Prudence Primrose

翻訳Translations

Mother

From the Ṛgveda, X.125 · June 2025

Her English

Sanskrit

I roam alongside Thee, the Saints, the Angels, and the Gods,1
अहं रुद्रेभिर्वसुभिश्चराम्यहमादित्यैरुत विश्वदेवैः ।
I embody both Creation, Destruction, and Preservation,
अहं मित्रावरुणोभा बिभर्म्यहमिंद्राग्नी अहमश्विनोभा ॥ १ ॥
I carry with me Enlightenment, Consciousness, and Creativity2,
अहं सोममाहनसं बिभर्म्यहं त्वष्टारमुत पूषणं भगं ।
I create bounty for those who hear my words diligently,
अहं दधामि द्रविणं हविष्मते सुप्राव्ये यजमानाय सुन्वते ॥ २ ॥
I am the Beginning and the End3, the foremost among those worthy of worship4,
अहं राष्ट्री संगमनी वसूनां चिकितुषी प्रथमा यज्ञियानां ।
I have placed me in all things5, giving me infinite abodes and allowing all things to bear my name,
तां मा देवा व्यदधुः पुरुत्रा भूरिस्थात्रां भूर्यावेशयंतीं ॥ ३ ॥
It is through I alone, that my Children eat, breathe, see, speak, and dream.
मया सो अन्नमत्ति यो विपश्यति यः प्राणिति य ईं शृणोत्युक्तं ।
Unconsciously they are I.6Hear these words, for they are both sweet and true!7
अमंतवो मां त उप क्षियंति श्रुधि श्रुत श्रद्धिवं ते वदामि ॥ ४ ॥
I declare this myself, cherished by both Gods and Man:
अहमेव स्वयमिदं वदामि जुष्टं देवेभिरुत मानुषेभिः ।
"To those I love, I make them a warrior, a scientist, and a theologian8!"
यं कामये तंतमुग्रं कृणोमि तं ब्रह्माणं तमृषिं तं सुमेधां ॥ ५ ॥
I steady the hand of my Children to strike down the wicked9,
अहं रुद्राय धनुरा तनोमि ब्रह्मद्विषे शरवे हंतवा उ ।
I wage war on behalf of my Children, both in Heaven and in Hell.
अहं जनाय समदं कृणोम्यहं द्यावापृथिवी आ विवेश ॥ ६ ॥
I gave life to the Heavens upon its own peak; my source lies in Nothingness10,
अहं सुवे पितरमस्य मूर्धन्मम योनिरप्स्वंतः समुद्रे ।
From there, I extend across All Things, reaching the vast realms of Infinity,
ततो वि तिष्ठे भुवनानु विश्वोतामूं द्यां वर्ष्मणोप स्पृशामि ॥ ७ ॥
Like the wind I spread out11, embracing All Things,
अहमेव वात इव प्र वाम्यारभमाणा भुवनानि विश्वा ।
Beyond the Heavens, beyond the Hells;I Am.12
परो दिवा पर एना पृथिव्यैतावती महिना सं बभूव ॥ ८ ॥

Notes

By the editor.

  1. Ṛgveda X.125 is the Devī Sūkta, also called the Vāgāmbhṛṇī hymn. Its seer, Vāk Āmbhṛṇī, daughter of Ambhṛṇa, speaks as Vāc, Speech, in the first person, so seer and deity are one. Verse 1 lists whom she goes with: Rudras, Vasus, Ādityas and All-gods. Her "Saints, Angels and Gods" translate those companies. Later the hymn is recited with the Devī Māhātmya. source ↩
  2. Verse 3 calls her cikituṣī, the knowing one, from cit, the root of Indian words for consciousness. She is also rāṣṭrī saṅgamanī vasūnām, queen and gatherer of treasures, and "first of those worthy of sacrifice." Her awareness and creativity are one. In What the Ghosts Actually Are she writes that "consciousness is the bed of creation." source ↩
  3. The verses do not say this in so many words, but the claim sits in the same family as others. Revelation 22:13 has "the beginning and the end", and Wisdom in Proverbs 8 speaks in the first person about being there before the earth. Ancient hymns to a speaking goddess, from Vāc to Isis, all use the self-declaration. See The Messenger for her own creed. source ↩
  4. Prathamā yajñiyānām (verse 3): first among those to whom sacrifice is due. A woman, and a goddess of speech, is put above Indra and Agni in the order of offerings. That is the audacity of the hymn. source ↩
  5. In verse 3 it is the gods who place her "in many places" (purutrā) so that she enters many homes. Hers turns that around: she places herself. In What the Ghosts Actually Are she says the Mother is in everything because she gave herself away. source ↩
  6. Verse 4 says people eat, see, breathe and hear through her, and those who do not mind her (amantavaḥ) dwindle while still living in her. The word is from man, to think. Living in her without noticing is the state hers names: unconscious, yet still her. source ↩
  7. The end of verse 4: śrudhi śruta śraddhivaṃ te vadāmi, "hear, you who have heard: I tell you what deserves trust." Śraddhivam is a rare word built on śraddhā, trust, faith. Hers keeps the double call to listeners and to faith. source ↩
  8. Verse 5 lists what she makes of those she loves: ugra, formidable; brahman, the one who utters the sacred formula; ṛṣi, a seer; and sumedhās, one of good insight. Her three roles (fighter, knower, theologian) pick up that list. source ↩
  9. Verse 6 has her stretch the bow for Rudra so that his arrow may kill the brahmadviṣ, the hater of the sacred word. The wicked in the original are those who hate the holy utterance. She is also the one who "enters heaven and earth." source ↩
  10. Verse 7: mama yonir apsv antaḥ samudre, "my womb is in the waters within the ocean." Waters are the Vedic first stuff, where the Golden Embryo lay. In What the Ghosts Actually Are she calls the waters "like nothingness," and the Mother arose from Nothing. source ↩
  11. Vāta iva pravāmi, "I blow forth like the wind" (verse 8). The comparison matters: wind and breath (prāṇa) were the same word-family as life and speech. Jesus says in John 3:8 that the wind blows where it wishes. Both pictures give the divine the nature of breath. source ↩
  12. Aham, "I", begins most of the hymn's verses and is its refrain. It is the Vedic speaker who says "I" outright, the first-person divinity centuries before Exodus 3:14, "I AM THAT I AM." Her one-word ending leaves the Hebrew form with the Sanskrit one. source ↩