Rig Veda 8.47.9: Mandala 8, Sukta 47, Mantra 9
Sukta 8.47
- Devata
- Aditi
- Rasa
- Shanta (peace) and Adbhuta (wonder)
अदितिर्न उरुष्यत्वदितिः शर्म यच्छतु । माता मित्रस्य रेवतोऽर्यम्णो वरुणस्य चानेहसो व ऊतयः सुतयो व ऊतयः ॥
áditiḥ na uruṣyátv áditiḥ śárma yacchatu | mātā́ mitrásya revató ’ryamṇó váruṇasya ca anehasaḥ vo ūtáyaḥ su-ūtáyaḥ vo ūtáyaḥ ||
ادتی ہمیں وسیع اور محفوظ بنائے؛ ادتی ہمیں سلامتی کی پناہ دے - وہ جو متر روشنی والے کی، اریمن کی، اور ورن کی ماں ہے۔ آپ کی بے ضرر مددیں، آپ کی اچھی مددیں، ہمارے ساتھ ہوں۔
Word by Word
- अदितिः
- Aditi (goddess)Nounस्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचनRole कर्तृRoot अदिति- (प्रातिपदिक)
- नः
- of us / ourPronounषष्ठी, बहुवचन (एन्क्लिटिक)Role सम्बन्ध (षष्ठी)Root अस्मद् (सर्वनाम)
- उरुष्यतु
- may (she) protectVerbलोट् (आज्ञार्थ), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचनRole क्रियाRoot उरुष्य् (धातु; ‘to protect, save, keep safe’)
- अदितिः
- AditiNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचनRole कर्तृRoot अदिति- (प्रातिपदिक)
- शर्म
- shelter, protection, comfortNounनपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचनRole कर्मRoot शर्मन्- (प्रातिपदिक)
- यच्छतु
- may (she) grantVerbलोट् (आज्ञार्थ), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचनRole क्रियाRoot यम् (धातु; ‘to give, grant, bestow’)
- माता
- motherNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचनRole कर्तृ (अदितेः विशेषण/अप्पोज़िशन)Root मातृ- (प्रातिपदिक)
- मित्रस्य
- of MitraNounपुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, एकवचनRole सम्बन्ध (षष्ठी)Root मित्र- (प्रातिपदिक)
- रेवतः
- of the wealthy/splendidAdjectiveपुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, एकवचन (मित्रस्य विशेषण)Role सम्बन्ध (षष्ठी)Root रेवत्- (प्रातिपदिक; ‘wealthy, splendid’)
- अर्यम्णः
- of AryamanNounपुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, एकवचनRole सम्बन्ध (षष्ठी)Root अर्यमन्- (प्रातिपदिक)
- वरुणस्य
- of VaruṇaNounपुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, एकवचनRole सम्बन्ध (षष्ठी)Root वरुण- (प्रातिपदिक)
- च
- andIndeclinableसमुच्चयार्थक अव्ययRoot च (निपात)
- अनेहसः
- of the untroubling / unharming oneAdjective(बहुव्रीहि/विशेषण) पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, एकवचन (वरुणस्य विशेषण)Role सम्बन्ध (षष्ठी)Root अनेहस्- (प्रातिपदिक; ‘untroubled, unharmed, free from distress’)
- वः
- of you (pl.)Pronounषष्ठी, बहुवचन (एन्क्लिटिक)Role सम्बन्ध (षष्ठी)Root युष्मद् (सर्वनाम)
- ऊतयः
- helps, aidsNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचनRole कर्तृ/विधेय (भवन्तु इति भावः)Root ऊति- (प्रातिपदिक; ‘help, aid, protection’)
- सुतयः
- Soma-pressings, libationsNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचनRole कर्तृ/विधेय (ऊतयः इति सह)Root सुति- (प्रातिपदिक; ‘pressing, libation (of Soma)’)
- वः
- of you (pl.)Pronounषष्ठी, बहुवचन (एन्क्लिटिक)Role सम्बन्ध (षष्ठी)Root युष्मद् (सर्वनाम)
- ऊतयः
- helps, aidsNounस्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचनRole कर्तृ/विधेयRoot ऊति- (प्रातिपदिक)
Sandhi Notes
- पदच्छेदः: अदितिः नः उरुष्यतु | अदितिः शर्म यच्छतु | माता मित्रस्य रेवतः अर्यम्णः वरुणस्य च अनेहसः वः ऊतयः | सुतयः वः ऊतयः || 1) ‘रेवतोऽर्यम्णो’ = रेवतः + अर्यम्णः (अः + अ → ‘ओ’ अवग्रह). 2) ‘चानॆहसो’ = च + अनेहसः (अ + अ → आ; लेखने ‘चा…’). 3) ‘व ऊतयः’ इति पदविभागः
- संहितायां ‘व ऊ…’ (वः + ऊ… इत्यत्र विसर्गलोप/पदसीमा-प्रभावः). 4) स्वरचिह्नाः (॑, ॒) संहितापाठानुसारं
- पदविश्लेषणे मूलपदाः स्वररहितरूपेण दत्ताः
The meaning
Outer meaning
May Aditi protect us widely; may Aditi grant us shelter—she who is the mother of Mitra, Aryaman, and Varuṇa. May your harmless, good helps be with us.
