The Riddle Hymn (Asya Vāmasya)
Rigveda I.164 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) addressed to the Viśvedevāḥ, the all-gods, traditionally attributed to the ṛṣi Dīrghatamas Aucathya. Known since antiquity as Asya Vāmasya ("Of this good one..."), the Riddle Hymn, it is a cosmological poem built almost entirely of enigmas — the wheel of the year with its spokes and naves, two birds sharing one tree, a cow that gives many kinds of milk, and the declaration that the wise call one Being by many names. It is one of the 1,028 hymns of the Rigveda organized within Maṇḍala 1, the first of ten books.
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. Of this good, grey-haired hotṛ-priest — his middle brother is the eating one; the third brother is ghee-backed. Here I saw the lord of the clan with seven sons.
2. Seven yoke the one-wheeled chariot; one horse with seven names draws it. The three-naved wheel is unaging and unassailable; on it all these worlds stand.
3. Those seven who stand upon this seven-wheeled chariot — seven horses draw it. Seven sisters cry out together, where the seven names of the cows are laid down.
4. Who saw the first-born, when the boneless one carries the one with bones? Where is the breath, the blood, the self of the earth? Who went to one who knows, to ask this?
5. Simple, I ask, not understanding in my mind, the places where the gods' footprints are hidden. Upon the yearling calf the seers have stretched seven threads to weave.
6. Not knowing, I ask here the poets who do know, in order to know, myself unknowing: who propped apart these six regions, in the form of the unborn — what indeed is the one?
7. Let him speak here who truly knows the hidden track of this good bird. From its head the cows are milked; wearing a covering, they have drunk water at its foot.
8. The mother allotted the father in truth; with insight, at the beginning, she came together with him in mind. Recoiling, pierced with the essence of the embryo, those with reverence went on to the invocation.
9. The mother was yoked at the pole of the southern course; the embryo stood within the enclosures. The calf bellowed and looked after the cow, of every form, in the three unions.
10. Bearing three mothers and three fathers, the one stood upright; they do not wear it down. They take counsel on the back of that heaven yonder, in the all-knowing speech that is not for everyone to set in motion.
11. The twelve-spoked wheel of ṛta turns around the sky, and it does not age. Upon it, O Agni, seven hundred and twenty sons stand in pairs.
12. They call the five-footed father of twelve forms, rich in water, in the far half of heaven. But others, in the near half, say the far-seeing one is set on a seven-wheeled, six-spoked one.
13. On the five-spoked wheel as it turns, all the worlds are set. Its axle, bearing a great load, does not wear hot; from of old it does not break, together with its naves.
14. The unaging wheel with its rim turns around; ten yoked horses draw it on the outstretched course. The eye of the sun, wrapped round, moves through the dust of the sky; on it all the worlds are set.
15. Of those born together they call the seventh the single-born; the six are twins, seers, born of gods. Their desired offerings are laid out by dwelling-place; for the fixed order they tremble, changed in form.
16. Though they are females, they are called males to me; one with eyes sees, one blind does not perceive. The poet who is a son has understood this; whoever knows them becomes the father of his father.
17. Below by the higher, above by the lower — bearing her calf with her step, the cow arose. Which way has she turned, to what quarter has she gone? Where does she give birth? Not within the herd.
18. Who knows this father of hers, below by the higher, above by the lower? Acting as a poet, who here will declare from where the divine mind was born?
19. Those that face this way, they call facing away; those that face away, they call facing this way. And, Indra and Soma, what you two have made — like ones yoked to a pole, they carry the world.
20. Two birds, joined together, companions, cling to the same tree. Of the two, one eats the sweet fig; the other, not eating, looks on.
21. Where the birds unblinking call out in the gathering for their share of the immortal — the mighty one, herdsman of the whole world, that wise one has entered into me, the simple one, here.
22. On the tree where the honey-eating birds settle and where they all bring forth young, they say the fig at its top is sweet — but the one who does not know the father does not reach it.
23. The gāyatrī set upon a gāyatrī, or the triṣṭubh carved out from a triṣṭubh, or the jagatī foot set within a jagatī — those who know this have reached immortality.
