Hymn to Uṣas
Rigveda I.113 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) addressed to Uṣas, the goddess of dawn, bringer of light, daughter of heaven, mother of mornings. 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. This best of lights has come, the light of all lights; the wondrous sign is born, far-reaching. As set in motion at Savitar's impulse, so Night has left her place for Dawn.
2. Bright, with a bright calf, gleaming white she has come; the black one has left her dwelling places. Kin to one another, immortal, following in turn, the two go on exchanging color, never encroaching.
3. Common is the endless path of the two sisters; each travels it in turn, taught by the gods. They do not collide, they do not halt, the two fair ones — Night and Dawn, of one mind, of differing form.
4. Shining, leader of bounties, brilliant, she is perceived; she has opened wide the doors for us. Setting the world in motion, she has shown us riches; Dawn has awakened all creatures.
5. For the one lying low to rise and go about, O bounteous one — for enjoyment, for seeking, indeed for wealth do you rouse them; for those who see but little, to see far and wide — Dawn has awakened all creatures.
6. For dominion you rouse one, for fame and greatness another, for worship another, and another simply to go about their purpose — to look upon the diversity of life. Dawn has awakened all creatures.
7. This daughter of heaven is seen, dawning, a young woman clad in bright garments. Ruler of all earthly wealth — O Dawn, shine forth here today, O fortunate one.
8. She follows the path of the dawns gone before, first of the dawns to come, the perpetual ones. Shining forth, rousing the living, Dawn wakens no one who is dead.
9. O Dawn — in that you have caused the fire to be kindled, in that you have revealed things by the eye of the sun, in that you have awakened men eager to sacrifice — that you have done as a good work among the gods.
10. How great is the space that lies between the dawns that have shone and those that shall now shine? Longing, she yearns after the earlier ones; gleaming, she goes in harmony with the others.
11. Those mortals who once beheld your earlier dawning, O Uṣas, have passed away. Now by us in our turn you are beheld; and they too shall come who will see you in the dawns hereafter.
12. Driving away hatred, guardian of order, born of order, gracious, sending forth bounties, auspicious, bearing the feast of the gods — here today, O Dawn, most excellent, shine forth.
13. Ever before this, divine Dawn has shone forth, and now today the bounteous one has shone forth again; and she will shine on the days to come, ageless, immortal, moving by her own inherent power.
14. With her ornaments she has shone forth across the woven expanses of heaven; the goddess has cast off her dark garment. Awakening all with her ruddy horses, Dawn comes on her well-yoked chariot.
15. Bringing nourishing, desirable things, conspicuous, she makes a brilliant banner. Counterpart of the perpetual dawns gone by, first of the shining dawns, she has shone forth.
16. Arise! Life, the breath, has come to us; darkness has departed, light approaches. She has cleared the path for the Sun to travel; we have come to where men extend their lifespan.
17. With the thread of speech the singer, the bard, lifts his voice, praising the shining dawns. Grant that today, O bounteous one, to the one who sings; shine down on us a life rich in offspring.
18. The dawns rich in cattle and full of heroic sons, which dawn for the mortal who has given offerings — as at the rising song of the bounteous ones, of Vāyu — may the presser of soma obtain those dawns that give horses.
19. Mother of the gods, form of Aditi, banner of the sacrifice, mighty one, shine forth. Bestowing renown, shine forth for our prayer; give us renown among the people, O bounteous giver of all.
20. Whatever brilliant, auspicious wealth the dawns bring to one who sacrifices, who labors in worship — that may Mitra and Varuṇa grant to us, and Aditi, the River, Earth, and Heaven.
Translator's note: verse 18's "vāyor iva sūnṛtānām udarke" is a compressed simile whose precise sense is debated; it is rendered here conservatively as a comparison to a rising song of praise associated with Vāyu. Verse 19's "anīkam" (face/form) is rendered "form" to keep the identification of Uṣas with Aditi's visible aspect.
