Rig Veda 5.13.4: Mandala 5, Sukta 13, Mantra 4
Sukta 5.13
- Rishi
- Atri
- Devata
- Agni
- Chandas
- Gāyatrī
- Rasa
- Vira (heroism) and Shanta (peace)
त्वमग्ने सप्रथा असि जुष्टो होता वरेण्यः । त्वया यज्ञं वि तन्वते ॥
tvám agne sa-práthā asi júṣṭo hótā váreṇyaḥ | tváyā yajñáṃ ví tanvate ||
Ikaw, O Agni, ay malawak sa iyong paglaganap; ikaw ang tinatanggap at karapat-dapat na piliing pari. Sa pamamagitan mo ang sakripisyo ay pinalawak at hinabi sa buong anyo nito.
Word by Word
- त्वम्
- youPronounपुं/स्त्री/नपुं; प्रथमा; एकवचनRole कर्तृRoot युष्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- अग्ने
- O AgniNounपुंलिङ्ग; सम्बोधन; एकवचनRole सम्बोधनRoot अग्नि (प्रातिपदिक)
- सप्रथाः
- widely extended, far-spreadingAdjectiveपुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा; एकवचनRole कर्तृ-विशेषणRoot स-प्रथा (प्रातिपदिक; प्रथा < √प्रथ् ‘to spread, be wide’)
- असि
- you areVerbलट् (वर्तमान); मध्यमपुरुष; एकवचनRole (अस्ति-क्रिया)Root √अस् (भू) ‘to be’
- जुष्टः
- favored, well-pleasedAdjectiveपुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा; एकवचनRole कर्तृ-विशेषणRoot √जुष् ‘to enjoy, favor’ (कृदन्त: भूतकृदन्त/क्त)
- होता
- the Hotṛ-priest (invoker)Nounपुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा; एकवचनRole कर्तृ (सम्बन्धे/उपाधि)Root होतृ (प्रातिपदिक; √हु ‘to sacrifice, offer’)
- वरेण्यः
- most choice-worthy, excellentAdjectiveपुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा; एकवचनRole कर्तृ-विशेषणRoot वरेण्य (प्रातिपदिक; √वृ ‘to choose’ → ‘choice-worthy’)
- त्वया
- by you, through youPronounपुं/स्त्री/नपुं; तृतीया; एकवचनRole करणRoot युष्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- यज्ञम्
- the sacrifice, ritualNounपुंलिङ्ग; द्वितीया; एकवचनRole कर्मRoot यज्ञ (प्रातिपदिक; √यज् ‘to worship, sacrifice’)
- वि
- apart, forth, widelyIndeclinableउपसर्ग (विभक्त्यन्तरहित)Role (क्रियाविशेषक)Root वि (उपसर्ग/निपात)
- तन्वते
- they extend/spreadVerbलट् (वर्तमान); प्रथमपुरुष; बहुवचन; आत्मनेपदRole (मुख्यक्रिया)Root √तन् ‘to stretch, extend’ (आत्मनेपद)
Sandhi Notes
- पदच्छेदः: त्वम् | अग्ने | सप्रथाः | असि | जुष्टः | होता | वरेण्यः || त्वया | यज्ञम् | वि | तन्वते || 1) ‘त्वमग्ने’ = त्वम् + अग्ने (अनुस्वार/व्यञ्जन-सन्धि: म् + अ → म् अ, लेखने संयोग)
- 2) ‘सप्रथा असि’ में पदान्त ‘-आ’ + ‘अ’ संधि से दीर्घ/प्रगृह्य-प्रकार संभव, पर पदपाठ में स्पष्ट पृथक: सप्रथाः | असि
- 3) ‘होता वरेण्यः’ में विसर्ग-सन्धि नहीं (आकारान्त ‘होता’ + ‘व-’)
- 4) ‘त्वया यज्ञं’ में संधि नहीं (आ + य)
- 5) ‘वि तन्वते’ उपसर्ग ‘वि’ क्रिया ‘तन्वते’ के साथ (वितन्वते) अर्थ-सम्बन्ध, पर पदपाठ में पृथक।
The meaning
Outer meaning
You, Agni, are wide in your spread; you are the accepted, choice-worthy priest. By you the sacrifice is extended.
Inner meaning
Agni is not a small, momentary impulse; he is saprathā—wide, expansive in operation through all parts of the being. As juṣṭa hotā vareṇyaḥ, he is the will that the higher consciousness accepts, the best mediator for transformation. When Agni leads, the yajña—our whole process of self-offering—gets ‘woven out’ (vi tanvate): it becomes comprehensive, integrated, and continuous across thought, life-force, and body.
Universal truth
True transformation requires an expansive, accepted inner will; when it governs, the spiritual practice becomes whole-life and coherently organized.
Themes
Agni as chosen priest, expansion of the sacrifice, inner ordering
The seer
- Rishi
- Atri (Ātreya)
- Lineage
- Ātreya
- Other hymns
- Rig Veda 5.11, Rig Veda 5.12, Rig Veda 5.13.2-6
Family tradition
Atri’s Agni hymns emphasize Agni’s pervasion and organizing power in the inner sacrifice.
