Rig Veda 5.9.6: Mandala 5, Sukta 9, Mantra 6
Sukta 5.9
- Rishi
- Vasiṣṭha
- Devata
- Agni
- Chandas
- Gāyatrī/Anuṣṭubh-like short meter
- Rasa
- Shanta (peace) and Karuna (compassion)
तवाहमग्न ऊतिभिर्मित्रस्य च प्रशस्तिभिः । द्वेषोयुतो न दुरिता तुर्याम मर्त्यानाम् ॥
tavā́ham agne ūtíbhiḥ mitrásya ca práśastibhiḥ | dveṣó-yuto ná duritā́ turyā́ma mártyānām ||
โอ อัคนี (Agni) ด้วยกำลังแห่งการคุ้มครองของท่าน และด้วยถ้อยสรรเสริญอันประสานกลมกลืนของมิตระ (Mitra) ขอข้าพเจ้าผู้พ้นจากแอกแห่งความเป็นศัตรู จงข้ามพ้นท่าข้ามอันยากลำบากที่ปวงมนุษย์ต้องเผชิญ.
Word by Word
- तव
- of you / yourPronounषष्ठी (gen.), एकवचनRole सम्बन्ध (genitival relation)Root त्वद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- अहम्
- IPronounप्रथमा, एकवचनRole कर्तृRoot अस्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- अग्ने
- O AgniNounपुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (voc.), एकवचनRole सम्बोधनRoot अग्नि (प्रातिपदिक)
- ऊतिभिः
- with (your) aids / protectionsNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग, तृतीया, बहुवचनRole करणRoot ऊति (प्रातिपदिक)
- मित्रस्य
- of MitraNounपुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, एकवचनRole सम्बन्धRoot मित्र (प्रातिपदिक)
- च
- andIndeclinableसमुच्चय-अव्ययRoot च
- प्रशस्तिभिः
- with praises / laudationsNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग, तृतीया, बहुवचनRole करणRoot प्र-शस्ति (प्रातिपदिक; √शंस्/शस् ‘to praise’ से)
- द्वेषोयुतः
- joined with hatred / accompanied by hostilityAdjective (compound)पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन (विशेष्यः ‘अहम्’)Role कर्तृ (विशेषण-रूपेण)Root द्वेषस् (प्रातिपदिक) + युत (कृदन्त; √यु ‘to join, yoke’)
- न
- like / asIndeclinableनिषेध/उपमा-अव्यय (यहाँ ‘like/as’)Root न
- दुरितानि
- evils, misfortunesNounनपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, बहुवचनRole कर्म (तु॒र्याम् के साथ)Root दुरित (प्रातिपदिक)
- तुर्याम्
- may I overcome / crossVerbविधिलिङ् (optative), उत्तमपुरुष, एकवचन, परस्मैपदRole क्रियाRoot √तॄ (तॄ/तॄण् ‘to cross over, overcome’)
- मर्त्यानाम्
- of mortals / of menNounपुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, बहुवचनRole सम्बन्धRoot मर्त्य (प्रातिपदिक)
Sandhi Notes
- पदच्छेद (sandhi-resolution): तव | अहम् | अग्ने | ऊतिभिः | मित्रस्य | च | प्रशस्तिभिः | द्वेषो-युतः | न | दुरितानि | तुर्याम् | मर्त्यानाम् । 1) तवा॒हम् = तव + अहम् (अ + अ → आ). 2) द्वे॒षो॒युतो॒ = द्वेषः + युतः
- विसर्गः पद-सन्धौ लोप होकर ‘ओ’ (द्वेषो) रूप में, तत्पश्चात् युतः. 3) न दु॑रि॒ता = न + दुरितानि (पदपाठ में दुरितानि; संहिता में ‘दुरिता’ रूप)
The meaning
Outer meaning
O Agni, by your helps and by Mitra’s praises/affirmations, may I, freed from hostility, cross over the difficult troubles of mortals.
Inner meaning
Agni’s protective and uplifting powers (ūtibhiḥ) joined with Mitra’s harmonizing light (praśastibhiḥ—affirming truth, right relation) release the seeker from the yoke of inner hostility (dveṣa: resentment, self-division, opposing impulses). With this alliance of will and harmony, one can pass beyond the ‘difficult passages’ (duritā) of mortal nature—habitual ignorance, suffering, and reactive patterns.
Universal truth
Liberation is not only force but also harmony. When will is supported by clarity and right relation, the soul crosses the hard terrain of human limitation.
Themes
Protection and crossing, Harmony (Mitra) supporting the sacrificial fire, Overcoming hostility/dualities
The seer
- Lineage
- Vasiṣṭha-gotra (probable)
- Other hymns
- RV 5.9 (surrounding verses), RV 3.59 (Mitra hymn—conceptual resonance)
Family tradition
Vasiṣṭha tradition frequently pairs Agni’s force with Mitra’s harmony to maintain ṛta in action.
Significance
Shows the integral method: not mere fiery striving, but a harmonized will supported by the power of right relation (Mitra).
The deity
- Devata
- Agni (supported by Mitra)
- Epithets
- ūtimat (help-giving—implicit)
- Related deities
- Mitra, Varuṇa, Indra
Cosmic role
Agni leads the crossing; Mitra stabilizes the path through harmony and truth of relations.
Inner power
Agni: courage and purification; Mitra: clarity, balance, benevolent order in mind and life.
