Rig Veda 9.85.10: Mandala 9, Sukta 85, Mantra 10
Sukta 9.85
- Devata
- Soma Pavamāna
- Chandas
- Jagatī
- Rasa
- Adbhuta (wonder) and Shanta (peace)
दिवो नाके मधुजिह्वा असश्चतो वेना दुहन्त्युक्षणं गिरिष्ठाम् । अप्सु द्रप्सं वावृधानं समुद्र आ सिन्धोरूर्मा मधुमन्तं पवित्र आ ॥
divó nā́ke mádhu-jihvā asaścáto venā́ duhanty ukṣáṇaṃ giri-sthā́m | apsú drápsaṃ vāvṛdhānáṃ samudrá ā́ síndhor ūrmā́ mádhu-mantaṃ pavítra ā́ ||
ณ ยอดฟ้า เหล่าพลังผู้ใฝ่หา ผู้มีลิ้นหวานดุจน้ำผึ้งและไม่รู้เหน็ดเหนื่อย รีดน้ำนมจากโคอุษภะผู้ยืนอยู่บนที่สูง. ในหมู่น้ำ หยด (drapsa) ที่กำลังเติบโตได้รับการหล่อเลี้ยง; จากมหาสมุทร จากระลอกคลื่นแห่งสายน้ำ แก่นสารอันอุดมด้วยน้ำผึ้งมาสู่เครื่องกรอง (pavitra).
Word by Word
- दिवः
- of/from heavenNounपुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग (वैदिक), षष्ठी एकवचनRole Apādāna (स्रोत/उद्गम-सम्बन्धः: ‘from heaven’)Root दिव् (प्रातिपदिक: दिव्/द्यौ-)
- नाके
- in the (heavenly) vault / in heavenNounपुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी एकवचनRole AdhikaraṇaRoot नाक (प्रातिपदिक)
- मधुजिह्वाः
- having honey(-like) tonguesAdjective (epithet)स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा बहुवचनRole KartāRoot मधु-जिह्वा (समास: मधु + जिह्वा)
- असश्चतः
- not lagging behind / not deviatingParticipleपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा बहुवचन, शतृ-प्रत्यय (वर्तमान कृदन्त)Role Kartā (मधुजिह्वाः इत्यस्य विशेषणम्)Root सश्च् (धातु; ‘to follow/attend’), उपसर्ग: अ- (निषेध/विपरीतार्थ)
- वेनाः
- the eager/impelling onesNounपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा बहुवचनRole KartāRoot वेन (प्रातिपदिक; ‘longing/impelling one’, वैदिक ‘desiring/striving’)
- दुहन्ति
- they milk / draw forthVerbलट् (वर्तमान), परस्मैपद, प्रथम पुरुष, बहुवचनRole KriyāRoot दुह्
- उक्षणम्
- the bullNounपुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया एकवचनRole KarmaRoot उक्षन् (प्रातिपदिक; ‘bull’)
- गिरिष्ठाम्
- standing on the mountainAdjectiveपुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया एकवचन (उक्षणम् इत्यस्य विशेषणम्)Role KarmaRoot गिरि-स्था (समास/उपपद: गिरि + स्था)
- अप्सु
- in the watersNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी बहुवचनRole AdhikaraṇaRoot अप् (प्रातिपदिक)
- द्रप्सम्
- the drop / the shining dropNounपुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया एकवचनRole KarmaRoot द्रप्स (प्रातिपदिक)
- वावृधानम्
- grown, increasingParticipleपुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया एकवचन, क्त-प्रत्यय (भूतकृदन्त) with reduplication (वावृध-), द्रप्सम् इत्यस्य विशेषणम्Role KarmaRoot वृध्
- समुद्रे
- in the oceanNounपुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी एकवचनRole AdhikaraṇaRoot समुद्र (प्रातिपदिक)
- आ
- towards, untoIndeclinableनिपात/उपसर्ग (आगमन/आभिमुख्ये)Root आ (उपसर्ग/निपात)
- सिन्धोः
- of the river / of the SindhuNounपुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी एकवचनRole Apādāna/सम्बन्ध (उद्गम/सम्बन्धः)Root सिन्धु (प्रातिपदिक)
- ऊर्मा
- the waveNounपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा एकवचन (वैदिक रूप: ऊर्मा < ऊर्मिः)Role KartāRoot ऊर्मि (प्रातिपदिक)
- मधुमन्तम्
- honeyed, sweetAdjectiveपुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया एकवचन (पवित्रम् इत्यस्य विशेषणम्)Role KarmaRoot मधुमन्त् (प्रातिपदिक)
- पवित्रम्
- the filter / strainer (soma-filter)Nounनपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया एकवचनRole KarmaRoot पवित्र (प्रातिपदिक)
- आ
- unto, toIndeclinableनिपात (पुनरुक्त)Root आ (उपसर्ग/निपात)
Sandhi Notes
- पदच्छेदः (सन्धिविग्रह): दिवो→दिवः
- नाके (स्थाने)
- मधुजिह्वा असश्चतो→मधुजिह्वाः असश्चतः (प्रथमा बहुवचन-समन्वयः)
- वेना दुहन्ति→वेनाः दुहन्ति (विसर्ग-लोप/स्वर-सन्धि)
- उक्षणं गिरिष्ठाम् (विशेषण-सम्बन्धः)
- अप्सु द्रप्सं (अधिकारण)
- वावृधानं समुद्र→वावृधानम् समुद्रे (सप्तमी)
- आ सिन्धोरूर्मा→आ सिन्धोः ऊर्मा (र्-उत्प्रेक्षा/सन्धि-विच्छेद)
- मधुमन्तं पवित्र आ→मधुमन्तम् पवित्रम् आ (अनुस्वार/म्-समन्वय, पदान्त-रूप)
The meaning
Outer meaning
At the summit of heaven, eager honey-tongued powers tirelessly “milk” the Bull standing on the heights. In the waters the growing drop is nurtured; from ocean and river-wave the honey-rich essence comes to the filter.
