Rig Veda 9.31.3: Mandala 9, Sukta 31, Mantra 3
Sukta 9.31
- Devata
- Soma Pavamāna
- Rasa
- Adbhuta (wonder) and Shanta (peace)
तुभ्यं वाता अभिप्रियस्तुभ्यमर्षन्ति सिन्धवः । सोम वर्धन्ति ते महः ॥
túbhyaṃ vātā́ abhi-príyas túbhyam arṣanti síndhavaḥ | sóma várdhanti te máhaḥ ||
నీ వైపు వాయువులు ప్రియ ఆకర్షణతో పరుగెత్తుతాయి; నీ వైపు నదులు ప్రవహిస్తాయి—హే సోమ. అవి నీ మహిమను, నీ మహా వ్యాప్తిని వృద్ధి చేస్తాయి.
Word by Word
- तुभ्यम्
- to youPronounद्वितीया? नहीं; चतुर्थी एकवचन (dative singular)Role सम्प्रदानRoot युष्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- वाताः
- windsNounपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा बहुवचनRole कर्तृRoot वात (प्रातिपदिक)
- अभि
- towards, untoIndeclinable (preverb/preposition)उपसर्ग/निपात (governs motion ‘towards’)Role (क्रियाविशेषण; दिशा/प्रवृत्ति)Root अभि
- प्रियः
- dear, belovedAdjectiveपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा एकवचनRole (विशेषण; ‘वाताः’ के साथ भावार्थ/सम्बन्ध)Root प्रिय (प्रातिपदिक)
- तुभ्यम्
- to youPronounचतुर्थी एकवचनRole सम्प्रदानRoot युष्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- ऋषन्ति
- rush, streamVerbलट् (वर्तमान), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष, बहुवचनRole (क्रिया)Root ऋष् (धातु; ‘to rush/flow, move swiftly’—Vedic)
- सिन्धवः
- rivers, streamsNounपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा बहुवचनRole कर्तृRoot सिन्धु (प्रातिपदिक)
- सोम
- O SomaNoun (vocative)पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन एकवचनRole सम्बोधनRoot सोम (प्रातिपदिक)
- वर्धन्ति
- increaseVerbलट् (वर्तमान), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष, बहुवचनRole (क्रिया)Root वृध् (धातु; ‘to grow, increase’)
- ते
- yourPronounषष्ठी एकवचन (enclitic genitive)Role सम्बन्धRoot युष्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- महत्
- greatness, great mightNoun/Adjective (substantivized)नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया एकवचन (here: प्रथमा एकवचन as subject ‘greatness’)Role कर्तृRoot महत् (प्रातिपदिक)
Sandhi Notes
- पदच्छेद (Vedic sandhi resolved): तुभ्यम् | वाताः | अभि | प्रियः | तुभ्यम् | ऋषन्ति | सिन्धवः | सोम | वर्धन्ति | ते | महत् । 1) ‘अभि॒प्रिय॒स्’ = ‘अभि + प्रियः’ (visarga retained before consonant in pada). 2) ‘तुभ्य॑मर्षन्ति’ = ‘तुभ्यम् + ऋषन्ति’ : final -म् before vowel becomes anusvāra in saṃhitā (तुभ्यं॒), and initial ऋ- remains (no guṇa; Vedic sandhi). 3) ‘सोम॒ वर्ध॑न्ति’ is simple word boundary (no sandhi change). 4) ‘ते॒ मह॑:’ corresponds to ‘ते + महत्’
- saṃhitā shows neuter stem with Vedic ending/phonetics
- pada taken as महत् (‘greatness/might’)
The meaning
Outer meaning
The winds move gladly toward Soma; the rivers flow to Soma; they increase his greatness (mahaḥ).
Inner meaning
All life-forces (vātaḥ, prāṇic currents) and all streaming movements of consciousness (sindhavaḥ, inner rivers of feeling-thought) are drawn toward Soma, the principle of delight/ānanda purified in us. When the being turns in glad attraction to delight, Soma’s “mahaḥ” (vast effective might) grows—meaning the inner sacrifice becomes expansive, luminous, and powerful.
Universal truth
When the energies of life and the currents of mind-heart flow toward a higher delight rather than toward desire, consciousness naturally widens and becomes effective; joy is not a byproduct but a force that organizes and magnifies the whole being.
Themes
nature-symbolism (innerized), increase of greatness, flow and breath, Soma as attractor
The seer
- Other hymns
- Rig Veda 9.31 (Soma Pavamāna), Rig Veda 9.32 (Soma Pavamāna)
Family tradition
Ninth Maṇḍala is a liturgical collection of Soma hymns transmitted through multiple rishi-families; individual attribution for this verse is not preserved in the supplied source.
Significance
The anonymous seer-voice here is archetypal: the practitioner who witnesses nature-forces in himself turning toward purified Delight, indicating a yogic rather than merely ritual experience.
The deity
- Devata
- Soma Pavamāna
- Epithets
- Pavamāna (self-purifying), Indu (bright drop), Madacyut (streaming ecstasy—theme in adjacent hymn)
- Related deities
- Agni, Indra, Uṣas, Sūrya
Cosmic role
Purifier and increaser: Soma as the flowing essence that, once clarified, nourishes gods (powers of consciousness) and supports ṛta (right order).