24. By the gāyatrī he measures out the chant; by the chant, the sāman; by the triṣṭubh, the word; by the word, the word. By the two-footed and four-footed syllable they measure out the seven voices.
25. By the jagatī he propped the river in heaven; in the rathantara he beheld the sun round about. They say the gāyatra has three kindling-sticks; from that, by its greatness, it surpassed in greatness.
26. I call to myself this good-milking cow; may the skillful-handed milker milk her. May Savitṛ set in motion for us the best impulse. The heated offering is kindled — I have declared this well.
27. Making the sound "hiṅ," mistress among good things, seeking her calf, she came with her mind. May this inviolable cow give milk for the Aśvins; may she grow toward great good fortune.
28. The cow bellowed after her blinking calf; she made the sound "hiṅ" to call. Lowing toward the rim of the heated vessel, she cries out and streams with her milk.
29. This is the one that hisses, by which the cow, wrapped round, cries out, resting on the place of dissolution. She, by her perceptions, has made the mortal; becoming lightning, she has thrown off her covering.
30. In the unbreathing one lies the living, swift-moving, stirring, fixed, in the middle of the dwellings. The living moves by its own power together with the dead; the immortal shares a womb with the mortal.
31. I saw a herdsman, never resting, going on paths back and forth. He, wrapping himself in the converging and the diverging, moves to and fro within the worlds.
32. He who made it does not know it; he who has seen it — it is hidden from him even so. Wrapped within the mother's womb, having many offspring, it has entered into dissolution.
33. Heaven is my father, my begetter; here is my kinship. My kinswoman is the mother, this great earth. Between the two outstretched bowl-halves is the womb; there the father set the embryo in the daughter.
34. I ask you the farthest end of the earth; I ask where the navel of the world is. I ask you the seed of the stallion horse; I ask the highest heaven of speech.
35. This altar is the farthest end of the earth; this sacrifice is the navel of the world. This soma is the seed of the stallion horse; this sacred formula is the highest heaven of speech.
36. Seven half-embryos, the seed of the world, stand by the direction of Viṣṇu in his wide ordaining. They, by their thoughts and mind, being wise, encompass and surpass everything on every side.
37. I do not clearly know what sort of thing I am; hidden, harnessed, I move about by my mind. When the first-born of ṛta has come to me, then indeed I obtain a share of that speech.
38. Facing away, he goes forth facing, seized by his own power, immortal, sharing a womb with the mortal. The two, enduring forever, going apart in different directions — some have recognized the one, others have not recognized the other.
39. In the imperishable syllable of the verse, in the highest heaven, where all the gods are seated — whoever does not know that, what will he do with the verse? Those who know it, they sit together here.
40. May you, full of good fortune, feed on good pasture, and may we too have good fortune. Eat grass, O inviolable one, at every time; drink pure water as you go about.
41. The bright one has bellowed, shaping the waters — one-footed, two-footed, then four-footed, having become eight-footed, nine-footed, of a thousand syllables, in the highest heaven.
42. From her the seas flow forth; by that the four quarters live. From there the imperishable flows; on that the whole world lives.
43. From afar I saw smoke made of dung, at the turning-point, beyond and below. The heroes cooked the dappled bull; these were the first ordinances.
44. Three long-haired ones appear each in its season; one of them sheds over the course of the year. One looks over the whole by his powers; the swift course of one is seen, but not his form.
45. Speech is measured out into four steps; those the wise brahmins know. Three, hidden in a cave, do not stir; the fourth step of speech, mortals speak.
46. They call it Indra, Mitra, Varuṇa, Agni; and it is also the heavenly, well-winged Garutmān. The wise call the One Being by many names: they call it Agni, Yama, Mātariśvan.
47. The tawny, well-winged ones, clothed in the waters, fly up to heaven along the dark path. They have turned back from the seat of ṛta, and then the earth is bedewed with ghee.
48. Twelve rims, one wheel, three naves — who understands that? In it are fixed together, like pegs, three hundred and sixty, unmoving though movable.
49. Your breast that never fails, that brings delight, by which you nourish all desirable things, that bestows treasure, that finds wealth, that gives well — O Sarasvatī, who here shall draw on it to be nourished?