Inner meaning
The “honey-tongued” seekers (venāḥ) are the soul’s aspiring faculties whose mantric speech draws out the Bull—Soma as the strong, uplifted Delight/Ananda seated on the “mountain” of higher consciousness. The Drop (drapsa) increases in the inner waters (the flowing life-mind), and its sweetness is brought to the pavitra, the discerning filter of the purified mind, where mixed movements are strained and the essence becomes fit for illumination.
Universal truth
When aspiration and true speech persist, the higher Delight can be drawn down into the currents of life; through discrimination and purification, the sweetest essence of experience becomes nourishment for awakening rather than intoxication for ignorance.
Themes
Waters symbolism, Soma as drop, Aspiration and extraction, Delight (madhu)
The seer
- Other hymns
- Rig Veda 9.85 (adjacent verses), Rig Veda 9.86 (continuation of Pavamāna flow imagery)
Significance
The anonymity suits Book 9’s collective yogic craft: the seer-voice is the sacrificial consciousness itself, witnessing Soma’s ascent and purification rather than a personal biography.
The deity
- Devata
- Soma Pavamāna
- Epithets
- Pavamāna (self-purifying), Madhu (honey-sweet essence), Drapsa (the concentrated drop), Ukṣan (Bull)
- Related deities
- Indra (as receiver of Soma-force in nearby verses), Agni (as priest of inner offering), Gandharva (guardian/knower of Soma in this hymn cluster)
Cosmic role
The bliss-essence that is expressed, purified, and offered—linking heaven and earth, ocean-depth and river-movement, into a clarified delight for the gods (powers of consciousness).
Inner power
Ananda that grows in the inner waters and becomes luminous when filtered—turning experience into nectar for awakening.
In ritual
Where it is used
Soma pressing and purification (pavamāna chants during soma-yajña)
दि॒वो नाके॒ मधु॑जिह्वा अस॒श्चतो॑ वे॒ना दु॑हन्त्यु॒क्षणं॑ गिरि॒ष्ठाम् । अ॒प्सु द्र॒प्सं वा॑वृधा॒नं स॑मु॒द्र आ सिन्धो॑रू॒र्मा मधु॑मन्तं प॒वित्र॒ आ ॥
दि॒वः । नाके॑ । मधु॑ऽजिह्वाः । अ॒स॒श्चतः॑ । वे॒नाः । दु॒ह॒न्ति॒ । उ॒क्षण॑म् । गि॒रि॒ऽस्थाम् । अ॒प्ऽसु । द्र॒प्सम् । व॒वृ॒धा॒नम् । स॒मु॒द्रे । आ । सिन्धोः॑ । ऊ॒र्मा । मधु॑ऽमन्तम् । प॒वित्रे॑ । आ ॥
divaḥ | nāke | madhu-jihvāḥ | asaścataḥ | venāḥ | duhanti | ukṣaṇam | giri-sthām | ap-su | drapsam | vavṛdhānam | samudre | ā | sindhoḥ | ūrmā | madhu-mantam | pavitre | ā
48
4 pādas × 12 syllables (Jagatī norm; with possible Vedic resolution)
Long, streaming cadence suited to describing flow, increase, and arrival.
Induces a sense of descent-and-purification: expansive breath, steady forward movement, and a final settling into clarity at ‘pavitre ā’.
