Rig Veda 10.74.2: Mandala 10, Sukta 74, Mantra 2
Sukta 10.74
- Devata
- Collective Devas/Vasus
- Rasa
- Shanta (peace) and Adbhuta (wonder)
हव एषामसुरो नक्षत द्यां श्रवस्यता मनसा निंसत क्षाम् । चक्षाणा यत्र सुविताय देवा द्यौर्न वारेभिः कृणवन्त स्वैः ॥
háva eṣām ásuro nakṣata dyā́ṃ śravasyatā́ mánasā niṃsata kṣā́m | cákṣāṇā yátra suvitā́ya devā́ dyáur na vārébhiḥ kṛṇávanta sváiḥ ||
เสียงเรียกของฤทธานุภาพเหล่านี้ย่อมไปถึงสวรรค์; ด้วยจิตที่ใฝ่หา “การได้ยินอันแท้” พวกเขาสัมผัสและหล่อหลอมแผ่นดิน. ณ ที่ซึ่งเห็นหนทางสู่สุวิตา (suvitā) อันเป็นความไปถึงอันดี เหล่าเทพย่อมสถาปนาความกว้างใหญ่ของตนด้วยหลักค้ำของตนเอง ดุจฟ้าสวรรค์ที่ถูกสร้างด้วยเสาค้ำอันเหมาะสมของมัน.
Word by Word
- हवः
- the call / invocationNounपुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा; एकवचनRole KartāRoot हवस् (प्रातिपदिक) < √हू (आह्वाने)
- एषाम्
- of thesePronounषष्ठी; बहुवचनRole Sambandha (genitive relation)Root एतद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- असुरः
- the Asura (lordly being)Nounपुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा; एकवचनRole KartāRoot असुर (प्रातिपदिक)
- नक्षत्
- reached / attainedVerbलुङ् (अorist); परस्मैपद; 3 पुरुष; एकवचनRole (क्रिया)Root √नक्ष् (व्याप्तौ/प्रापणे; वैदिक)
- द्याम्
- heaven, the skyNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग; द्वितीया; एकवचनRole KarmaRoot द्यौ/दिव् (प्रातिपदिक)
- श्रवस्यता
- with desire for fame / seeking gloryAdjectiveपुंलिङ्ग; तृतीया; एकवचनRole KaraṇaRoot श्रवस्यत् (प्रातिपदिक; desiderative/possessive adj. from श्रवस्)
- मनसा
- with (his) mindNounनपुंसकलिङ्ग; तृतीया; एकवचनRole KaraṇaRoot मनस् (प्रातिपदिक)
- निंसत्
- pressed down / smoteVerbलुङ् (अorist); परस्मैपद; 3 पुरुष; एकवचनRole (क्रिया)Root √निस्/निंस् (हिंसायाम्/निन्दायाम्; वैदिक)
- क्षाम्
- the earth / groundNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग; द्वितीया; एकवचनRole KarmaRoot क्षाम् (प्रातिपदिक)
- चक्षाणा
- seeing / beholdingParticipleवर्तमान कृदन्त (आत्मनेपद-प्राय); प्रथमा; एकवचन; पुंलिङ्ग (कर्तरि)Role Kartā (participial, agreeing with subject)Root √चक्ष् (दर्शने) → चक्षाण (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
- यत्र
- whereIndeclinableस्थानवाचक अव्ययRole AdhikaraṇaRoot यत्र (अव्यय)
- सुविताय
- for good passage / good fortuneNounनपुंसकलिङ्ग; चतुर्थी; एकवचनRole Sampradāna (purpose/benefit)Root सुवित (प्रातिपदिक)
- देवाः
- the godsNounपुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा; बहुवचनRole KartāRoot देव (प्रातिपदिक)
- द्यौः
- heaven (the sky)Nounस्त्रीलिङ्ग; प्रथमा; एकवचनRole KartāRoot द्यौ/दिव् (प्रातिपदिक)
- न
- likeIndeclinableउपमा-निपातRole (संबन्ध/उपमा)Root न (अव्यय)
- वारेभिः
- with coverings / protections (lit. screens, enclosures)Nounनपुंसकलिङ्ग; तृतीया; बहुवचनRole KaraṇaRoot वार (प्रातिपदिक)
- कृणवन्त
- they made / fashionedVerbलङ् (imperfect); परस्मैपद; 3 पुरुष; बहुवचनRole (क्रिया)Root √कृ (करणे) → कृणवत् (वैदिक-प्रयोग)
- स्वैः
- with their ownPronoun/Adjectiveतृतीया; बहुवचनRole KaraṇaRoot स्व (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
Sandhi Notes
- संहिता-पाठ: हव॑ एषा॒मसु॑रो नक्षत॒ द्यां श्र॑वस्य॒ता मन॑सा निंसत॒ क्षाम् । चक्षा॑णा॒ यत्र॑ सुवि॒ताय॑ दे॒वा द्यौर्न वारे॑भिः कृ॒णव॑न्त॒ स्वैः ॥ पद-विच्छेद (sandhi resolution): हवः | एषाम् | असुरः | नक्षत् | द्याम् | श्रवस्यता | मनसा | निंसत् | क्षाम् | चक्षाणा | यत्र | सुविताय | देवाः | द्यौः | न | वारेभिः | कृणवन्त | स्वैः । मुख्य-सन्धि: (1) एषाम् + असुरः → एषामसु॑रः (अनुस्वार-लोप/परसवर्ण) । (2) द्यौः + न → द्यौर्न (विसर्ग→र् before न) ।
The meaning
Outer meaning
The call of these powers reaches heaven; with a mind seeking fame/true hearing they shape the earth. Seeing where the path is for good going, the gods establish their own wideness, as heaven by its supports.
