Hymn to Pūṣan
Rigveda I.42 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) addressed to Pūṣan, the pastoral god, guardian of paths and herds, escort of the dead. 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. Pūṣan, carry us across the roads, away from trouble, O son of deliverance. Accompany us, god, go on before us.
2. The evil wolf, malicious, who marks us out — Pūṣan, strike him away from our path.
3. Drive far from our track that lurker on the road, that thief, that deceiver.
4. Tread down with your foot the burning path of that double-dealing curser, whoever he is.
5. We choose that help of yours, O wondrous, thoughtful Pūṣan, by which you once urged on our forefathers.
6. Now, all-blessed one, bearer of the golden axe, make riches easy for us to win.
7. Lead us past those who pursue us; make our going smooth, our paths good. Pūṣan, know our purpose here.
8. Lead us toward good pasture; let no fresh trouble strike us on the road. Pūṣan, know our purpose here.
9. Grant us power, fill us up, extend your bounty, sharpen us, fill our bellies full. Pūṣan, know our purpose here.
10. We do not slight Pūṣan; we extol him with our well-made hymns. We ask the wondrous one for goods.
Translator's note: verse 4's "tapuṣīm" ("burning") is a feminine adjective with no explicit noun in the line — most likely qualifying an implied path or foot; rendered conservatively as "the burning path." Verse 9 is a string of terse imperatives (śagdhi, pūrdhi, pra yaṁsi, śiśīhi) with no stated object; the object "us" is supplied for readability, matching the sense of the surrounding travel-blessing verses.
Colophon
Rigveda I.42 is drawn from the Śākala recension of the Rigveda, the version that has been transmitted and is considered canonical in the mainstream tradition. The Rigveda was composed approximately 1700–1100 BCE; this hymn addresses Pūṣan, the pastoral god, guardian of paths and herds, escort of the dead. 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.42
sam pūṣann adhvanas tira vy aṁho vimuco napāt |
sakṣvā deva pra ṇas puraḥ || 1 ||
yo naḥ pūṣann agho vṛko duḥśeva ādideśati |
apa sma tam patho jahi || 2 ||
apa tyam paripanthinam muṣīvāṇaṁ huraścitam |
dūram adhi sruter aja || 3 ||
tvaṁ tasya dvayāvino 'ghaśaṁsasya kasya cit |
padābhi tiṣṭha tapuṣim || 4 ||
ā tat te dasra mantumaḥ pūṣann avo vṛṇīmahe |
yena pitṝn acodayaḥ || 5 ||
adhā no viśvasaubhaga hiraṇyavāśīmattama |
dhanāni suṣaṇā kṛdhi || 6 ||
ati naḥ saścato naya sugā naḥ supathā kṛṇu |
pūṣann iha kratuṁ vidaḥ || 7 ||
abhi sūyavasaṁ naya na navajvāro adhvane |
pūṣann iha kratuṁ vidaḥ || 8 ||
śagdhi pūrdhi pra yaṁsi ca śiśīhi prāsy udaram |
pūṣann iha kratuṁ vidaḥ || 9 ||
na pūṣaṇam methāmasi sūktair abhi gṛṇīmasi |
vasūni dasmam īmahe || 10 ||
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).