Hymn to the Ṛbhus
Rigveda I.110 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) addressed to the Ṛbhus, the divine craftsmen, mortal sages who won immortality through their skill. 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.
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. My work is stretched out, and it stretches out again; the sweetest thought is proclaimed for praise. This ocean here, belonging to all the gods — be satisfied, O Ṛbhus, with what has been offered with the call of svāhā.
2. When, seeking your reward, you went forth — near, facing onward, some kinsmen of mine — you, sons of Sudhanvan, through much wandering, came to the house of the man who honors Savitṛ.
3. Savitṛ granted you that immortality — undeniable — which you went forth proclaiming. That very cup, the drinking-vessel of the Asura, being one, you made into four.
4. Having done the work with the energy of skilled craftsmen, they, though they were mortals, reached immortality. The Ṛbhus, sons of Sudhanvan, sun-eyed, in the course of a year were joined with the gods through their works.
5. Like a field, they measured out with the measuring-cord the one vessel, O Ṛbhus, that lay stretched open. Praised, entreating for the highest thing, seeking renown among the immortal ones.
6. To the men of the mid-air we bring our thought, as with a ladle we pour ghee, with skill. They who, by their vigor, followed after this father — the Ṛbhus climbed to strength, to the region of heaven.
7. Indra, like a Ṛbhu, ever renewed in strength; a Ṛbhu, a bestower of wealth, with his strengths and his goods. O gods, with your help, on the day that is dear to us, may we withstand the onslaughts of those who press no soma.
8. Out of a hide, O Ṛbhus, you fashioned a cow; you joined the mother again with her calf. Sons of Sudhanvan, by your skillful work, O men, you made the aged parents young again.
9. Help us with your strengths in the winning of the prize; O Indra, accompanied by the Ṛbhus, unseal for us wondrous bounty. May Mitra and Varuṇa grant us this — Aditi, the River, Earth, and Heaven.
Translator's note: verse 2's "apākāḥ prāñco" (rendered here "near, facing onward") and verse 7's "śavasā navīyān" are compact, elliptical Vedic phrases with more than one defensible reading; the renderings above are conservative and stay close to the individual words rather than resolving the ambiguity by import from elsewhere.
Colophon
Rigveda I.110 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.110
tatam me apas tad u tāyate punaḥ svādiṣṭhā dhītir ucathāya śasyate |
ayaṁ samudra iha viśvadevyaḥ svāhākṛtasya sam u tṛpṇuta ṛbhavaḥ || 1 ||
ābhogayam pra yad icchanta aitanāpākāḥ prāñco mama ke cid āpayaḥ |
saudhanvanāsaś caritasya bhūmanāgacchata savitur dāśuṣo gṛham || 2 ||
tat savitā vo 'mṛtatvam āsuvad agohyaṁ yac chravayanta aitana |
tyaṁ cic camasam asurasya bhakṣaṇam ekaṁ santam akṛṇutā caturvayam || 3 ||
viṣṭvī śamī taraṇitvena vāghato martāsaḥ santo amṛtatvam ānaśuḥ |
saudhanvanā ṛbhavaḥ sūracakṣasaḥ saṁvatsare sam apṛcyanta dhītibhiḥ || 4 ||
kṣetram iva vi mamus tejanenam̐ ekam pātram ṛbhavo jehamānam |
upastutā upamaṁ nādhamānā amartyeṣu śrava icchamānāḥ || 5 ||
ā manīṣām antarikṣasya nṛbhyaḥ sruceva ghṛtaṁ juhavāma vidmanā |
taraṇitvā ye pitur asya saścira ṛbhavo vājam aruhan divo rajaḥ || 6 ||
ṛbhur na indraḥ śavasā navīyān ṛbhur vājebhir vasubhir vasur dadiḥ |
yuṣmākaṁ devā avasāhani priye3 'bhi tiṣṭhema pṛtsutīr asunvatām || 7 ||
niś carmaṇa ṛbhavo gām apiṁśata saṁ vatsenāsṛjatā mātaram punaḥ |
saudhanvanāsaḥ svapasyayā naro jivrī yuvānā pitarākṛṇotana || 8 ||
vājebhir no vājasātāv aviḍḍhy ṛbhumām̐ indra citram ā darṣi rādhaḥ |
tan no mitro varuṇo māmahantām aditiḥ sindhuḥ pṛthivī uta dyauḥ || 9 ||
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).