Hymn to Varuṇa, Mitra, and Aryaman
Rigveda I.41 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) addressed to the watchful triad Varuṇa, Mitra, and Aryaman, the Ādityas who guard the man of truth, clear his path of danger, and lead him safely past misfortune. 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. The man whom the watchful ones — Varuṇa, Mitra, Aryaman — protect is never deceived.
2. The mortal whom they carry across, as if with their own arms, and guard from harm — unharmed, he thrives in everything.
3. Their kings strike away hard straits, strike away hating foes that stand before him; they lead him safely through misfortunes.
4. Easy and thornless is the path, O Ādityas, for the one who walks by truth (ṛta); there is no pitfall in it against you.
5. The offering that you, O men, O Ādityas, lead by the straight path — that offering reaches your thought.
6. That mortal, unconquered, comes to treasure, to wealth, to offspring entire, and to himself besides.
7. How, friends, shall we rightly offer the hymn of praise to Mitra and Aryaman, the great delight of Varuṇa?
8. Let me not be named to you as one who strikes or one who curses, but as one devoted to the gods; with kindness alone would I win your favor.
9. Even toward one who gives freely, a man should stay wary until the final reckoning; let no one crave evil speech.
Translator's note: verse 2's "as if with their arms" (bāhuteva) is an image of being carried or ferried across danger; verse 9's "final reckoning" (nidhātoḥ) literally means the final "laying down" or settling of an account, rendered here for clarity rather than literally.
Colophon
Rigveda I.41 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.41
yaṁ rakṣanti pracetaso varuṇo mitro aryamā |
nū cit sa dabhyate janaḥ || 1 ||
yam bāhuteva piprati pānti martyaṁ riṣaḥ |
ariṣṭaḥ sarva edhate || 2 ||
vi durgā vi dviṣaḥ puro ghnanti rājāna eṣām |
nayanti duritā tiraḥ || 3 ||
sugaḥ panthā anṛkṣara ādityāsa ṛtaṁ yate |
nātrāvakhādo asti vaḥ || 4 ||
yaṁ yajñaṁ nayathā nara ādityā ṛjunā pathā |
pra vaḥ sa dhītaye naśat || 5 ||
sa ratnam martyo vasu viśvaṁ tokam uta tmanā |
acchā gacchaty astṛtaḥ || 6 ||
kathā rādhāma sakhāyaḥ stomam mitrasyāryamṇaḥ |
mahi psaro varuṇasya || 7 ||
mā vo ghnantam mā śapantam prati voce devayantam |
sumnair id va ā vivāse || 8 ||
caturaś cid dadamānād bibhīyād ā nidhātoḥ |
na duruktāya spṛhayet || 9 ||
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).