Rigveda 10.121

ऋग्वेद 10.121

VedicUniversal

Sanskrit Text

१० हिरण्यगर्भः प्राजापत्य:। कः(प्रजापतिः)। त्रिष्टुप्। हि॒र॒ण्य॒ग॒र्भः सम॑वर्त॒ताग्रे॑ भू॒तस्य॑ जा॒तः पति॒रेक॑ आसीत् । स दा॑धार पृथि॒वीं द्यामु॒तेमां कस्मै॑ दे॒वाय॑ ह॒विषा॑ विधेम ॥१॥ य आ॑त्म॒दा ब॑ल॒दा यस्य॒ विश्व॑ उ॒पास॑ते प्र॒शिषं॒ यस्य॑ दे॒वाः । यस्य॑ छा॒यामृतं॒ यस्य॑ मृ॒त्युः कस्मै॑ दे॒वाय॑ ह॒विषा॑ विधेम ॥२॥ यः प्रा॑ण॒तो नि॑मिष॒तो म॑हि॒त्वैक॒ इद्राजा॒ जग॑तो ब॒भूव॑ । य ईशे॑ अ॒स्य द्वि॒पद॒श्चतु॑ष्पद॒: कस्मै॑ दे॒वाय॑ ह॒विषा॑ विधेम ॥३॥ यस्ये॒मे हि॒मव॑न्तो महि॒त्वा यस्य॑ समु॒द्रं र॒सया॑ स॒ह

Transliteration

10 hiraṇyagarbhaḥ prājāpatya:| kaḥ(prajāpatiḥ)| triṣṭup| hi॒ra॒ṇya॒ga॒rbhaḥ sama̭varta॒tāgrḙ bhū॒tasya̭ jā॒taḥ pati॒reka̭ āsīt | sa dā̭dhāra pṛthi॒vīṃ dyāmu॒temāṃ kasmai̭ de॒vāya̭ ha॒viṣā̭ vidhema ||1|| ya ā̭tma॒dā ba̭la॒dā yasya॒ viśva̭ u॒pāsa̭te pra॒śiṣaṃ॒ yasya̭ de॒vāḥ | yasya̭ chā॒yāmṛtaṃ॒ yasya̭ mṛ॒tyuḥ kasmai̭ de॒vāya̭ ha॒viṣā̭ vidhema ||2|| yaḥ prā̭ṇa॒to ni̭miṣa॒to ma̭hi॒tvaika॒ idrājā॒ jaga̭to ba॒bhūva̭ | ya īśḙ a॒sya dvi॒pada॒ścatṷṣpada॒: kasmai̭ de॒vāya̭ ha॒viṣā̭ vidhema ||3|| yasye॒me hi॒mava̭nto mahi॒tvā yasya̭ samu॒draṃ ra॒sayā̭ sa॒ha

Meaning (English)

Rigveda Mandala 10, Sukta 121. Sacred hymn from the oldest Veda.

Meaning (Hindi)

Rigveda Mandala 10, Sukta 121. Sacred hymn from the oldest Veda.

Benefits

•Ancient Vedic wisdom
•Cosmic knowledge
•Spiritual purification

Best Time

Any time

Chant Count

1 times

Source

Rigveda 10.121, Ch. 10, V. 121

Scholarly Context

Origin & Textual Home

The Hiraṇyagarbha Sūkta (Rigveda 10.121) is a ten-verse hymn composed in the tenth (latest) mandala, traditionally ascribed to the rishi Hiraṇyagarbha Prajāpatya. Each verse ends with the haunting refrain 'kasmai devāya haviṣā vidhema' — 'to which god shall we offer our oblation?' — a phrase that treats the question of divine identity as unsettled until the final verse names Prajāpati. This is among the earliest Indian attempts to articulate a single underlying creative principle, preceding the more familiar Upaniṣadic formulations by several centuries.

How to Chant

The hymn is chanted in the Triṣṭubh meter — 44 syllables per verse across four pādas of 11 — requiring a longer breath control than Gāyatrī. Full recitation of all 10 verses takes approximately 6-8 minutes. Traditional practice reserves the sūkta for significant cosmological occasions: a new year, a yajña initiation, or before beginning a major creative enterprise. The Ārṣa tradition prescribes recitation 108 times over 40 days as a puraścaraṇa to invoke creative insight.

Traditional Benefits

Medieval commentators including Sāyaṇa identify the sūkta's primary fruit as paramātma-jñāna — knowledge of the supreme Self. The Bṛhaddevatā attributes to it the power to reconcile apparent contradictions in experience, since the sūkta itself models a mind willing to hold open questions. Contemporary spiritual teachers including Sri Aurobindo and Ravi Ravindra treat the refrain as a training in epistemic humility — the honest admission that the final cause may be unknowable.

Deeper Meaning

The 'golden embryo' (hiraṇyagarbha) in modern physics finds a striking parallel in the inflationary singularity — a pre-expansion state from which all matter, time, and space emerge. The Vedic formulation does not claim physical identity with this modern picture, but the phenomenology rhymes: a pre-differentiated originary state followed by articulation into multiplicity. Śaṅkara treats hiraṇyagarbha as the cosmic subtle body — the first manifestation of brahman before gross matter. Rāmānuja, by contrast, identifies it with Brahmā the creator, the individual soul who emerges first in each cosmic cycle.