Rig Veda 2.1.9: Mandala 2, Sukta 1, Mantra 9
Sukta 2.1
- Rishi
- Gṛtsamada
- Devata
- Agni
- Chandas
- Triṣṭubh
- Rasa
- Shanta (peace) and Vira (heroism)
त्वामग्ने पितरमिष्टिभिर्नरस्त्वां भ्रात्राय शम्या तनूरुचम् । त्वं पुत्रो भवसि यस्तेऽविधत्त्वं सखा सुशेवः पास्याधृषः ॥
tvām agne pitáraṃ iṣṭíbhir náras tvā́ṃ bhrā́trāya śámyā tanūrúcam | tvaṃ putró bhavasi yás te ávidhat tvaṃ sákhā suśévaḥ pāsi ādhṛ́ṣaḥ ||
اے اگنی، لوگ اپنی نذروں سے تجھے باپ بناتے ہیں؛ بھائی کے لیے تو مہربان، جسم سے روشن ساتھی بن جاتا ہے۔ تو اس کا بیٹا بن جاتا ہے جس نے تجھے روشن کیا؛ تو اچھے فضل کا دوست ہے، اور تو بغیر حملہ کیے جا سکنے والے کی حفاظت کرتا ہے۔
Word by Word
- त्वाम्
- you (as object)Pronounद्वितीया विभक्ति, एकवचनRole कर्मRoot युष्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- अग्ने
- O AgniNounपुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन, एकवचनRole सम्बोधनRoot अग्नि (प्रातिपदिक)
- पितरम्
- fatherNounपुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचनRole कर्मRoot पितृ (प्रातिपदिक)
- इष्टिभिः
- with offerings / with sacrificesNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग, तृतीया, बहुवचनRole करणRoot इष्टि (प्रातिपदिक)
- नरः
- menNounपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचनRole कर्तृRoot नर (प्रातिपदिक)
- त्वाम्
- youPronounद्वितीया, एकवचनRole कर्मRoot युष्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- भ्रात्राय
- for (as) a brotherNounपुंलिङ्ग, चतुर्थी, एकवचनRole सम्प्रदानRoot भ्रातृ (प्रातिपदिक)
- शम्या
- beneficently; for welfareIndeclinableअव्ययRoot शम् (अव्यय/निपात; ‘कल्याणम्/शान्तिः’ अर्थे)
- तनूः
- (your) body/personNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचनRole कर्तृRoot तनू (प्रातिपदिक)
- उचम्
- shining; radiantAdjectiveपुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन (विशेष्यः: त्वाम्) अथवा विशेषणरूपेणRole कर्मRoot उच्/उच (प्रातिपदिक; ‘दीप्त/प्रकाशमान’ अर्थे)
- त्वम्
- youPronounप्रथमा, एकवचनRole कर्तृRoot युष्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- पुत्रः
- a sonNounपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचनRole कर्तृ (भवसि इत्यस्य कर्तृ-सम्बन्धे) / विधेय-नामRoot पुत्र (प्रातिपदिक)
- भवसि
- you become/areVerbलट् (वर्तमान), परस्मैपद, मध्यमपुरुष, एकवचनRoot भू (धातु)
- यः
- whoPronounपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचनRole कर्तृ (अविदत् इत्यस्य) / सम्बन्धकRoot यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- ते
- of you; yourPronounषष्ठी, एकवचन (एन्क्लिटिक)Role सम्बन्धRoot युष्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- अविधत्
- has served/has arranged (for you); has done serviceVerbलुङ् (अorist/इम्पर्फेक्ट-प्राय), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचनRoot वि-धा (धातु; ‘विधान/व्यवस्था/सेवा’ अर्थे), उपसर्गः अव/आ? (वैदिके ‘अविधत्’ = ‘अविधत्/अविधत्’ ‘सेवते/विधत्ते’)
- त्वम्
- youPronounप्रथमा, एकवचनRole कर्तृRoot युष्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- सखा
- a friendNounपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचनRole कर्तृ (विधेय-नाम)Root सखि/सखा (प्रातिपदिक)
- सुशेवः
- very gracious; kindlyAdjectiveपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन (विशेषणम्: सखा)Role कर्तृ-विशेषणRoot सु-शेव (प्रातिपदिक; सु + शेव ‘हित/अनुकूल/कल्याणकारी’)
- पासि
- you protectVerbलट् (वर्तमान), परस्मैपद, मध्यमपुरुष, एकवचनRoot पा (धातु; ‘पालन/रक्षण’)
