Rig Veda 9.61.7: Mandala 9, Sukta 61, Mantra 7
Sukta 9.61
- Rishi
- RV 9 Pavamāna tradition
- Devata
- Soma Pavamāna
- Chandas
- Jagatī
- Rasa
- Adbhuta (wonder) and Shanta (peace)
एतमु त्यं दश क्षिपो मृजन्ति सिन्धुमातरम् । समादित्येभिरख्यत ॥
etám u tyáṃ dáśa kṣípo mṛjánti síndhumātaram | sám ādityébhir akhyata ||
ผู้นี้เอง—มืออันฉับไวทั้งสิบชำระเขา ผู้มีมารดาเป็นสายน้ำ แล้วเขาก็ปรากฏแจ้งโดยสอดประสานกับอาทิตยะ (Ādityas) พลังแห่งระเบียบอันกว้างใหญ่และสัจจะ
Word by Word
- एतम्
- this (one), himPronoun/Adjectiveपुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग?; द्वितीया-एकवचन (पुं. ‘एतम्’ = him/this one)Role कर्मRoot एतद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- उ
- indeed, justIndeclinableनिपात (emphatic/continuative)Root उ (निपात)
- त्यम्
- that (yonder) onePronoun/Adjectiveपुंलिङ्ग; द्वितीया-एकवचनRole कर्म (एतम् के विशेषणरूपेण) अथवा सहकर्मRoot त्यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- दश
- tenNumeralअव्ययवत् संख्या; ‘दश’ = tenRole (विशेषण: क्षिपः) अथवा संख्या-निर्देशRoot दशन् (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक)
- क्षिपः
- sieves, strainersNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग (RV); प्रथमा-बहुवचनRole कर्तृ (मृजन्ति के)Root क्षिप् (स्त्रीलिङ्ग/पुंलिङ्ग प्रातिपदिक; ‘क्षिप्/क्षिपा’ = sieve/strainer; RV usage: sieves)
- मृजन्ति
- they cleanse/purify (they strain)Verbलट् (वर्तमान); परस्मैपद; प्र.पुरुष; बहुवचनRoot मृज् (धातु) ‘to wipe/clean, to purify/strain’
- सिन्धुमातरम्
- the river-mothered one (Soma), born of/connected with the streamsNoun/Adjective (epithet)पुंलिङ्ग; द्वितीया-एकवचनRole कर्म (मृजन्ति के)Root सिन्धु-मातर् (समास: षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष/बहुव्रीहि-भाव: ‘whose mother is the river/streams’)
- सम्
- together, completelyIndeclinable (preverb)उपसर्ग; ‘together, fully’Root सम् (उपसर्ग/अव्यय)
- आ
- towards, untoIndeclinable (preverb)उपसर्ग; ‘towards, unto’Root आ (उपसर्ग/अव्यय)
- आदित्येभिः
- with/by the ĀdityasNounपुंलिङ्ग; तृतीया-बहुवचनRole करण (अख्यत—‘by/with the Ādityas’)Root आदित्य (प्रातिपदिक)
- अख्यत
- he appeared/was seen; he became manifestVerbलुङ् (अorist, injunctive/aorist form in RV); परस्मैपद; प्र.पुरुष; एकवचनRoot ख्यै/ख्या (धातु) ‘to see, to appear, to be perceived; to make known’
Sandhi Notes
- पदच्छेद (resolved): एतम् | उ | त्यम् | दश | क्षिपः | मृजन्ति | सिन्धु-मातरम् | सम् | आ | आदित्येभिः | अख्यत । 1) ‘एतमु त्यं’ = एतम् + उ + त्यम् (म् + उ → मु; Vedic sandhi)
- 2) ‘समा॑दि॒त्येभिः’ = सम् + आ + आदित्येभिः (उपसर्ग-सन्धि; म् + आ → मा)
- 3) ‘सिन्धुमातरम्’ treated as a compound (समास) ‘सिन्धु-’ + ‘मातरम्’
The meaning
Outer meaning
The ‘ten swift hands’ cleanse this Soma, whose mother is the river (sindhu-mātaram). He becomes manifest together with the Ādityas.
Inner meaning
The ‘ten hands’ are the full instrumentation of the human being—often read as the ten powers/faculties (five senses + five action-forces, or ten prāṇic operations) that participate in purification. Soma born of the ‘River’ is delight arising from the flowing stream of life-consciousness; when purified by disciplined faculties, it becomes openly manifest (akhyata) in harmony with the Ādityas—powers of vastness, law, and truth (Mitra-Varuṇa etc.).
Universal truth
Spiritual experience becomes stable and luminous when the whole instrument is trained and purified; then delight aligns with truth-law and reveals itself as a power of ordered vastness, not a private excitement.
Themes
Purification by faculties, Waters symbolism, R̥ta and Ādityas
The seer
- Rishi
- Pavamāna Soma seers (RV 9 tradition; specific rishi per Anukramaṇī)
- Other hymns
- RV 9.61.8 (union with Indra/Vāyu/Sūrya), RV 9.62 (purification and manifestation themes)
Family tradition
Pavamāna line: strong emphasis on ‘mārjana’ (cleansing) imagery—ritual and psychological purification intertwined.
Significance
Shows the integral method: not one faculty but the whole ‘tenfold’ instrument must participate for Soma to manifest with the law-powers (Ādityas).
