Rig Veda 2.41.17: Mandala 2, Sukta 41, Mantra 17
Sukta 2.41
- Rishi
- Gṛtsamada
- Devata
- Sarasvatī
- Chandas
- Jagatī/Tr̥ṣṭubh
- Rasa
- Shanta (peace) and Adbhuta (wonder)
त्वे विश्वा सरस्वति श्रितायूंषि देव्याम् । शुनहोत्रेषु मत्स्व प्रजां देवि दिदिड्ढि नः ॥
tvé víśvā sarasvati śritā́yūṁṣi devyā́m | śuná-hotreṣu matsva prá-jāṁ devi didiḍḍhi naḥ ||
تجھ میں، سرسوتی، ہماری تمام زندگی کی حرکتیں دیوی میں سہارا پاتی ہیں؛ تیز سچی پیشکشوں میں خوشی محسوس کر، اور اے دیوی، ہمارے لیے ہمارے وجود کی نشوونما اور روح کی صحیح اولاد کو مضبوط کر۔
Word by Word
- त्वे
- in/with youPronounसप्तमी एकवचन (loc. sg.)Role अधिकारणRoot त्वम्
- विश्वा
- all (things)Adjective (used substantively) / Pronoun-like adjectiveनपुंसकलिङ्ग प्रथमा/द्वितीया बहुवचन (nom./acc. pl.)Role कर्म (of implied ‘are/lie/are placed’)Root विश्व
- सरस्वति
- O SarasvatīNoun (proper, deity)स्त्रीलिङ्ग सम्बोधन एकवचन (voc. sg.)Role सम्बोधनRoot सरस्वती
- श्रित
- resting/placed/depending (on)Participle (verbal adjective)नपुंसकलिङ्ग प्रथमा/द्वितीया बहुवचन; ‘विश्वा(णि)’ इत्यस्य विशेषणम्Role कर्म (qualifier)Root श्रि (श्रयति) → क्त (past passive participle)
- आयूंषि
- lives, vital powersNounनपुंसकलिङ्ग प्रथमा/द्वितीया बहुवचन (nom./acc. pl.)Role कर्म (of implied ‘are placed’)Root आयुस्
- देव्याम्
- in the goddess (in the divine one)Noun/Adjective (epithet)स्त्रीलिङ्ग सप्तमी एकवचन (loc. sg.)Role अधिकारणRoot देवी
- शुनहोत्रेषु
- among the Shunahotras (a priestly clan/lineage)Noun (compound)पुंलिङ्ग सप्तमी बहुवचन (loc. pl.)Role अधिकारणRoot शुनहोत्र (शुनः + होत्र)
- मत्स्व
- rejoice, be exhilaratedVerbलोट् (imperative) मध्यमपुरुष एकवचन; आत्मनेपद (Vedic injunctive/impv. nuance) रूप ‘मत्स्व’Role (क्रिया) —Root मद् (मदति)
- प्रजाम्
- offspring, progenyNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग द्वितीया एकवचन (acc. sg.)Role कर्मRoot प्रजा
- देवि
- O goddessNoun (address)स्त्रीलिङ्ग सम्बोधन एकवचन (voc. sg.)Role सम्बोधनRoot देवी
- दिदिड्ढि
- bestow, establish, grantVerbलोट् (imperative) मध्यमपुरुष एकवचन; परस्मैपद; Vedic intensive/desiderative-stem formRole (क्रिया) —Root दिधि/धा (Vedic causative/iterative formation; desiderative-like reduplication)
- नः
- to us / for usPronounषष्ठी/चतुर्थी बहुवचन एन्क्लिटिक (gen./dat. pl.)Role सम्प्रदान (recipient) / सम्बन्धRoot अस्मद्
Sandhi Notes
- पदच्छेदः (sandhi-resolved): त्वे | विश्वा | सरस्वति | श्रित | आयूंषि | देव्याम् | शुनहोत्रेषु | मत्स्व | प्रजाम् | देवि | दिदिड्ढि | नः । 1) श्रि॒तायूं॑षि = श्रित + आयूंषि (अ + आ → आ; संहितायां ‘तायू’). 2) दे॒व्याम् = देवी + आम् (सप्तमी-एकवचन ‘देव्याम्’ वैदिक-रूप). 3) शु॒नहो॑त्रेषु = शुनः + होत्रेषु (विसर्ग-लोपः/समासः). 4) दिदिड्ढि: वैदिक-रूपेण धातोः पुनरुक्त/इच्छार्थ-प्रयोगः
- संहितायां ड्ढि-समुच्चयः (retroflex cluster) दृश्यते।
The meaning
Outer meaning
A prayer to Sarasvatī: all our life-forces rest in her divinity; she should delight in the swift, true offerings and establish for us prajā—growth, increase, and right progeny.