- अधृषः
- unassailable; unconquerableAdjectiveपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन (विशेषणम्: त्वम्/सखा)Role कर्तृ-विशेषणRoot अ-धृष (प्रातिपदिक; ‘अधृष्य/अपराजेय’)
Sandhi Notes
- पदच्छेदः (वैदिक-सन्धि-निरसन): त्वाम् | अग्ने | पितरम् | इष्टिभिः | नरः | त्वाम् | भ्रात्राय | शम्या | तनूः | उचम् | त्वम् | पुत्रः | भवसि | यः | ते | अविधत् | त्वम् | सखा | सुशेवः | पासि | अधृषः । प्रमुख-सन्धयः: (1) पितरम्+इष्टिभिः → पितरमिष्टिभिः (अ + इ = इ, संहितायाम्)
- (2) नरः+त्वाम् → नरस्त्वाम् (विसर्गस्य स्-आदेशः)
- (3) भ्रात्राय+शम्या → भ्रात्राय शम्या (सन्धिरहितः, पदसीमा)
- (4) ते+अविधत् → तेऽविधत् (अवग्रहः; ए + अ = एऽ)
- (5) सखा+सुशेवः → सखा सुशेवः (पदसीमा)
The meaning
Outer meaning
By offerings men make you the Father; for the brother you become the kindly, body-bright companion. You become the son of him who kindled you; you are the gracious friend and protect without being assailable.
Inner meaning
Agni is not fixed in one relation: the inner Fire becomes Father (originating guidance), Brother (close companion in struggle), Son (born from the aspirant’s kindling), and Friend (intimate helper). These shifting kinships describe how the divine Will grows with the seeker’s offerings, becomes a luminous ally in embodied life (tanūrucam), and forms a protective field of consciousness that hostile forces cannot violate (ādhṛṣaḥ).
Universal truth
The divine presence adapts to our need—source, companion, offspring of our aspiration, and intimate friend—yet remains invincible protection when sincerely kindled and fed by conscious offering.
Themes
Agni as Father-Brother-Son-Friend, kinship metaphors for inner powers, protection of the sacrificer
The seer
- Rishi
- Gṛtsamada Bhārgava
- Lineage
- Bhṛgu (Bhārgava)
- Other hymns
- RV 2.1, RV 2.2, RV 2.4
Family tradition
Bhārgava hymns often emphasize Agni’s intimate presence in the human journey—domestic and psychological at once.
Significance
The seer frames Agni as a living relational power—showing the yoga of devotion and consecration where the Fire becomes family within the soul’s house.
The deity
- Devata
- Agni
- Epithets
- pitar (father), bhrātṛ (brother/companion), putra (son), sakhā suśeva (gracious friend), ādhṛṣa (invincible)
- Related deities
- Aditi (wide protection), Indra (force of illumination), Soma (delight that feeds the fire)
Cosmic role
Household and sacrificial fire; protector of the rite; establisher of divine-human kinship.
Inner power
Psychic warmth that both originates aspiration and is born from it; luminous embodiment that protects and harmonizes the being.
In ritual
Where it is used
Domestic and śrauta Agni praise during offering sequences
त्वाम॑ग्ने पि॒तर॑मि॒ष्टिभि॒र्नर॒स्त्वां भ्रा॒त्राय॒ शम्या॑ तनू॒रुच॑म् । त्वं पु॒त्रो भ॑वसि॒ यस्तेऽवि॑ध॒त्त्वं सखा॑ सु॒शेव॑: पास्या॒धृष॑: ॥
त्वाम् । अ॒ग्ने॒ । पि॒तर॑म् । इ॒ष्टिऽभिः॑ । नरः॑ । त्वाम् । भ्रा॒त्राय॑ । शम्या॑ । त॒नू॒ऽरुच॑म् । त्वम् । पु॒त्रः । भ॒व॒सि॒ । यः । ते॒ । अवि॑धत् । त्वम् । सखा॑ । सु॒ऽशेवः॑ । पा॒सि॒ । आ॒ऽधृषः॑ ॥
tvām | agne | pitaram | iṣṭi-bhiḥ | naraḥ | tvām | bhrātrāya | śamyā | tanū-rucam | tvam | putraḥ | bhavasi | yaḥ | te | avidhat | tvam | sakhā | su-śevaḥ | pāsi | ādhṛṣaḥ
44
4×11 syllables (approx.)
Conversational yet strong; suitable to relational epithets and protective assurance.
