Rig Veda 9.60.4: Mandala 9, Sukta 60, Mantra 4
Sukta 9.60
- Devata
- Soma Pavamāna
- Chandas
- Gāyatrī
- Rasa
- Shanta (peace) and Adbhuta (wonder)
इन्द्रस्य सोम राधसे शं पवस्व विचर्षणे । प्रजावद्रेत आ भर ॥
índrasya soma rā́dhase śáṃ pavasva vícarṣaṇe | prajā́vad réta ā́ bhara ||
Para sa katuparan ni Indra, O Soma, linisin mo ang iyong sarili tungo sa kapayapaan, O ikaw na malawak ang gawa; dalhin mo ang lakas-ng-binhi na sagana sa supling, isang malikhaing pagkakabuo.
Word by Word
- इन्द्रस्य
- of IndraNounपुंलिङ्ग; षष्ठी विभक्ति; एकवचनRole सम्बन्ध (Genitive relation)Root इन्द्र (प्रातिपदिक)
- सोम
- O SomaNoun (vocative)पुंलिङ्ग; सम्बोधन; एकवचनRole सम्बोधन (Address)Root सोम (प्रातिपदिक)
- राधसे
- for (his) bounty/giftNounनपुंसकलिङ्ग; चतुर्थी विभक्ति; एकवचनRole सम्प्रदान (Dative)Root राधस् (प्रातिपदिक)
- शम्
- auspiciously; for welfareIndeclinableअव्यय; (क्रियाविशेषणार्थे)Role क्रियाविशेषण (Adverbial modifier)Root शम् (अव्यय)
- पवस्व
- purify yourself; flow pureVerbलोट् (आज्ञार्थ); मध्यमपुरुष; एकवचन; आत्मनेपदRole क्रिया (Predicate)Root पू (धातु; ‘to purify/cleanse’), Vedic present stem पव-
- विचर्षणे
- O far-seeing/bright oneAdjective (vocative epithet)पुंलिङ्ग; सम्बोधन; एकवचनRole सम्बोधन (Address; epithet of Soma)Root विचर्षणि (प्रातिपदिक; ‘far-seeing/bright’)
- प्रजावत्
- endowed with offspring/progenyAdjectiveनपुंसकलिङ्ग; द्वितीया विभक्ति; एकवचन (विशेषणम्)Role कर्म (Object-qualifier with ‘आ भर’)Root प्रजावत् (प्रातिपदिक; प्रजा + वत्)
- रेतः
- seed; generative powerNounनपुंसकलिङ्ग; द्वितीया विभक्ति; एकवचनRole कर्म (Object)Root रेतस् (प्रातिपदिक)
- आ
- hither; forth (towards us)Indeclinable (preverb)उपसर्गः (आ-)Role क्रियाविशेषण (Directional/intensifying with verb)Root आ (उपसर्ग/अव्यय)
- भर
- bring; bear (to us)Verbलोट् (आज्ञार्थ); मध्यमपुरुष; एकवचन; परस्मैपदRole क्रिया (Predicate)Root भृ (धातु; ‘to bear/bring’)
Sandhi Notes
- पदच्छेदः: इन्द्रस्य | सोम | राधसे | शम् | पवस्व | विचर्षणे | प्रजावत् | रेतः | आ | भर ।
- ‘आ’ उपसर्गः ‘भर’ इत्यनेन सह प्रयोगः (आ-भर = ‘आभर’ अर्थतः ‘आनय/आवह’)
The meaning
Outer meaning
Soma is urged to purify himself for Indra’s satisfaction, to become peace-bringing, and to bring a generative seed-force rich in progeny.
Inner meaning
The seeker calls the self-purifying delight (Soma) to clarify itself into a calm, luminous substance that can feed Indra—the illumined mind—so that the mind’s power of right action is fulfilled. The “seed” (retaḥ) is the concentrated creative potency of consciousness: a purified essence that can generate new formations of thought, will, and becoming in the being.
Universal truth
When delight is purified of turbulence, it becomes peace and a creative potency; this clarified joy nourishes illumination, and illumination then shapes a more fruitful life-force and destiny.
Themes
Indra-Soma synergy, peace-and-power, creative-potency
The seer
- Other hymns
- Rig Veda Mandala 9 (Pavamāna Soma hymns, especially adjacent stanzas in 9.60)
Family tradition
RV 9 is largely a specialized Soma-Pavamāna collection transmitted through multiple seer-families
Significance
The anonymous seer-voice represents a collective yogic tradition: purification of delight to nourish illumined mind (Indra) and to release creative power (retaḥ) for inner becoming.
The deity
- Devata
- Soma Pavamāna (in relation to Indra)
- Epithets
- Pavamāna (self-purifying), Vicarṣaṇi (wide-working), Śam-kṛt (peace-bringing, implied)
- Related deities
- Indra, Agni, Maruts
Cosmic role
The clarifying current that, when filtered, becomes the gods’ drink—strengthening Indra and sustaining the cosmic order through luminous vitality.
Inner power
Ananda refined into a steady, potent substance that pacifies the being and carries a concentrated creative force for new inner births.