Significance
The seer presents Agni as the indispensable organizer: without the inner priest, the yajña remains fragmented; with him, it becomes an integrated path.
The deity
- Devata
- Agni
- Epithets
- sa-prathāḥ (wide-spreading), juṣṭa (accepted), hotā (priest), vareṇya (choice-worthy)
- Related deities
- Bṛhaspati (ordering word), Indra (illumined mind), Viśve Devāḥ
Cosmic role
Pervades the worlds as heat and energy; mediates offerings; sustains the sacrificial order.
Inner power
Expansive, discerning will that unifies the being’s movements into a single consecrated process.
In ritual
Where it is used
Agni praise affirming his fitness as hotṛ; used to establish Agni’s centrality in the rite
त्वम॑ग्ने स॒प्रथा॑ असि॒ जुष्टो॒ होता॒ वरे॑ण्यः । त्वया॑ य॒ज्ञं वि त॑न्वते ॥
त्वम् । अ॒ग्ने॒ । स॒ऽप्रथाः॑ । अ॒सि॒ । जुष्टः॑ । होता॑ । वरे॑ण्यः । त्वया॑ । य॒ज्ञम् । वि । त॒न्व॒ते॒ ॥
tvam | agne | sa-prathāḥ | asi | juṣṭaḥ | hotā | vareṇyaḥ | tvayā | yajñam | vi | tanvate
24
3×8 (approx.)
broadening movement; the cadence ‘opens out’ with saprathā and vi tanvate
Gives a felt expansion in the chest and a sense of the practice extending beyond a single act into a living continuum.
- सप्रथा (sa-prathā)
- Literal: widely spread, expansive. Symbolic: all-pervading awakened will across the nature
- जुष्ट (juṣṭa)
- Literal: pleasing, accepted. Symbolic: aligned with the Divine; taken up by higher consciousness
- होता (hotā)
- Literal: priest. Symbolic: mediating will that offers and orders inner movements
- वरेण्य (vareṇya)
- Literal: to be chosen, excellent. Symbolic: the best guiding force for yoga—discriminating and pure
- यज्ञ (yajña)
- Literal: sacrifice. Symbolic: integral self-offering; inner work of transformation
- वि तन्वते (vi tanvate)
- Literal: is spread out, extended, woven. Symbolic: practice becomes comprehensive, articulated, and stable
Affirmation of Agni’s priestly capacity; supports the extension (vitāna) of the rite and the orderly sequencing of offerings.
At the stage of appointing/recognizing the priestly function of Agni; during kindling and offering sequences
Recite while tending the fire and making offerings; mentally affirm Agni as guide of the whole yajña
Use before meditation to shift from ‘technique’ to ‘whole-life offering’: invoke Agni’s expansiveness so practice includes thought, emotion, action.
prath- (√prath ‘spread, widen’) marks expansion of consciousness. vareṇya (√vṛ ‘choose’) indicates the discerning selection of the right guiding power. √tan ‘stretch’ is also used for ‘weaving’ the rite; psychologically, the inner discipline is ‘extended’ into a complete pattern by Agni.
expansion (prath), selection/discrimination (vareṇya), ordered unfolding of yajña
Agni’s priesthood is ṛta’s executive power—right arrangement of forces.
The ‘accepted’ will is the will aligned with truth, not desire.
Expansion (prathā) as a creative principle: consciousness spreads and organizes into form.
Integral Vedic yoga: yajña as a model of evolutionary transformation of nature.
As fire spreads through fuel, will spreads through the nature; the ‘woven sacrifice’ is the integrated pattern of daily life consecration.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- The ‘weaving/extension’ of the sacrifice: Agni is the power that spreads the rite into completeness. Mythically, fire establishes the ritual cosmos; psychologically, awakened will organizes and expands the inner practice.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- √tan ‘stretch’ is a robust IE root (cf. Latin tendere). The semantic bridge from ‘stretch’ to ‘compose/extend a rite’ reflects inherited poetic-ritual metaphor.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The rishi recognizes Agni as the chosen mediator; the human side ‘extends’ the yajña, but only ‘by Agni’—i.e., by the awakened divine will—can the extension be effective and integral.
Feel Agni as an expanding flame in the heart that pervades the whole body; offer each layer—thought, breath, feeling—into that one will.
anahata
slow 4-4-6 breathing; on exhale, sense ‘spreading out’ (vi-tan) of calm fire through the torso
integrated, unified attention; less fragmentation
When practice feels narrow or mental, repeat this verse and deliberately include one more area (emotion, habit, work) into the yajña for the day.
Keep a slightly broadened melodic contour; allow a gentle lift on saprathā and a settling cadence on vi tanvate.
Emphasize vareṇyaḥ (choice-worthy) as the pivot; do not rush vi tanvate—let it ‘open’.
tvam: clear ‘tv’ cluster, saprathā: retroflex ṭh aspiration; long ā, juṣṭo: ṣṭ cluster crisp; long ‘o’, vareṇyaḥ: retroflex ṇ; final ḥ light, tanvate: dental ‘t’, nasal ‘n’ clear
full, steady, expanding resonance (chest-led)
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