50. With sacrifice the gods sacrificed to sacrifice; these were the first ordinances. Those powers reached the firmament, where the ancient Sādhya gods dwell.
51. This same water rises up and comes down again, day by day. The rain-clouds quicken the earth; the fires quicken the sky.
52. The heavenly, well-winged, great bird, the visible embryo of the waters and of the plants, satisfying all with rains from every side — Sarasvant, I call on for help.
Translator's note: This hymn is one of the most deliberately riddling in the Rigveda, and several verses (notably 1, 8, 15, 29, 32, and 44) resist certain resolution even in the traditional commentaries; they are rendered here conservatively, following the Sanskrit word order and grammar rather than any settled interpretation of what the riddles refer to.
Colophon
Rigveda I.164 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.164
asya vāmasya palitasya hotus tasya bhrātā madhyamo asty aśnaḥ |
tṛtīyo bhrātā ghṛtapṛṣṭho asyātrāpaśyaṁ viśpatiṁ saptaputram || 1 ||
sapta yuñjanti ratham ekacakram eko aśvo vahati saptanāmā |
trinābhi cakram ajaram anarvaṁ yatremā viśvā bhuvanādhi tasthuḥ || 2 ||
imaṁ ratham adhi ye sapta tasthuḥ saptacakraṁ sapta vahanty aśvāḥ |
sapta svasāro abhi saṁ navante yatra gavāṁ nihitā sapta nāma || 3 ||
ko dadarśa prathamaṁ jāyamānam asthanvantaṁ yad anasthā bibharti |
bhūmyā asur asṛg ātmā kva svit ko vidvāṁsam upa gāt praṣṭum etat || 4 ||
pākaḥ pṛcchāmi manasāvijānan devānām enā nihitā padāni |
vatse baṣkaye 'dhi sapta tantūn vi tatnire kavaya otavā u || 5 ||
acikitvāñ cikituṣaś cid atra kavīn pṛcchāmi vidmane na vidvān |
vi yas tastambha ṣaḻ imā rajāṁsy ajasya rūpe kim api svid ekam || 6 ||
iha bravītu ya īm aṅga vedāsya vāmasya nihitam padaṁ veḥ |
śīrṣṇaḥ kṣīraṁ duhrate gāvo asya vavriṁ vasānā udakam padāpuḥ || 7 ||
mātā pitaram ṛta ā babhāja dhīty agre manasā saṁ hi jagme |
sā bībhatsur garbharasā nividdhā namasvanta id upavākam īyuḥ || 8 ||
yuktā mātāsīd dhuri dakṣiṇāyā atiṣṭhad garbho vṛjanīṣv antaḥ |
amīmed vatso anu gām apaśyad viśvarūpyaṁ triṣu yojaneṣu || 9 ||
tisro mātṝs trīn pitṝn bibhrad eka ūrdhvas tasthau nem ava glāpayanti |
mantrayante divo amuṣya pṛṣṭhe viśvavidaṁ vācam aviśvaminvām || 10 ||
dvādaśāraṁ nahi taj jarāya varvarti cakram pari dyām ṛtasya |
ā putrā agne mithunāso atra sapta śatāni viṁśatiś ca tasthuḥ || 11 ||
pañcapādam pitaraṁ dvādaśākṛtiṁ diva āhuḥ pare ardhe purīṣiṇam |
atheme anya upare vicakṣaṇaṁ saptacakre ṣaḻara āhur arpitam || 12 ||
pañcāre cakre parivartamāne tasminn ā tasthur bhuvanāni viśvā |
tasya nākṣas tapyate bhūribhāraḥ sanād eva na śīryate sanābhiḥ || 13 ||
