Nasadiya Suktam

Nasadiya Suktam

नासदीयसूक्तम्

The nAsadIya-sUkta is one of the most popular hymns from the Rigveda. Occurring in the 10th mandala of the Rigveda Samhita, this Sukta speaks about the universe and its cosmological origins that modern astronomers and cosmologists are still trying to understand. There are multiple books and essays available on this Sukta. Some of the authors speak about the philosophy behind the nAsadIya Sukta while others explain the Sukta from a modern scientific viewpoint. 

In this article, I will provide the anvayakrama (ordering of the words in a prose type form) along with the word by word meaning of the entire sUkta. I will also explain some of the grammatical nuances that we encounter. I hope that the readers will find this article useful.

नास॑दासी॒न्नो सदा॑सीत्त॒दानी॒म् नासी॒द्रजो॒ नो व्यो॑मा प॒रो यत्।
किमाव॑रीव॒: कुह॒ कस्य॒ शर्म॒न्नंभ॒: किमा॑सी॒द्गह॑नं गभी॒रम्॥१॥

अन्वयः– तदानीं न असत् आसीत् नो सत् आसीत्, न रजः नो व्योमा यत् परः (अस्ति)। कुह कस्य शर्मन् आ अवरीवः, किं गहनं गभीरम् अम्भः आसीत् ?

पदार्थः–  tadAnIM- back then, na asat- no nonexistence, AsIt-was there,no[1]- sat- no existence, AsIt – was there,na rajaH- no world (matter), no vyoma- no sky (space), yat paraH- which is above, kuha- where, kasya-whose, sharman [2]- (in whose) protection, aa avarIvaH- covered [3],kiM- what, gahanaM- deep, gabhIraM- profound, ambhaH- water,aasIt- was there

अनुवादः– In the beginning, there was neither non-existence nor existence. There was no matter (Earth), nor any space (sky) above it. Where and under whose protection was It covered? Was there deep and profound water?

[1]: nO = na + u, vedic form that means the same as na.
[2]: In classical Sanskrit, this saptami vibhakti word would be sharmaNi
[3]: vR dhAtu, lang-lakAra prathamapurusha, ekavachanaM

न मृ॒त्युरा॑सीद॒मृतं॒ न तर्हि॒ न रात्र्या॒ अह्न॑ आसीत्प्रके॒तः।
आनी॑दवा॒तं स्व॒धया॒ तदेकं॒ तस्मा॑द्धा॒न्यन्न प॒रः किञ्च॒नास॑॥२॥

अन्वयः–मृत्युः न आसीत्, न अमृतम्, रात्र्याः अह्नः प्रकेतः नासीत्। तत् एकः अवतां स्वधया आनीत् , तस्मात् परः अन्यत् किञ्चन न आस ॥

पदार्थः–  mRityuH na AsIt- there was no death, na amRtaM- nor immortality, rAtryAH- of night, ahnaH- of day, praketaH- sight/appearance,nAsIt- was not there, tat- that, ekaM- one, avatAM- without wind, svadhayA- on its own, aanIt [4]- was breathing, tasmAt paraH- greater than that, anyat- another, kincana- something else, na Asa[5]- was not there.

अनुवादः– There was neither death nor immortality. Neither was there any signs of night or day. Though windless, the one was breathing on its (His?) own. Apart from this, there was nothing else.  

[4] अन्  dhAtu, lang-lakAra, prathamapurusha, ekavachanaM 
[5] अस्  dhAtu, lit-lakAra, prathamapurusha, ekavachanaM

तम॑ आसी॒त्तम॑सा गू॒ळ्हमग्रे॑ऽप्रके॒तं स॑लि॒लं सर्व॑मा इ॒दं।
तु॒च्छ्येना॒भ्वपि॑हितं॒ यदासी॒त्तप॑स॒स्तन्म॑हि॒नाजा॑य॒तैकं॑॥ ३॥

अन्वयः–अग्रे तमसा गूळ्हं तमः आसीत्, इदं सर्वम् अप्रकेतं सलिलम् आः। यत् तुच्छ्येन अपिहितम् आभु आसीत्, तत् एकं तपसः महिना अजायत॥

पदार्थः–  agre: before (creation), tamasA: with darkness, gULhaM [6] - covered, tamaH- darkness, AsIt- was there, idaM sarvaM- all this,apraketaM- unrecognizable, salilaM- water, aaH [7] - was, yat- that,tucchyena – with emptiness, apihitaM- covered, aabhu- void, AsIt- was there, tat- that, ekaM- one (without another), tapasaH- of heat (or penance), mahinA- significance, ajAyata [8] - was born.

अनुवादः– In the beginning (before creation), there was darkness that was covered by darkness. Everything (all space) was covered with unrecognizable water. The One, which was void covered by emptiness, arose by the power of penance (or heat). 

