Rig Veda 1.152.4: Mandala 1, Sukta 152, Mantra 4
Sukta 1.152
प्रयन्तमित्परि जारं कनीनां पश्यामसि नोपनिपद्यमानम् । अनवपृग्णा वितता वसानं प्रियं मित्रस्य वरुणस्य धाम ॥
prayántam íd pári jāráṃ kanīnā́ṃ páśyāmasi nópa-nipádyamānam | anava-pṛ́gṇā vitátā vásānaṃ priyáṃ mitrásya váruṇasya dhā́ma ||
เราทั้งหลายแลเห็นผู้เป็นที่รักเคลื่อนไปรอบเหล่าสาวน้อย ทว่าเขามิได้จมลงไปในพวกนาง; ไม่ขาดไม่พร่อง แผ่กว้างดุจอาภรณ์ที่สวม เขาสวมไว้ซึ่งที่พำนักอันเป็นที่รัก (dhāman) แห่งมิตระและวรุณะ
Contemplative verse supporting invocation of protective ‘dhāman’ (seat of ṛta) before/within offerings
Non-attachment (not ‘sinking down’ into lower nature), Dhāman as stable station of consciousness, Expansion (vi-tan) as widening of being
Central: the ‘dhāma’ of Mitra–Varuṇa is the stable station of ṛta in consciousness.
Truth that remains unbroken while moving amid multiplicity.
Sustaining order rather than first creation—how the One moves in the many without fragmentation.
Proto-Vedāntic/Integral (Aurobindonian) reading: wideness of being and non-attachment as conditions for truth-consciousness.
Morning-to-midday (Aditya domain; clarity and law)
Unspecified
The solar truth-consciousness moving through the faculties while remaining vast, whole, and law-governed.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- The divine ‘lover’ who moves among the ‘maidens’ without falling into them: a mythic image of a transcendent power engaging the manifold energies of manifestation while remaining unentangled—thereby ‘wearing’ the dhāman (stable abode) of Mitra–Varuṇa, i.e., harmony and cosmic law.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- vi-tatā (√tan) reflects PIE *ten- ‘stretch’ (tension, tend). dhāman (√dhā) reflects PIE *dʰeh₁- ‘put/place’. The verse builds metaphysics through inherited spatial verbs (stretching, placing) to describe expansion and establishment of consciousness.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The rishi-testimony ‘we behold’ functions as experiential validation: Mitra–Varuṇa are not abstract but are encountered as a ‘beloved abode’ worn by the moving divine force—suggesting the practitioner’s aspiration to live in that same dhāman of ordered wideness.
Witness-consciousness moving through thoughts and emotions without ‘sinking’ into them; establishing inner law (ṛta).
Ājñā (clarity and right discernment) and Anāhata (Mitra’s harmony).
Nadi-śodhana (alternate nostril) to balance and widen; brief kumbhaka after exhale to feel ‘non-sinking’ poise.
Wide, quiet, observing awareness with ethical lucidity.
Contemplate each arising impulse as a ‘maiden’; let awareness circulate around it, neither suppressing nor indulging—return to the ‘dhāma’ of truth and harmony.
Follow Śākala udatta/anudatta/svarita as in RV recitation; key lifts often on devatā-names (mitrasya, varuṇasya) and dhāma.
Keep a clear rise on udatta; avoid dragging consonant clusters; maintain pāda breaks after ‘upanipadyamānam’ and at the end of each pāda.
: ‘pra-yan-tam’ (clear dental n, not retroflex), : long ī (kanīnām), : articulate ‘ni-pa’ distinctly, : cluster ‘pṛg’ with vocalic ṛ, : light ‘ta-ta’ without overaspiration, : long ā
Steady, wide, resonant; slight emphasis on ‘anavapṛgṇā vitatā’ to evoke wideness.
Ask anything about this verse
Answers come straight from the texts, with the shlokas they draw on. Ask in your own words.
A free sign-in with Google or Apple keeps your chat saved across web and the app.
Read Rig Veda in the Vedapath app
Scan the QR code to open this directly in the app, with word-by-word meanings, Sanskrit recitation where available, and more.
