Hymn to Mitra and Varuṇa

Rigveda I.151 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) addressed to Mitra and Varuṇa, the great pair: Mitra the lord of covenant and Varuṇa the upholder of cosmic law. 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. Whom, like Mitra, the well-minded ones, desiring cattle, brought forth among the cows, in the waters, at the sacred gathering — at his brightness the two world-halves trembled; with a hymn they turned toward the dear, worshipful one, the help of the generations.

2. That indeed, O you two, [the offering] of Purumīḻha the soma-presser the true ones set forth, like friends. Then praise the resolve, the sacred rite, the path, and the renowned thing, O you two mighty ones, of the one who keeps a household.

3. The peoples have attended to you, O mighty ones — the birth of the two world-halves is to be proclaimed, for your great strength. What you two bring for order, what for the courser — through the priestly call, with labor, you two attain the sacrifice.

4. That dwelling, great and dear, O mighty ones — you two, possessors of order, proclaim the vast order. You two harness, like an ox to the yoke, the inherent strength of the lofty heaven and the waters.

5. Here the two great ones, with greatness, you two attain the desired boon; the dustless milk-cows come with vigor to the seat. They resound at the setting of the sun, at its going down, like swift runners of the dawns.

6. The long-haired ones have cried out to you two for the sake of order, O Mitra, O Varuṇa, where you two hymn the path. Release, of your own accord, and make swell the thoughts! You two rule over the hymns of the inspired poet.

7. Who, laboring with sacrifices, indeed makes offering to you two — the wise priest sacrifices, accomplishing his hymn — to him you two surely go; you enjoy the sacrifice. Come toward the songs, with good will, desiring us!

8. The first ones, with sacrifices, anointed you two, possessors of order, with the milk-offering, as with the mind, in their undertakings. They bring to you two songs, joined with a hymn, with an unerring mind; richly you two attain your desire.

9. Richly you two bestow vigor, richly you two attain it, O heroes, with your wondrous powers, your help arriving — the great gift. Not the days with their days, nor the rivers, match you; nor have the Paṇis attained your godhead, your bounty.

Translator's note: This hymn is one of the more syntactically compressed and obscure in the Rigveda. Several words admit more than one reading and are rendered conservatively here: śimyā (1, 3) as "labor/effort"; keśinīḥ (6) as "the long-haired ones" (likely Nights or Dawns, left unglossed rather than guessed at); tuja and areṇavaḥ (5) describing the milk-cows are uncertain in precise sense; māyābhiḥ (9) as "wondrous powers" rather than the later, more negative sense "deceptions." Purumīḻha (2) is a proper name of a patron/sacrificer, kept untranslated. Where the Sanskrit itself is compressed or elliptical, the English preserves that compression rather than smoothing it into fuller prose.

Colophon

Rigveda I.151 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.151

mitraṁ na yaṁ śimyā goṣu gavyavaḥ svādhyo vidathe apsu jījanan |
arejetāṁ rodasī pājasā girā prati priyaṁ yajataṁ januṣām avaḥ || 1 ||

yad dha tyad vām purumīḻhasya sominaḥ pra mitrāso na dadhire svābhuvaḥ |
adha kratuṁ vidataṁ gātum arcata uta śrutaṁ vṛṣaṇā pastyāvataḥ || 2 ||

ā vām bhūṣan kṣitayo janma rodasyoḥ pravācyaṁ vṛṣaṇā dakṣase mahe |
yad īm ṛtāya bharatho yad arvate pra hotrayā śimyā vītho adhvaram || 3 ||

pra sā kṣitir asura yā mahi priya ṛtāvānāv ṛtam ā ghoṣatho bṛhat |
yuvaṁ divo bṛhato dakṣam ābhuvaṁ gāṁ na dhury upa yuñjāthe apaḥ || 4 ||

mahī atra mahinā vāram ṛṇvatho 'reṇavas tuja ā sadman dhenavaḥ |
svaranti tā uparatāti sūryam ā nimruca uṣasas takvavīr iva || 5 ||

ā vām ṛtāya keśinīr anūṣata mitra yatra varuṇa gātum arcathaḥ |
ava tmanā sṛjatam pinvataṁ dhiyo yuvaṁ viprasya manmanām irajyathaḥ || 6 ||

yo vāṁ yajñaiḥ śaśamāno ha dāśati kavir hotā yajati manmasādhanaḥ |
upāha taṁ gacchatho vītho adhvaram acchā giraḥ sumatiṁ gantam asmayū || 7 ||

yuvāṁ yajñaiḥ prathamā gobhir añjata ṛtāvānā manaso na prayuktiṣu |
bharanti vām manmanā saṁyatā giro 'dṛpyatā manasā revad āśāthe || 8 ||

revad vayo dadhāthe revad āśāthe narā māyābhir itaūti māhinam |
na vāṁ dyāvo 'habhir nota sindhavo na devatvam paṇayo nānaśur magham || 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).