[6] गुह् dhAtu + क्त pratyaya. In classical Sanskrit, this would become गूढम्. However, in the Rigveda, when ढ् occurs between 2 svarAs, it becomes ळ्ह्. 
[7] अस् dhAtu, lang-lakAra, prathamapurusha, ekavachanaM (another vedic form for aasIt)
[8] जन् dhAtu, lang-lakAra, prathamapurusha, ekavachanaM

काम॒स्तदग्रे॒ सम॑वर्त॒ताधि॒ मन॑सो॒ रेत॑: प्रथ॒मं यदासी॑त्।
स॒तो बन्धु॒मस॑ति॒ निर॑विन्दन् हृ॒दि प्र॒तीष्या॑ क॒वयो॑ मनी॒षा॥४॥

अन्वयः– अग्रे कामः यत् अधि मनसः प्रथमं रेतः आसीत्, तत् समवर्तत। कवयः हृदि मनीषा प्रतीष्या असति सतः बन्धुं निरविन्दन्॥

पदार्थः–  agre- first, kAmaH- desire, yat- which, adhimanasaH- of the mind, prathaM- first, retaH- seed, AsIt- was there,tat- that, samavartata [9]- was born. kavayaH- poets (sages), hRdi- in the hearts, manISA- through knowledge, pratISya- having analysed, asati- in the non existence,sataH- of the existence,bandhuM- connection, niravindan[10]- found.

अनुवादः– At the very beginning, a desire, which was the primal seed of the mind, arose. The wise men searched their heart through wisdom and found the connection of existence in the non-existant. 

[9]: सम् + वृत् dhAtu,lang-lakAra, prathamapurusha, ekavachanaM
[10]: विद् dhAtu, lang-lakAra, prathamapurusha, bahuvachanaM

ति॒र॒श्चीनो॒ वित॑तो र॒श्मिरे॑षाम॒धः स्वि॑दा॒सी ३ दु॒परि॑ स्विदासी ३ त्।
रे॒तो॒धा आ॑सन्महि॒मान॑ आसन्त्स्व॒धा आ॒वस्ता॒त्प्रय॑तिः प॒रस्ता॑त्॥५॥

अन्वयः–एषां रश्मिः तिरश्चीनः विततः, अधः स्वित् आसीत्, उपरि स्वित् आसीत्। रेतोधाः आसन् महिमानः आसन्, स्वधा अवस्तात् प्रयतिः परस्तात् आसन्॥

पदार्थः–  eshAM- its (primal seed’s),rashmiH- rays, tiraschInaH- horizontally, vitataH- spread,adhaH svit AsIt- or was below, upari svit AsIt- or was above. retodhAH-bearers of the primal seeds, Asan- were there,mahimAnaH- great men, Asan- were there. svadhA- power, avastAt- below, prayatiH- impulse, parastAt- over it, Asan- were there.
 अनुवादः– The rays of light from this creation spread in all directions- horizontal, upward and downward. The bearers of seeds of creation as well as great men were there. There was power below and impulse from above.

को अ॒द्धा वे॑द॒ क इ॒ह प्र वो॑च॒त्कुत॒ आजा॑ता॒ कुत॑ इ॒यं विसृ॑ष्टिः।
अ॒र्वाग्दे॒वा अ॒स्य वि॒सर्ज॑ने॒नाथा॒ को वे॑द॒ यत॑ आब॒भूव॑॥६॥

अन्वयः–कः अद्धा वेद, कः इह प्र वोचत्, कुतः इयं विसृष्टिः कुतः आजाता। देवाः अस्य विसर्जनेन अर्वाक्, अथ यतः आबभूव कः वेद ॥

पदार्थः–  kaH- who, addhA- in its original form (yathArtha), veda [11]- knows, kaH- who, iha- here, pra vochat [12]- can tell, kutaH- from where, iyaM visRSTiH- this creation, kutaH- from where, AjAtA- was born.devAH- the gods, asya visarjanena- of this creation, arvAk- posterior,atha- thus, yataH- from where, aababhUva [13]- came to be, kaH- who,veda- knows.

अनुवादः– Who indeed knows and who can truly tell us about where this creation came from? Even the gods are posterior to this creation. So who can tell us about how everything came to be?

[11]: विद्dhAtu,lit-lakAra, prathamapurusha, ekavachanaM
[12]: वच् dhAtu, lung-lakAra, prathamapurusha, ekavachanaM
[13]: भू dhAtu lit-lakAra, prathamapurusha, ekavachanaM

इ॒यं विसृ॑ष्टि॒र्यत॑ आब॒भूव॒ यदि॑ वा द॒धे यदि॑ वा॒ न।
यो अ॒स्याध्य॑क्षः पर॒मे व्यो॑म॒न्त्सो अ॒ङ्ग वे॑द॒ यदि॑ वा॒ न वेद॑॥ ७॥

अन्वयः– इयं विसृष्टिः यतः आबभूव, यदि वा दधे यदि वा न। यः अस्य अध्यक्षः परमे व्योमन् (अस्ति), सः अङ्ग वेद यदि वा न वेद॥

पदार्थः–  iyaM visRSTiH- this creation,  yataH- from where,aababhUva- came to be, yadi vA- if, dadhe [14]- (it is) held, yadi vA na- or if not. asya-of this (creation), yaHadhyakSaH- that Lord, saH- he, parame vyoman [15]- in the highest skies (heaven), anga veda- surely knows, yadi vA - or perhaps, na veda- knows not

अनुवादः– How did this universe come to be? Perhaps the Lord of this universe, who lives in the highest heaven, surely knows. Or perhaps he too does not!

[14]- धा dhAtu,  Atmanepadi, lit-lakAra, prathamapurusha, ekavachanaM
[15]- Word is in saptamI-vibahkti and would be vyomani in classical (loukika) Sanskrit.