Rig Veda 8.21.3: Mandala 8, Sukta 21, Mantra 3
Sukta 8.21
- Devata
- Indra
- Rasa
- Adbhuta (wonder) and Shanta (peace)
आ याहीम इन्दवोऽश्वपते गोपत उर्वरापते । सोमं सोमपते पिब ॥
ā́ yāhīmá índavo 'śva-pate gó-pata úrvārā-pate | sómaṃ soma-pate piba ||
یہاں آؤ, یہ نچوڑے ہوئے سوما کے دھارے تجھے پکارتے ہیں: اے گھوڑے کی طاقت کے مالک، روشن ریوڑوں کے مالک، وسیع ترقی کے کھیتوں کے مالک؛ اے سوما کے مالک، سوما پیو, وہ خوشی اپنے اندر لے لو جو اندرونی مہارت کو مضبوط کرتی ہے۔
Word by Word
- आ
- hither, towards (preverb: ‘to/near’)Indeclinableउपसर्ग (क्रियाविशेषक)Root आ (उपसर्ग) / ā (preverb)
- या॑हि
- come! (go hither!)Verbलोट् (आज्ञार्थ), मध्यम-पुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपदRoot या (धातु) / yā- ‘to go’
- इ॒म
- this (one), himPronounपुंलिङ्ग (वेदे प्रायः), द्वितीया, एकवचन (एन्/इम-प्रयोगः) — ‘him/this (one)’Role KarmaRoot इदम् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक) / idam
- इन्दवः
- O Indus (Soma-drops)Nounपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचनRole Kartā (सम्बोधनार्थे/वाक्य-प्रवर्तक) / Vocative-like addressRoot इन्दु (प्रातिपदिक) / indu- ‘drop; Soma’
- अश्वपते
- O lord of horsesNoun (epithet)पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन, एकवचनRole Sampradāna (सम्बोधन/आह्वान) / AddresseeRoot अश्वपति (समास-प्रातिपदिक) / aśva-pati- ‘lord of horses’
- गोपते
- O lord of cowsNoun (epithet)पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन, एकवचनRole Sampradāna (सम्बोधन/आह्वान) / AddresseeRoot गोपति (समास-प्रातिपदिक) / go-pati- ‘lord of cows’
- उर्वरापते
- O lord of the fertile landNoun (epithet)पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन, एकवचनRole Sampradāna (सम्बोधन/आह्वान) / AddresseeRoot उर्वरापति (समास-प्रातिपदिक) / urvarā-pati- ‘lord of the fertile field’
- सोमम्
- Soma (the drink)Nounपुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचनRole KarmaRoot सोम (प्रातिपदिक) / soma-
- सोमपते
- O lord of SomaNoun (epithet)पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन, एकवचनRole Sampradāna (सम्बोधन/आह्वान) / AddresseeRoot सोमपति (समास-प्रातिपदिक) / soma-pati- ‘lord of Soma’
- पिब
- drink!Verbलोट् (आज्ञार्थ), मध्यम-पुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपदRoot पा (धातु) / pā- ‘to drink’
Sandhi Notes
- पदच्छेदः (Vedic sandhi resolved): आ | या॑हि | इ॒म | इन्दवः | अश्वपते | गोपते | उर्वरापते | सोमम् | सोमपते | पिब । मुख्य-सन्धिः: (1) ‘आ’ + ‘या॑हि’ = ‘आ या॑हि’ (उपसर्ग-योगः, विशेष-सन्धि-परिवर्तनं न). (2) ‘इन्दवोऽश्वपते’ = ‘इन्दवः’ + ‘अश्वपते’ : विसर्गस्य ‘ओ’ (o) रूपेण परिवर्तनं, तथा अवग्रहः ‘ऽ’ (RV संहितायाम्). (3) ‘गोपत॒ उर्व॑रापते’ = ‘गोपते’ + ‘उर्वरापते’ : ए-उ संधिः (e + u → eu), संहितायां ‘गोपत॒ उर्व॑…’ इति लेखनम्
- पदपाठे ‘गोपते | उर्वरापते’
The meaning
Outer meaning
Come here, O Indu/Soma: these pressed Soma streams call you—lord of horses, lord of cows, lord of wide fields. O Soma-lord, drink the Soma.
Inner meaning
The mantra calls the descending delight (Soma/indu) to enter the being. Indra is addressed in Soma’s lordship (somapate): the illumined mind must receive and assimilate bliss for true mastery. ‘Horse-lord’ (aśvapati) is mastery over vital energies for action; ‘cow-lord’ (gopati) is mastery over rays of knowledge; ‘field-lord’ (urvarāpati) is mastery over the wide inner ground where growth occurs. The pressed streams (ime indavaḥ) are the distilled experiences and concentrated aspirations prepared by practice; they invite the divine to drink—i.e., to take into itself and intensify the offering, returning it as strengthened consciousness.
Universal truth
Joy is not a byproduct but a power of transformation; when bliss is received by illumined intelligence, vitality, knowledge, and growth become harmonized and fruitful.
Themes
Soma invitation, Indra as master, inner growth, delight-power
The seer
Significance
The verse reflects a classic Soma-psychology: delight is invoked as a real force. The anonymity emphasizes that Soma is a universal experience of the sacrifice, not restricted to a single seer’s personal myth.
