्थानि॑ वावृधुः समु॒द्रमि॑व॒ सिन्ध॑वः । अनु॑त्तमन्युम॒जर॑म् ॥
इन्द्र॑म् । उ॒क्थानि॑ । व॒वृ॒धुः॒ । स॒मु॒द्रम्ऽइ॑व । सिन्ध॑वः । अनु॑त्तऽमन्युम् । अ॒जर॑म् ॥
indram | ukthāni | vavṛdhuḥ | samudram-iva | sindhavaḥ | anutta-manyum | ajaram
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4 × ~11
Broad, swelling rhythm mirroring rivers-to-ocean imagery.
Creates a felt wideness in the chest and head; supports expansion and confidence.
- ukthāni
- Literal: recitations, hymns. Symbolic: truth-utterances that carry force and build inner illumination
- vāvṛdhuḥ
- Literal: have increased, strengthened. Symbolic: have made the divine power more operative in consciousness
- samudra
- Literal: ocean. Symbolic: vast consciousness, wideness of the illumined mind
- sindhavaḥ
- Literal: rivers. Symbolic: streams of aspiration, energies, and insights converging
- anuttamanyum
- Literal: whose manyu (ardour) none surpasses. Symbolic: supreme spiritual fervour and victorious intensity of awakened intelligence
- ajaram
- Literal: ageless, undecaying. Symbolic: timeless principle of light; enduring power beyond mental fatigue
Uktha-recitation context: speech increases the deity’s manifested power in the field of the sacrifice; corresponds to the uktha portions in Soma liturgy.
When Indra is to be ‘made great’ for victory and release of powers (waters).
Chant as an act of magnification (vardhana) of the deity through speech.
Use to cultivate ‘wideness practice’: chant, then open awareness to include sounds, sensations, thoughts without contraction.
uktha: from √vac/√ukth? (RV technical term) ‘solemn utterance’—speech that ‘upholds’ the rite and manifests force. vavṛdhuḥ: perfect/aorist-like from √vṛdh ‘to grow’. samudra: ‘gathering of waters’ (sam- + udra/ud ‘water’), symbolically the vast consciousness. sindhu: ‘river/stream’, also ‘flowing power’. manyu: ‘fury/ardour/impulsive might’ from √man ‘to think’ in a forceful mental-emotive drive; in Vedic psychology, a power of energetic will. ajara: a- + √jar ‘to age/decay’.
speech as force that augments divine manifestation, manyu as will-ardour in the struggle for light
Rivers converging to ocean symbolizes movements returning to the one order/center.
Uktha is effective when it is satya-bearing—true articulation that carries force.
Confluence and magnification: many streams build one vast field of power.
Aurobindonian ‘wideness’ (bṛhat) reading; also resonates with Vedic idea of mahān/bṛhat in later thought.
Rivers are the multiple currents of life-energy and thought; ocean is the widened consciousness where illumination becomes stable.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- Indra is ‘increased’ by ukthas: the god’s presence in the human and ritual field is intensified through effective speech, like rivers enlarging the sea. The underlying mythic pattern is the reinforcement of the divine champion before the battle for light.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- √vṛdh aligns with PIE *werdh- ‘grow’. The river-to-ocean image parallels Indo-European formulaic poetics where many streams converge into a single vastness (a metaphor for accumulation of power/renown).
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The Rishi’s speech is not descriptive but generative: ukthas ‘make Indra grow’ in manifestation. Indra reciprocally embodies unsurpassed manyu—an inner force the seeker invokes to overcome resistance and decay.
Gather all ‘streams’ (breath, sensation, thought) and let them pour into a single vast awareness; invoke Indra as the stabilizing illumined center.
anāhata (wideness) and ājñā (illumination)
Slow inhalation imagining rivers entering an inner ocean; exhale resting in wideness (no effort).
Expansive, powerful calm (wide sattva with heroic force).
Chant 3 times, then practice open monitoring: include everything in awareness; whenever contraction arises, recall ‘samudram iva’.
Maintain strong udatta peaks on key nouns (índram, ukthā́ni, samudrám); allow swelling phrasing to mirror imagery.
Make ‘samudram iva sindhavaḥ’ one flowing unit; give weight to ‘anuttamanyum’ as the climactic epithet.
ukthāni: aspirate kh clearly, vāvṛdhuḥ: long ā; retroflex ṛ; final ḥ light, samudram iva: keep sandhi clean; do not over-pause, anuttamanyum: pronounce manyu as ‘man-yu’ not ‘menyu’
Full, resonant, slightly expansive; sustain vowels to evoke wideness.
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