Rig Veda 8.2.38: Mandala 8, Sukta 2, Mantra 38
Sukta 8.2
- Rishi
- Kaṇva
- Devata
- Indra
- Chandas
- Jagatī
- Rasa
- Adbhuta (wonder) and Shanta (peace)
गाथश्रवसं सत्पतिं श्रवस्कामं पुरुत्मानम् । कण्वासो गात वाजिनम् ॥
gā́tha-śravasaṃ sát-patiṃ śrávas-kāmaṃ puru-tmā́nam | kaṇvā́so gā́ta vā́jinam ||
Hỡi các Kaṇva, hãy ca tụng Đấng có danh vang trong khúc tụng—chủ của chân thật, khao khát sự nghe/tiếng thơm cao hơn, rộng lớn trong hữu thể; hãy ca tụng Đấng mang đến vāja (thắng lực/chiến lợi), bậc hùng mãnh.
Word by Word
- गा॒थश्र॑वसम्
- Gāthaśravas (the famed-by-songs one)Noun (proper/epithet)पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया विभक्ति, एकवचनRole कर्म (स्तुत्य/आह्वेय-वस्तु)Root गाथ-श्रवस् (प्रातिपदिक; समास) < गाथा ‘गीत/स्तोत्र’ + श्रवस् ‘यशस्/कीर्ति’
- सत्प॑तिम्
- lord of the good / true lordNoun (epithet)पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचनRole कर्मRoot सत्-पति (प्रातिपदिक; समास) < सत् ‘सज्जन/श्रेष्ठ’ + पति ‘स्वामी’
- श्रव॑स्कामम्
- desiring fameAdjectiveपुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन (पूर्वपदानां विशेषणम्)Role कर्मRoot श्रवस्-काम (प्रातिपदिक; समास) < श्रवस् ‘यशस्’ + काम ‘इच्छुक’
- पुरु॒त्मान॑म्
- most excellent / very mightyAdjective (epithet)पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचनRole कर्मRoot पुरुत्मन् (प्रातिपदिक) < पुरु ‘बहु’ + -त्मन् (अतिशय/श्रेष्ठत्ववाचक)
- कण्वा॑सः
- the Kaṇvas (seers/poets)Nounपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचनRole कर्तृRoot कण्व (प्रातिपदिक; ऋषिनाम)
- गा॒त
- sang / have sungVerbलुङ् (आगम-रहितः aorist), परस्मैपद, 3 पुरुष, बहुवचनRole (क्रिया)Root √गा (गै/गा) ‘गायति’
- वा॒जिन॑म्
- the prize-winner / the vigorous oneNoun/Adjective (epithet)पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचनRole कर्मRoot वाजिन् (प्रातिपदिक) < वाज ‘बल/वेग/अन्न/विजय’ + -इन्
Sandhi Notes
- पदच्छेदः: गाथश्रवसम् | सत्पतिम् | श्रवस्कामम् | पुरुत्मानम् | कण्वासः | गात | वाजिनम् । बाह्यसन्धिः विशेषः न
- ‘कण्वासो’ इति संहितापाठे -ओ अन्तः (प्रथमा बहुवचनः) पदपाठे ‘कण्वासः’ (विसर्ग) भवति।
The meaning
Outer meaning
Sing, O Kaṇvas, to the one whose fame is in the chant—lord of the true, desiring higher fame/hearing, wide in being; sing to the vāja-bringer.
Inner meaning
The Kaṇvas are urged to release inspired song that itself carries Indra’s śravas (power of hearing/fame). Indra is satpati—lord of the true (sat), master of the right and luminous elements in us. He desires śravas in the higher sense: the intensification of inner audition and inspired acclaim that makes truth audible in the being. As purutmā—wide in self, he expands consciousness; as vājin—bearer of vāja, he brings victorious dynamism into life.
Universal truth
Inspired speech aligned with truth enlarges consciousness; when we celebrate and invoke the higher intelligence, it answers by widening our being and giving effective power for accomplishment.
Themes
communal chant, Indra as sat-pati, seeking śravas and vāja
The seer
- Rishi
- Kaṇva
- Lineage
- Kaṇva (Kaṇvāḥ)
- Other hymns
- RV 8.2 (Kaṇva Indra hymns), RV 1.3
Family tradition
The Kaṇvas are renowned for gāthā-driven praise: they treat mantra as a force that calls down Indra’s widening and victorious power.
Significance
This verse foregrounds the role of inspired speech: true chant is not ornament but an instrument to awaken higher hearing and wideness (puru-tman) in the sādhaka.
The deity
- Devata
- Indra
- Epithets
- gātha-śravas (whose fame/hearing is in the chant), satpati (lord of the true), śravaḥ-kāma (desirer of higher hearing/fame), puru-tman (wide in being), vājin (vāja-bearer)
- Related deities
- Sarasvatī (inspired speech), Bṛhaspati (word and truth), Soma
Cosmic role
Receives and magnifies the inspired chant; upholds truth; expands the worlds; grants victorious force.
