Rig Veda 7.34.2: Mandala 7, Sukta 34, Mantra 2
Sukta 7.34
- Rishi
- Vasiṣṭha
- Devata
- Āpaḥ / cosmic Waters
- Chandas
- Triṣṭubh
- Rasa
- Shanta (peace) and Adbhuta (wonder)
विदुः पृथिव्या दिवो जनित्रं शृण्वन्त्यापो अध क्षरन्तीः ॥
vidúḥ pṛthivyā́ divó janítraṃ śṛṇvánty ā́po ádha kṣárantīḥ
Nakilala nila ang pook ng kapanganakan ng Lupa at Langit; ang mga Tubig ay nakikinig, at pagkatapos ay umaagos sila sa kanilang pagdaloy, na masunurin sa katotohanan ng pinagmulang iyon.
Word by Word
- विदुः
- they have known / they knowVerbलिट् (परोक्शभूत/परफेक्ट), परस्मैपद, प्र. 3, बहुवचनRole (क्रिया)Root √विद् (विद्—ज्ञाने)
- पृथिव्याः
- of the earthNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, एकवचनRole सम्बन्ध (genitive relation)Root पृथिवी (प्रातिपदिक)
- दिवः
- of heaven / of the skyNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, एकवचन (वैदिक रूप)Role सम्बन्ध (genitive relation)Root द्यौ/दिव् (प्रातिपदिक: दिव्/द्यौः)
- जनित्रम्
- the begetter / source of birthNounनपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचनRole कर्म (object of ‘विदुः’)Root जनित्र (प्रातिपदिक; √जन् ‘to be born, beget’ से)
- शृण्वन्ति
- they hearVerbलट्, परस्मैपद, प्र. 3, बहुवचनRole (क्रिया)Root √श्रु (श्रु—श्रवणे)
- आपः
- the watersNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचनRole कर्तृ (subject of ‘शृण्वन्ति’)Root आप्/अप् (प्रातिपदिक: आपः ‘waters’)
- अध
- then / thereafterIndeclinableअव्यय (काल/अनुक्रम सूचक)Role (सम्बन्ध/वाक्योपपत्ति)Root अध (अव्यय)
- क्षरन्तीः
- flowing / streamingVerb (participle)वर्तमान कृदन्त (शतृ), स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; ‘आपः’ का विशेषण/सहवर्ती क्रियाRole कर्तृ (agreeing with ‘आपः’)Root √क्षर् (क्षर्—स्रवणे)
Sandhi Notes
- पदच्छेद: विदुः | पृथिव्याः | दिवः | जनित्रम् | शृण्वन्ति | आपः | अध | क्षरन्तीः । ‘शृण्वन्त्यापो’ = शृण्वन्ति + आपः (इ + आ → या; वैदिक संधि/संहिता-पाठ)
- ‘क्षरन्तीः’ वर्तमान-शतृ कृदन्तः, ‘आपः’ (स्त्री. बहु.) के साथ सामञ्जस्य।
The meaning
Outer meaning
They have known the birthplace of Earth and Heaven; the Waters listen, and then they flow forth streaming.
Inner meaning
The seers (or awakened powers) know the hidden origin where the lower foundation (earth: embodied nature) and the higher realm (heaven: illumined mind) are born together. When consciousness touches that origin in ṛta, the Waters (āpaḥ: fluent energies of life and inspiration) ‘listen’—they become obedient to Truth—and then they stream rightly, no longer scattered by desire but flowing as a clear current of spiritual movement.
Universal truth
When one knows the true origin and law of one’s being, life-energies align and begin to flow naturally in harmony; right knowledge produces right movement.
Themes
cosmogony, waters-as-consciousness, ṛta-obedience, inner hearing and release
The seer
- Rishi
- Vasiṣṭha
- Lineage
- Vasiṣṭha-gotra
- Other hymns
- RV 7.34.3 (waters swelling foundations in the Vṛtra-struggle), RV 7.49 (waters hymns—related field though different ascription), RV 7.87–7.89 (Varuṇa and ṛta)
Family tradition
Vasiṣṭha hymns often show knowledge of origins (janman) and the alignment of life-forces with ṛta, especially through Varuṇa’s ordering power.
Significance
The Vasiṣṭha vision is of orderly flow: when truth is known, the waters of life become pure and effective.
The deity
- Devata
- Āpaḥ (Cosmic Waters)
- Epithets
- pavitram (purifying, common waters epithet), amṛtāḥ (immortal, common in waters sphere)
- Related deities
- Varuṇa (lord of waters and ṛta), Soma (liquid bliss), Sarasvatī (inspired flow), Agni (who is kindled by waters in symbolic interplay)
Cosmic role
Bearers of life, purification, and the connecting medium between worlds; they transmit the law of origin into manifest flow.
Inner power
Psychic and pranic currents that can become truth-obedient, cleansing, and nourishing to higher realization.
In ritual
Where it is used
Purificatory and consecratory contexts; waters invoked in soma and general rites for cleansing and right flow.