- दिवो नाके (divo nāke)
- Literal: on heaven’s summit. Symbolic: in the higher plane of consciousness; the mind’s supramental/overmental height
- मधुजिह्वाः (madhujihvāḥ)
- Literal: honey-tongued. Symbolic: speech that carries truth-delight; mantra-born utterance
- वेनाः (venāḥ)
- Literal: desirous/aspiring ones. Symbolic: inner seekers: will, thought, and aspiration turned upward
- उक्षणम् (ukṣaṇam)
- Literal: the Bull. Symbolic: Soma’s mighty Ananda-force; virile plenitude of consciousness
- गिरिष्ठाम् (giriṣṭhām)
- Literal: standing on the mountain. Symbolic: established in the luminous heights; stable higher station
- अप्सु (apsu)
- Literal: in the waters. Symbolic: in the life-currents and subtle mind-streams where experience flows
- द्रप्सम् (drapsam)
- Literal: drop. Symbolic: a concentrated point of delight/essence of consciousness
- समुद्र (samudra)
- Literal: ocean. Symbolic: the vast causal/deep consciousness; plenary being
- सिन्धोः ऊर्मा (sindhor ūrmā)
- Literal: river’s wave. Symbolic: dynamic movements of life-force carrying the essence upward
- पवित्र (pavitra)
- Literal: filter. Symbolic: purifying discernment; clarified mind that separates truth from mixture
Soma straining: imagery of waters and flow to pavitra corresponds to the pressing and filtration sequences
During Soma-pavamāna recitations while the pressed Soma is filtered and collected
Chanting alongside straining/flowing Soma through wool/grass filter into the vessel
Use as a meditation on ‘filtering’ experience: let sweetness remain, let agitation strain out—especially before study, japa, or contemplative work.
Key terms: nā́ka ‘summit/heaven’ (semantic: highest point); madhu ‘honey/sweetness’ + jihvā ‘tongue’ → madhu-jihvāḥ, speech as carrier of ānanda; venāḥ from vena ‘desire/longing’ (√van ‘to desire, win, love’); duhanti (√duh ‘milk’) continues the extraction-of-essence metaphor; drapsa ‘drop’ (condensed Soma); vāvṛdhāna (√vṛdh ‘increase’). Symbolism: ‘waters/ocean/river/wave’ are not merely physical but denote layers of consciousness and the streaming life-force from which the Soma-drop is nourished and brought to purification.
Desire (vena) transmuted into aspiration, Increase (vṛdh) of the luminous essence, Purification as a passage from vast life-waters to clarified consciousness
Soma’s movement from summit → waters → filter mirrors R̥ta: descent of truth into ordered life.
Madhu as the taste of satya—truth experienced as sweetness and fullness.
Ocean-depth (samudra) and river-wave (ūrmi) as two modes of manifestation: stable plenitude and dynamic becoming.
Proto-Vedāntic / integral (Aurobindonian) reading: Ananda as a fundamental plane expressed into mind-life and purified.
Higher consciousness yields nectar; life-waters carry it; discrimination strains it into usable delight and light.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- The ‘milking of the Bull’ by honey-tongued desirers at the summit of heaven, and the nurturing of the Soma-drop in the waters before it reaches the filter. It is the myth of extracting and refining the immortal sweetness from the vast streams of existence.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- The milking formula (√duh) and the bull-symbol (ukṣán/vṛṣabha) are widespread IE sacral motifs linking potency and nourishment. The water-cosmos lexicon (ap-, sindhu-, samudra-) supports an inherited poetic mapping between cosmic waters and generative source.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The aspirant-forces (venāḥ) and inspired speech (madhu-jihvāḥ) cooperate with Soma’s own growth in the waters; the rishi’s work is to ‘draw’ and guide the essence toward purification—turning raw life-streams into clarified delight and knowledge.
‘Bring the sweetness to the inner filter’: allow higher joy to descend, then refine it into quiet clarity.
Sahasrara–Ajna axis (descent from summit to discriminative mind)
Slow ujjayi-like breathing; imagine inhale drawing nectar from above, exhale straining it into a clear inner vessel.
Calm, expansive, subtly blissful lucidity.
Begin with aspiration (upward attention), then observe the ‘waters’ (thought/emotion) without grasping; let only the madhu-quality remain as steady Ananda in the mind.
Notated svara depends on śākhā; generally maintain Vedic accent: udatta (raised), anudatta (lower), svarita (falling) on marked syllables.
Keep clear stress on accented syllables in compounds like madhú-jihvāḥ, drápsam, pavítre; avoid flattening the cadence across pādas.
Differentiate dental n vs retroflex ṇ in nāke vs ukṣaṇam., Hold long vowels: divo, nāke, ūrmā, pavitre., Cluster clarity: giriṣṭhām (ṣṭh), vāvṛdhānam (vāvṛ-).
Flowing, resonant, ‘stream-like’ with steady breath support.
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