Mātā bhūmiḥ: the Earth is my mother
यत्ते मध्यं पृथिवि यच्च नभ्यं यास्त ऊर्जस्तन्वः संबभूवुः ।
तासु नो धेह्यभि नः पवस्व
माता भूमिः पुत्रो अहं पृथिव्याः
पर्जन्यः पिता स उ नः पिपर्तु ॥
yatte madhyaṃ pṛthivi yacca nabhyaṃ yāsta ūrjastanvaḥ saṃbabhūvuḥ |
tāsu no dhehyabhi naḥ pavasva
mātā bhūmiḥ putro ahaṃ pṛthivyāḥ
parjanyaḥ pitā sa u naḥ pipartu ||
Translation
Your middle, O Earth, and your navel, and the nourishing energies that have arisen from your body: set us among them, purify us. The Earth is my mother; I am the son of the Earth. Parjanya, the rain, is my father: may he fill us with plenty.
Meaning
This verse comes from the Bhūmi Sūkta or Pṛthivī Sūkta, the "Hymn to the Earth" (Atharvaveda 12.1), sixty-three verses of praise for the land, its mountains, plants, rivers and people. The page header names the seer Atharvan and the deity Bhūmi.
The heart of the verse is the line mātā bhūmiḥ putro ahaṃ pṛthivyāḥ, "the Earth is my mother, I am her son", often quoted today in writing about ecology. The family image is completed by Parjanya, the rain-cloud, as father: rain falling on earth makes life.
Note putro ahaṃ: in the Veda the o before a is often left unjoined (classical Sanskrit would write putro 'ham).
Word by word · 21 words
| Devanagari | IAST | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| यत् | yat | what, which (nom. sg. n.) |
| ते | te | your |
| मध्यम् | madhyam | middle, centre (nom. sg. n.) |
| पृथिवि | pṛthivi | O Earth (voc. sg. f.) |
| नभ्यम् | nabhyam | navel, the centre of the body (nom. sg. n.) |
| याः | yāḥ | which (nom. pl. f.) |
| ऊर्जः | ūrjaḥ | nourishing energies (nom. pl. f. of ūrj) |
| तन्वः | tanvaḥ | from your body (abl. sg. of tanū) |
| संबभूवुः | saṃbabhūvuḥ | have arisen (perfect 3rd pl. of sam + √bhū) |
| तासु | tāsu | in them (loc. pl. f.) |
| धेहि | dhehi | place, set (2nd sg. imperative of √dhā) |
| अभि ... पवस्व | abhi ... pavasva | purify, flow over (2nd sg. imperative middle of abhi + √pū) |
| माता | mātā | mother (nom. sg. f.) |
| भूमिः | bhūmiḥ | the Earth (nom. sg. f.) |
| पुत्रः | putraḥ | son (nom. sg. m.) |
| अहम् | aham | I |
| पृथिव्याः | pṛthivyāḥ | of the Earth (gen. sg. f.) |
| पर्जन्यः | parjanyaḥ | Parjanya, the rain-cloud (nom. sg. m.) |
| पिता | pitā | father (nom. sg. m.) |
| उ | u | and, indeed |
| पिपर्तु | pipartu | may he fill, sustain (3rd sg. imperative of √pṛ) |
Pronunciation
yatte madhyaṃ pṛthivi yacca nabhyaṃ yāsta ūrjastanvaḥ saṃbabhūvuḥ |
tāsu no dhehyabhi naḥ pavasva
mātā bhūmiḥ putro ahaṃ pṛthivyāḥ
parjanyaḥ pitā sa u naḥ pipartu ||
- pṛthivyāḥ: pṛ-thi-vyāḥ; th is t + breath, not English "th".
- putro ahaṃ: say both vowels; there is no elision here.
- ṛ is a vowel, a short syllabic r (like the "ri" in "rhythm" said quickly): mṛ-tyu, not mar-tyu.
- A final visarga ḥ is a soft "h" breath that echoes the vowel before it: namaḥ sounds like "nama-ha" (lightly).