Hymn to Viṣṇu
Rigveda I.154 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) addressed to Viṣṇu, the wide-striding god whose three steps measure out the earthly regions and uphold heaven. 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. Now let me proclaim the heroic deeds of Viṣṇu, who measured out the earthly regions, who propped up the upper dwelling-place, striding out in three steps, the wide-strider.
2. For this Viṣṇu is praised for his power — fearsome as a wild beast, roaming, dwelling on the mountain — in whose three wide strides all beings have their home.
3. Let this strong hymn go out to Viṣṇu, mountain-dweller, wide-strider, the bull — who alone measured out this long, far-reaching dwelling-place with just three steps.
4. Whose three steps, full of honey, unfailing, delight by their own nature — who alone upholds the threefold earth and heaven and all beings.
5. May I reach that dear domain of his, where men devoted to the gods rejoice — for this is the very bond of the wide-strider: there, at Viṣṇu's highest step, is a spring of honey.
6. We wish to go to those dwelling-places of you two, where the many-horned, tireless cows are — for there indeed the highest step of the wide-striding bull shines down richly.
Translator's note: Verse 6 addresses "you two" (a dual form) rather than Viṣṇu alone, likely pairing him with Indra, a common move in hymns to Viṣṇu's steps. The "many-horned, tireless cows" of verse 6 are left literal; the phrase may point to cattle, or figuratively to stars or rays of light, and the Sanskrit does not settle which.
Colophon
Rigveda I.154 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.
🌲
Source Text: ṛgveda I.154
viṣṇor nu kaṁ vīryāṇi pra vocaṁ yaḥ pārthivāni vimame rajāṁsi |
yo askabhāyad uttaraṁ sadhasthaṁ vicakramāṇas tredhorugāyaḥ || 1 ||
pra tad viṣṇuḥ stavate vīryeṇa mṛgo na bhīmaḥ kucaro giriṣṭhāḥ |
yasyoruṣu triṣu vikramaṇeṣv adhikṣiyanti bhuvanāni viśvā || 2 ||
pra viṣṇave śūṣam etu manma girikṣita urugāyāya vṛṣṇe |
ya idaṁ dīrgham prayataṁ sadhastham eko vimame tribhir it padebhiḥ || 3 ||
yasya trī pūrṇā madhunā padāny akṣīyamāṇā svadhayā madanti |
ya u tridhātu pṛthivīm uta dyām eko dādhāra bhuvanāni viśvā || 4 ||
tad asya priyam abhi pātho aśyāṁ naro yatra devayavo madanti |
urukramasya sa hi bandhur itthā viṣṇoḥ pade parame madhva utsaḥ || 5 ||
tā vāṁ vāstūny uśmasi gamadhyai yatra gāvo bhūriśṛṅgā ayāsaḥ |
atrāha tad urugāyasya vṛṣṇaḥ paramam padam ava bhāti bhūri || 6 ||
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).