Medha Suktam () is a

sukta The ''Rigveda'' or ''Rig Veda'' (, , from ऋच्, "praise" and वेद, "knowledge") is an ancient Indian collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns (''sūktas''). It is one of the four sacred canonical Hindu texts (''śruti'') known as the ...

m (set of

mantra A mantra ( ; Pali: ''mantra'') or mantram (Devanagari: मन्त्रम्) is a sacred utterance, a numinous sound, a syllable, word or phonemes, or group of words (most often in an Indo-Iranian language like Sanskrit or Avestan) belie ...

s contained in the

Vedas FIle:Atharva-Veda samhita page 471 illustration.png, upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the ''Atharvaveda''. The Vedas ( or ; ), sometimes collectively called the Veda, are a large body of relig ...

) addressed to Medha (wisdom), personified as a goddess. Because goddess Medha is considered as a form of Saraswati, Medha Suktam is quite popular as a hymn to goddess

Saraswati Saraswati (, ), also spelled as Sarasvati, is one of the principal Devi, goddesses in Hinduism, revered as the goddess of knowledge, education, learning, arts, speech, poetry, music, purification, language and culture. Together with the godde ...

; as a prayer seeking wisdom and capability to learn. There are at least two popular versions of Medha Suktam. One version is a set of six verses from

Mahanarayana Upanishad The ''Mahanarayana Upanishad'' (, IAST: Mahānārāyaṇa Upaniṣad), also ''Brihannarayana Upanishad'', is an ancient Sanskrit text, and is one of the minor Upanishads of Hinduism. The text is classified as a Vaishnava Upanishad. The text ex ...

, which forms part of

Taittiriya Aranyaka The ''Aranyakas'' (; ; IAST: ') are a part of the ancient Indian Vedas concerned with the meaning of ritual sacrifice, composed in about 700 BC. They typically represent the later sections of the Vedas, and are one of many layers of Vedic text ...

Krishna Yajurveda The ''Yajurveda'' (, , from यजुस्, "worship", and वेद, "knowledge") is the Veda primarily of prose mantras for worship rituals.Michael Witzel (2003), "Vedas and Upaniṣads", in ''The Blackwell Companion to Hinduism'' (Edito ...

. There is one more version comprising nine mantras, which appears as a khila sukta (

khilani The Khilani (Sanskrit: खिलानि, Khilāni) are a collection of 98 " apocryphal" hymns of the Rigveda, recorded in the ', but not in the ' shakha. They are late additions to the text of the Rigveda, but still belong to the "Mantra" period ...

) to the

Rig Veda The ''Rigveda'' or ''Rig Veda'' (, , from wikt:ऋच्, ऋच्, "praise" and wikt:वेद, वेद, "knowledge") is an ancient Indian Miscellany, collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns (''sūktas''). It is one of the four sacred canoni ...

. There is one more set of five verses in the

Atharva Veda The Atharvaveda or Atharva Veda (, , from ''wikt:अथर्वन्, अथर्वन्'', "priest" and ''wikt:वेद, वेद'', "knowledge") or is the "knowledge storehouse of ''wikt:अथर्वन्, atharvans'', the proced ...

, which too reads like a hymn to goddess Medha, but this is not popularly recognized or chanted as such. In essence, Medha Suktam relates to the worship of knowledge visualized as a goddess, and has been commonly chanted as a prayer to

. The meaning of the world Medha (in the feminine gender, as used in Medha Suktam) is "power of understanding endowed with consciousness". The other meaning of Medha (in the masculine gender) is

Yajna In Hinduism, ''Yajna'' or ''Yagna'' (, Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐd͡ʒɲə ) also known as Hawan, is a ritual done in front of a sacred fire, often with mantras. Yajna has been a Vedas, Vedic tradition, described in a layer of Vedic literature ...

, which is not applicable in this context.

