Rig Veda 1.101.6: Mandala 1, Sukta 101, Mantra 6
Sukta 1.101
- Rishi
- Kutsa Āṅgirasa
- Devata
- Indra
- Chandas
- Triṣṭubh
- Rasa
- Vira (heroism) and Shanta (peace)
यः शूरेभिर्हव्यो यश्च भीरुभिर्यो धावद्भिर्हूयते यश्च जिग्युभिः । इन्द्रं यं विश्वा भुवनाभि संदधुर्मरुत्वन्तं सख्याय हवामहे ॥
yáḥ śūrébhir hávyo yáś ca bhīrúbhir yó dhā́vadbhir hūyáte yáś ca jigyúbhiḥ | índraṁ yáṁ víśvā bhúvanā́bhi sáṁdadhur marútvantaṁ sakhyā́ya havāmahe ||
พระองค์ผู้ควรถูกอัญเชิญทั้งโดยวีรชนและผู้หวาดหวั่น ผู้ซึ่งผู้วิ่งเร่งรุดก็ร้องเรียก และผู้พิชิตก็ร้องเรียก อินทราองค์ที่สรรพโลกทั้งปวงร่วมประสานให้เป็นเอกภาพ—อินทราผู้มีมรุตเป็นสหายองค์นั้น เราขออัญเชิญเพื่อมิตรภาพอันเป็นสหายร่วม.
Word by Word
- यः
- who (he who)Pronounपुंलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, एकवचनम्Role KartāRoot यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक) य-
- शूरेभिः
- with/among heroesNounपुंलिङ्गः, तृतीया, बहुवचनम्Role KaraṇaRoot शूर (प्रातिपदिक)
- हव्यः
- to be invoked; worthy of oblationAdjectiveपुंलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, एकवचनम्Role KartāRoot हव्य (प्रातिपदिक; √हु ‘to sacrifice, invoke’ से)
- यः
- and whoPronounपुंलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, एकवचनम्Role KartāRoot यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक) य-
- च
- andIndeclinableअव्ययम्Root च (निपात)
- भीरुभिः
- with/among the fearfulNounपुंलिङ्गः, तृतीया, बहुवचनम्Role KaraṇaRoot भीरु (प्रातिपदिक)
- यः
- whoPronounपुंलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, एकवचनम्Role KartāRoot यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक) य-
- धावत्भिः
- with the rushing (ones)Participleपुंलिङ्गः, तृतीया, बहुवचनम्Role KaraṇaRoot धावत् (वर्तमान कृदन्त; √धाव् ‘to run, rush’)
- हूयते
- is invoked/calledVerbलट् (वर्तमान), आत्मनेपदम्, प्रथमपुरुषः, एकवचनम्; कर्मणि प्रयोगःRoot √ह्वा/√हू (आह्वाने ‘to call, invoke’)
- यः
- and whoPronounपुंलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, एकवचनम्Role KartāRoot यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक) य-
- च
- andIndeclinableअव्ययम्Root च (निपात)
- जिग्युभिः
- with the victorious/conquerorsNoun/Participle (used substantively)पुंलिङ्गः, तृतीया, बहुवचनम्Role KaraṇaRoot जिग्यु (परिपूर्ण/परफेक्ट कृदन्त-आधारित; √जि ‘to conquer’)
- इन्द्रम्
- IndraNounपुंलिङ्गः, द्वितीया, एकवचनम्Role KarmaRoot इन्द्र (प्रातिपदिक)
- यम्
- whomPronounपुंलिङ्गः, द्वितीया, एकवचनम्Role KarmaRoot यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक) य-
- विश्वा
- allAdjectiveनपुंसकलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, बहुवचनम् (भुवनानि इत्यस्य विशेषणम्)Role KartāRoot विश्व (प्रातिपदिक)
- भुवनानि
- worlds; beings/realmsNounनपुंसकलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, बहुवचनम्Role KartāRoot भुवन (प्रातिपदिक; √भू ‘to be’ से)
- अभि
- towards; uponIndeclinableअव्ययम्Root अभि (उपसर्ग/अव्यय)
- संदधुः
- have set/placed together; have establishedVerbलिट् (परोक्श/परफेक्ट), परस्मैपदम्, प्रथमपुरुषः, बहुवचनम्Root √धा (धारणे/स्थापने ‘to place, set’) + सम्
- मरुत्वन्तम्
- accompanied by the MarutsAdjectiveपुंलिङ्गः, द्वितीया, एकवचनम् (इन्द्रम् इत्यस्य विशेषणम्)Role KarmaRoot मरुत्वन्त् (प्रातिपदिक; मरुत् + वन्त् ‘possessing the Maruts’)
- सख्याय
- for friendship; for allianceNounनपुंसकलिङ्गः, चतुर्थी, एकवचनम् (दत्त्यर्थे)Role SampradānaRoot सख्य (प्रातिपदिक; सखि ‘friend’ से भाव)
- हवामहे