Inner meaning
Aditi—Infinity, the undivided Mother—makes the being ‘wide’ (uruṣyatu): she releases the soul from constriction, guilt, and limiting formations. As Mother of Mitra (harmonious light), Aryaman (noble right relation), and Varuṇa (vast truth-law), she births in us the capacities for luminous harmony, right social/inner contract, and truth-integrity. Her ‘śarma’ is the peace of boundless consciousness.
Universal truth
The deepest protection is wideness: a return to the Infinite that generates harmony, nobility, and truth. When consciousness becomes vast, life becomes safe and rightly ordered.
Themes
Aditi-invocation, Liberation-from-constriction, Peace-shelter (śarma)
The seer
- Other hymns
- Rig Veda 8.47.9 (Aditi-centered climax in the sequence)
Family tradition
Maṇḍala 8 Āditya hymn-stream
Significance
This verse shifts from requesting help to invoking the Source of the helpers: Aditi as the Infinite Mother. In inner yoga, it marks the movement from defensive protection to expansive liberation.
The deity
- Devata
- Aditi (with implicit Ādityas: Mitra, Aryaman, Varuṇa)
- Epithets
- Mother of the Ādityas, uruṣyantī (widening/protecting), śarma-dātrī (giver of shelter)
- Related deities
- Mitra, Varuṇa, Aryaman, Ādityas
Cosmic role
Primordial infinity that births and sustains the solar powers of truth and harmony; matrix of ṛta.
Inner power
Vastening of consciousness; freedom from binding formations; maternal protection that is also expansion.
In ritual
Where it is used
Āditya/Aditi invocation for protection, peace, and release from fault
अदि॑तिर्न उरुष्य॒त्वदि॑ति॒: शर्म॑ यच्छतु । मा॒ता मि॒त्रस्य॑ रे॒वतो॑ऽर्य॒म्णो वरु॑णस्य चाने॒हसो॑ व ऊ॒तय॑: सु॒तयो॑ व ऊ॒तय॑: ॥
अदि॑तिः । नः॒ । उ॒रु॒ष्य॒तु॒ । अदि॑तिः । शर्म॑ । य॒च्छ॒तु॒ । मा॒ता । मि॒त्रस्य॑ । रे॒वतः॑ । अ॒र्य॒म्णः । वरु॑णस्य । च॒ । अ॒ने॒हसः॑ । वः॒ । ऊ॒तयः॑ । सु॒ऽऊ॒तयः॑ । वः॒ । ऊ॒तयः॑ ॥
aditiḥ | naḥ | uruṣyatu | aditiḥ | śarma | yacchatu | mātā | mitrasya | revataḥ | ayarmṇaḥ | varuṇasya | ca | anehasaḥ | vaḥ | ūtayaḥ | su-ūtayaḥ | vaḥ | ūtayaḥ
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Aditi invocation in two main pādas; refrain repeats as litany.
Open vowels (aditiḥ…uruṣyatu) create widening sonic space; refrain anchors with repetition.
Strong effect of expansion and relief; induces calm vastness and safety.
