Hymn to Dyāvāpṛthivī

Rigveda I.185 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) addressed to Dyāvāpṛthivī, Heaven and Earth, the eternal parental pair, foundation of the Vedic cosmos. 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. Which of the two is the first, which the later? How were they born, O sages — who truly knows? By themselves they bear the whole universe; they turn like two wheels through the days.

2. The two of them, themselves unmoving and footless, hold a moving, footed child — abundant offspring — as if a constant son in the lap of its parents. Heaven and Earth, protect us from the monstrous.

3. I call on the blameless gift of Aditi, unrivaled, filled with light, unfailing, worthy of homage — may the two worlds bring that forth for the one who praises them. Heaven and Earth, protect us from the monstrous.

4. May we, together with the two worlds — unafflicted, rich in protection, mothers of the gods — attain their favor, both of them, along with the gods, through the days. Heaven and Earth, protect us from the monstrous.

5. The two young women, meeting at a shared border, sisters, twin-born, in the lap of their parents, breathing upon the navel of the world — Heaven and Earth, protect us from the monstrous.

6. I call, through the cosmic order, on the wide ones, the two dwelling-places, the vast ones, the parents of the gods, for their help — the two fair of aspect who hold the immortal. Heaven and Earth, protect us from the monstrous.

7. Wide, broad, ample, far-bordered — I address them with homage at this sacrifice — the two fortunate ones who hold their power, swift to prevail. Heaven and Earth, protect us from the monstrous.

8. Whatever offense we have committed against the gods, or against a friend, or ever against the head of a household — may this prayer be the release from these. Heaven and Earth, protect us from the monstrous.

9. May both praises, worthy of the brave, favor me; may both accompany me with help and protection. Much indeed, for the more generous patron, with plenty — rejoicing, may we thrive, O gods.

10. Being wise, I have spoken this true word to Heaven and to Earth first, for their hearing. May the two protect us from blame, from misfortune, in this hour; may father and mother protect us with their help.

11. O Heaven and Earth, let this be true — father, mother — what I say to you both here. Be, with your help, the nearest of the gods to us; may we find nourishment, strength, and a swiftly-giving abundance.

Translator's note: Several phrases resist certainty. In verse 5, "abhijighrantī" (literally "the two smelling/sniffing") is rendered "breathing upon," the closest natural English for the gesture of nearness it describes. In verse 9, "sudāstarāya" (roughly "for the more generous [patron/worshiper]") and the surrounding half-verse are compressed and elliptical in the Sanskrit; the translation stays close to the individual words rather than smoothing them into a fuller sense not clearly present in the text.

Colophon

Rigveda I.185 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.185

katarā pūrvā katarāparāyoḥ kathā jāte kavayaḥ ko vi veda |
viśvaṁ tmanā bibhṛto yad dha nāma vi vartete ahanī cakriyeva || 1 ||

bhūriṁ dve acarantī carantam padvantaṁ garbham apadī dadhāte |
nityaṁ na sūnum pitror upasthe dyāvā rakṣatam pṛthivī no abhvāt || 2 ||

aneho dātram aditer anarvaṁ huve svarvad avadhaṁ namasvat |
tad rodasī janayataṁ jaritre dyāvā rakṣatam pṛthivī no abhvāt || 3 ||

atapyamāne avasāvantī anu ṣyāma rodasī devaputre |
ubhe devānām ubhayebhir ahnāṁ dyāvā rakṣatam pṛthivī no abhvāt || 4 ||

saṁgacchamāne yuvatī samante svasārā jāmī pitror upasthe |
abhijighrantī bhuvanasya nābhiṁ dyāvā rakṣatam pṛthivī no abhvāt || 5 ||

urvī sadmanī bṛhatī ṛtena huve devānām avasā janitrī |
dadhāte ye amṛtaṁ supratīke dyāvā rakṣatam pṛthivī no abhvāt || 6 ||

urvī pṛthvī bahule dūreante upa bruve namasā yajñe asmin |
dadhāte ye subhage supratūrtī dyāvā rakṣatam pṛthivī no abhvāt || 7 ||

devān vā yac cakṛmā kac cid āgaḥ sakhāyaṁ vā sadam ij jāspatiṁ vā |
iyaṁ dhīr bhūyā avayānam eṣāṁ dyāvā rakṣatam pṛthivī no abhvāt || 8 ||

ubhā śaṁsā naryā mām aviṣṭām ubhe mām ūtī avasā sacetām |
bhūri cid aryaḥ sudāstarāyeṣā madanta iṣayema devāḥ || 9 ||

ṛtaṁ dive tad avocam pṛthivyā abhiśrāvāya prathamaṁ sumedhāḥ |
pātām avadyād duritād abhīke pitā mātā ca rakṣatām avobhiḥ || 10 ||

idaṁ dyāvāpṛthivī satyam astu pitar mātar yad ihopabruve vām |
bhūtaṁ devānām avame avobhir vidyāmeṣaṁ vṛjanaṁ jīradānum || 11 ||

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).