Inner power
Ananda-śakti: the delight-force that draws prāṇa and mental streams into harmony, widening the being into mahaḥ (the Vast).
In ritual
Where it is used
Soma pressing and purification (Pavamāna recitations during pressing/straining)
तुभ्यं॒ वाता॑ अभि॒प्रिय॒स्तुभ्य॑मर्षन्ति॒ सिन्ध॑वः । सोम॒ वर्ध॑न्ति ते॒ मह॑: ॥
तुभ्य॑म् । वाताः॑ । अ॒भि॒ऽप्रियः॑ । तुभ्य॑म् । अ॒र्ष॒न्ति॒ । सिन्ध॑वः । सोम॑ । वर्ध॑न्ति । ते॒ । महः॑ ॥
tubhyam | vātāḥ | abhi-priyaḥ | tubhyam | arṣanti | sindhavaḥ | soma | vardhanti | te | mahaḥ
Not determined from provided metadata; verse shows two half-lines in translation; exact pada division needs the metrical text.
Flowing and convergent—imagery of winds and rivers suggests a continuous, gathering cadence.
Encourages a sense of inward convergence: scattered energies feel collected and offered to a single luminous delight.
- वाताः (vātāḥ)
- Literal: winds. Symbolic: movements of prāṇa; life-currents that can be aligned to aspiration
- अभि-प्रियः (abhi-priyaḥ)
- Literal: with glad attraction, lovingly toward. Symbolic: psychic consent; joyful turning of the nature toward the Divine
- सिन्धवः (sindhavaḥ)
- Literal: rivers/streams. Symbolic: streams of consciousness—thought, emotion, and subtle energies flowing to the center
- सोम (soma)
- Literal: Soma (pressed/purified juice). Symbolic: divine delight (ānanda) distilled by inner offering
- महः (mahaḥ)
- Literal: greatness, vastness, might. Symbolic: the Vast (bṛhat); expansive effective being-consciousness
Accompaniment to Soma’s flow: aligning breath (vāta) and currents (sindhu) with the purifying Soma-stream
During Soma-yajña sequences when Soma is filtered and offered; also in Soma-stotra contexts.
Chanting to accompany the flowing/straining of Soma and its approach to the offering place.
Use as a meditation mantra for ‘gathering the energies’: before practice, feel breath (winds) and thoughts (rivers) turning toward inner delight at the heart-center.
from √ ‘blow’ (PIE *h₂weh₁- ‘blow’). ‘river’ (also ‘sea’), a Vedic hydronymic common noun. √ ‘to flow, rush’ expresses the streaming motif. from PIE *meg̑h₂- ‘great’ (cf. Latin magnus).
convergence of energies toward the truth-essence, prāṇa dynamics (vāta as life-movement), mah (vastness as expansion of consciousness)
The ordered movement of winds and rivers toward Soma mirrors inner alignment of forces to ṛta.
Truth manifests as effective wideness (mahaḥ) when energies flow toward the divine center.
Convergence of streams into a single oceanic vastness—many movements become one power.
Integral/psychological Vedism (Aurobindo/Kashyap style): deities as powers of consciousness.
Wind = prāṇa and impetus; rivers = currents of thought-feeling; Soma = distilled delight; their convergence = collected yoga and widening consciousness.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- The cosmic convergence toward Soma: winds and rivers hasten to him, increasing his ‘mah’—a mythic picture of all movements and streams offering themselves to the central delight/light that empowers the sacrifice and the soul.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- mah- ‘great’ reflects PIE *meg̑h₂ (magnus, μέγας), showing a shared Indo-European valuation of ‘greatness’ as expansive power. The flow-verb √ parallels Indo-European poetic diction of rushing waters as divine agency.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The seer frames Soma as the inner pole of attraction: breath-movements and consciousness-currents are offered toward him, implying a practice where prāṇa and mental streams are turned to the delight-essence to magnify its action in the being.
Let breath and attention ‘flow toward Soma’: concentrate on a subtle sweetness/joy in the heart or crown and allow all inner movements to converge there.
Anahata (heart) or Sahasrara (wideness/mahaḥ)
Gentle nāḍī-śodhana or slow inhalation-exhalation while inwardly offering the breath to the felt delight-center.
Collected, widening, quietly blissful (ānanda with bṛhat).
Begin by noticing scattered currents; on each exhale, ‘let the rivers flow’; on each inhale, ‘let the winds turn gladly’; rest in the growing vastness (mahaḥ).
Not fully derivable from the provided plain saṃhitā text; chant in a standard RV recitation style with attention to marked svaras in a svara-annotated source.
Observe udatta on marked syllables in a proper svara text; keep anudatta low and svarita as a glide; sustain the cadence at | and || pauses.
tubhyaṃ: keep anusvāra as nasalization before consonant, vātaḥ: long ā; final ḥ as light visarga, arṣanti: retroflex ṣ; clear ‘ar-ṣan-ti’, sindhavaḥ: dental dh; light visarga at end, vardhanti: aspirated dh; avoid ‘vartan’
Clear, flowing, slightly resonant to evoke ‘streaming’ and ‘widening’.
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