In ritual
Where it is used
General protective prayer in Agni worship; could accompany offerings for safe passage and removal of enmity
तवा॒हम॑ग्न ऊ॒तिभि॑र्मि॒त्रस्य॑ च॒ प्रश॑स्तिभिः । द्वे॒षो॒युतो॒ न दु॑रि॒ता तु॒र्याम॒ मर्त्या॑नाम् ॥
तव॑ । अ॒हम् । अ॒ग्ने॒ । ऊ॒तिऽभिः॑ । मि॒त्रस्य॑ । च॒ । प्रश॑स्तिऽभिः । द्वे॒षः॒ऽयुतः॑ । न । दुः॒ऽइ॒ता । तु॒र्याम॑ । मर्त्या॑नाम् ॥
tava | aham | agne | ūti-bhiḥ | mitrasya | ca | praśasti-bhiḥ | dveṣaḥ-yutaḥ | na | duḥ-itā | turyāma | martyānām
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4 × ~8
prayerful and forward-moving
Supports ‘crossing’ psychology—steady cadence for overcoming obstacles.
- ऊतिभिः (ūtibhiḥ)
- Literal: helps, protections. Symbolic: supporting powers of the inner fire—guidance, courage, purification
- मित्रस्य (mitrasya)
- Literal: of Mitra. Symbolic: the power of harmony, right relation, luminous consent
- प्रशस्तिभिः (praśastibhiḥ)
- Literal: praises/commendations. Symbolic: affirmations that set the mind in right vibration; mantric alignment with truth
- द्वेषःयुतः (dveṣo-yutaḥ)
- Literal: freed from hostility. Symbolic: released from inner enmity—self-contradiction, hatred, reactive opposition
- दुरिता (duritā)
- Literal: difficulties, misfortunes. Symbolic: crossings of ignorance—crises, knots, karmic/vital obstacles
- तुर्याम (turyāma)
- Literal: may I overpass. Symbolic: to cross beyond, to transcend a limiting formation
- मर्त्यानाम् (martyānām)
- Literal: of mortals. Symbolic: the habitual human consciousness bound to death/change
General Agni-stotra usage within the daily/seasonal soma-less offerings; suitable as an invocation for protection and ‘crossing’ in Pravargya/Agnihotra-type contexts (broadly), though exact śrauta assignment is not specified in the provided data.
Before travel, before undertaking difficult work, during evening tending of fire
Offering ghee with a prayer for protection and harmony
Use when facing conflict: chant to dissolve inner/outer hostility and regain harmonious will.
turyāma: optative (vidhi-liṅ) 1sg of √tṝ ‘to cross, pass over’ (PIE *terh₁- ‘cross over’; cf. Lat. trans, Eng. through). ūti- ‘help’ from √av/√ū? (Vedic ūti ‘succor, aid’), functioning as instrumental plural ūtíbhiḥ. duritā́ ‘hard-going, evil’ from dur- ‘bad, difficult’ + ita- (ppp of √i ‘go’), lit. ‘ill-gone/ill-passable’. dveṣaḥ from √dviṣ ‘to hate, be hostile’ (PIE *dweis- ‘hate’). pra-śasti- ‘affirming praise/commendation’ from √śas ‘to praise, declare’ with preverb pra-; here instrumental plural, suggesting efficacious utterance aligning with ṛta.
Ṛta (right order through Mitra’s harmony and true speech), inner battle of light vs. hostility (dveṣas), deliverance across duritā (psychological ‘hard passages’)
Mitra’s role is to keep relations and movements in ṛta, enabling Agni’s force to act rightly.
praśasti as affirmation of truth that re-tunes the mind.
Ethico-psychological Vedism: purification of dveṣa as condition for transcendence.
Crossing = transition between states of consciousness; Mitra-sun = clear, friendly light that prevents distortion; Agni-fire = driving will.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- The ‘crossing’ (√tṝ) of duritā is a recurrent Vedic mythologem: passage over perilous waters/obstacles with divine aid. Psychologically, it encodes the soul’s transition beyond constricted mortal states, aided by Agni’s forward-leading will and Mitra’s harmonizing truth.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- turyāma (√tṝ) reflects PIE *terh₁- ‘cross over’ (trans-/through family). dveṣaḥ (√dviṣ) aligns with PIE *dweis- ‘hate’. The compound dur-itā (dur- + √i) shows inherited Indo-European preverb + motion-verb morphology producing evaluative ‘hard-going’ semantics.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The speaker positions himself as dependent on Agni’s ūtis (effective helps) and Mitra’s praśastis (truth-affirming harmonies). The reciprocity is implicit: the human offers alignment/praise and receives the power to transcend hostility and mortal impediments—Agni as leader of aspiration, Mitra as regulator of right relation in consciousness.
Release hostility; unite will (Agni) with harmony (Mitra).
anāhata (reconciliation)
coherent breathing (5–6 breaths/min) while repeating the mantra mentally; on exhale, release dveṣa
reconciled, protected, quietly determined
Before responding to conflict, invoke Agni’s steady will and Mitra’s friendly clarity. Let the ‘yoke of hostility’ drop; then act from calm strength.
RV svara; keep a gentle lift on agne and mitrasya; soften the cadence on duritā.
Phrase as: tavāham agne | ūtibhir | mitrasya ca praśastibhiḥ || dveṣoyuto na | duritā | turyāma | martyānām ||
ūtibhiḥ: long ū; final ḥ lightly aspirated, praśastibhiḥ: ś + t cluster—clean articulation, dveṣo-: retroflex ṣ; avoid ‘dvesho’ with English z
reassuring, even, prayer-like
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