वि॒दुः पृ॑थि॒व्या दि॒वो ज॒नित्रं॑ शृ॒ण्वन्त्यापो॒ अध॒ क्षर॑न्तीः ॥
वि॒दुः । पृ॒थि॒व्याः । दि॒वः । ज॒नित्र॑म् । शृ॒ण्वन्ति॑ । आपः॑ । अध॑ । क्षर॑न्तीः ॥
viduḥ | pṛthivyāḥ | divaḥ | janitram | śṛṇvanti | āpaḥ | adha | kṣarantīḥ
44
4 × ~11 (this is one pāda excerpted; full verse in edition confirms)
Measured and knowing; the second half gives a soft ‘release’ with kṣar- (flow) sound.
Induces a sense of inner opening and cleansing flow after a statement of knowledge.
- पृथिव्याः (pṛthivyāḥ)
- Literal: of Earth. Symbolic: the embodied foundation; stability and substance of nature
- दिवः (divaḥ)
- Literal: of Heaven. Symbolic: illumined mind; higher consciousness
- जनित्रम् (janitram)
- Literal: birthplace, begetter. Symbolic: source-plane of truth where higher and lower are reconciled
- आपः (āpaḥ)
- Literal: waters. Symbolic: streams of consciousness-energy; inspiration and life-force in right flow
- शृण्वन्ति (śṛṇvanti)
- Literal: they hear/listen. Symbolic: receptivity and obedience of energies to inner truth
- क्षरन्तीः (kṣarantīḥ)
- Literal: flowing, streaming. Symbolic: unblocked movement; outpouring of aligned force
Waters and Ṛta-oriented recitation; applicable in rites involving āpaḥ (purifications/āpya offerings) and Varuṇa-related appeasement within Śrauta contexts (general, non-exclusive).
Before offerings and recitations where purity and right movement are required; also in ablutional moments.
Ācamana/prokṣaṇa (sprinkling) symbolism; invocation of waters to ‘hear’ and flow rightly.
Use before meditation to settle prāṇa: a short contemplation of inner waters becoming calm and aligned.
Key roots: √ ‘to know, find, perceive’ → vidúḥ (3pl perf.); √ ‘to beget, generate’ → janítra- ‘generator/birth-place’; √ ‘to hear, obey’ → śṛṇvánti (3pl pres. act.); √ ‘to flow, stream’ → kṣárantīḥ (pres. act. fem. pl., agreeing with ā́paḥ as a collective feminine in sense). The genitives pṛthivyā́ḥ divó qualify janítram: ‘the generative source of Earth and Heaven’.
Ṛta (order implied by ‘hearing/obedience’ and lawful flowing), cosmogonic emergence, knowledge as origin-disclosure (vid)
Waters ‘listen’—they conform to ṛta once the origin is known.
Knowing the janitra of earth and heaven is knowledge of satya behind manifestation.
Common origin of higher and lower; streaming forth of energies from the source.
Vedic cosmopsychology: worlds as states of consciousness; waters as dynamic medium.
monsoon-like (implied by flowing waters)
Earth = grounded embodiment; Heaven = illumined mind; Waters = pranic/psychic currents; Flow = unblocked sādhanā movement.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- A cosmogonic mythologem: the Waters ‘know’ or align with the generative source of Heaven-and-Earth and, upon ‘hearing’ that ordinance, they stream forth. In the inner sense, the inspired currents (āpaḥ) respond to a discovered origin (janitra-) and begin their right movement—knowledge precedes and governs the flow of life-force and inspiration.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- dyu/div ‘heaven’ continues PIE *dyew- ‘sky, daylight’ (cf. Greek Zeus, Latin Iūpiter via *dyēus ph₂tēr). √vid ‘to know’ continues PIE *weyd- ‘see/know’ (cf. Latin vidēre, English wit). ā́p- ‘waters’ aligns with Indo-Iranian *āp- (Avestan āpō). The verse’s genitive chaining (pṛthivyā́ divó janítram) is a common archaic Indo-European poetic syntax for compact cosmogonic relations.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The seer’s stance is that of one who has ‘found/known’ the origin (vidúḥ … janítram) and therefore can invoke the Waters not as mere physical streams but as obedient powers of Ṛta. The reciprocity is epistemic and functional: revelation (knowledge of origin) elicits divine response (the Waters’ lawful flowing), enabling the human vessel to receive and channel inspired currents.
Contemplate the ‘source’ where higher and lower meet; let breath become a listening water that then flows smoothly.
Svādhiṣṭhāna (waters) harmonized under Ājñā (knowing the origin)
Nadi-śodhana 6 rounds; silently on inhale ‘śṛṇvanti’, on exhale ‘kṣarantīḥ’ to feel obedient flow.
Purified, receptive, quietly flowing.
First establish right understanding (janitra-jñāna), then allow prāṇa and emotions to reorganize; do not force—let them ‘listen’.
Maintain low anudatta base with a gentle udatta on viduḥ/janitram peaks; allow a soft svarita fall into kṣarantīḥ (needs accent text for precision).
Keep ‘pṛthivyā divo janitram’ as one knowing phrase; then a slight pause before ‘śṛṇvanty āpo’.
: final visarga-like ḥ lightly audible, : retroflex ‘ṇ’ if in your tradition; keep ‘tr’ crisp, : vocalic ‘ṛ’ clear; ‘ṇv’ cluster careful, : ‘kṣ’ cluster sharp; long ‘īḥ’ sustained
Cool, flowing, inward.
9
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.