The deity
- Devata
- Indra (as Somapati / receiver and lord of Soma)
- Epithets
- Somapati, Aśvapati, Gopati, Urvarāpati
- Related deities
- Soma, Agni, Bṛhaspati, Aśvins
Cosmic role
Receives Soma and, empowered by it, releases light and victory; governs the energies (horses), illuminations (cows), and growth-fields (urvarā).
Inner power
The illumined mind that can ‘drink’ bliss—assimilate ananda without intoxication of ego—then direct life-force and knowledge toward growth.
In ritual
Where it is used
Soma pressing and offering; invitatory to the Soma-drinking deity
आ या॑ही॒म इन्द॒वोऽश्व॑पते॒ गोप॑त॒ उर्व॑रापते । सोमं॑ सोमपते पिब ॥
आ । या॒हि॒ । इ॒मे । इन्द॑वः । अश्व॑ऽपते । गोऽप॑ते । उर्व॑राऽपते । सोम॑म् । सो॒म॒ऽप॒ते॒ । पि॒ब॒ ॥
ā | yāhi | ime | indavaḥ | aśva-pate | go--pate | urvarāpate | somam | soma-pate | piba
Gāyatrī (common for concise invocations; 3 pādas)
24
3 pādas of 8 syllables (approx.), with direct imperative cadence (ā yāhi… piba).
Quick, luminous, mantra-like; repeated vocatives create a beckoning rhythm.
Invites sweetness and clarity; suitable for drawing down delight into the nervous system.
- इन्दवः (indavaḥ)
- Literal: Soma drops/streams. Symbolic: currents of delight distilled from experience and aspiration
- सोम (soma)
- Literal: Soma, nectar. Symbolic: divine bliss-substance, ananda in consciousness
- सोमपते (somapate)
- Literal: lord of Soma. Symbolic: the power that governs and rightly enjoys bliss—illumined mind mastering delight
- अश्वपते (aśvapate)
- Literal: lord of horses. Symbolic: master of vital energies, disciplined life-force for action
- गोपते (gopate)
- Literal: lord of cows. Symbolic: master of rays of light/knowledge; protector of illuminations
- उर्वरापते (urvarāpate)
- Literal: lord of fertile fields. Symbolic: sovereignty over the inner field of growth—expansive consciousness capable of cultivation
Direct Soma invitation: Indra summoned to drink Soma; standard in Soma sacrifices (Agnisṭoma and related pressings).
At Soma-libation moments (somapāna), calling the deity to drink
Offering Soma; chanting during libation
Use to invoke calm joy before meditation; also to stabilize after intense effort by calling ananda to govern prāṇa and thought.
√yā ‘go/come’ PIE *h₁ey- ‘to go’. índu- ‘drop, bright drop’ (also ‘moon’ later). √pā ‘drink’ PIE *peh₃- (cf. Latin pōtus ‘drunk’). go- ‘cow/ray’ (polysemy supports symbolic reading). urvárā ‘fertile field’ from uru ‘wide’ + √vṛ/var? (traditional: ‘broad, fertile ground’).
Soma as bliss/substance of immortality, mastery of energies (aśva) and illuminations (go), growth-field (urvarā) as inner wideness
Right enjoyment: Soma must be ‘drunk’ by the rightful lord so bliss serves order, not disorder.
Bliss supports truth-perception—gopati as guardian of rays of knowledge.
Cultivation and growth: urvarā as the inner earth made fertile by Soma.
Vedāntic-Ananda emphasis (Aurobindonian): bliss as substance of higher consciousness.
dawn (often associated with Soma pressing and awakening currents, though not explicit)
Soma streams = ananda-currents; horses = prāṇic energies; cows = light-rays; fields = inner being ready for growth.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- The mythologem is ‘Indra’s Soma-drinking’: the god is summoned to drink the pressed Soma. Inwardly, the Indra-force in the seeker is nourished by delight (Soma), which increases mastery over dynamic energies (aśva), illuminations (go), and the wide field of growth (urvarā).
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- √pā ‘drink’ is a classic PIE root (*peh₃-), reflected across IE. The ritual act of ‘drinking’ as empowerment is also broadly Indo-European: ingestion as assimilation of divine potency.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The rishi offers Soma and calls Indra to partake; the implied return is the strengthening of Indra’s help—victory, protection, and enlargement. It is a direct reciprocity: offering of delight-substance for the descent of sovereign force.
Receive ananda consciously; let it govern prāṇa (aśva), illumine thought (go), and widen the inner field (urvarā).
Anahata (sweetness/devotion) and Sahasrara (nectar-like descent)
Slow nasal inhale imagining ‘indavaḥ’ rising; long exhale offering it upward; pause and inwardly repeat ‘somam… piba’.
Receptive, sweet, widened; joy without excitement.
After a few repetitions, sit silently and feel a gentle ‘nectar’ spreading from crown to heart; then direct it into action-energy to calm and steady the vital.
Imperatives ‘ā yāhi’ and ‘piba’ take clear udatta lift; vocatives (aśvapate, gopate, urvarāpate, somapate) chanted with bright emphasis.
Make each ‘-pate’ a crisp cadence; keep ‘ime indavaḥ’ flowing like liquid.
‘ā yāhi’: sustain both long ā and long ā in yā-., ‘urvarāpate’: ur-va-rā-pa-te, long ā., ‘piba’: short i, light but definite b.
Softly luminous, ‘nectar-like’; avoid harshness.
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