Inner meaning
The ‘call’ (havaḥ) of the luminous powers rises to Dyauḥ (heaven: higher consciousness). The ‘asura’ here is not a demon but the lordly power (asura = mighty, sovereign) that enables effective formation; it ‘reaches’ and ‘touches’ the heights. With a mind that is śravasyatā—eager for true hearing/inner renown (śravas as inspired truth-sound)—they ‘touch/shape’ Earth (kṣām niṃsata): they organize the physical nature by inspired mental receptivity. ‘Seeing the suvitā’—the right path of movement—they establish their own ‘wideness’ (uru) in that field, building heaven ‘like with its own supports’ (vārebhiḥ): stable pillars of consciousness. The verse describes descent of right guidance into embodiment, creating a stable vastness within.
Universal truth
When aspiration and right receptivity rise to higher consciousness, the sovereign power of the spirit can shape embodied life; seeing the true path, we establish an inner wideness supported by stable truths.
Themes
Invocation and ascent, Cosmic establishment, Right movement (suvitā), Integration of higher and lower
The seer
Significance
A concise cosmopsychological formula: aspiration rising, sovereign power operating, earth-nature shaped, and wideness established—key steps of integral transformation.
The deity
- Devata
- Collective Devas / Vasus with ‘Asura’ as sovereign power among them
- Epithets
- Devāḥ (luminous ones), Asura (lordly, effective)
- Related deities
- Varuṇa (asura-epithet in early RV), Mitra, Indra, Agni
Cosmic role
Maintain and build the wideness of heaven; establish right paths and supports in the worlds.
Inner power
Sovereign organizing force that translates higher vision into stable embodied order.
In ritual
Where it is used
Recitation aligning aspiration (háva) with the establishment of suvitá (right movement) in the embodied field
हव॑ एषा॒मसु॑रो नक्षत॒ द्यां श्र॑वस्य॒ता मन॑सा निंसत॒ क्षाम् । चक्षा॑णा॒ यत्र॑ सुवि॒ताय॑ दे॒वा द्यौर्न वारे॑भिः कृ॒णव॑न्त॒ स्वैः ॥
हवः॑ । ए॒षा॒म् । असु॑रः । न॒क्ष॒त॒ । द्याम् । श्र॒व॒स्य॒ता । मन॑सा । निं॒स॒त॒ । क्षाम् । चक्षा॑णाः । यत्र॑ । सु॒वि॒ताय॑ । दे॒वाः । द्यौः । न । वारे॑भिः । कृ॒णव॑न्त । स्वैः ॥
havaḥ | eṣām | asuraḥ | nakṣata | dyām | śravasyatā | manasā | niṃsata | kṣām | cakṣāṇāḥ | yatra | suvitāya | devāḥ | dyauḥ | na | vārebhiḥ | kṛṇavanta | svaiḥ
44
4×11
Architectonic and expansive; the cadence ‘builds’ like the establishing of supports.
Opens a sense of wideness and stability; good for grounding higher aspiration into calm structure.
