Pitā and sūnu: Sanskrit's cousins "father" and "son"
स नः पितेव सूनवेऽग्ने सूपायनो भव ।
सचस्वा नः स्वस्तये ॥
sa naḥ piteva sūnave'gne sūpāyano bhava |
sacasvā naḥ svastaye ||
Translation
Be easy for us to approach, O Agni, as a father is to his son. Stay with us for our well-being.
Meaning
The hymn (Ṛgveda 1.1, by Madhucchandas Vaiśvāmitra) ends with a tender image: the fire god should be as approachable as a father to his child. svasti, "well-being", is the word behind the greeting svasti and the auspicious sign svastika.
Word by word · 10 words
| Devanagari | IAST | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| सः | saḥ | you, he (nom. sg. m.) |
| नः | naḥ | to us (dat. pl., unstressed) |
| पिता | pitā | father (nom. sg. m. of pitṛ) |
| इव | iva | like |
| सूनवे | sūnave | to a son (dat. sg. m. of sūnu) |
| अग्ने | agne | O Agni (voc. sg.) |
| सूपायनः | sūpāyanaḥ | easy to approach (nom. sg. m.) |
| भव | bhava | be (2nd sg. imperative of √bhū) |
| सचस्व | sacasva | stay with, accompany (2nd sg. imperative middle of √sac; Vedic sacasvā) |
| स्वस्तये | svastaye | for our well-being (dat. sg. of svasti) |
Pronunciation
sa naḥ piteva sūnavegne sūpāyano bhava |
sacasvā naḥ svastaye ||
- sūnave 'gne: the avagraha marks the elided a of agne: sū-na-veg-ne.
- svastaye: s-v cluster, svas-ta-ye.
- A final visarga ḥ is a soft "h" breath that echoes the vowel before it: namaḥ sounds like "nama-ha" (lightly).
- bh, dh, gh, jh, ḍh are voiced consonants followed by breath: dh = d + h, as in "mad-house".