Rig Veda 5.2.7: Mandala 5, Sukta 2, Mantra 7
Sukta 5.2
शुनश्चिच्छेपं निदितं सहस्राद्यूपादमुञ्चो अशमिष्ट हि षः । एवास्मदग्ने वि मुमुग्धि पाशान्होतश्चिकित्व इह तू निषद्य ॥
śúnaś cic chépam níditaṃ sahásrād yū́pād amuñco áśamiṣṭa hí ṣáḥ | evā́smád agne ví mumugdhi pā́śān hótaś cikitva ihá tū́ níṣadya ||
Kahit si Śunaḥśepa, bagaman nakatali, pinalaya mo mula sa post ng sakripisyo, tunay na nakamtan niya ang kanyang nais. Sa gayon ding paraan, oh Agni, pakawalan mo para sa amin ang mga gapos na humahawak; oh nakaaalam na Hotṛ, umupo ka rito sa amin at tumahan.
Agni-invocation within Soma-sacrifice setting; suitable to Agni’s Hotṛ-function in Agniṣṭoma/Soma-yāga contexts (release from obstacles before offering).
Ṛta (right order expressed as right release and right establishment), tapas (inner heat/aspiration through Agni), mokṣa-like motif (release from bonds within Vedic frame)
Bonds represent deviation/limitation; Agni restores the being to ṛta by freeing and seating right action.
The remembered deliverance is a satya-example: what the divine has done can be done again.
Transformation of bound mortal into free participant of the sacrifice—re-creation of the human as instrument of the gods.
Yoga of the inner yajña: liberation by installing the inner priest (Agni) and offering the knots into the fire.
Post = fixed ego-structure; ropes = samskaric bindings; fire = liberating will; seated fire = stable inner guidance.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- The Śunaḥśepa exemplum: the bound seeker is released from the yūpa (stake). Mythically it recalls salvation from sacrificial binding; psychologically it encodes the soul’s release from constricting knots (pāśa) by Agni, the divine Will that breaks fixation and restores forward movement in Ṛta.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- √muc ‘release’ (amuñcaḥ, mumugdhi) aligns with Indo-European liberation verbs (cf. Latin mūnus? not cognate; better: the widespread IE semantic field ‘loosen/free’). √cit ‘perceive’ (cikitvaḥ) reflects the IE *ḱei-/*ḱit- ‘notice, set in motion/know’ complex seen in Sanskrit cit-, Greek tíō? (uncertain), but solidly within Indo-Iranian where cit- = ‘notice/know’. The verse’s tight particle use (cit, hi, eva, tu) is characteristically Vedic for emphasis and injunction-like force.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The seer invokes Agni not merely as outer ritual fire but as the inner Hotṛ who must ‘sit here’ (iha niṣadya) — i.e., take stable residence in the practitioner. The reciprocity is: the human offers aspiration and praise; Agni answers by loosening bonds and establishing right action, enabling the sacrifice/inner work to proceed in Ṛta.
Feel the ‘ropes’ in the body-mind (tightness, fear) and offer them into Agni; then invite Agni to sit in the heart as the inner Hotṛ.
anāhata (seat of Agni as inner priest) and maṇipūra (cutting bonds of desire/fear)
slow_meditative: inhale 4, exhale 6 while silently repeating ‘vi mumugdhi pāśān’; then 1 minute natural breath on ‘iha tū niṣadya’
From bondage to liberated, centered presence
Practice 12 repetitions; on each, relax one identified bond (a worry, compulsion, resentment). End by sitting still, sensing a warm flame ‘seated’ in the heart.
Triṣṭubh with clear udatta on śúnaś, yūpā́t, amúñco, ví, mumúgdhi, hótaḥ; keep imperatives crisp; observe svarita glides where marked in saṃhitā.
Two-part delivery: first two pādas as remembrance (narrative), last two as direct petition and invitation; pause at pāda ends.
śunaś cic: keep ‘śu’ and ‘naś’ distinct; ‘cic’ lightly doubled, yūpād: long ū; retroflex? (p is labial), keep d clear, vi mumugdhi: ‘mu-mug-dhi’ with voiced ‘gdh’ cluster carefully articulated, niṣadya: retroflex ṣ; ‘ni-ṣa-dya’ three beats
bright, cutting, liberative; then warm and inviting on ‘niṣadya’
12
Ask anything about this verse
Answers come straight from the texts, with the shlokas they draw on. Ask in your own words.
A free sign-in with Google or Apple keeps your chat saved across web and the app.
Read Rig Veda in the Vedapath app
Scan the QR code to open this directly in the app, with word-by-word meanings, Sanskrit recitation where available, and more.