In ritual
Where it is used
Soma pressing and filtration (Pavamāna stotra context)
इन्द्र॑स्य सोम॒ राध॑से॒ शं प॑वस्व विचर्षणे । प्र॒जाव॒द्रेत॒ आ भ॑र ॥
इन्द्र॑स्य । सो॒म॒ । राध॑से । शम् । प॒व॒स्व॒ । वि॒ऽच॒र्ष॒णे॒ । प्र॒जाऽव॑त् । रेतः॑ । आ । भ॒र॒ ॥
indrasya | soma | rādhase | śam | pavasva | vi-carṣaṇe | prajāvat | retaḥ | ā | bhara
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4 pādas of ~8 syllables each
Compact, directive, mantra-like cadence suited to an imperative invocation.
Creates a focused push of will: purification → peace → generative power; good for short japa-style repetition.
- इन्द्रस्य (indrasya)
- Literal: of Indra. Symbolic: of the illumined/divine Mind that governs clarity and victorious discernment
- सोम (soma)
- Literal: Soma. Symbolic: divine delight/ananda as a conscious essence
- राधसे (rādhase)
- Literal: for fulfillment, success, bounty. Symbolic: for the effective accomplishment of the illumined mind’s works in us
- शम् (śam)
- Literal: peace, well-being. Symbolic: settled harmony of the nerves and mind; quietude that allows higher light
- पवस्व (pavasva)
- Literal: purify/flow clear. Symbolic: become clarified consciousness; refine sensation into luminous delight
- विचर्षणे (vicarṣaṇe)
- Literal: wide-working, active among men. Symbolic: the power that operates through all parts of the being, organizing wide movements
- प्रजावत् (prajāvat)
- Literal: rich in offspring. Symbolic: rich in inner births—new states, insights, capacities
- रेतः (retaḥ)
- Literal: seed, semen. Symbolic: creative essence/potency of consciousness that generates right formations
Soma is purified for Indra’s strengthening and then asked to bring creative potency (retaḥ) to the sacrificer—linking offering to inner increase.
During Soma-yajña sequences when Soma is purified through the pavitra and offered/intoned for Indra and other deities
Chant while Soma flows through the filter; mentally align purification with inner peace and creative potency
Use as a short meditation-mantra for transforming emotional energy into calm joy and creative resolve before work or study.
rādhas is ‘effective bounty/attainment’, not merely wealth; it denotes realized increase under ṛta. śam is harmonizing peace (often the settled condition for higher action). retaḥ ‘seed’ is generative potency; psychologically, the concentrated essence that begets further formations (prajā) in the being. √bhṛ again: carrying/installing the potency.
śam (peace as basis of right action), rādhas (effective realization), creative genesis (retaḥ → prajā)
Purified Soma supports Ṛta by converting mixed vitality into luminous, orderly movement.
Peace (śam) stabilizes truth-perception; the seed-force becomes true formation rather than impulsive reaction.
Creation by concentrated essence: retaḥ as the subtle generative principle of new worlds within the psyche.
Proto-Vedāntic / integral-yogic reading (Aurobindonian): ananda → illumination → right becoming.
The stream is the movement of delight through the mind; the filter is discriminative purification; the seed is condensed spiritual potency capable of generating new inner formations.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- The mythologem is ‘Soma as generative seed offered to Indra’: Soma’s purification becomes Indra’s fulfillment (rādhas), and the same Soma brings retaḥ—creative potency—into the human sphere. It is the cycle: peace → power → creation.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- retaḥ (seed) participates in an IE-wide semantic complex of generative essence; √bhṛ (bhara) remains PIE *bher-. The dative rādhase encodes purpose/benefit, an inherited syntactic function used in ritual directives.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The Rishi asks Soma to become śam (harmonized peace) specifically to fulfill Indra—suggesting that true strength depends on inner concord. Then Soma is requested to ‘bring’ retaḥ: the deity’s gift is the power to generate new luminous forms of life and consciousness (prajā) in the seeker.
Let delight become clear and peaceful; offer it to the illumined mind so it may shape creative becoming.
Anahata (peaceful sweetness) and Ajna (Indra/illumination)
Gentle nāḍī-śodhana or slow exhale emphasis while repeating “śam pavasva”
Quietly luminous (prasāda) with a felt sense of creative concentration.
Observe emotional waves; ‘filter’ them through witness and aspiration; keep only the clear sweetness, then hold it as a subtle ‘seed’ for right action and new growth.
Not specified in input; chant in a steady svara with light emphasis on udatta syllables as per śākha tradition (requires pada-svara source for precision).
Sustain clear stress on: índrasya sóma rā́dhase | śám pavasva vicarṣaṇe | prajā́vad réta ā́ bhara.
Keep ‘ṣ’ in vicarṣaṇe as retroflex ‘ṣa’, Pronounce ‘retaḥ’ with visarga lightly (retaḥ), Avoid merging ‘śam pavasva’—keep śam distinct
Clear, cool, flowing tone (as if ‘pouring’ the sound).
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