- हवः (havaḥ)
- Literal: call, invocation. Symbolic: aspiration; upward cry of consciousness
- असुरः (asuraḥ)
- Literal: lordly power. Symbolic: sovereign effective force of consciousness (not anti-god here)
- द्याम् (dyām)
- Literal: heaven. Symbolic: higher mind/illumined consciousness
- श्रवस्यता मनसा (śravasyatā manasā)
- Literal: with a mind desiring śravas. Symbolic: mind eager for true hearing/inspired revelation (śruti) and luminous renown
- क्षाम् (kṣām)
- Literal: earth. Symbolic: physical nature to be formed/transformed
- सुविताय (suvitāya)
- Literal: for good-going/right course. Symbolic: the true path of progress; right movement (r̥ta-gati)
- स्वैः वारेभिः (svaiḥ vārebhiḥ)
- Literal: by their own supports. Symbolic: stable inner pillars—truths/powers that uphold widened consciousness
Recitation aligning aspiration (háva) with the establishment of suvitá (right movement) in the embodied field; exact śrauta assignment not specified.
Chant when needing ‘grounded vastness’: before decision-making or when integrating spiritual insight into daily routines—invoke the devas to shape kṣā (earth-life) by suvitā (right path).
háva- from √hū ‘call, invoke’. ásura- in early RV often ‘lordly’ from asu-/√as ‘life-breath, being’ + -ra; denotes effective sovereignty. śravasyatā: desiderative/intentive sense from śrávas (√śru), ‘that which is heard’ → inspired hearing and also ‘renown’. suvitāya: dat. of suvitá- ‘good going’ (su- + √i/√vī ‘to go’). kṛṇávanta from √kṛ ‘make, do’; vāra- ‘cover/support/defence’ (semantic range: enclosing, protecting, propping).
R̥ta as right path (suvitā), Asura as effective sovereignty of consciousness, Vision (cakṣ-) and hearing (śru) as twin faculties of revelation
Suvitā is r̥ta in motion: right course perceived and enacted by the gods.
Śravas as true hearing implies satya received as inner revelation.
Cosmic architecture: heaven established by supports; similarly inner heaven (wideness) is built by stable truths in the being.
Vedic cosmological psychology (order, wideness, and formation of earth-nature)
Heaven = higher consciousness; earth = body-life; path = right movement; supports = stable realizations that uphold vastness.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- The ‘building/establishing’ of Heaven-like wideness in the human-earth field: aspiration (háva) reaches the higher plane, then the gods, seeing the right path, found their order below. This is a cosmogonic micro-myth of descent and establishment—higher truth constructing stable supports in embodied existence.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- √śru (śrávas) continues PIE *ḱlew-; √kṛ ‘make’ is a major Indo-Iranian/IE verbal base (cf. Avestan kər-, Latin creare in broader ‘create’ semantic sphere though not direct cognate). The dyā́-/dyáuḥ ‘sky’ aligns with PIE *dyew- ‘bright sky, deity’ (cf. Zeus, Jupiter).
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The seer’s aspiration becomes the channel by which the devas act: the human call rises, and the gods answer by establishing suvitā (right-going) in the earthly nature. The relationship is cooperative—human śravasyatā (will-to-hear truth) invites divine construction.
Feel the upward call (havaḥ) from the heart to the crown (dyauḥ). Invite the sovereign asura-power to organize the ‘earth’ of habits. Then contemplate suvitā: the next right step. Rest in wideness supported by a few clear truths.
Sahasrāra/Ājñā (heaven) grounding into Mūlādhāra (earth) via a stable central channel
Box breathing 4–4–4–4 for 8 rounds to build ‘supports’; then open awareness into vast space on natural breath.
Vast, ordered, quietly empowered.
After chanting, choose one concrete action that embodies the ‘right path’ seen—this is ‘shaping the earth’ by higher mind.
Rigvedic svara per tradition; keep udātta prominent on structural words (hávaḥ, ásuraḥ, dyā́m, manásā, kṣā́m, suvitā́ya, devā́ḥ).
Let the first two pādas rise (call to heaven / shaping earth), and the last two broaden (seeing the path / establishing wideness).
hava eṣām: avoid hiatus—smooth sandhi, asuro: ‘s’ dental; ‘u’ clear, nakṣata: ‘kṣ’ crisp; short vowels not lengthened, śravasyatā: ‘śr’ cluster; keep ‘tā’ long, niṃsata: anusvāra before ‘s’ nasalize lightly; keep ‘sa’ clear, cakṣāṇā: ‘kṣ’ crisp; long ā, suvitāya: ‘vi’ short; ‘tā’ long, vārebhiḥ: ‘vā’ long; ‘bh’ aspirate; visarga soft
Broad, steady, spacious; avoid urgency—aim for architectural calm.
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