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Medha suktam from the Mahanarayana Upanishad is a collective prayer, i.e., the supplicants refer to themselves in the plural. The context suggests that it is recited by a group of students who are pursuing education, spiritual education in particular. It praises the benevolent nature of goddess Medha. It then describes how with the blessings of goddess Medha, one could become a

rishi In Indian religions, a ''rishi'' ( ) is an accomplished and enlightened person. They find mention in various Vedic texts. Rishis are believed to have composed hymns of the Vedas. The Post-Vedic tradition of Hinduism regards the rishis as "gre ...

or a brahmajnani (knower of

Brahman In Hinduism, ''Brahman'' (; IAST: ''Brahman'') connotes the highest universal principle, the ultimate reality of the universe.P. T. Raju (2006), ''Idealistic Thought of India'', Routledge, , page 426 and Conclusion chapter part XII In the ...

). The hymn also beseeches

Indra Indra (; ) is the Hindu god of weather, considered the king of the Deva (Hinduism), Devas and Svarga in Hinduism. He is associated with the sky, lightning, weather, thunder, storms, rains, river flows, and war. volumes Indra is the m ...

Agni Agni ( ) is the Deva (Hinduism), Hindu god of fire. As the Guardians of the directions#Aṣṭa-Dikpāla ("Guardians of Eight Directions"), guardian deity of the southeast direction, he is typically found in southeast corners of Hindu temples. ...

, the two

Ashvins The Ashvins (, ), also known as the Ashvini Kumaras and Asvinau,, §1.42. are Hindu deities, Hindu Divine twins, twin gods associated with medicine, health, healing, sciences, and the twilight. In the ''Rigveda'', they are described as youthf ...

Surya Surya ( ; , ) is the Sun#Dalal, Dalal, p. 399 as well as the solar deity in Hinduism. He is traditionally one of the major five deities in the Smarta tradition, Smarta tradition, all of whom are considered as equivalent deities in the Panchaya ...

, and also goddess Saraswati to grant Medha (wisdom). Another popular version of Medha Suktam, which is a supplementary sukta to the Rig Veda, is an individual prayer. It requests sage

Angiras Angiras ( (stem), , , nominative singular , , , rendered Angirā in Hindi) was a Vedic rishi (sage) of Hinduism. He is described in the ''Rigveda'' as a teacher of divine knowledge, a mediator between men and gods, as well as stated in othe ...

, the

Saptarishi The Saptarshi ( ) are the seven seers of ancient India who are extolled in the Vedas, and other Hindu literature such as the Skanda Purana. The Vedic Samhitas never enumerate these rishis by name, although later Vedic texts such as the Br ...

s, Indra, Agni,

Brahma Brahma (, ) is a Hindu god, referred to as "the Creator" within the Trimurti, the triple deity, trinity of Para Brahman, supreme divinity that includes Vishnu and Shiva.Jan Gonda (1969)The Hindu Trinity, Anthropos, Bd 63/64, H 1/2, pp. 212– ...

Varuna Varuna (; , ) is a Hindu god. He is one of the earliest deities in pantheon, whose role underwent a significant transformation from the Vedic to the Puranic periods. In the early Vedic era, Varuna is seen as the god-sovereign, ruling the sky ...

, the Ashvins, and goddess Saraswati to bestow Medha. The five verses from

Atharvaveda The Atharvaveda or Atharva Veda (, , from ''wikt:अथर्वन्, अथर्वन्'', "priest" and ''wikt:वेद, वेद'', "knowledge") or is the "knowledge storehouse of ''wikt:अथर्वन्, atharvans'', the proced ...

too address a goddess called Medha, and also seek Medha (wisdom) from Agni, Varuna, and

Vayu Vayu (; ), also known as Vata () and Pavana (), is the Hindu deities, Hindu god of the winds as well as the divine messenger of the gods. In the ''Vedic scriptures'', Vayu is an important deity and is closely associated with Indra, the king o ...

. The Medha Suktam from the Vedas are from the centuries before the common era, when the conceptualization of Saraswati as the goddess of knowledge. Though the two popular versions of Medha Suktam explained above also invoke a goddess called Saraswati, the emphasis is more on goddess Medha and on Medha (knowledge) itself. However, as goddess Medha commands the same role as Saraswati, the verses from the Vedas referred to as Medha Suktam, have been popularly accepted and recited as prayers to goddess Saraswati since millennia, with appropriate invocation and conclusive verses added to them.

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* * {{Rigveda Hindu texts Rigveda Sanskrit texts Vedic hymns Creation myths

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