Inner meaning
Sarasvatī is the flowing power of inspired Truth (ṛta) in consciousness. The mantra says: all movements of life (āyūṃṣi) can be safely founded only when supported in the goddess—i.e., when our energies are held in a current of clear intuition and right discrimination. “Swift offerings” (śunahotreṣu) are the prompt, sincere inner acts of self-giving—quick obedience of the will to the revealed truth. The prayer for prajā becomes the birth of right soul-children: luminous thoughts, true perceptions, and harmonized life-forms generated from the soul’s awakening.
Universal truth
Human life becomes stable and fruitful when its energies are founded in a higher clarity and truth-flow; then action becomes a joyful offering and the being naturally generates wholesome outcomes—right thoughts, right relations, and right creations.
Themes
Sarasvatī as support of life, Establishment of progeny, Delight in offerings, Inner creation
The seer
- Rishi
- Gṛtsamada (Bhārgava)
- Lineage
- Bhṛgu/Bhārgava
- Other hymns
- RV 2.1–2.43 (attributed largely to Gṛtsamada), RV 2.41 (hymn cluster invoking Sarasvatī and allied powers)
Family tradition
Bhārgava seers are strongly associated with Agni as inner priest and with the forging of effective mantric speech; Gṛtsamada’s hymns often show a disciplined aspiration for right order (ṛta) and luminous fulfillment.
Significance
Gṛtsamada’s vision emphasizes the conversion of life into sacrifice: aligning vital energies with truth-flow so the gods (higher powers) can act in the human instrument.
The deity
- Devata
- Sarasvatī
- Epithets
- Devī (Goddess), Vājinīvatī (rich in force/plenitude—contextual within the hymn), Ṛtāvarī (chooser/possessor of ṛta—contextual)
- Related deities
- Iḍā/Bhāratī (inspirations of speech), Agni (inner priest who receives and carries offerings), Viśve Devāḥ (powers receiving the offering)
Cosmic role
River of inspiration and truth-order that supports the sacrifice and carries the offering of mantric speech to the gods.
Inner power
Discriminating intuition and inspired speech that stabilizes life-movements and births luminous formations of consciousness.
In ritual
Where it is used
Soma-yajña / general iṣṭi context where Sarasvatī is invoked for inspired speech and right offering
त्वे विश्वा॑ सरस्वति श्रि॒तायूं॑षि दे॒व्याम् । शु॒नहो॑त्रेषु मत्स्व प्र॒जां दे॑वि दिदिड्ढि नः ॥
त्वे । विश्वा॑ । स॒र॒स्व॒ति॒ । श्रि॒ता । आयूं॑षि । दे॒व्याम् । शु॒नऽहो॑त्रेषु । म॒त्स्व॒ । प्र॒ऽजाम् । दे॒वि॒ । दि॒दि॒ड्ढि॒ । नः॒ ॥
tve | viśvā | sarasvati | śritā | āyūṃṣi | devyām | śuna-hotreṣu | matsva | pra-jām | devi | didiḍḍhi | naḥ
Jagatī (probable; mixed Jagatī/Tr̥ṣṭubh possible in this hymn)
48
4 pādas × 12 syllables (expected Jagatī cadence; exact scan may show minor Vedic resolutions)
Long, flowing, river-like movement suited to Sarasvatī praise.
Creates a sustained current of clarity; supports meditative continuity and a sense of being carried by an inner stream.