Colophon
Rigveda I.113 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.113
idaṁ śreṣṭhaṁ jyotiṣāṁ jyotir āgāc citraḥ praketo ajaniṣṭa vibhvā |
yathā prasūtā savituḥ savāyam̐ evā rātry uṣase yonim āraik || 1 ||
ruśadvatsā ruśatī śvetyāgād āraig u kṛṣṇā sadanāny asyāḥ |
samānabandhū amṛte anūcī dyāvā varṇaṁ carata āmināne || 2 ||
samāno adhvā svasror anantas tam anyānyā carato devaśiṣṭe |
na methete na tasthatuḥ sumeke naktoṣāsā samanasā virūpe || 3 ||
bhāsvatī netrī sūnṛtānām aceti citrā vi duro na āvaḥ |
prārpyā jagad vy u no rāyo akhyad uṣā ajīgar bhuvanāni viśvā || 4 ||
jihmaśye3 caritave maghony ābhogaya iṣṭaye rāya u tvam |
dabhram paśyadbhya urviyā vicakṣa uṣā ajīgar bhuvanāni viśvā || 5 ||
kṣatrāya tvaṁ śravase tvam mahīyā iṣṭaye tvam artham iva tvam ityai |
visadṛśā jīvitābhipracakṣa uṣā ajīgar bhuvanāni viśvā || 6 ||
eṣā divo duhitā praty adarśi vyucchantī yuvatiḥ śukravāsāḥ |
viśvasyeśānā pārthivasya vasva uṣo adyeha subhage vy uccha || 7 ||
parāyatīnām anv eti pātha āyatīnām prathamā śaśvatīnām |
vyucchantī jīvam udīrayanty uṣā mṛtaṁ kaṁ cana bodhayantī || 8 ||
uṣo yad agniṁ samidhe cakartha vi yad āvaś cakṣasā sūryasya |
yan mānuṣān yakṣyamāṇām̐ ajīgas tad deveṣu cakṛṣe bhadram apnaḥ || 9 ||
kiyāty ā yat samayā bhavāti yā vyūṣur yāś ca nūnaṁ vyucchān |
anu pūrvāḥ kṛpate vāvaśānā pradīdhyānā joṣam anyābhir eti || 10 ||
īyuṣ ṭe ye pūrvatarām apaśyan vyucchantīm uṣasam martyāsaḥ |
asmābhir ū nu praticakṣyābhūd o te yanti ye aparīṣu paśyān || 11 ||
yāvayaddveṣā ṛtapā ṛtejāḥ sumnāvarī sūnṛtā īrayantī |
sumaṅgalīr bibhratī devavītim ihādyoṣaḥ śreṣṭhatamā vy uccha || 12 ||
śaśvat puroṣā vy uvāsa devy atho adyedaṁ vy āvo maghonī |
atho vy ucchād uttarām̐ anu dyūn ajarāmṛtā carati svadhābhiḥ || 13 ||
vy a1ñjibhir diva ātāsv adyaud apa kṛṣṇāṁ nirṇijaṁ devy āvaḥ |
prabodhayanty aruṇebhir aśvair oṣā yāti suyujā rathena || 14 ||
āvahantī poṣyā vāryāṇi citraṁ ketuṁ kṛṇute cekitānā |
īyuṣīṇām upamā śaśvatīnāṁ vibhātīnām prathamoṣā vy aśvait || 15 ||
ud īrdhvaṁ jīvo asur na āgād apa prāgāt tama ā jyotir eti |
āraik panthāṁ yātave sūryāyāganma yatra pratiranta āyuḥ || 16 ||
syūmanā vāca ud iyarti vahniḥ stavāno rebha uṣaso vibhātīḥ |
adyā tad uccha gṛṇate maghony asme āyur ni didīhi prajāvat || 17 ||
yā gomatīr uṣasaḥ sarvavīrā vyucchanti dāśuṣe martyāya |
vāyor iva sūnṛtānām udarke tā aśvadā aśnavat somasutvā || 18 ||
mātā devānām aditer anīkaṁ yajñasya ketur bṛhatī vi bhāhi |
praśastikṛd brahmaṇe no vy u1cchā no jane janaya viśvavāre || 19 ||
yac citram apna uṣaso vahantījānāya śaśamānāya bhadram |
tan no mitro varuṇo māmahantām aditiḥ sindhuḥ pṛthivī uta dyauḥ || 20 ||
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).