Hymn to the Maruts
Rigveda I.64 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) addressed to the Maruts, the storm-troop born of Rudra, described here as young bulls, warriors, and archers who drive the wind and lightning, shake the mountains, and swell the earth with rain. The seer names himself, Nodhas, in the opening verse. It is one of the 1,028 hymns of the Rigveda organized within Maṇḍala 1, the first of ten books.
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. Nodhas, bring forth a well-wrought song of praise to the virile, glorious, wise host — to the Maruts. Like a skilled craftsman, deft-handed in mind, I fashion my songs together, fitting for the sacred gatherings.
2. They were born from heaven, lofty bulls, the warrior-youths of Rudra, mighty and spotless, purifying and bright like suns, like warriors adorned with gleaming drops, terrible in form.
3. The young Rudras, ageless, unyielding in their onset, have grown strong, unchecked in their course, like mountains. Even all the firm earthly worlds they shake, by their heavenly might.
4. With bright ointments they adorn themselves for beauty; upon their chests they have fastened gold, for splendor. On their shoulders their spears sit close. Together they were born, by their own inborn power, these men of heaven.
5. Acting as lords, the roaring destroyers of foes, they made the winds and the lightnings by their strength. The shakers milk the heavenly udders; ranging far and wide, they swell the earth with moisture.
6. The bounteous Maruts swell the waters, the ghee-rich milk, ever present at the sacrifices. Like a strong steed they lead it forth for the raining; they milk the thundering, unfailing spring.
7. Mighty buffaloes, possessed of magic power, of many-colored splendor, self-strong as mountains, swift-going — like wild beasts you devour the forests, when you yoked your powers to your ruddy team.
8. Like lions they roar, these wise ones; beautifully adorned like ornaments, possessors of all wealth. Quickening the nights with their dappled deer and their spears, pressed close together, fierce in wrath as serpents, in their strength.
9. Proclaim it to the two world-halves, O glory of the troop, companions of men, heroes fierce in wrath and strength. On your chariot-seats a visible splendor stands like lightning, O Maruts, on your chariots.
10. Possessors of all wealth, dwelling together with riches, joined together with their powers, abundant and roaring — as archers they hold the arrow in their two hands, men of boundless vigor.
11. With golden wheel-rims, swelling the waters, striking upward at the mountains, mighty, untiring, going by their own course, shaking even what is firm, working turbulence — O Maruts, with gleaming spears.
12. The brisk, purifying, eager, all-active son of Rudra we praise with our call. Follow, for glory, the strong Marut troop that crosses the realms of air, mighty, accompanied by the ṛjīṣa offering.
13. Now indeed that mortal surpasses other men in strength, whom you, O Maruts, have aided by your protection. With his steeds he wins the prize and riches; with his men, a power that all inquire after; he dwells secure and prospers.
14. O Maruts, bestow upon our bounteous patrons that renowned vigor, unconquerable in battles, brilliant — wealth-winning, worthy of praise, known to all people. May we foster our children and our children's children for a hundred winters.
15. Now, O Maruts, bestow upon us firm wealth, rich in heroic sons, victorious over every assault — wealth counted in thousands and hundreds, ever growing. Swiftly, at dawn, may that wealth won through devotion come to us.
Translator's note: three compounds resist confident rendering and are translated conservatively — verse 3's abhogghanaḥ (here "unyielding in their onset"), verse 10's vṛṣakhādayaḥ (left untranslated as a separate epithet, sense uncertain), and verse 11's āpathyaḥ ("striking upward at the mountains," the comparison itself unclear). Verse 12 shifts from the plural Maruts to a singular "son of Rudra," likely Agni invoked within the hymn to his kinsmen; this is kept as the Sanskrit gives it, without smoothing it into the surrounding plural.
Colophon
Rigveda I.64 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.64
vṛṣṇe śardhāya sumakhāya vedhase nodhaḥ suvṛktim pra bharā marudbhyaḥ |
apo na dhīro manasā suhastyo giraḥ sam añje vidatheṣv ābhuvaḥ || 1 ||
te jajñire diva ṛṣvāsa ukṣaṇo rudrasya maryā asurā arepasaḥ |
pāvakāsaḥ śucayaḥ sūryā iva satvāno na drapsino ghoravarpasaḥ || 2 ||
yuvāno rudrā ajarā abhogghano vavakṣur adhrigāvaḥ parvatā iva |
dṛḻhā cid viśvā bhuvanāni pārthivā pra cyāvayanti divyāni majmanā || 3 ||
citrair añjibhir vapuṣe vy añjate vakṣaḥsu rukmām̐ adhi yetire śubhe |
aṁseṣv eṣāṁ ni mimṛkṣur ṛṣṭayaḥ sākaṁ jajñire svadhayā divo naraḥ || 4 ||
īśānakṛto dhunayo riśādaso vātān vidyutas taviṣībhir akrata |
duhanty ūdhar divyāni dhūtayo bhūmim pinvanti payasā parijrayaḥ || 5 ||
pinvanty apo marutaḥ sudānavaḥ payo ghṛtavad vidatheṣv ābhuvaḥ |
atyaṁ na mihe vi nayanti vājinam utsaṁ duhanti stanayantam akṣitam || 6 ||
mahiṣāso māyinaś citrabhānavo girayo na svatavaso raghuṣyadaḥ |
mṛgā iva hastinaḥ khādathā vanā yad āruṇīṣu taviṣīr ayugdhvam || 7 ||
siṁhā iva nānadati pracetasaḥ piśā iva supiśo viśvavedasaḥ |
kṣapo jinvantaḥ pṛṣatībhir ṛṣṭibhiḥ sam it sabādhaḥ śavasāhimanyavaḥ || 8 ||
rodasī ā vadatā gaṇaśriyo nṛṣācaḥ śūrāḥ śavasāhimanyavaḥ |
ā vandhureṣv amatir na darśatā vidyun na tasthau maruto ratheṣu vaḥ || 9 ||
viśvavedaso rayibhiḥ samokasaḥ sammiślāsas taviṣībhir virapśinaḥ |
astāra iṣuṁ dadhire gabhastyor anantaśuṣmā vṛṣakhādayo naraḥ || 10 ||
hiraṇyayebhiḥ pavibhiḥ payovṛdha ujjighnanta āpathyo3 na parvatān |
makhā ayāsaḥ svasṛto dhruvacyuto dudhrakṛto maruto bhrājadṛṣṭayaḥ || 11 ||
ghṛṣum pāvakaṁ vaninaṁ vicarṣaṇiṁ rudrasya sūnuṁ havasā gṛṇīmasi |
rajasturaṁ tavasam mārutaṁ gaṇam ṛjīṣiṇaṁ vṛṣaṇaṁ saścata śriye || 12 ||
pra nū sa martaḥ śavasā janām̐ ati tasthau va ūtī maruto yam āvata |
arvadbhir vājam bharate dhanā nṛbhir āpṛcchyaṁ kratum ā kṣeti puṣyati || 13 ||
carkṛtyam marutaḥ pṛtsu duṣṭaraṁ dyumantaṁ śuṣmam maghavatsu dhattana |
dhanaspṛtam ukthyaṁ viśvacarṣaṇiṁ tokam puṣyema tanayaṁ śataṁ himāḥ || 14 ||
nū ṣṭhiram maruto vīravantam ṛtīṣāhaṁ rayim asmāsu dhatta |
sahasriṇaṁ śatinaṁ śūśuvāṁsam prātar makṣū dhiyāvasur jagamyāt || 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).