Creates warmth and trust; supports a felt companionship with Agni and steadies the nerves (vital being).
- पितरम् (pitaram)
- Literal: father. Symbolic: originating guidance; higher will that begets right movement
- इष्टिभिः (iṣṭibhiḥ)
- Literal: by offerings. Symbolic: acts of consecration—attention, surrender, right action
- भ्रात्राय (bhrātrāya)
- Literal: for the brother. Symbolic: near ally within life’s struggle; supportive force beside the human will
- शम्या (śamyā)
- Literal: kindly/peace-bringing. Symbolic: pacifying harmony in the vital nature
- तनूरुचम् (tanūrucam)
- Literal: body-bright, shining in the body. Symbolic: illumined embodiment; spiritual force made tangible in life
- पुत्रः (putraḥ)
- Literal: son. Symbolic: Agni born from the seeker’s kindling—inner fire generated by practice
- अविधत् (avidhat)
- Literal: has kindled/has arranged (him). Symbolic: the act of establishing the fire—discipline that founds the yoga
- सखा सुशेवः (sakhā suśevaḥ)
- Literal: friend of good grace. Symbolic: benevolent inner guide; intimacy of grace
- आधृषः (ādhṛṣaḥ)
- Literal: not assailable. Symbolic: invulnerable protection of awakened consciousness
Used as praise of Agni’s relational roles in the yajña: as ancestor-fire (pitṛ), kin-support (bhrātṛ), and the kindled child-fire (putra) in domestic/śrauta kindling sequences.
At kindling or feeding the fire; in personal recitation when seeking protection and inner support.
Offering with remembrance of Agni’s fourfold relation (father/brother/son/friend).
Recite when feeling alone or unprotected; use as a ‘bonding’ mantra to establish inner guidance and safety.
√vidh 'to arrange, dispose, serve (ritually)' underlies avidhat: the one who establishes Agni by right action. tanū 'body' + ruc 'shine' (√ruc) yields 'shining in the body', a key bridge from outer flame to inner luminous will. ādhṛṣaḥ: privative a- + √dhṛṣ 'assail/dare' → 'invulnerable'.
yajña as inner formation of relationships, protection and invulnerability of the awakened will
Right relations in the cosmos mirrored as right relations within the being—Agni harmonizes the parts like a family order.
Truth becomes intimate and protective when kindled by sincere offering.
Agni as ‘born’ from human kindling yet also progenitor—reciprocal creation of divine-human consciousness.
Yoga of consecration (karma-yoga prototype) and bhakti-toned inner sacrifice.
evening (protective hearth)
Warmth = psychic support; brightness in the body = spiritualized embodiment; invulnerability = fortified consciousness-field.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- Agni’s polymorphic kinship: the same divine Fire becomes father, brother, son, and friend depending on the sacrificer’s relation and act of kindling. The mythic idea is that the divine is reborn through human aspiration and then protects and guides as elder and companion.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- Kinship terms pitṛ (PIE *ph₂tḗr), bhrātṛ (PIE *bʰréh₂tēr), putra (Indo-Iranian formation; cf. Avestan puθra-) preserve inherited Indo-European social-poetic grammar, repurposed here for divine psychology: relational nouns encode functional theology.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The sacrificer kindles (avidhat) and offers (iṣṭibhiḥ), and Agni reciprocates by taking intimate familial roles—originating, accompanying, and protecting the human journey—culminating in ādhṛṣaḥ guardianship.
Feel Agni as inner companion and protector; cultivate trustful surrender and steady offering of actions.
anāhata (heart—friendship and grace)
Slow coherent breathing (e.g., 5–5) while feeling warmth in the chest; then chant.
Secure, intimate devotion; protected openness.
On ‘pitaram’ sense higher guidance; on ‘bhrātrāya’ feel companionship in effort; on ‘putro’ recognize the fire is born from your practice; on ‘ādhṛṣaḥ’ rest in invulnerable calm.
Maintain udatta on marked syllables (tvām, etc.); keep the cadence gentle but clear; avoid rushing relational compounds.
Sustain clarity on consonant clusters: bhrā-trā-ya; tanū-rucam; su-śevaḥ.
‘tanūrucam’ = ta-nū-ru-cam (long ū)., ‘suśevaḥ’ = su-śe-vaḥ (palatal ś)., ‘pāsi’ with long ā., ‘ādhṛṣaḥ’ with long ā; dhṛ = aspirated dh + vocalic ṛ.
Warm, intimate, protective; medium-soft volume with steady resonance.
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