Rig Veda 4.3.2: Mandala 4, Sukta 3, Mantra 2
Sukta 4.3
- Rishi
- Vāmadeva Gautama
- Devata
- Agni
- Chandas
- Triṣṭubh
- Rasa
- Shringara (love) and Shanta (peace)
अयं योनिश्चकृमा यं वयं ते जायेव पत्य उशती सुवासाः । अर्वाचीनः परिवीतो नि षीदेमा उ ते स्वपाक प्रतीचीः ॥
ayáṃ yóniś cakṛmá yaṃ vayáṃ te jāyéva pátya uśatī́ su-vā́sāḥ | arvācīnáḥ pári-vīto ní ṣīdemā́ u te su-apāka pratīcī́ḥ ||
这是我们为你造作的胎座（yoni）；如妻子为其夫君，渴慕而衣饰端美，我们为你备置。请转向此方，周身披覆而来，安坐其上；这些我们的供献，哦善烹者（svapāka），将以相应之力回归于你。
Word by Word
- अयम्
- this (one)Pronounपुंलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, एकवचनम्Role KartāRoot इदम् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- योनिः
- womb; source; resting-placeNounस्त्रीलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, एकवचनम्Role KartāRoot योनि- (प्रातिपदिक)
- च
- andIndeclinableअव्ययम्Root च (निपात)
- चक्रिम
- I have madeVerbलिट् (परस्मैपदम्), उत्तमपुरुषः, एकवचनम्Role KarmaRoot कृ (धातु)
- यम्
- whom/whichPronounपुंलिङ्गः, द्वितीया, एकवचनम्Role KarmaRoot यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- वयम्
- wePronounत्रिलिङ्गे, प्रथमा, बहुवचनम्Role KartāRoot अस्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- ते
- to youPronounचतुर्थी, एकवचनम् (दत्त्यर्थे) / षष्ठी, एकवचनम् (सम्बन्धे) — अत्र दत्त्यर्थःRole SampradānaRoot त्वद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- जायाऽइव
- like a wifeNoun + Indeclinableजाया-: स्त्रीलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, एकवचनम्; इव: अव्ययम्Role KartāRoot जाया- (प्रातिपदिक) + इव (निपात)
- पतये
- to (her) husbandNounपुंलिङ्गः, चतुर्थी, एकवचनम्Role SampradānaRoot पति- (प्रातिपदिक)
- उशती
- desiring; eagerAdjective (participle)स्त्रीलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, एकवचनम्Role KartāRoot उशत्- (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक; √वश्/उश् ‘इच्छ्/कामय्’)
- सुवासाः
- well-clad; beautifully dressedAdjectiveस्त्रीलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, एकवचनम् (वैदिके दीर्घ/विसर्ग-रूपभेदः)Role KartāRoot सु- + वासस्- (प्रातिपदिक) / सुवासस्-
- अर्वाचीनः
- turned hither; facing towards (us)Adjectiveपुंलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, एकवचनम्Role KartāRoot अर्वाचीन- (प्रातिपदिक)
- परिवीतः
- encompassed; wrapped aroundAdjective (past participle)पुंलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, एकवचनम्Role KartāRoot परि- + √वी (वे/वय्) ‘आवरणे’ → परिवीत- (कृदन्त) अथवा परि- + √वे ‘to cover’
- नि
- down; inIndeclinableअव्ययम्Root नि (उपसर्ग/अव्यय)
- सीद
- sit downVerbलोट् (परस्मैपदम्), मध्यमपुरुषः, एकवचनम्Root सद् (धातु)
- इमाः
- thesePronounस्त्रीलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, बहुवचनम्Role KartāRoot इदम् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- उ
- indeed; andIndeclinableअव्ययम्Root उ (निपात)
- ते
- for you; to youPronounचतुर्थी, एकवचनम् (दत्त्यर्थे)Role SampradānaRoot त्वद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
- स्वपाक
- O good-cooker / O well-ripening one (epithet)Noun (vocative epithet)पुंलिङ्गः, सम्बोधन, एकवचनम्Root सु- + पाक- (प्रातिपदिक) / स्वपाक-
- प्रतीचीः
- turned towards (you/us); facing hitherAdjectiveस्त्रीलिङ्गः, प्रथमा, बहुवचनम्Role KartāRoot प्रतीची- (प्रातिपदिक)
Sandhi Notes
- पदच्छेदः (सम्भाव्यः): अयम् | योनिः | च | चक्रिम | यम् | वयम् | ते | जायाऽइव (जाया + इव; अ/इ संधिः → ‘ाइ’) | पतये | उशती | सुवासाः | अर्वाचीनः | परिवीतः | नि | सीद (नि + षीद → नि षीद; वैदिके √सद्/षीद्-आदेशः) | इमाः | उ | ते | स्वपाक (सम्बोधन) | प्रतीचीः। उच्चारण-चिह्नाः (॒, ॑) ऋग्वैदिक-स्वर-चिह्नाः
- पदच्छेदे स्वर-चिह्नानां लोपः कृतः।
The meaning
Outer meaning
The worshippers prepare a “womb/seat” for Agni like a devoted, well-adorned wife prepares a place for her husband; they invite him to turn toward them, be fully encompassed, and sit. Their offerings are said to return to him as responsive powers.
