Hymn to Uṣas

Rigveda I.123 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) addressed to Uṣas, the goddess of dawn. 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. The wide chariot of Dawn has been yoked; the immortal gods have mounted it. Out of the darkness she has risen, the noble, far-ranging one, attentive to the dwelling place of men.

2. Before all creatures she has awoken, winning the prize, vast, bestowing. The young woman has looked out on high, ever renewing herself; Dawn has come first, at the first invocation.

3. When today you apportion your share to men, O goddess Dawn, well-born one, among mortals — may the god Savitṛ, friend of our house, here declare us guiltless to Sūrya.

4. House by house she goes each day, taking on a name day after day. Shining, desiring to win, she has come again and again; she takes the very first portion of treasures.

5. Sister of Bhaga, kinswoman of Varuṇa, O truthful Dawn, arise as the first. Let him who deals in harm fall behind — may we defeat him with the bounteous chariot.

6. Let gracious hymns arise, let abundance arise, let the fires arise blazing. The shining Dawns make manifest the desirable treasures that had been hidden by darkness.

7. One goes away, the other comes toward us; the two of differing form move along together. Night, the other of the twin dwellers, has hidden the darkness away; Dawn has shone forth with her blazing chariot.

8. Alike today, alike tomorrow too, they long follow Varuṇa's ordinance. Blameless, each one travels thirty leagues, completing her course in a single day.

9. She knows the name of the first day; the bright one was born from the black. The maiden of Ṛta does not violate her station, going day after day to her appointed place.

10. Like a maiden displaying her body, you approach, O goddess, the god who longs for worship. Smiling, the young woman, from the east, shining forth, you bare your breast.

11. Beautiful in appearance, like a young woman groomed by her mother, you make your body visible to be seen. Gracious Dawn, shine forth ever wider — no other Dawns attain what is yours.

12. Rich in horses, rich in cattle, granting every boon, joining with the rays of the sun — the Dawns go away and come again, bearing an auspicious name.

13. Following the rein of cosmic order, place in us every auspicious purpose. O Dawn, easily invoked, shine forth for us today; may riches be ours, and be with our generous patrons.

Translator's note: Verse 7 names Night only implicitly ("the other of the twin dwellers"); she is supplied by context, as the Sanskrit itself leaves her unnamed. Verse 1's "dakṣiṇā" and verse 5's "dakṣiṇayā rathena" carry a double sense — the bounteous, right-hand direction associated with Dawn, and a play on the word for a sacrificial gift — rendered here as "bounteous."

Colophon

Rigveda I.123 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.123

pṛthū ratho dakṣiṇāyā ayojy ainaṁ devāso amṛtāso asthuḥ |
kṛṣṇād ud asthād aryā3 vihāyāś cikitsantī mānuṣāya kṣayāya || 1 ||

pūrvā viśvasmād bhuvanād abodhi jayantī vājam bṛhatī sanutrī |
uccā vy akhyad yuvatiḥ punarbhūr oṣā agan prathamā pūrvahūtau || 2 ||

yad adya bhāgaṁ vibhajāsi nṛbhya uṣo devi martyatrā sujāte |
devo no atra savitā damūnā anāgaso vocati sūryāya || 3 ||

gṛhaṁ-gṛham ahanā yāty acchā dive-dive adhi nāmā dadhānā |
siṣāsantī dyotanā śaśvad āgād agram-agram id bhajate vasūnām || 4 ||

bhagasya svasā varuṇasya jāmir uṣaḥ sūnṛte prathamā jarasva |
paścā sa daghyā yo aghasya dhātā jayema taṁ dakṣiṇayā rathena || 5 ||

ud īratāṁ sūnṛtā ut puraṁdhīr ud agnayaḥ śuśucānāso asthuḥ |
spārhā vasūni tamasāpagūḻhāviṣ kṛṇvanty uṣaso vibhātīḥ || 6 ||

apānyad ety abhy a1nyad eti viṣurūpe ahanī saṁ carete |
parikṣitos tamo anyā guhākar adyaud uṣāḥ śośucatā rathena || 7 ||

sadṛśīr adya sadṛśīr id u śvo dīrghaṁ sacante varuṇasya dhāma |
anavadyās triṁśataṁ yojanāny ekaikā kratum pari yanti sadyaḥ || 8 ||

jānaty ahnaḥ prathamasya nāma śukrā kṛṣṇād ajaniṣṭa śvitīcī |
ṛtasya yoṣā na mināti dhāmāhar-ahar niṣkṛtam ācarantī || 9 ||

kanyeva tanvā3 śāśadānām̐ eṣi devi devam iyakṣamāṇam |
saṁsmayamānā yuvatiḥ purastād āvir vakṣāṁsi kṛṇuṣe vibhātī || 10 ||

susaṁkāśā mātṛmṛṣṭeva yoṣāvis tanvaṁ kṛṇuṣe dṛśe kam |
bhadrā tvam uṣo vitaraṁ vy uccha na tat te anyā uṣaso naśanta || 11 ||

aśvāvatīr gomatīr viśvavārā yatamānā raśmibhiḥ sūryasya |
parā ca yanti punar ā ca yanti bhadrā nāma vahamānā uṣāsaḥ || 12 ||

ṛtasya raśmim anuyacchamānā bhadram-bhadraṁ kratum asmāsu dhehi |
uṣo no adya suhavā vy ucchāsmāsu rāyo maghavatsu ca syuḥ || 13 ||

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).