Rig Veda 2.23.14: Mandala 2, Sukta 23, Mantra 14
Sukta 2.23
तेजिष्ठया तपनी रक्षसस्तप ये त्वा निदे दधिरे दृष्टवीर्यम् । आविस्तत्कृष्व यदसत्त उक्थ्यं बृहस्पते वि परिरापो अर्दय ॥
téjiṣṭhayā tapanī́ rakṣásaḥ tapa yé tvā nidé dadhiré dṛṣṭávīryam | āvís tát kṛṣva yád ásat te ukthyàm bṛ́haspate ví parirā́po ardaya ||
ด้วยความร้อนอันคมกล้าและแผดเผายิ่งของท่าน จงเผาผลาญอำนาจมืดแห่งรากษส (Rākṣasas)—ผู้ที่แม้เห็นพลังวีรบุรุษของท่านประจักษ์แล้ว ก็ยังวางท่านไว้ในคำติฉิน. โอ พฤหสปติ (Bṛhaspati) จงทำให้สิ่งที่ยังไม่ปรากฏในเรานั้นปรากฏ; จงบดขยี้และขับไล่การคุกคามที่ล้อมรัดเข้ามา.
Rite of protection/purification: burning away rakṣas (obstructive influences) and strengthening the efficacy of uktha (recitation).
Manifestation (āviḥ) of the unmanifest, Speech as power (uktha/brahman), Rakṣas as obscuring consciousness
Enclosures are anti-ṛta; Bṛhaspati’s tapas restores the right movement by breaking rings of obstruction.
Satya is made ‘āviḥ’—truth must become visible and effective in life, not remain ideal.
Aurobindonian creation motif: emergence of the not-yet (asat) into manifest being through the Word and tapas.
Strongly proto-Sāṃkhya/Yoga in process terms (manifestation), and proto-Vedānta in truth-revelation; aligns with integral transformation reading.
night-to-dawn transition (implied by ‘make visible’)
Fire = aspiration-tapas; darkness = ignorance; enclosure = habitual subconscious ring; sun/visibility = awakened consciousness.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- The ‘burning out’ of rakṣas and the revelation of what was ‘not yet’—a mythic pattern of illumination where the divine Word/Fire makes latent truth visible and breaks enclosing harms.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- √tap (PIE *tep-) and the superlative téjiṣṭha (Indo-European comparative/superlative strategy) show archaic intensification. The opposition nidā/blame vs āvíḥ/manifest encodes a semantic polarity typical of early IE poetics.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The rishi asks the deity not only to destroy hostile forces but to perform an inner epistemic act: to bring into manifestation an unrealized state. The reciprocity is: invocation → illumination and protection.
Break the ‘ring’ of repetitive thoughts; invoke a concentrated flame in the brow/throat to reveal what is latent.
ājñā (revelation) with viśuddha (truth-word)
Kapalabhāti (mild, 30–60 strokes) if suitable, then slow chanting; or simply strong exhale emphasis on imperatives (tapa/kṛṣva/ardaya).
Breakthrough clarity; luminous intensity.
Identify the enclosing pattern (fear, cynicism, lethargy). On ‘tejiṣṭhayā’, kindle aspiration; on ‘āvis tat kṛṣva’, hold the image of a hidden light emerging; on ‘vi parirāpo ardaya’, feel the ring crack and fall away.
Rigvedic accents with heightened emphasis on imperatives; keep melodic rise on vocative bṛhaspate and clear falls at pāda ends.
Deliver ‘tapa’ and ‘ardaya’ with clipped decisiveness; avoid dragging consonant clusters that reduce force.
tejiṣṭhayā: ṣṭh cluster; keep i short, tapanī: retroflex ṇ not present—dental n; long ī at end, rakṣasaḥ: kṣ cluster clean; final ḥ audible, dṛṣṭavīryam: dṛṣṭa with retroflex ṣṭ; vīryam long ī, āvis: long ā; vis with dental s, parirāpo: roll r lightly; long ā, ardaya: rd cluster; keep a short
Bright, fiery, concentrated; strong onset, clean release.
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