- सरस्वति (sarasvatī)
- Literal: she who has lakes/streams; the flowing one. Symbolic: the inspired truth-current; luminous speech and intuition that orders life
- आयूंषि (āyūṃṣi)
- Literal: lives, life-movements, vital durations. Symbolic: all energies and movements of the being—vital, mental, and psychic
- श्रिता (śritā)
- Literal: supported, leaned upon. Symbolic: founded in a higher consciousness rather than in ego-vital impulse
- देव्याम् (devyām)
- Literal: in the goddess, in the divine. Symbolic: in the supramental/inner divine support of truth-consciousness
- शुनहोत्रेषु (śunahotreṣu)
- Literal: in the swift offerings. Symbolic: prompt inner oblations—quick surrender of thought and will to truth
- मत्स्व (matsva)
- Literal: rejoice, take delight. Symbolic: the divine joy that confirms right movement
- प्रजाम् (prajām)
- Literal: progeny, increase, offspring. Symbolic: right births of consciousness—true thoughts, powers, and works
- दिदिड्ढि (didiḍḍhi)
- Literal: set firm, establish, make steady. Symbolic: stabilize the growth of the being in truth and clarity
Invocation for Sarasvatī’s enjoyment of offerings and for prajā (increase/progeny) in the broad Śrauta frame; also functions as a prayer for stability of life and continuance of the sacrificer’s line (outer) and of inner formations (inner).
During invocations to Sarasvatī and allied speech-powers; also suitable as a pre-recitation prayer before mantra/japa
Āhvāna (invocation) and offering of speech (brahman) as oblation
Use before study, teaching, chanting, writing, or any work requiring truthful expression; as a centering mantra for aligning life-energy with clarity.
āyus (āyūṃṣi) from √i ‘to go’ with ā- and nominal formation → life as a going/continuance; in Vedic often ‘life-force/duration’. śrita from √śri ‘to lean on, resort to’ → to take refuge/support. prajā from pra- + √jan ‘be born, generate’ → births/creations; psychologically: emergent right states and capacities. didiḍḍhi is an emphatic form from √dhā/√dheh₁ ‘to set, place’ (Vedic formations can show intensive/reduplicated imperatives), giving the sense ‘establish strongly’.
Śraya (taking support/refuge in the divine), Prajā (creative manifestation), R̥ta (right formation and stability)
Sarasvatī is invoked as the support in whom life-movements can be rightly founded—i.e., aligned to ṛta.
Truth as stability: the prayer is to make growth and ‘births’ firm in the being.
Right creation through right speech: luminous progeny arises when the word-force is founded in the divine.
Proto-Vedāntic and Yogic reading (Aurobindo/Kashyap): speech as a power of consciousness, not merely ritual utterance.
The river is the streaming intuition; the offering-fire is the will that gives; together they generate stable growth of the soul’s formations.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- Sarasvatī as the foundational support of life and as the establisher of ‘births’ (prajā). Mythically she is the sustaining river-goddess; psychologically she is the stream of inspired truth that supports life-energies and stabilizes new inner formations.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- prajā < √jan reflects PIE *ǵenh₁- ‘beget, produce’ (cf. Greek génos, Latin gignere). śrita < √śri has parallels in IE ‘lean/support’ semantic fields though direct cognates are less transparent; the conceptual metaphor of ‘support’ as refuge is pan-IE.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The r̥ṣi places all ‘lives’ under Sarasvatī’s support and requests her active participation (matsva) and her decisive action (didiḍḍhi) to stabilize growth. The devatā is thus both recipient of offering and agent of inner consolidation.
Rest the whole life-force in a stream of clear, truthful awareness; offer thoughts swiftly as they arise into that clarity.
viśuddha (throat)
nāḍī-śodhana or slow exhale-focused breathing while listening inward for ‘right word’
quiet, lucid receptivity (sattvic openness)
Before speaking or acting, pause: feel the ‘support’ (śritā) in a higher truth; then make the ‘swift offering’—a prompt alignment of will and speech to what is inwardly clear.
Use Vedic three-tone approach: udatta (raised), anudatta (lower), svarita (falling). Without full pada-svara notation, keep main lift on key vocatives and verbs (sarasvati, matsva, didiḍḍhi).
Emphasize the vocative ‘sarasvati’; keep a clear lift into ‘matsva’; land firmly on ‘didiḍḍhi naḥ’ to convey establishment.
(sa-ras-va-ti): keep ‘sva’ light, not ‘swa’ heavy, (śri-tā): palatal ‘ś’, crisp ‘tā’, (śunahotreṣu): split as śuna-ho-tre-ṣu; retroflex ṭ in ‘treṣu’ not needed—here it is dental ‘t’ + r, (di-di-ḍḍhi): retroflex ḍḍh—hold the double consonant briefly
clear, flowing, prayerful; sustain the long vowel endings
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