Rig Veda 10.185.3: Mandala 10, Sukta 185, Mantra 3
Sukta 10.185
- Devata
- Ādityas as givers of light and life
- Rasa
- Adbhuta (wonder) and Shanta (peace)
यस्मै पुत्रासो अदितेः प्र जीवसे मर्त्याय । ज्योतिर्यच्छन्त्यजस्रम् ॥
yásmai putrā́so áditeḥ prá jīváse mártyāya | jyótir yácchanty ájasram ||
แด่มนุษย์ผู้มรรตยะซึ่งบุตรทั้งหลายของอทิติ (Aditi) ก้าวหน้าให้พลังเพื่อการดำรงชีวิต พวกเขาย่อมประทานแสงสว่างไม่ขาดสาย เพื่อให้ชีวิตดำรงอยู่ด้วยความส่องสว่างอันต่อเนื่อง มิใช่ด้วยการดิ้นรนในความมืด.
Word by Word
- यस्मै
- to whomPronounपुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग (प्रयोगतः), चतुर्थी एकवचनRole सम्प्रदानRoot यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक) → यस्-
- पुत्रासः
- sonsNounपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा बहुवचनRole कर्तृRoot पुत्र (प्रातिपदिक)
- अदितेः
- of AditiNoun (Proper/Deity)स्त्रीलिङ्ग, षष्ठी एकवचनRole सम्बन्ध (षष्ठी)Root अदिति (प्रातिपदिक)
- प्र
- forth, forwardIndeclinableउपसर्गः (क्रियाविशेषण)Root प्र (उपसर्ग/निपात)
- जीवसे
- for living, to liveVerb (infinitival form)तुमर्थे दतिव् (जीव् + -से), एकवचन; अर्थः ‘जीवितुम्/जीवनाय’Role प्रयोजन (उद्देश्य)Root जीव् (धातु)
- मर्त्याय
- for the mortal (man)Noun/Adjectiveपुंलिङ्ग, चतुर्थी एकवचनRole सम्प्रदानRoot मर्त्य (प्रातिपदिक)
- ज्योतिः
- lightNounनपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया एकवचनRole कर्म (यच्छन्ति इति क्रियायाः)Root ज्योतिस् (प्रातिपदिक)
- यच्छन्ति
- they bestow, they grantVerbलट् (वर्तमान), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष, बहुवचनRole कर्तृ (पुत्रासः)Root यम् (धातु) + छन्द्-आगम (यच्छ-)
- अजस्रम्
- unceasingly, without interruptionAdjective (used adverbially)नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया एकवचन (क्रियाविशेषणवत्)Role विशेषण/क्रियाविशेषण (यच्छन्ति)Root अजस्र (प्रातिपदिक)
Sandhi Notes
- पदच्छेदः: यस्मै | पुत्रासः | अदितेः | प्र | जीवसे | मर्त्याय | ज्योतिः | यच्छन्ति | अजस्रम् । 1) ‘अदितेः:’ इत्यत्र विसर्गः पदान्तः (संहितायां विरामे स्थितः)। 2) ‘ज्योतिर्यच्छन्ति’ = ‘ज्योतिः + यच्छन्ति’ : विसर्गस्य रेफादेशः (ः → र्) यकारादौ। 3) ‘प्र’ उपसर्गः ‘जीवसे’ इत्यनेन संबध्यते (प्र-जीवसे = ‘जीवनाय/जीवितुम्’ इत्यर्थे प्रबलनम्)।
The meaning
Outer meaning
For the mortal to whom Aditi’s sons advance the power to live, they grant unceasing light.
Inner meaning
The Ādityas (powers of the Infinite Aditi) ‘advance’ in the seeker as guardians and leaders of growth. They increase the capacity to live spiritually (pra jīvase) by pouring a continual illumination (ajasram jyotiḥ). Life becomes sustained by steady inner light rather than by alternating fits of clarity and obscurity.
Universal truth
True life is not mere survival; it is a growth upheld by continuous illumination. When consciousness opens to the Infinite, light becomes a stable nourishment for mind, heart, and will.
Themes
aditi-and-adityas, light-for-life, immortality-current, truth-consciousness
The seer
- Other hymns
- Rig Veda 10.185.1, Rig Veda 10.185.2
Significance
A concise statement of the Āditya yoga: the Infinite’s powers make mortal life capable of sustained illumination—an early Vedic seed of ‘life divine’ aspiration.
The deity
- Devata
- Ādityas (sons of Aditi)
- Epithets
- Aditi-putrāḥ (sons of the Infinite), givers of jyotiḥ (light-bestowers)
- Related deities
- Aditi, Sūrya/Savitar (solar awakener), Uṣas (dawn as first illumination)
Cosmic role
Maintain the solar law of truth and wideness; support life by illumination and right order.