Inner meaning
The seeker prepares within consciousness a stable psychic “yoni” (matrix) where the divine Will (Agni) can descend and be established. The “wife longing and well-robed” is the aspiring soul (or purified nature) clothing itself in sincerity, quietude, and right order so the Flame can take its seat. “Turn hither” is the inward turning (pratyāhāra-like reversal) of the divine force toward our embodied field; the offerings “come back” as transformed energies—our surrendered movements return as clarified faculties and obedient powers of action.
Universal truth
When aspiration creates an inner sanctuary and offers its movements to the higher Will, the divine presence becomes seated in the being; what we give upward returns as a greater capacity—energies reorganized into conscious, responsive powers aligned with truth.
Themes
installation of Agni, inner receptacle (yoni), mutuality of human and divine, transformation of oblation
The seer
- Rishi
- Vāmadeva Gautama
- Lineage
- Gautama
- Other hymns
- Rig Veda 4.1, Rig Veda 4.2, Rig Veda 4.3, Rig Veda 4.4, Rig Veda 4.5
Family tradition
Gautamas are prominent seer-families; Vāmadeva’s hymns often reveal Agni as inner guide and the gods as powers of consciousness rather than merely ritual deities.
Significance
Vāmadeva’s vision emphasizes the installation of the divine Fire in the human vessel and the reciprocity of sacrifice: the offering returns as illumination, strength, and ordered life (ṛta).
The deity
- Devata
- Agni
- Epithets
- svapāka (well-ripening), jātavedas (knower of births), hotṛ (priest/mediator), purohita (leader placed in front)
- Related deities
- Uṣas, Indra, Soma, Varuṇa, Mitra
Cosmic role
Mediator between human and divine; carrier of offerings; awakener of the path of ṛta; transformer of matter into luminous energy.
Inner power
Divine Will and conscious force that ‘digests’ lower movements into clarity, aspiration, and effective action.
In ritual
Where it is used
Agnyupasthāna / Agni-invocation within soma/isṭi contexts (general Agni-seating formula)
अ॒यं योनि॑श्चकृ॒मा यं व॒यं ते॑ जा॒येव॒ पत्य॑ उश॒ती सु॒वासा॑: । अ॒र्वा॒ची॒नः परि॑वीतो॒ नि षी॑दे॒मा उ॑ ते स्वपाक प्रती॒चीः ॥
अ॒यम् । योनिः॑ । च॒कृ॒म । यम् । व॒यम् । ते॒ । जा॒याऽइ॑व । पत्ये॑ । उ॒श॒ती । सु॒ऽवासाः॑ । अ॒र्वा॒ची॒नः । परि॑ऽवीतः । नि । सी॒द॒ । इ॒माः । ऊँ॒ इति॑ । ते॒ । सु॒ऽअ॒पा॒क॒ । प्र॒ती॒चीः ॥
ayam | yoniḥ | cakṛma | yam | vayam | te | jāyāiva | patye | uśatī | su-vāsāḥ | arvācīnaḥ | pari-vītaḥ | ni | sīda | imāḥ | oṃ iti | te | su-apāka | pratīcīḥ
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4 pādas of ~11 syllables each
Forward-driving, declarative cadence suited to invocation and establishment.
Creates firmness and ‘seating’ of attention; supports a steady descent of will-force into the body.
