Rig Veda 10.33.2: Mandala 10, Sukta 33, Mantra 2
Sukta 10.33
- Devata
- Indra as the one appealed to for relief from affliction
- Rasa
- Karuna (compassion) and Vira (heroism)
सं मा तपन्त्यभितः सपत्नीरिव पर्शवः । नि बाधते अमतिर्नग्नता जसुर्वेर्न वेवीयते मतिः ॥
sáṃ mā tapanty abhítaḥ sapatnī́r iva párśavaḥ | ní bādhate ámatir nagnátā jásur vér ná vevīyate matíḥ ||
میری پسلیاں مجھے ہر طرف سے جلاتی ہیں جیسے حریف بیویاں؛ جہالت مجھے دباتی ہے، ننگا پن اور تھکاوٹ۔ میرا خیال ڈر کی طرح نہیں کانپتا۔
Word by Word
- सम्
- together; completelyIndeclinableउपसर्ग/अव्यय (अविकारी)Root सम् (उपसर्ग) / सम् (अव्यय)
- मा
- mePronounद्वितीया एकवचन (एन्क्लिटिक)Role KarmaRoot अस्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- तपन्ति
- they heat/burn/tormentVerbलट्, प्रथमपुरुष, बहुवचन, परस्मैपदRoot तप् (तपँ दाहे/सन्तापे)
- अभितः
- around; on all sidesIndeclinableअव्ययRole AdhikaraṇaRoot अभितः (अव्यय)
- सपत्नीः
- co-wives; rival wivesNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया बहुवचनRole KarmaRoot सपत्नी (स्त्री-प्रातिपदिक)
- इव
- like; asIndeclinableउपमा-अव्ययRoot इव (अव्यय)
- पर्शवः
- axes; hatchetsNounपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा बहुवचनRole KartāRoot पर्शु (पुं-प्रातिपदिक) / पर्शु (नपुं)
- नि
- down; away; thoroughlyIndeclinableउपसर्ग (अविकारी)Root नि (उपसर्ग)
- बाधते
- it presses/afflicts; drives awayVerbलट्, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन, आत्मनेपदRoot बाध् (बाधँ बाधने)
- अमतिः
- folly; lack of right thoughtNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा एकवचनRole KartāRoot अमति (स्त्री-प्रातिपदिक)
- नग्नता
- by nakedness; by barenessNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग, तृतीया एकवचन (instrumental)Role KaraṇaRoot नग्नता (स्त्री-प्रातिपदिक; -ता भाव)
- जसुः
- has perished/has been exhausted (Vedic perfect)Verbलिट् (परिपूर्ण/परफेक्ट), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन, परस्मैपद; वैदिक संक्षिप्त-रूपRoot जस् (जस्/जसँ = क्षये/हिंसायाम् इत्यादि; वैदिक रूप)
- वेः
- of you / your (Vedic enclitic)Pronounषष्ठी एकवचन (एन्क्लिटिक/वैदिक)Root वि (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक) / वैदिक एन्क्लिटिक ‘वे’
- न
- notIndeclinableनिषेध-अव्ययRoot न (अव्यय)
- वेवीयते
- it moves/restlessly goes about; waversVerbलट्, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन, आत्मनेपद; वैदिक पुनरुक्त-धातुरूपRoot वी (वी गतौ/वयने) with reduplication (वे-वी-)
- मतिः
- thought; intention; understandingNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा एकवचनRole KartāRoot मति (स्त्री-प्रातिपदिक)
Sandhi Notes
- पदच्छेद (सन्धि-निरसन): सं|मा|तपन्ति|अभितः|सपत्नीः|इव|पर्शवः || नि|बाधते|अमतिः|नग्नता|जसुः|वेः|न|वेवीयते|मतिः । 1) ‘सं मा’ = सम् + मा (एन्क्लिटिक सर्वनाम). 2) ‘सपत्नी॑रिव’ = सपत्नीः + इव (विसर्ग-लोप/रुत्व-प्रभाव; संहितायां ‘-रीव’). 3) ‘नग्नता जसुः’ संहितायां अवग्रह-रहितं
- ‘जसुः’ वैदिक लिट्-रूप. 4) ‘वेर्न’ = वेः + न (विसर्गस्य ‘र्’ आदेशः)
The meaning
Outer meaning
The speaker describes bodily distress: ribs burning on all sides like jealous co-wives; ignorance and poverty/exposure press him down; yet his mind does not flee in fear.
Inner meaning
A crisis of the embodied seeker: the ‘ribs’ are the enclosing powers of the physical-vital nature that begin to burn under tapas (inner heat) when the soul turns toward liberation. The ‘rival wives’ image suggests competing impulsions/desires pulling the consciousness in different directions. Amati (unillumined thinking) and nagnatā (inner bareness, loss of supports) press down, along with jasu (fatigue/exhaustion) from the struggle; yet mati (steady inspired thought) refuses to tremble—an act of inner courage that prepares the call to Indra for illumination and release.
Universal truth
Spiritual growth often begins as pressure and discomfort: old supports fall away, the divided nature quarrels, and ignorance weighs heavily. Progress depends on refusing the panic of the lower nature and holding a steady will-to-know until the higher light intervenes.
Themes
inner struggle and affliction, ignorance pressing down, steadfastness of thought
The seer
- Other hymns
- RV 10.33 (hymn context)
Significance
The voice is that of a struggling aspirant-poet: the rishi-function here is the capacity to witness affliction without surrendering the inner resolve, turning suffering into a call for Indra’s liberating light.
