What is the Devi Sūktam (Rig Veda 10.125) all about?

Nowadays, the Devi Sūktam is popularly chanted during the worship of the Devī (Universal Goddess in any form), in the daily rituals of temples, and also in various Vedic sacrificial ceremonies like iṣti, hōma, havana, etc. It is also chanted at the end of Devīmāhātmya or Durgā Saptashatī.

The hymn portrays the Feminine Divine as the supreme origin, creative energy, and ultimate deity.

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Devi Suktam or Vak Suktam (Rig Veda 10.125)

Deity or Devatā :: vāgāmbhṛṇī

Ṛṣi :: vāgāmbhṛṇī

Rig Veda 10.125.1

अ॒हं रु॒द्रेभि॒र्वसु॑भिश्चराम्य॒हमा॑दि॒त्यैरु॒त वि॒श्वदे॑वैः । अ॒हं मि॒त्रावरु॑णो॒भा बि॑भर्म्य॒हमि॑न्द्रा॒ग्नी अ॒हम॒श्विनो॒भा ॥

ahaṃ rudrebhir vasubhiś carāmy aham ādityair uta viśvadevaiḥ | aham mitrāvaruṇobhā bibharmy aham indrāgnī aham aśvinobhā ||

I roam with the Rudras and the Vasus, I with the Ādityas and the All Gods. I bear both Mitra and Varuṇa, I Indra and Agni, I both the Aśvins.

Rig Veda 10.125.2

अ॒हं सोम॑माह॒नसं॑ बिभर्म्य॒हं त्वष्टा॑रमु॒त पू॒षणं॒ भग॑म् । अ॒हं द॑धामि॒ द्रवि॑णं ह॒विष्म॑ते सुप्रा॒व्ये॒३॒॑ यज॑मानाय सुन्व॒ते ॥

ahaṃ somam āhanasam bibharmy ahaṃ tvaṣṭāram uta pūṣaṇam bhagam | ahaṃ dadhāmi draviṇaṃ haviṣmate suprāvye yajamānāya sunvate ||

I bear the swollen soma, I Tvaṣṭar and Pūṣan and Bhaga. I establish wealth for the man offering the oblation, who pursues (his ritual duties) well, who sacrifices and presses.

Rig Veda 10.125.3

अ॒हं राष्ट्री॑ सं॒गम॑नी॒ वसू॑नां चिकि॒तुषी॑ प्रथ॒मा य॒ज्ञिया॑नाम् । तां मा॑ दे॒वा व्य॑दधुः पुरु॒त्रा भूरि॑स्थात्रां॒ भूर्या॑वे॒शय॑न्तीम् ॥

ahaṃ rāṣṭrī saṃgamanī vasūnāṃ cikituṣī prathamā yajñiyānām | tām mā devā vy adadhuḥ purutrā bhūristhātrām bhūry āveśayantīm ||

I am ruler, assembler of goods, observer foremost among those deserving the sacrifice. Me have the gods distributed in many places—so that I have many stations and cause many things to enter (me).

Rig Veda 10.125.4

मया॒ सो अन्न॑मत्ति॒ यो वि॒पश्य॑ति॒ यः प्राणि॑ति॒ य ईं॑ शृ॒णोत्यु॒क्तम् । अ॒म॒न्तवो॒ मां त उप॑ क्षियन्ति श्रु॒धि श्रु॑त श्रद्धि॒वं ते॑ वदामि ॥

mayā so annam atti yo vipaśyati yaḥ prāṇiti ya īṃ śṛṇoty uktam | amantavo māṃ ta upa kṣiyanti śrudhi śruta śraddhivaṃ te vadāmi ||

Through me he eats food—whoever sees, whoever breathes, whoever hears what is spoken. Without thinking about it, they live on me. Listen, o you who are listened to: it’s a trustworthy thing I tell you.

Rig Veda 10.125.5

अ॒हमे॒व स्व॒यमि॒दं व॑दामि॒ जुष्टं॑ दे॒वेभि॑रु॒त मानु॑षेभिः । यं का॒मये॒ तंत॑मु॒ग्रं कृ॑णोमि॒ तं ब्र॒ह्माणं॒ तमृषिं॒ तं सु॑मे॒धाम् ॥

aham eva svayam idaṃ vadāmi juṣṭaṃ devebhir uta mānuṣebhiḥ | yaṃ kāmaye taṃ-tam ugraṃ kṛṇomi tam brahmāṇaṃ tam ṛṣiṃ taṃ sumedhām ||

Just I myself say this, savoured by gods and men: “Whom I love, just him I make formidable, him a formulator, him a seer, him of good wisdom.”