sanemi cakram ajaraṁ vi vāvṛta uttānāyāṁ daśa yuktā vahanti |
sūryasya cakṣū rajasaity āvṛtaṁ tasminn ārpitā bhuvanāni viśvā || 14 ||
sākaṁjānāṁ saptatham āhur ekajaṁ ṣaḻ id yamā ṛṣayo devajā iti |
teṣām iṣṭāni vihitāni dhāmaśaḥ sthātre rejante vikṛtāni rūpaśaḥ || 15 ||
striyaḥ satīs tām̐ u me puṁsa āhuḥ paśyad akṣaṇvān na vi cetad andhaḥ |
kavir yaḥ putraḥ sa īm ā ciketa yas tā vijānāt sa pituṣ pitāsat || 16 ||
avaḥ pareṇa para enāvareṇa padā vatsam bibhratī gaur ud asthāt |
sā kadrīcī kaṁ svid ardham parāgāt kva svit sūte nahi yūthe antaḥ || 17 ||
avaḥ pareṇa pitaraṁ yo asyānuveda para enāvareṇa |
kavīyamānaḥ ka iha pra vocad devam manaḥ kuto adhi prajātam || 18 ||
ye arvāñcas tām̐ u parāca āhur ye parāñcas tām̐ u arvāca āhuḥ |
indraś ca yā cakrathuḥ soma tāni dhurā na yuktā rajaso vahanti || 19 ||
dvā suparṇā sayujā sakhāyā samānaṁ vṛkṣam pari ṣasvajāte |
tayor anyaḥ pippalaṁ svādv atty anaśnann anyo abhi cākaśīti || 20 ||
yatrā suparṇā amṛtasya bhāgam animeṣaṁ vidathābhisvaranti |
ino viśvasya bhuvanasya gopāḥ sa mā dhīraḥ pākam atrā viveśa || 21 ||
yasmin vṛkṣe madhvadaḥ suparṇā niviśante suvate cādhi viśve |
tasyed āhuḥ pippalaṁ svādv agre tan non naśad yaḥ pitaraṁ na veda || 22 ||
yad gāyatre adhi gāyatram āhitaṁ traiṣṭubhād vā traiṣṭubhaṁ niratakṣata |
yad vā jagaj jagaty āhitam padaṁ ya it tad vidus te amṛtatvam ānaśuḥ || 23 ||
gāyatreṇa prati mimīte arkam arkeṇa sāma traiṣṭubhena vākam |
vākena vākaṁ dvipadā catuṣpadākṣareṇa mimate sapta vāṇīḥ || 24 ||
jagatā sindhuṁ divy astabhāyad rathaṁtare sūryam pary apaśyat |
gāyatrasya samidhas tisra āhus tato mahnā pra ririce mahitvā || 25 ||
upa hvaye sudughāṁ dhenum etāṁ suhasto godhug uta dohad enām |
śreṣṭhaṁ savaṁ savitā sāviṣan no 'bhīddho gharmas tad u ṣu pra vocam || 26 ||
hiṅkṛṇvatī vasupatnī vasūnāṁ vatsam icchantī manasābhy āgāt |
duhām aśvibhyām payo aghnyeyaṁ sā vardhatām mahate saubhagāya || 27 ||
gaur amīmed anu vatsam miṣantam mūrdhānaṁ hiṅṅ akṛṇon mātavā u |
sṛkvāṇaṁ gharmam abhi vāvaśānā mimāti māyum payate payobhiḥ || 28 ||
ayaṁ sa śiṅkte yena gaur abhīvṛtā mimāti māyuṁ dhvasanāv adhi śritā |
sā cittibhir ni hi cakāra martyaṁ vidyud bhavantī prati vavrim auhata || 29 ||
anac chaye turagātu jīvam ejad dhruvam madhya ā pastyānām |
jīvo mṛtasya carati svadhābhir amartyo martyenā sayoniḥ || 30 ||
apaśyaṁ gopām anipadyamānam ā ca parā ca pathibhiś carantam |
sa sadhrīcīḥ sa viṣūcīr vasāna ā varīvarti bhuvaneṣv antaḥ || 31 ||
ya īṁ cakāra na so asya veda ya īṁ dadarśa hirug in nu tasmāt |
sa mātur yonā parivīto antar bahuprajā nirṛtim ā viveśa || 32 ||
dyaur me pitā janitā nābhir atra bandhur me mātā pṛthivī mahīyam |