Inner power
Power of mantra-linked illumination: increases receptivity (śravas), establishes truth-governance (satpati), widens consciousness (puru-tman), and energizes action (vājin).
In ritual
Where it is used
Stotra-like invitation to sing Indra’s praise; compatible with Sāman-style melodic rendering though from Ṛgveda.
गा॒थश्र॑वसं॒ सत्प॑तिं॒ श्रव॑स्कामं पुरु॒त्मान॑म् । कण्वा॑सो गा॒त वा॒जिन॑म् ॥
गा॒थऽश्र॑वसम् । सत्ऽप॑तिम् श्रवः॑ऽकामम् । पु॒रु॒ऽत्मान॑म् । कण्वा॑सः । गा॒त । वा॒जिन॑म् ॥
gātha-śravasam | sat-patim śravaḥ-kāmam | puru-tmānam | kaṇvāsaḥ | gāta | vājinam
48
4×12 (approx.)
Melodic and expansive; suited to ‘gāta’ (sing) and praise.
Opens the chest and breath; evokes wideness and confident joy; supports mantra-music contemplation.
- गाथ (gāthā)
- Literal: song/chant. Symbolic: mantric expression; inspired utterance that shapes consciousness
- श्रवस् (śravas)
- Literal: hearing, fame. Symbolic: inner audition/revelation; the power of inspired resonance that makes truth manifest
- सत्पति (satpati)
- Literal: lord of the true/good. Symbolic: master of truth-consciousness; ruler of right inner states
- पुरुत्मान (puru-tmānam)
- Literal: wide in self, manifold-souled. Symbolic: widening of being; expansive consciousness beyond ego limits
- वाजिन् (vājinam)
- Literal: possessing vāja; strong/rapid. Symbolic: victory-bearer; dynamic effective force in action
Stotra/chant directive within Soma liturgy; communal singing to invoke vāja and śravas
In chant segments praising Indra for vāja and widening power; also as a prelude to longer Indra stotras.
Singing/recitation with emphasis on śravas (audibility/resonance).
Use as a ‘kīrtan-like’ Vedic chant for expanding consciousness before meditation; good for voice-based practice (nāda) and confidence-building.
śrávas: ‘hearing, fame, glory’ from √śru (PIE *ḱleu-), bridging audition and renown—important for oral tradition. gāthā from √gā ‘sing’. sat-pati: sat ‘being/truth’ + pati ‘lord’ (PIE *pótis ‘master’). puru- ‘many, wide’ + tmán ‘self’ → ‘vast-souled’. vājin: from vāja ‘strength/plenitude’ with possessive -in.
Śravas as inspired hearing/fame, Sat (true being) and its lordship, Vāja as plenitude-force
Satpati implies governance by ṛta/satya: right order expressed as stable truth-states in the being.
The ‘true’ (sat) is not moral only but ontological—being aligned to higher reality; Indra rules that domain in us.
Word/chant as creative force: gāthā evokes śravas which widens being and brings down power into action.
Mantra-śakti emphasis aligned with Aurobindonian view: inspired word mediates descent of higher consciousness.
Sound becomes nāda leading to revelation; wideness corresponds to inner sky (antarikṣa) opening; vāja corresponds to the ‘sunlit’ effectiveness of action.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- The mythologem of ‘song that brings the god’: the chant (gāthā) is not ornament but a power that establishes śravas (inspired hearing/fame) and calls down vāja. Indra is portrayed as sat-pati, the sovereign of true being whom the song makes present.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- The śravas/√śru complex reflects PIE *ḱleu- (hear/fame), a hallmark of Indo-European praise-poetry where ‘glory’ is literally ‘what is heard’. pati continues PIE *pótis, showing inherited social-religious sovereignty language.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The Kaṇvas are explicit agents: their singing (gāta) is the exchange-offering. Indra, as vast-souled (puru-tmā) and vāja-bearing, reciprocates by widening the chanters’ being and granting the sought śravas/vāja as inner attainment.
Nāda + mantra: let the chant awaken inner hearing (śravas) and widen the inner space; then rest in that wideness.
viśuddha (voice)
bhrāmarī (gentle) 5 rounds, then chant the mantra with long exhalations
Widened, resonant, quietly joyful.
Chant as ‘singing meditation’: keep attention in the throat and heart; feel the sound expand into the inner sky; after 9 recitations, sit silently and ‘listen’ for the mantra’s echo within.
As a ‘gāta’ verse, keep melodic contour while preserving Vedic accents; avoid turning it into free song—retain udatta prominence on key compounds (satpati, vājinam).
Give clear stress to satpatiṃ and purutmānam; keep compound boundaries audible (gātha-śravasaṃ).
gātha: long ā; th aspirated, śravas: ś as palatal; v as soft labio-dental, satpatiṃ: dental t; final ṃ nasalization, puru-tmānam: keep -tm- conjunct clean; long ā in tmā-, vājinam: long ā; j voiced
Open-throated, resonant, slightly musical; prioritize clarity over ornamentation.
9
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