Rig Veda 10.125.6

अ॒हं रु॒द्राय॒ धनु॒रा त॑नोमि ब्रह्म॒द्विषे॒ शर॑वे॒ हन्त॒वा उ॑ । अ॒हं जना॑य स॒मदं॑ कृणोम्य॒हं द्यावा॑पृथि॒वी आ वि॑वेश ॥

ahaṃ rudrāya dhanur ā tanomi brahmadviṣe śarave hantavā u | ahaṃ janāya samadaṃ kṛṇomy ahaṃ dyāvāpṛthivī ā viveśa ||

I stretch the bow for Rudra, for his arrow to smash the hater of the sacred formulation. I make combat for the people. I have entered Heaven and Earth.

Rig Veda 10.125.7

अ॒हं सु॑वे पि॒तर॑मस्य मू॒र्धन्मम॒ योनि॑र॒प्स्व१॒॑न्तः स॑मु॒द्रे । ततो॒ वि ति॑ष्ठे॒ भुव॒नानु॒ विश्वो॒तामूं द्यां व॒र्ष्मणोप॑ स्पृशामि ॥

ahaṃ suve pitaram asya mūrdhan mama yonir apsv antaḥ samudre | tato vi tiṣṭhe bhuvanānu viśvotāmūṃ dyāṃ varṣmaṇopa spṛśāmi ||

I give birth to Father (Heaven?) on his (own?) head [=Agni?]; my womb is in the waters, in the sea. Thence I spread forth across all worlds, and yonder heaven with its height I touch.

Rig Veda 10.125.8

अ॒हमे॒व वात॑ इव॒ प्र वा॑म्या॒रभ॑माणा॒ भुव॑नानि॒ विश्वा॑ । प॒रो दि॒वा प॒र ए॒ना पृ॑थि॒व्यैताव॑ती महि॒ना सं ब॑भूव ॥

aham eva vāta iva pra vāmy ārabhamāṇā bhuvanāni viśvā | paro divā para enā pṛthivyaitāvatī mahinā sam babhūva ||

I, just like the wind, blow forth, grasping at all worlds, beyond heaven, beyond this earth here—of such size in my greatness have I come into being.

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Basically, Rig Veda is all about spiritual concepts, majority of Riks being composed in an esoteric sense. Unless one has an inclination towards SPIRITUALITY and understood the basic nuances of SPIRITUALITY, one is bound to get baffled with riddles of RIG VEDA, even if one has mastered all the Riks of Rig Veda by heart.

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When a spiritual practitioner attains SELF-REALISATION or reaches the zenith of one’s spiritual experiences, one’s mind will get merged with BRAHMAN or one becomes merged with the ULTIMATE FORMLESS ENERGY and one experiences endless BLISS.

That means one’s SOUL becomes all-pervasive or UNIVERSAL and one experiences that ONE is the source of everything.

In other words, it is the peak of ADVAITA.

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The Deity or Devatā of Rig Veda 10.125 is vāgāmbhṛṇī, who is not speech of God (Saraswati), as generally believed. Please note that the Ṛṣi of the Hymn is also vāgāmbhṛṇī.

It indicates that the Ṛṣi vāgāmbhṛṇī attained the SELF-REALISATION and thus the Ṛṣi experienced ONENESS with the BRAHMAN or the Universal ENERGY, ie., Ṛṣi vāgāmbhṛṇī became the BRAHMAN (vāgāmbhṛṇī).

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Consider Rig Veda 10.125.3

Ṛṣi vāgāmbhṛṇī says in First person - I am the Ruler and cause many things to enter (me). It was stated in that highest state of ecstasy.

अहं राष्ट्री संगमनी वसूनां चिकितुषी प्रथमा यज्ञियानाम् । तां मा देवा व्यदधुः पुरुत्रा भूरिस्थात्रां भूर्यावेशयन्तीम् ॥
ahaṃ rāṣṭrī saṃgamanī vasūnāṃ cikituṣī prathamā yajñiyānām | tām mā devā vy adadhuḥ purutrā bhūristhātrām bhūry āveśayantīm ||

Translation

I am ruler, assembler of goods, observer foremost among those deserving the sacrifice. Me have the gods distributed in many places—so that I have many stations and cause many things to enter (me).