Hymn to the Viśvedevas (All-Gods)
Rigveda I.186 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) addressed to the Viśvedevas, the "All-Gods" — not a single deity but a roll call of gods invited to the sacrifice one after another: Savitar, Mitra, Aryaman, Varuna, Agni, Ahi Budhnya (the Serpent of the Deep), Tvashtar, Indra, the storm-band of the Maruts, and the Ashvins together with Pushan, Vishnu, Vata, and Ribhukshan. 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. May Savitar, the god belonging to all men, come to us with offerings and fine praise at the rite — so that you, ever young, may gladden us, and the whole moving world, with insight as the hour draws near.
2. Let all the gods, gathered together, come to us — Mitra, Aryaman, Varuna, in accord — so that all of them may become our strengtheners, and make the foe's power easy to overcome, tottering like a weak thing.
3. I sing praises to Agni, your dearest guest, the conqueror, in harmony with you all — so that Varuna, of good renown, praised by men, the wise lord, may bring us nourishment.
4. I approach you with homage, eager as Dawn-and-Night, like a good milking cow — shaping my chant on the same day, like the two of differing hue yielding milk from a single udder.
5. And may Ahi Budhnya, bringer of joy, come to us as a river moves, swollen, toward its young — by whom we set in motion the Child of the Waters, whom the mind-swift stallions bear.
6. And let Tvashtar come to us, together with the wise ones, in accord, as evening approaches. May Indra, slayer of Vrtra, who fills the peoples, mightiest of men, come here to us.
7. And our thoughts, swift as yoked steeds, lick him as cows lick their young calf; our songs, like wives approaching their husband, embrace him, most fragrant among men.
8. And may the Maruts, of mighty hosts, sit down with us, of one mind, together with heaven and earth — dappled-horsed, like rushing streams, like chariots, destroyers of foes, like gods joined in friendship.
9. Now, when their greatness has become known, their yoked steeds harness themselves forth with fitting praise; and when, as on a bright day, their missile flies, their hosts drench the whole barren waste with rain.
10. Rouse forth the Ashvins for our protection, and Pushan too, for they possess their own strength; Vishnu free of hostility, Vata, Ribhukshan — may I turn these gods hither, toward their favor.
11. May this our devotion, O worshipful gods, yours indeed, be both satisfying and lasting — this devotion which strives among the gods, seeking good things; may we obtain nourishment, strength, and ready giving.
Translator's note: several words in this hymn are genuinely obscure and rendered conservatively — "āskrā" (verse 2, "gathered together/arrayed"), "vithuram" (verse 2, "tottering," describing an enemy's shaken strength), "viṣurūpe... sasminn ūdhan" (verse 4, the image of Dawn and Night as two differently-colored cows giving milk from one udder), and "jīradānum" (verse 11, "ready-giving" or "quick to give"). Where the Sanskrit itself is compressed or elliptical, the English stays close to the literal sense rather than smoothing it into fluent prose.
Colophon
Rigveda I.186 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.186
ā na iḻābhir vidathe suśasti viśvānaraḥ savitā deva etu |
api yathā yuvāno matsathā no viśvaṁ jagad abhipitve manīṣā || 1 ||
ā no viśva āskrā gamantu devā mitro aryamā varuṇaḥ sajoṣāḥ |
bhuvan yathā no viśve vṛdhāsaḥ karan suṣāhā vithuraṁ na śavaḥ || 2 ||
preṣṭhaṁ vo atithiṁ gṛṇīṣe 'gniṁ śastibhis turvaṇiḥ sajoṣāḥ |
asad yathā no varuṇaḥ sukīrtir iṣaś ca parṣad arigūrtaḥ sūriḥ || 3 ||
upa va eṣe namasā jigīṣoṣāsānaktā sudugheva dhenuḥ |
samāne ahan vimimāno arkaṁ viṣurūpe payasi sasminn ūdhan || 4 ||
uta no 'hir budhnyo3 mayas kaḥ śiśuṁ na pipyuṣīva veti sindhuḥ |
yena napātam apāṁ junāma manojuvo vṛṣaṇo yaṁ vahanti || 5 ||
uta na īṁ tvaṣṭā gantv acchā smat sūribhir abhipitve sajoṣāḥ |
ā vṛtrahendraś carṣaṇiprās tuviṣṭamo narāṁ na iha gamyāḥ || 6 ||
uta na īm matayo 'śvayogāḥ śiśuṁ na gāvas taruṇaṁ rihanti |
tam īṁ giro janayo na patnīḥ surabhiṣṭamaṁ narāṁ nasanta || 7 ||
uta na īm maruto vṛddhasenāḥ smad rodasī samanasaḥ sadantu |
pṛṣadaśvāso 'vanayo na rathā riśādaso mitrayujo na devāḥ || 8 ||
pra nu yad eṣām mahinā cikitre pra yuñjate prayujas te suvṛkti |
adha yad eṣāṁ sudine na śarur viśvam eriṇam pruṣāyanta senāḥ || 9 ||
pro aśvināv avase kṛṇudhvam pra pūṣaṇaṁ svatavaso hi santi |
adveṣo viṣṇur vāta ṛbhukṣā acchā sumnāya vavṛtīya devān || 10 ||
iyaṁ sā vo asme dīdhitir yajatrā apiprāṇī ca sadanī ca bhūyāḥ |
ni yā deveṣu yatate vasūyur 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).