- we invoke/call uponVerbलट् (वर्तमान), आत्मनेपदम्, उत्तमपुरुषः, बहुवचनम्Root √ह्वा (आह्वाने ‘to call, invoke’)
Sandhi Notes
- Sandhi resolution (pada-wise): शूरे॑भि॒र्हव्यो॒ → शूरेभिः + हव्यः
- भी॒रुभि॒र्यो → भीरुभिः + यः
- धाव॑द्भिर्हू॒यते॒ → धावत्भिः + हूयते
- जि॒ग्युभि॑: → जिग्युभिः
- भुव॑ना॒भि → भुवनानि + अभि
- सं॑द॒धुर्म॒रुत्व॑न्तं → संदधुः + मरुत्वन्तम्. Accent marks are retained in the source but not encoded per-pada here
- they do not change morphological segmentation
The meaning
Outer meaning
Indra is invoked by the heroic and the fearful; called by the runners and by the conquerors. All worlds set him together in harmony; Indra with the Maruts is invoked for comradeship.
Inner meaning
Indra is the universal resource of the soul in every condition: courage and fear, struggle and attainment. The ‘runners’ are our striving faculties—energies racing toward the goal; the ‘conquerors’ are the powers that have already won some inner territory. Indra is not partial: he is invoked wherever aspiration exists. ‘All the worlds’ harmonizing him suggests that illumination integrates the planes of our being—mind, life, body—into a single consenting order under a higher guidance. With the Maruts, this becomes an active companionship: illumination plus right energies equals coordinated transformation.
Universal truth
A unifying intelligence can be approached in every life-state—strength or weakness. When invoked, it coordinates the diverse parts of the being into harmony, turning effort into integrated progress.
Themes
universal invocation, protection and victory, cosmic integration
The seer
- Rishi
- Kutsa Āṅgirasa
- Lineage
- Āṅgirasa
- Other hymns
- RV 1.94, RV 1.95, RV 1.96, RV 1.97, RV 1.98, RV 1.99, RV 1.100, RV 1.101
Family tradition
Āṅgiras tradition emphasizes the recovery of light and the battle against obscurity; Kutsa’s Indra-hymns often stress practical inner victory and companionship with the divine powers.
Significance
Kutsa presents Indra as accessible to all inner states—an important yogic teaching: even fear can become an offering that summons illumination.
The deity
- Devata
- Indra (Marutvant)
- Epithets
- havya (worthy to be invoked), world-harmonized (viśvā bhuvanā abhi saṃdadhur), marutvant
- Related deities
- Maruts, Soma, Agni
Cosmic role
Integrator and victor: the luminous power that coordinates the worlds and leads beings through struggle to conquest.
Inner power
Confidence that converts fear into aspiration; organizing intelligence that aligns scattered motives into a single direction.
In ritual
Where it is used
Indra invocation in Soma rites; also suitable in ancillary rites seeking victory and cohesion in the sacrificial performance.
यः शूरे॑भि॒र्हव्यो॒ यश्च॑ भी॒रुभि॒र्यो धाव॑द्भिर्हू॒यते॒ यश्च॑ जि॒ग्युभि॑: । इन्द्रं॒ यं विश्वा॒ भुव॑ना॒भि सं॑द॒धुर्म॒रुत्व॑न्तं स॒ख्याय॑ हवामहे ॥
यः । शूरे॑भिः । हव्यः॑ । यः । च॒ । भी॒रुऽभिः॑ । यः । धाव॑त्ऽभिः । हू॒यते॑ । यः । च॒ । जि॒ग्युभिः॑ । इन्द्र॑म् । यम् । विश्वा॑ । भुव॑ना । अ॒भि । स॒म्ऽद॒धुः । म॒रुत्व॑न्तम् । स॒ख्याय॑ । ह॒वा॒म॒हे॒ ॥
yaḥ | śūrebhiḥ | havyaḥ | yaḥ | ca | bhīru-bhiḥ | yaḥ | dhāvat-bhiḥ | hūyate | yaḥ | ca | jigyubhiḥ | indram | yam | viśvā | bhuvanā | abhi | sam-dadhuḥ | marutvantam | sakhyāya | havāmahe
44
4 × ~11
Balanced drive with enumerative listing (heroic/fearful; runners/victors) culminating in cosmic integration.