Inner power
They awaken continuous discernment and enlarge the vital-mental being so it can carry higher light without collapse.
In ritual
Where it is used
Prayer for vitality and illumination under Āditya guardianship; suitable in morning recitations and before study/teaching.
यस्मै॑ पु॒त्रासो॒ अदि॑ते॒: प्र जी॒वसे॒ मर्त्या॑य । ज्योति॒र्यच्छ॒न्त्यज॑स्रम् ॥
यस्मै॑ । पु॒त्रासः॑ । अदि॑तेः । प्र । जी॒वसे॑ । मर्त्या॑य । ज्योतिः॑ । यच्छ॑न्ति । अज॑स्रम् ॥
yasmai | putrāsaḥ | aditeḥ | pra | jīvase | martyāya | jyotiḥ | yacchanti | ajasram
32
4×8 (approx.)
Forward-moving, life-affirming cadence; the phrase ‘jyotir… ajasram’ lands like a steady lamp.
Uplifts and clarifies; tends to produce a sustained attentive brightness after recitation.
- अदितेः (aditeḥ)
- Literal: of Aditi. Symbolic: the Infinite/undivided consciousness; freedom from limitation
- पुत्रासः (putrāsaḥ)
- Literal: sons. Symbolic: emanated powers of the Infinite—truth-guardians and illuminators
- प्र जीवसे (pra jīvase)
- Literal: forth for living; for the power to live. Symbolic: progressive life-force of the soul; growth in conscious being
- मर्त्याय (martyāya)
- Literal: to the mortal. Symbolic: the embodied seeker in the mixed nature
- ज्योतिः (jyotiḥ)
- Literal: light. Symbolic: illumination, knowledge, awakened discernment
- अजस्रम् (ajasram)
- Literal: unceasing, continual. Symbolic: stable realization; uninterrupted inner guidance
Recitation for sustained vitality and illumination; supports vows/observances oriented to truth and right living.
At sunrise, before learning (svādhyāya), or when seeking clarity for right living.
Offer water to the sun/Ādityas (arghya) or light a lamp; recite with intention of continuous guidance.
Use before meditation, study, or creative work to invoke steady illumination and life-energy.
Aditi (a-diti ‘unbound, undivided’; from √dā/√di ‘to bind/divide’ with privative a-) signifies infinity and freedom from limitation—source of the Ādityas. √yam ‘to extend/hold’ yields yacchanti ‘they bestow/extend’; jyotis is the standard Vedic term for luminous knowledge.
Aditi as Infinite, continuous illumination (ajasra-jyotis), life sustained by truth (ṛta-satya)
The Ādityas’ light is the operative clarity of ṛta in the mortal field.
Light as truth-revelation; continuity (ajasram) as stability of satya in time.
Emanation: Aditi’s ‘sons’ as powers that bring light into mortal life; sustaining evolution of consciousness.
Integral Vedism: evolutionary movement from mortal limitation toward infinite illumination.
sunrise (strongly suggested)
A steady ‘dawn’ in the mind—illumination that does not fade; widened consciousness (Aditi) as the field for stable light.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- The Ādityas as transmitters of an unceasing light to mortals: mythically solar-law deities sustaining life; psychologically the descent of stable illumination that enables true living (jīváse) without relapse into obscurity.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- dyew-/jyoti- light vocabulary continues PIE *dyew- ‘bright sky/day’. The privative formation a-diti reflects an inherited morphological strategy (negating a bound/limited condition) to express the Infinite.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The Rishi positions the human as recipient of a continuous gift: illumination as a sustaining force. The Devatās respond not episodically but ‘ajasram’—indicating a durable covenant of ṛta when the mortal aligns with the Ādityic order.
Receive ‘ajasram jyotiḥ’: imagine a steady sun above the head descending as a continuous beam into the brow and heart.
Ājñā (illumination) and Sahasrāra (opening to Aditi/infinite).
Sūrya-bhedana gently (if suitable) or simple 4–4–6 breathing while repeating ‘jyotir yacchanty ajasram’.
Luminous continuity—less fluctuation, more abiding clarity.
Ask not for a momentary ‘peak’ but for continuity; after chanting, sit 3–5 minutes watching the mind brighten and widen without strain.
Vedic accents as marked in recensional tradition: yásmai (udātta), áditeḥ (udātta), prá (udātta), jīvás(e) (accented), jyótir (udātta), yácchanty (accented), ájasram (udātta).
Let ‘prá jīvase’ be slightly forward and rising; hold ‘jyótiḥ’ with clarity; ‘ájasram’ with a long, steady fall.
putrāsaḥ: long ā; final visarga light, aditeḥ: short a; dental d; final ḥ audible, yacchanti: double cch; nasal n clearly, ajasram: j as in ‘judge’; no extra vowel between s-r
warm, luminous, sustained vowels; minimal force.
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