The deity
- Devata
- Soma Pavamāna (Āditya-aligned)
- Epithets
- Sindhumātṛ (river-born), Punīta (purified), Āditya-sam (in harmony with Ādityas)
- Related deities
- Ādityas (Mitra, Varuṇa, Aryaman, Bhaga, etc.), Sūrya
Cosmic role
Mediator between the flowing waters of existence and the solar law of truth; makes delight compatible with cosmic order.
Inner power
Transforms raw life-flow into a clarified delight that naturally obeys truth and harmony.
In ritual
Where it is used
Soma cleansing/straining; ‘mārjana’ actions by multiple officiants
ए॒तमु॒ त्यं दश॒ क्षिपो॑ मृ॒जन्ति॒ सिन्धु॑मातरम् । समा॑दि॒त्येभि॑रख्यत ॥
ए॒तम् । ऊँ॒ इति॑ । त्यम् । दश॑ । क्षिपः॑ । मृ॒जन्ति॑ । सिन्धु॑ऽमातरम् । सम् । आ॒दि॒त्येभिः॑ । अ॒ख्य॒त॒ ॥
etam | oṃ iti | tyam | daśa | kṣipaḥ | mṛjanti | sindhu-mātaram | sam | ādityebhiḥ | akhyata
Jagatī (to be verified against pada syllable counts)
48
4 × 12 syllables
Quick internal movement within a spacious frame—mirrors ‘kṣipaḥ’ (swift) acting within ordered cadence.
Invokes alertness and coordinated effort; culminates in a felt ‘revealing’ on akhyata.
- दश क्षिपः (daśa kṣipaḥ)
- Literal: ten swift (hands/agents). Symbolic: ten faculties/forces that must collaborate in purification; disciplined instruments of yoga
- मृजन्ति (mṛjanti)
- Literal: they cleanse, wipe, polish. Symbolic: refinement of perception, impulse, and thought until translucent
- सिन्धुमातरम् (sindhu-mātaram)
- Literal: whose mother is the river. Symbolic: born from the great flow of life/being; Ananda emerging from the streaming consciousness
- आदित्येभिः (ādityebhiḥ)
- Literal: with the Ādityas. Symbolic: in union with truth-powers: wideness, harmony, right law
- अख्यत (akhyata)
- Literal: became visible/manifest. Symbolic: inner realization made evident to the mind; revelation
Concrete ritual scene: Soma cleansed by the ten fingers and strained; linked to Āditya invocations for order and purity in the rite.
During the cleansing stages when Soma is handled/strained and clarified
Physical cleansing/straining mirrored by mantric cleansing
Practice as ‘tenfold purification’: before meditation, briefly relax and align senses/actions (seeing, hearing, speech, movement, breath) and offer them into a single stream of clarity.
(mṛjanti) from √mṛj ‘to wipe, cleanse, polish’ often implies ‘make bright’. is a ritual idiom for ‘ten fingers’ cleansing Soma; psychologically, the totality of active faculties refining the delight. (sindhu) ‘river’ evokes the streaming matrix; Āditya relates to Aditi (boundless), hence law/rightness and vastness. √khyā (akhyata) ‘to be seen, become manifest’ marks revelation.
Aditi/Ādityas as vast law (R̥ta), manifestation (khyā) as revelation of truth, integration (sam) of powers
Ādityas embody ṛta; Soma becomes effective when aligned with their order.
Akhya—manifestation—is satya becoming visible in experience.
From waters (apas/sindhu) to law (āditya): evolution from flow to ordered consciousness.
Yogic cosmology: ascent from life-waters to truth-worlds through purification of the instrument.
River = stream of becoming; cleansing = refinement of faculties; sun-law = clarity, truth, wide order.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- Soma is cleansed by the ‘ten’ and revealed among the Ādityas: the mythic pattern is purification leading to manifestation within the cosmic order (R̥ta). The river-mother image grounds Soma in the waters that carry and generate the luminous essence.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- √mṛj ‘wipe/cleanse’ is an Indo-Iranian poetic staple; √khyā ‘see/show’ reflects a basic IE perception verb family (cf. Greek khaínō ‘gape/open’ is not cognate; but the semantic domain of ‘show/appear’ is archaically central). The numeral + agent construction (daśa kṣipaḥ) is characteristic of formulaic diction.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The seer witnesses an inner technology: the faculties (ten) refine Soma until he becomes ‘seen’ in the Āditya-order—meaning the delight-force is not merely felt but aligned with truth, vastness, and law, becoming a stable revelation rather than a transient exhilaration.
Coordinate the ‘ten’ faculties into one aspiration; let delight become lawful, wide, and truthful.
Ajna (clarity/manifestation) with support from Vishuddha (purified expression)
Counted breathing 10 cycles; each cycle ‘cleanses’ one faculty/intention, ending with silent receptivity on ‘akhyata’.
Clear, wide, law-abiding joy—quietly radiant.
List ten habitual movements (sensory cravings, reactive speech, etc.); during repetition, offer each into purification, then rest in the sense of Āditya-order (truthful wideness).
Accents likely highlight demonstrative emphasis ‘etam u tyam’ and culmination ‘akhyata’; verify with śākhā svara marks.
Make ‘daśa kṣipo mṛjanti’ slightly quicker and articulate; slow and brighten on ‘sam ādityebhir akhyata’.
etam: dental t clear, kṣipo: kṣ conjunct; short i, mṛjanti: vocalic ṛ; j soft (as in ‘judge’), sindhumātaram: keep compound clear; long ā, ādityebhiḥ: long ā; bh aspirated
Bright, clean articulation; slight lift in tone at the revealing phrase.
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