The deity
- Devata
- Indra (invoked in the hymn as the reliever and illuminator)
- Epithets
- Maghavan (Bounteous), Śatakratu (Hundred-powered)
- Related deities
- Agni, Soma, Bṛhaspati, Uṣas
Cosmic role
Breaker of the cover (Vṛtra-slayer), opener of the cows (rays), sender of wideness and victorious force.
Inner power
Illuminated mind-force that strikes down depression, fear, and obscurity; establishes courageous clarity (dhī/mati) under pressure.
In ritual
Where it is used
Personal lament/prayer within an Indra hymn; psychologically: describing the pressure of ignorance and maintaining steadfast thought
सं मा॑ तपन्त्य॒भित॑: स॒पत्नी॑रिव॒ पर्श॑वः । नि बा॑धते॒ अम॑तिर्न॒ग्नता॒ जसु॒र्वेर्न वे॑वीयते म॒तिः ॥
सम् । मा॒ । त॒प॒न्ति॒ । अ॒भितः॑ । स॒पत्नीः॑ऽइव । पर्श॑वः । नि । बा॒ध॒ते॒ । अम॑तिः । न॒ग्नता॑ । जसुः॑ । वेः । न । वे॒वी॒य॒ते॒ । म॒तिः ॥
sam | mā | tapanti | abhitaḥ | sapatnīḥ-iva | parśavaḥ | ni | bādhate | amatiḥ | nagnatā | jasuḥ | veḥ | na | vevīyate | matiḥ
32
4 pādas × ~8 syllables (approx.)
Compressed, urgent, with short beats suited to complaint turning into resolve.
Creates a tight, contained pressure that mirrors the inner constriction—then stabilizes the listener in a firm, non-trembling mental poise.
- पर्शवः (parśavaḥ)
- Literal: ribs/sides. Symbolic: the constricting frameworks of the physical-vital being; the ‘cage’ that heats under inner tapas
- सपत्नीः (sapatnīḥ)
- Literal: co-wives/rivals. Symbolic: competing desires, impulses, and claimants on consciousness
- अमति (amatiḥ)
- Literal: unthinking/ignorance. Symbolic: obscure mental movement, wrong understanding that depresses the seeker
- नग्नता (nagnatā)
- Literal: nakedness. Symbolic: inner bareness—loss of habitual props; the ego’s exposure before truth
- जसु (jasuḥ)
- Literal: weariness/exhaustion. Symbolic: tamas in the vital-physical from prolonged struggle
- मतिः (matiḥ)
- Literal: thought/mental resolve. Symbolic: steady inspired intelligence that does not capitulate to fear
- वेः (veḥ)
- Literal: fear/terror. Symbolic: panic-reaction of the lower nature when supports collapse
Personal lament/prayer within an Indra hymn; psychologically: describing the pressure of ignorance and maintaining steadfast thought
Used as a contemplative ‘crisis-verse’ for practitioners facing anxiety, depletion, or inner bareness—recited to hold steady thought while invoking a higher clarity.
√tap ‘burn’ is both physical heat and inner tapas (ardor/pressure). amati (a- + mati) is central: not lack of intelligence but wrong orientation of consciousness. nagna ‘naked’ becomes a symbol of being stripped of protective fullness (ūma), i.e., exposed to forces. The closing asserts steadiness of mati against veḥ (fear), a key psychological stance in Vedic sādhanā.
tapas as pressure/ardor, amati (mis-mindedness/ignorance), steadfast mati vs fear
The non-trembling mati is the human support for returning to ṛta when the nature is divided and pressured.
Truth is kept by refusing fear-reaction; steadiness becomes a vessel for higher light.
Transformation through pressure: the old formation breaks down so a wider consciousness can be born.
Proto-Vedāntic / Integral (Aurobindonian) reading: ascent of consciousness through purification and illumination.
Heat = tapas; bodily enclosure = limited ego-formation; pressure = the force that compels growth toward wideness.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- Not an external battle but an inner siege: the body-mind is ‘burned’ and ‘pressed down’ by amati (ignorance). The mythic combat is internalized as resistance to fear and wavering thought.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- √tap may relate to PIE *tep- ‘be warm’ (cf. Latin tepeō ‘be warm’). mati from √man reflects PIE *men- ‘think’. The reduplication in vevīyate is an inherited Indo-European intensification strategy.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The rishi presents the human condition under pressure as the ground for divine intervention: by articulating the affliction precisely, he prepares the appeal to Indra for mṛḷa (mercy/healing) in the next verse.
Witness the pressure in the body-mind without identification; hold a steady ‘mati’ and call for Indra-like clarity.
Manipura (tapas/heat) and Anahata (courage under strain)
Slow exhale-lengthening (1:2) while repeating the final clause to stabilize fear-response.
From tamasic heaviness to sattwic steadiness receptive to illumination.
Name the pressing forces (amati, fatigue, bareness) as movements of Nature; affirm: ‘my thought does not tremble’; then invoke inner Indra to break the cover.
Use standard Rigvedic accenting as per śākhā; key udātta on stressed roots (e.g., tapánti), with svarita on dependent syllables—confirm with pada + svara text for exact marks.
Keep the cadence firm on ‘ni bādhate amatiḥ’; soften slightly before the final resolve ‘na vevīyate matiḥ’.
: pronounce ‘par-śa-vaḥ’ (ś = palatal), : sandhi flow ‘sapatnīriva’, : lengthen ‘ī’ properly; avoid ‘veviyate’ short-vowel slip
Low, steady, contained—like holding a lamp in wind.
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