- yoniḥ
- Literal: womb, source, seat, resting-place. Symbolic: inner matrix/psychic space where the divine force is founded
- cakṛmā
- Literal: we have made. Symbolic: conscious formation through discipline, purification, and aspiration
- jāyā iva patye
- Literal: like a wife to her husband. Symbolic: nature/soul in loving surrender to the indwelling Lord
- uśatī
- Literal: desiring, longing. Symbolic: ardent aspiration (mumukṣutā) for the higher consciousness
- suvāsāḥ
- Literal: well-robed, well-clad. Symbolic: clothed in purity, right thought, right emotion; sattvic covering
- arvācīnaḥ
- Literal: turned hither, facing toward. Symbolic: descent/turning of divine force toward embodied life; inward orientation
- parivītaḥ
- Literal: clothed all around, encompassed. Symbolic: Agni surrounded by consecrated energies; protection by mantra and right order
- ni ṣīda
- Literal: sit down, take seat. Symbolic: stable establishment of the flame in the heart/being
- svapāka
- Literal: good-cooking, well-ripening. Symbolic: the force that digests experience into wisdom; inner alchemy
- pratīcīḥ
- Literal: turned back/returning, responsive. Symbolic: returned powers—energies converted into obedient faculties
Establishing Agni on the vedi/hearth; mantra for ‘seating’ the fire and affirming reciprocal return of offerings (general havis/soma liturgy).
At the moment of inviting Agni to the altar/seat; also in domestic fire worship as a contemplative ‘installation’ verse.
Preparing the vedi/seat, offering oblations, inviting Agni to sit and receive.
Use as a pre-meditation ‘inner altar’ installation: visualize a luminous hearth in the heart and invite the will-to-truth to be seated.
yoni- ‘womb, origin’ from √yu/√yū ‘to join, yoke’ traditions and semantic field ‘source/seat’; in RV frequently ‘seat of Agni’ (hearth) and symbolically the matrix of consciousness. cakṛmá: perfect of √kṛ ‘to make’. uśatī́ from √vaś/√uś ‘to desire, wish’. su-vāsāḥ: su- ‘well’ + √vas ‘to clothe/dwell’; ‘well-clad’ → well-ordered instruments. su-apāka: su- + apāka ‘cooking/ripening’ from √pac ‘to cook, ripen’; Agni as transformer. pratīcī́: from prati ‘back/against’ + √añc ‘to turn’; ‘turned toward/back’, hence ‘responsive/returning’.
aspiration (uśatī) as soul-force, reciprocity of offering and grace (pratīcīḥ), transformation (pac/cooking) as inner alchemy
The prepared yoni is an ordered field where ṛta can operate; Agni establishes right functioning of energies.
Truth becomes effective when the divine Fire is ‘seated’—truth not only known but embodied.
Womb/seat imagery echoes creation as a matrix receiving the divine seed of force.
Proto-Vedāntic / integral psychological reading (Aurobindo-Kashyap): gods as powers of consciousness.
Fire = will; womb-seat = receptive psychic space; covering = protective purity; ‘turning hither’ = inward descent into embodied awareness.
- What is the primary Vedic 'mythologem' present in this verse?
- The making of the ‘yoni’ (seat/womb) for Agni and the deity’s ‘sitting’ in it: a foundational mythic gesture of establishing the divine presence in the prepared world/altar—psychologically, installing the transforming fire in the heart-matrix so offerings return as conscious gains.
- How does the linguistic structure reflect Proto-Indo-European roots?
- su-apāka hinges on √pac ‘cook/ripen’, from PIE *pekw- ‘to cook, ripen’ (cf. Latin coquō ‘cook’, English bake). The sacrificial metaphor of ‘cooking’ is an inherited Indo-European image for transformation from raw to perfected.
- What is the relationship between the Rishi and the Devata here?
- The rishi-speakers act as builders of the divine dwelling (‘cakṛma’), offering aspiration and ordered instruments (‘uśatī su-vāsāḥ’). Agni reciprocates by taking seat and converting the offerings into ‘pratīcīḥ’—returned, answering powers in the consciousness.
Inner installation of Agni: build the ‘yoni’ as a stable, receptive heart-space and invite the will-to-truth to sit there.
Anāhata (heart)
Gentle nāsikā breathing with a short pause after inhale; feel warmth spreading from the center outward (parivīta).
Collected, receptive, inwardly turned (pratīcī) with steady aspiration (uśatī).
Begin with a brief self-offering: name one movement to be transformed (fear, haste, dullness). Chant once slowly, then sit 3–5 minutes feeling the ‘seated flame’ digest and clarify that movement.
Use Vedic svara if trained; otherwise chant in a steady level tone with gentle lift on udatta syllables and soft fall on anudatta; avoid musical ornamentation.
Emphasize: yóniḥ, uśatī́, arvācī́naḥ, ní ṣīda, svapā́ka, pratī́cīḥ (natural stress aligned to clarity).
yoniś: keep ‘ś’ palatal (like ‘sh’), not retroflex, cakṛmā: clear ‘ṛ’ (vocalic r), not ‘ri’, jāyeva: glide ‘ye’ smoothly, parivītaḥ: long ī held lightly, svapāka: ‘pā’ long; ‘ka’ crisp
Warm, contained, inviting; end each pāda with a soft settling.
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