Hymn to the Maruts

Rigveda I.166 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) addressed to the Maruts, the storm-troop of young warrior gods who ride together across the sky, shaking mountains and forests and riding with Indra in battle. It is one of the 1,028 hymns of the Rigveda organized within Maṇḍala 1, the first of ten books. The traditional Anukramaṇī attributes the hymn to the ṛṣi (seer) Agastya.

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. Let us now proclaim the ancient greatness of the impetuous race, for the sign of the bull. Like fuel catching on your course, O loud-roaring Maruts — like mighty warriors in battle, do your mighty deeds.

2. Bearing sweetness like an own son, they sport in their play, exultant at the sacrificial gatherings. The Rudras approach with their help the one who bows in homage; the self-strong ones do not neglect the one who prepares the offering.

3. For him to whom the immortal helpers have granted increase of wealth — to him who has given with oblation — the Maruts, like well-disposed friends, pour forth for him, bringing joy, the many regions with their moisture.

4. You who have pervaded the regions with your might, your self-driven courses have rushed forth. All beings and all dwellings tremble; wondrous is your march, with your spears extended.

5. When, with your glittering course, you make the mountains roar, or you, manly ones, shake the ridge of heaven — every tree fears your onrush; the plant bends forward as if racing in a chariot.

6. You, O mighty Maruts, whose bands go unharmed, grant us favor with kindly mind. Where your bolt, jagged-toothed, tears through, it scatters the cattle, like a well-aimed force.

7. Firm as a pillar in their gifts, of undiminishing bounty, unwearied, well-praised at the gatherings — they chant the hymn for the drinking of the intoxicating draught; they know the foremost manly deeds of the hero.

8. Guard with a hundred strongholds, O Maruts, from harm and evil, the one whom you have favored — the man whom you, mighty, strong, abounding ones, protect from reproach in the flourishing of his offspring.

9. All good things, O Maruts, are on your chariots; your mighty powers are set as if rivaling one another. On your shoulders, along your paths, are your ring-ornaments; your axle turns evenly amid the wheels.

10. Many are the goodly things on your manly arms — golden ornaments, vehement adornments on your chests. On your shoulders are these, on your felloes are sharp blades; like birds their wings, you have put on your splendors.

11. Great in greatness, far-reaching, mighty, visible from afar like heavenly ones amid the stars — pleasant-voiced, sweet of tongue, resounding with their mouths — the Maruts, joined with Indra, roar all around him.

12. That is your greatness, O well-born Maruts: your gift is lasting, like the ordinance of Aditi. Not even Indra, by forsaking it, can overturn what you have granted to the man for whom, in his good deeds, you were gracious.

13. This is your kinship, O Maruts, from a former age, since, immortal ones, you favored many a prayer. By this insight you granted swift attention to man; together the leaders have become renowned through their wondrous deeds.

14. By which, O Maruts, we may long prosper — by your abundance, O swift ones — when men have spread forth within the community, by these sacrifices may I obtain what is desired.

15. This is your praise-hymn, O Maruts, this song of Māndārya, the venerable poet. May it reach us, bringing vigor to our bodies; may we find nourishment, the swift-giving community.

Translator's note: several words in this hymn are rare or occur only here in the Rigveda (e.g. alātṛṇāsaḥ in verse 7, khādayaḥ in verse 9), and their exact sense is uncertain; they are rendered conservatively above, following the most plausible sense supported by their roots and context rather than any single received translation.

Colophon

Rigveda I.166 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.166

tan nu vocāma rabhasāya janmane pūrvam mahitvaṁ vṛṣabhasya ketave |
aidheva yāman marutas tuviṣvaṇo yudheva śakrās taviṣāṇi kartana || 1 ||

nityaṁ na sūnum madhu bibhrata upa krīḻanti krīḻā vidatheṣu ghṛṣvayaḥ |
nakṣanti rudrā avasā namasvinaṁ na mardhanti svatavaso haviṣkṛtam || 2 ||

yasmā ūmāso amṛtā arāsata rāyas poṣaṁ ca haviṣā dadāśuṣe |
ukṣanty asmai maruto hitā iva purū rajāṁsi payasā mayobhuvaḥ || 3 ||

ā ye rajāṁsi taviṣībhir avyata pra va evāsaḥ svayatāso adhrajan |
bhayante viśvā bhuvanāni harmyā citro vo yāmaḥ prayatāsv ṛṣṭiṣu || 4 ||

yat tveṣayāmā nadayanta parvatān divo vā pṛṣṭhaṁ naryā acucyavuḥ |
viśvo vo ajman bhayate vanaspatī rathīyantīva pra jihīta oṣadhiḥ || 5 ||

yūyaṁ na ugrā marutaḥ sucetunāriṣṭagrāmāḥ sumatim pipartana |
yatrā vo didyud radati krivirdatī riṇāti paśvaḥ sudhiteva barhaṇā || 6 ||

pra skambhadeṣṇā anavabhrarādhaso 'lātṛṇāso vidatheṣu suṣṭutāḥ |
arcanty arkam madirasya pītaye vidur vīrasya prathamāni pauṁsyā || 7 ||

śatabhujibhis tam abhihruter aghāt pūrbhī rakṣatā maruto yam āvata |
janaṁ yam ugrās tavaso virapśinaḥ pāthanā śaṁsāt tanayasya puṣṭiṣu || 8 ||

viśvāni bhadrā maruto ratheṣu vo mithaspṛdhyeva taviṣāṇy āhitā |
aṁseṣv ā vaḥ prapatheṣu khādayo 'kṣo vaś cakrā samayā vi vāvṛte || 9 ||

bhūrīṇi bhadrā naryeṣu bāhuṣu vakṣaḥsu rukmā rabhasāso añjayaḥ |
aṁseṣv etāḥ paviṣu kṣurā adhi vayo na pakṣān vy anu śriyo dhire || 10 ||

mahānto mahnā vibhvo3 vibhūtayo dūredṛśo ye divyā iva stṛbhiḥ |
mandrāḥ sujihvāḥ svaritāra āsabhiḥ sammiślā indre marutaḥ pariṣṭubhaḥ || 11 ||

tad vaḥ sujātā maruto mahitvanaṁ dīrghaṁ vo dātram aditer iva vratam |
indraś cana tyajasā vi hruṇāti taj janāya yasmai sukṛte arādhvam || 12 ||

tad vo jāmitvam marutaḥ pare yuge purū yac chaṁsam amṛtāsa āvata |
ayā dhiyā manave śruṣṭim āvyā sākaṁ naro daṁsanair ā cikitrire || 13 ||

yena dīrgham marutaḥ śūśavāma yuṣmākena parīṇasā turāsaḥ |
ā yat tatanan vṛjane janāsa ebhir yajñebhis tad abhīṣṭim aśyām || 14 ||

eṣa vaḥ stomo maruta iyaṁ gīr māndāryasya mānyasya kāroḥ |
eṣā yāsīṣṭa tanve vayāṁ vidyāmeṣaṁ vṛjanaṁ jīradānum || 15 ||

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).