Hymn to the Viśvedevāḥ
Rigveda I.105 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) addressed to the Viśvedevāḥ, the All-Gods, the assembled divine powers of heaven, worshipped collectively. It is one of the 1,028 hymns of the Rigveda organized within Maṇḍala 1, the first of ten books. The ṛṣi (seer) to whom this hymn is attributed and its precise liturgical context are recorded in the traditional Śākalya Anukramaṇī, which names Trita Āptya as the speaker of these verses.
The Rigveda is the oldest of the four Vedas and one of the oldest surviving religious texts in the world, composed approximately 1700–1100 BCE in the Vedic Sanskrit of the Indus-Sarasvatī region. Its hymns were preserved through oral transmission across millennia before being committed to writing. This is a Good Works Translation produced for the Good Works Library from the Sanskrit of the Śākala recension.
1. The moon runs within the waters; the fair-winged one runs in heaven. Your gold-rimmed lightnings do not find a track. Know this of me, O two worlds.
2. The one with a purpose goes indeed toward his purpose; the young wife draws near to her husband. They urge on the bull's vigor; having yielded herself, she draws out the sap. Know this of me, O two worlds.
3. O gods, let not that sunlight fall down away from heaven. May we never, at any time, become as nothing, deprived of the beneficent Soma. Know this of me, O two worlds.
4. I ask about the most recent sacrifice; let the messenger declare it. Where has the ancient order gone? Who now bears it anew? Know this of me, O two worlds.
5. You gods who dwell yonder in the three bright realms of heaven — what is your truth, what is your untruth? Where is your ancient offering? Know this of me, O two worlds.
6. What upholds your order? What is Varuṇa's watchfulness? How, confused as we are, might we cross beyond the great path of Aryaman? Know this of me, O two worlds.
7. I am the one who long ago spoke certain things at the Soma-pressing. Now anxieties tear at me, as a wolf tears a thirst-driven deer. Know this of me, O two worlds.
8. My ribs burn me on every side, like rival wives quarreling. Like mice gnawing at cords, they gnaw at your praiser, O god of a hundred powers. Know this of me, O two worlds.
9. Those seven rays yonder — there my kinship is stretched out. Trita Āptya knows this; he chants it for the sake of kinship. Know this of me, O two worlds.
10. Those five bulls yonder that stand in the middle of the great heaven — that is indeed to be proclaimed among the gods — moving together, they have turned. Know this of me, O two worlds.
11. These fair-winged ones sit in the middle, at heaven's ascent. They drive from the path the wolf that crosses the mighty waters. Know this of me, O two worlds.
12. New is that praiseworthy thing now set in place, O gods, well worth proclaiming: the rivers flow with truth; the sun has stretched out what is real. Know this of me, O two worlds.
13. O Agni, that praiseworthy bond of yours is with the gods. Seated, like Manu, and more knowing, worship the gods on our behalf. Know this of me, O two worlds.
14. Seated as Hotar, like Manu, more knowing, turned toward the gods — Agni sends the offerings forth well, the wise god among gods. Know this of me, O two worlds.
15. Varuṇa makes the sacred formula; we beseech him, the finder of the way. With his heart he unveils understanding. May truth be born anew. Know this of me, O two worlds.
16. That path yonder, belonging to the sun, made known in heaven — O gods, let me not overstep it; you mortals do not see it. Know this of me, O two worlds.
17. Trita, cast down into the well, calls upon the gods for help. Bṛhaspati heard that call, opening wide room out of the narrow distress. Know this of me, O two worlds.
18. A reddish wolf once caught sight of me going on the path. It rises to be seen, like a crafted thing afflicted at the back, rising up. Know this of me, O two worlds.
19. With this hymn of praise, may we, with Indra beside us, prevail in the contest, all our men whole. May Mitra and Varuṇa grant us this, and Aditi, the River, the Earth, and Heaven.
Translator's note: this hymn is one of the Rigveda's deliberately riddling compositions, built on the legend of Trita Āptya cast into a well. Several images resist certainty even in the traditional commentaries — the "bull's vigor" and the wife's "sap" in verse 2, the gnawing of ribs and cords in verse 8, and the wolf compared to "a crafted thing afflicted at the back" in verse 18 — and are rendered here conservatively, word for word, rather than resolved into a confident story.
