Hymn to the Ṛbhus
Rigveda I.111 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) addressed to the Ṛbhus — Ṛbhu, Vibhvan, and Vāja, three brothers who through their craft and skill won a place among the gods. The hymn recalls their legendary works (the chariot, Indra's horses, renewed youth for their parents, a mother-cow made for a calf) and asks them, along with Indra, the Maruts, Mitra, Varuṇa, and the Aśvins, to fashion gain, strength, and victory for the one who sacrifices. 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 Work Library from the Sanskrit of the Śākala recension.
1. They fashioned, with skillful work, a well-turning chariot; they fashioned the two bay horses that carry Indra, rich in bounty. The Ṛbhus fashioned fresh youth for their aging parents; they fashioned for the calf a mother to go alongside it.
2. Fashion for our sacrifice that vigor worthy of the Ṛbhus, for our capable rite, nourishment rich in good offspring — so that we may dwell secure with a clan of every kind of hero. Grant that same true strength to our band.
3. Fashion gain for us, O Ṛbhus; gain for our chariot, gain for our steed, O craftsmen. Grant us, day after day, the winning gain that overcomes both kin and stranger in battle.
4. I call Indra, lord of the Ṛbhus, for help — the Ṛbhus, Vāja, and the Maruts, to the drinking of soma. Let Mitra and Varuṇa, and now the Aśvins too, urge us on toward gain, toward insight, toward victory.
5. May Ṛbhu sharpen gain for us in the contest; may Vāja, victor in the fray, aid us. Grant us this, Mitra and Varuṇa; grant it, Aditi, the River, Earth, and Heaven.
Translator's note: "ṛbhūn vājān" in verse 4 names two of the three Ṛbhus (Ṛbhu and Vāja) by their individual names rather than using "vāja" in its ordinary sense of "prize" or "spoil"; the third brother, Vibhvan, is not named in this hymn. "Sātim" (gain, winning) is rendered consistently as "gain" throughout to keep the hymn's repeated request visible in English.
Colophon
Rigveda I.111 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.111
takṣan rathaṁ suvṛtaṁ vidmanāpasas takṣan harī indravāhā vṛṣaṇvasū |
takṣan pitṛbhyām ṛbhavo yuvad vayas takṣan vatsāya mātaraṁ sacābhuvam || 1 ||
ā no yajñāya takṣata ṛbhumad vayaḥ kratve dakṣāya suprajāvatīm iṣam |
yathā kṣayāma sarvavīrayā viśā tan naḥ śardhāya dhāsathā sv indriyam || 2 ||
ā takṣata sātim asmabhyam ṛbhavaḥ sātiṁ rathāya sātim arvate naraḥ |
sātiṁ no jaitrīṁ sam maheta viśvahā jāmim ajāmim pṛtanāsu sakṣaṇim || 3 ||
ṛbhukṣaṇam indram ā huva ūtaya ṛbhūn vājān marutaḥ somapītaye |
ubhā mitrāvaruṇā nūnam aśvinā te no hinvantu sātaye dhiye jiṣe || 4 ||
ṛbhur bharāya saṁ śiśātu sātiṁ samaryajid vājo asmām̐ aviṣṭu |
tan no mitro varuṇo māmahantām aditiḥ sindhuḥ pṛthivī uta dyauḥ || 5 ||
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).