uttānayoś camvo3r yonir antar atrā pitā duhitur garbham ādhāt || 33 ||
pṛcchāmi tvā param antam pṛthivyāḥ pṛcchāmi yatra bhuvanasya nābhiḥ |
pṛcchāmi tvā vṛṣṇo aśvasya retaḥ pṛcchāmi vācaḥ paramaṁ vyoma || 34 ||
iyaṁ vediḥ paro antaḥ pṛthivyā ayaṁ yajño bhuvanasya nābhiḥ |
ayaṁ somo vṛṣṇo aśvasya reto brahmāyaṁ vācaḥ paramaṁ vyoma || 35 ||
saptārdhagarbhā bhuvanasya reto viṣṇos tiṣṭhanti pradiśā vidharmaṇi |
te dhītibhir manasā te vipaścitaḥ paribhuvaḥ pari bhavanti viśvataḥ || 36 ||
na vi jānāmi yad ivedam asmi niṇyaḥ saṁnaddho manasā carāmi |
yadā māgan prathamajā ṛtasyād id vāco aśnuve bhāgam asyāḥ || 37 ||
apāṅ prāṅ eti svadhayā gṛbhīto 'martyo martyenā sayoniḥ |
tā śaśvantā viṣūcīnā viyantā ny a1nyaṁ cikyur na ni cikyur anyam || 38 ||
ṛco akṣare parame vyoman yasmin devā adhi viśve niṣeduḥ |
yas tan na veda kim ṛcā kariṣyati ya it tad vidus ta ime sam āsate || 39 ||
sūyavasād bhagavatī hi bhūyā atho vayam bhagavantaḥ syāma |
addhi tṛṇam aghnye viśvadānīm piba śuddham udakam ācarantī || 40 ||
gaurīr mimāya salilāni takṣaty ekapadī dvipadī sā catuṣpadī |
aṣṭāpadī navapadī babhūvuṣī sahasrākṣarā parame vyoman || 41 ||
tasyāḥ samudrā adhi vi kṣaranti tena jīvanti pradiśaś catasraḥ |
tataḥ kṣaraty akṣaraṁ tad viśvam upa jīvati || 42 ||
śakamayaṁ dhūmam ārād apaśyaṁ viṣūvatā para enāvareṇa |
ukṣāṇam pṛśnim apacanta vīrās tāni dharmāṇi prathamāny āsan || 43 ||
trayaḥ keśina ṛtuthā vi cakṣate saṁvatsare vapata eka eṣām |
viśvam eko abhi caṣṭe śacībhir dhrājir ekasya dadṛśe na rūpam || 44 ||
catvāri vāk parimitā padāni tāni vidur brāhmaṇā ye manīṣiṇaḥ |
guhā trīṇi nihitā neṅgayanti turīyaṁ vāco manuṣyā vadanti || 45 ||
indram mitraṁ varuṇam agnim āhur atho divyaḥ sa suparṇo garutmān |
ekaṁ sad viprā bahudhā vadanty agniṁ yamam mātariśvānam āhuḥ || 46 ||
kṛṣṇaṁ niyānaṁ harayaḥ suparṇā apo vasānā divam ut patanti |
ta āvavṛtran sadanād ṛtasyād id ghṛtena pṛthivī vy udyate || 47 ||
dvādaśa pradhayaś cakram ekaṁ trīṇi nabhyāni ka u tac ciketa |
tasmin sākaṁ triśatā na śaṅkavo 'rpitāḥ ṣaṣṭir na calācalāsaḥ || 48 ||
yas te stanaḥ śaśayo yo mayobhūr yena viśvā puṣyasi vāryāṇi |
yo ratnadhā vasuvid yaḥ sudatraḥ sarasvati tam iha dhātave kaḥ || 49 ||
yajñena yajñam ayajanta devās tāni dharmāṇi prathamāny āsan |
te ha nākam mahimānaḥ sacanta yatra pūrve sādhyāḥ santi devāḥ || 50 ||
samānam etad udakam uc caity ava cāhabhiḥ |
bhūmim parjanyā jinvanti divaṁ jinvanty agnayaḥ || 51 ||
divyaṁ suparṇaṁ vāyasam bṛhantam apāṁ garbhaṁ darśatam oṣadhīnām |
abhīpato vṛṣṭibhis tarpayantaṁ sarasvantam avase johavīmi || 52 ||
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).