Colophon
Rigveda I.105 is drawn from the Śākala recension of the Rigveda, composed approximately 1700–1100 BCE. This is a Good Works Translation rendered verse by verse from the Sanskrit text printed below. Prepared for the Good Work Library by the Tianmu Anglican Church with AI-assisted translation.
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Source Text: ṛgveda I.105
candramā apsv a1ntar ā suparṇo dhāvate divi |
na vo hiraṇyanemayaḥ padaṁ vindanti vidyuto vittam me asya rodasī || 1 ||
artham id vā u arthina ā jāyā yuvate patim |
tuñjāte vṛṣṇyam payaḥ paridāya rasaṁ duhe vittam me asya rodasī || 2 ||
mo ṣu devā adaḥ sva1r ava pādi divas pari |
mā somyasya śambhuvaḥ śūne bhūma kadā cana vittam me asya rodasī || 3 ||
yajñam pṛcchāmy avamaṁ sa tad dūto vi vocati |
kva ṛtam pūrvyaṁ gataṁ kas tad bibharti nūtano vittam me asya rodasī || 4 ||
amī ye devāḥ sthana triṣv ā rocane divaḥ |
kad va ṛtaṁ kad anṛtaṁ kva pratnā va āhutir vittam me asya rodasī || 5 ||
kad va ṛtasya dharṇasi kad varuṇasya cakṣaṇam |
kad aryamṇo mahas pathāti krāmema dūḍhyo vittam me asya rodasī || 6 ||
ahaṁ so asmi yaḥ purā sute vadāmi kāni cit |
tam mā vyanty ādhyo3 vṛko na tṛṣṇajam mṛgaṁ vittam me asya rodasī || 7 ||
sam mā tapanty abhitaḥ sapatnīr iva parśavaḥ |
mūṣo na śiśnā vy adanti mādhyaḥ stotāraṁ te śatakrato vittam me asya rodasī || 8 ||
amī ye sapta raśmayas tatrā me nābhir ātatā |
tritas tad vedāptyaḥ sa jāmitvāya rebhati vittam me asya rodasī || 9 ||
amī ye pañcokṣaṇo madhye tasthur maho divaḥ |
devatrā nu pravācyaṁ sadhrīcīnā ni vāvṛtur vittam me asya rodasī || 10 ||
suparṇā eta āsate madhya ārodhane divaḥ |
te sedhanti patho vṛkaṁ tarantaṁ yahvatīr apo vittam me asya rodasī || 11 ||
navyaṁ tad ukthyaṁ hitaṁ devāsaḥ supravācanam |
ṛtam arṣanti sindhavaḥ satyaṁ tātāna sūryo vittam me asya rodasī || 12 ||
agne tava tyad ukthyaṁ deveṣv asty āpyam |
sa naḥ satto manuṣvad ā devān yakṣi viduṣṭaro vittam me asya rodasī || 13 ||
satto hotā manuṣvad ā devām̐ acchā viduṣṭaraḥ |
agnir havyā suṣūdati devo deveṣu medhiro vittam me asya rodasī || 14 ||
brahmā kṛṇoti varuṇo gātuvidaṁ tam īmahe |
vy ūrṇoti hṛdā matiṁ navyo jāyatām ṛtaṁ vittam me asya rodasī || 15 ||
asau yaḥ panthā ādityo divi pravācyaṁ kṛtaḥ |
na sa devā atikrame tam martāso na paśyatha vittam me asya rodasī || 16 ||
tritaḥ kūpe 'vahito devān havata ūtaye |
tac chuśrāva bṛhaspatiḥ kṛṇvann aṁhūraṇād uru vittam me asya rodasī || 17 ||
aruṇo mā sakṛd vṛkaḥ pathā yantaṁ dadarśa hi |
uj jihīte nicāyyā taṣṭeva pṛṣṭyāmayī vittam me asya rodasī || 18 ||
enāṅgūṣeṇa vayam indravanto 'bhi ṣyāma vṛjane sarvavīrāḥ |
tan no mitro varuṇo māmahantām aditiḥ sindhuḥ pṛthivī uta dyauḥ || 19 ||
Source Colophon
Sanskrit text of the Rigveda, Śākala recension. The standard scholarly edition is the Bombay Oriental (Vishva Bandhu, 5 vols., 1963–66). IAST transliteration available from GRETIL (Göttingen Register of Electronic Texts in Indian Languages) and Vedaweb (University of Cologne). Both sources are open access. IAST transliteration from the Aufrecht edition (1877) via GRETIL (Van Nooten & Holland input, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).