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Rig Veda · 571 of 1027
Mandala 7: HYMN LV. Vastospati.
1.VASTOSPATI, who killest all disease and wearest every form, Be an auspicious Friend to us.
2.When, O bright Son of Saramā, thou showest, tawny-hued! thy teeth, They gleam like lances’ points within thy mouth when thou wouldst bite; go thou to steep.
3.Saramā’s Son, retrace thy way: bark at the robber and the thief. At Indra’s singers barkest thou? Why dust thou seek to terrify us? Go to sleep.
4.Be on thy guard against the boar, and let the boar beware of thee. At Indra’s singers barkest thou? Why dost thou seek to terrify us? Go to sleep.
5.Sleep mother, let the father sleep, sleep dog and master of the house. Let all the kinsmen sleep, sleep all the people who are round about.
6.The man who sits, the man who walks, and whosoever looks on us, Of these we closely shut the eyes, even as we closely shut this house.
7.The Bull who hath a thousand horns, who rises up from out the sea,— By him the Strong and Mighty One we lull and make the people sleep.
8.The women sleeping in the court, lying without, or stretched on beds, The matrons with their odorous sweetsthese, one and all, we lull to sleep.
Asked of Guide
Why does the hymn keep telling the dog and people to 'go to sleep' so often?
The hymn invokes Vastospati and Saramā’s Son as guardians whose noise and teeth would scare off thieves, yet the ritual aim is to bring safety through sleep: repeating “go to sleep” and “we lull to sleep” literally calms household members and secures the dwelling. The verses name protectors—the dog, the Bull with a thousand horns, the Strong and Mighty One—and then soothe them so the household can rest safely under divine watch.
This pattern matches other Vedic lullaby-rituals that pair protective presence with calming words; the lull in Rig Veda Mandala 7 echoes the technique in similar hymns where invoking a deity’s power is followed by commands that habituate that power into peaceful, domestic order. The effect is both to summon guardianship and to ritually close the house: “we closely shut the eyes, even as we closely shut this house.”
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