Stabilizes the psyche: the repeated ‘yaḥ… yaḥ…’ cadence gathers disparate states into one invocation.
- शूरेभिः (śūrebhiḥ)
- Literal: by the heroic. Symbolic: courageous faculties; the will that confronts resistance
- भीरुभिः (bhīrubhiḥ)
- Literal: by the fearful. Symbolic: anxious parts that still can turn toward the Light
- धावद्भिः (dhāvadbhiḥ)
- Literal: by the running/striving. Symbolic: aspiring energies and practices moving toward realization
- जिग्युभिः (jigyubhiḥ)
- Literal: by the victorious. Symbolic: attainments already won; confirmed powers of the sadhaka
- विश्वा भुवना (viśvā bhuvanā)
- Literal: all worlds. Symbolic: all planes and parts of the being
- अभि संदधुः (abhi saṃdadhur)
- Literal: have set/put together around. Symbolic: integration, alignment, harmonization around a central light
- मरुत्वन्तम् (marutvantam)
- Literal: with the Maruts. Symbolic: illumination supported by dynamic, purified life-forces
- सख्याय (sakhyāya)
- Literal: for friendship. Symbolic: a stable inner relation with the guiding Power
General Indra invocation usable across the rite: for protection, for striving, and for victory; emphasizes Indra as harmonizer of the worlds around the sacrifice.
At points of calling the deity to the offering; when the rite seeks strength, protection, or successful completion.
Recitation to invite Indra’s presence; accompaniment to Soma offering and communal affirmation.
Use when feeling divided (part of you brave, part fearful). Chant to unify intention before a challenging task or during transitions.
havya- from √hū ‘call’ and the offering vocabulary; √dhā ‘to place’ in sam-dadhus indicates integration/constitution; √ji ‘conquer’ (jigyú-) is a widespread IE victory root. The verse frames Indra as universally accessible (heroic/fearful), indicating a psychological universality of the divine force.
integration of planes (bhuvanāni samdadhus), divine accessibility to all temperaments, victory as inner conquest (√ji)
Indra as the power by which the worlds are ‘set together’—Ṛta as harmonized functioning of planes.
Invocation becomes effective when it is truthful (aligned) across all parts—no inner contradiction.
Worlds held in concord around a luminous center; integration as a creative act.
Yogic-Vedantic psychology: deity as organizing consciousness-force.
Running = sadhana momentum; worlds = body-life-mind; storm-host = energetic purification and impetus.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- Indra as the universally invoked power—called by heroes, the fearful, strivers, and victors—and as the one around whom ‘all worlds’ cohere. Inner sense: the central will-force that can be approached from any human state and that integrates the fragmented parts of the being into a single effective order.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- √ji ‘conquer’ is an inherited IE victory lexeme; the syntactic parallelism (yáḥ … yáḥ …) is archaic hymn rhetoric. The cosmological plural bhuvanāni ‘worlds’ and the verb sam-√dhā ‘put together’ reflect an old poetic habit of describing cosmic order as ‘fitting/placing together’.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The rishi frames Indra as a companion available in all conditions of the soul—fear, courage, striving, accomplishment—thus friendship (sakhyā) is not episodic but a stable reliance through all stages of inner progression.
Unify courageous and fearful parts by offering both to Indra; feel a central clear intelligence coordinating the whole being.
anāhata (harmonization)
Box breathing 4-4-4-4 while mentally repeating the ‘yaḥ…’ clauses; release into natural breath on the final invocation.
From inner fragmentation to coherent alignment and calm strength.
Name the parts of you that are ‘runner’ and ‘victor’, ‘fearful’ and ‘heroic’; invite Indra to be the single center all these worlds consent to.
Maintain clear udatta on repeated relatives ‘yaḥ’; keep the cadence even through the lists; lift slightly on ‘indraṃ yam viśvā bhuvanā…’.
Avoid rushing the enumerations; give each caller-type equal weight, then broaden on ‘viśvā bhuvanā’.
(śūrebhiḥ): long ū, clear ‘bh’ aspiration, (bhīrubhiḥ): long ī; do not collapse ‘bhī’, (dhāvadbhiḥ): keep cluster ‘dbhiḥ’ crisp, (saṃdadhur): nasal ‘ṃ’ before ‘d’
Even, inclusive, gathering; broaden and brighten on the cosmic line.
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