- अदि॑तिः (aditiḥ)
- Literal: Aditi; the unbound, infinity. Symbolic: infinite consciousness; Divine Mother of wideness and freedom
- उरुष्यतु (uruṣyatu)
- Literal: make wide/protect. Symbolic: liberate from constriction; establish vastness as safety
- शर्म (śarma)
- Literal: shelter/peace. Symbolic: deep peace of the infinite; inner refuge
- माता (mātā)
- Literal: mother. Symbolic: source-power that gives birth to divine qualities in the seeker
- मित्र (mitra)
- Literal: Mitra. Symbolic: harmonious illumination; right relation; friendly light
- अर्यमन् (aryaman)
- Literal: Aryaman. Symbolic: nobility, right exchange, inner dignity and aspiration
- वरुण (varuṇa)
- Literal: Varuṇa. Symbolic: vast truth-law; purity; the encompassing consciousness
Śānti/protection and restoration; invoked where ‘wideness’ (uru/Aditi) is sought to counter constriction, guilt (enas), and hostile bindings.
In rites seeking well-being and lawful harmony; also in personal prayer for peace and wideness
Recite with offering of water/clarified butter symbolically to the Infinite Mother; mental surrender of constriction
Excellent daily mantra for anxiety and tightness: use to cultivate inner wideness and peace before sleep or meditation.
Aditi: a- ‘not’ + √dā ‘to bind/cut/divide’ (traditional derivation: ‘unbounded/undivided’). uruṣyatu from √uru ‘wide’ + causative/protective usage: ‘make wide and therefore safe’. Mitra (√mi ‘to bind/measure’ → harmony/contract), Varuṇa (√vṛ ‘encompass/bind’ → cosmic containment and moral law), Aryaman (arya ‘noble’ + social/ritual law; companioning principle).
Aditi as Infinite consciousness, Ṛta embodied as Mitra-Varuṇa-Aryaman functions, Wideness = liberation/safety
Aditi is the matrix of ṛta; Mitra-Varuṇa-Aryaman express ṛta as harmony, law, and right relation.
Varuṇa-child aspect emphasizes truth-purity; Aditi grants the capacity to live truth without fear.
Birth of solar powers from the Infinite; expansion as a creative movement from the Mother.
Proto-Vedānta / Integral Vedism: Infinite Consciousness (Aditi) as origin of divine functions in the human being.
dawn-to-day transition implied (solar children)
Sky-like mind and heart; solar clarity and harmony born from infinite peace.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- The mythologem is ‘Aditi as Mother of the Law-Powers’: the Infinite gives birth to Mitra (harmony), Aryaman (noble order), and Varuṇa (vast law), and by her wideness she rescues the mortal from constriction. The saving act is expansion into the infinite field that sustains ṛta.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- The semantic complex ‘binding/ordering’ in Mitra/Varuṇa resonates with IE social-religious vocabulary of covenant and cosmic order. The privative formation a- + verbal root in Aditi is a common archaic morphological strategy (PIE privative *n̥- / *ne- developments).
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The Rishi approaches Aditi not as a distant goddess but as the very condition of inner freedom: her gift is ‘uru’—a widening that becomes protection and peace (śarma). The relationship is maternal and foundational: the seeker returns to the Mother-field to be re-founded in ṛta.
Rest in the Infinite Mother; expand awareness beyond body-mind; receive peace (śarma) and wideness (uru).
Sahasrara (infinite wideness) and Anahata (maternal shelter/peace)
Slow, spacious breathing with emphasis on long exhale; silently feel ‘Aditi’ as boundless space on inhale, ‘śarma’ as peace on exhale.
From bounded ego-sense to wide, safe, maternal infinity.
Begin meditation by repeating ‘aditir na uruṣyatv’ 3 times, then sit in silent wideness; conclude with 9 repetitions of the refrain as a protective seal.
Accents not fully reconstructible; keep ‘aditiḥ’ clear and sustained; allow ‘uruṣyatv’ to carry an expansive rise; keep refrain uniform each time.
Open the vowels on ‘aditiḥ…śarma’; avoid clipping long ā in ‘mātā’ and ‘revato’.
aditiḥ: soft d, short i, final ḥ lightly aspirated, uruṣyatv: keep retroflex ṣ, avoid ‘shy’ diphthong—uru-ṣya-tv, mātrā: long ā in mātā, varuṇasya: retroflex ṇ, short final a
Wide, gentle, lullaby-like steadiness; let sound ‘fill space’.
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