Hymn to the Maruts
Rigveda I.85 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) addressed to the Maruts, the storm-troop of young warrior gods, sons of Rudra and of Pṛśni (the speckled one, understood as a cow). 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. They adorn themselves as they go forth, like women, like racing steeds — the sons of Rudra, mighty in their deeds. The Maruts have made the two worlds, heaven and earth, grow strong; the heroes exult, joyous, at the sacrificial gatherings.
2. They, grown mighty, attained greatness; the Rudras have taken their seat above in heaven. Chanting their hymn, they generate power; the sons of Pṛśni have clothed themselves in splendor.
3. When they, sons of the speckled one, adorn themselves with ointments, bright, they put shining ornaments on their bodies. They drive away all malice; along their paths ghee flows.
4. You who blaze forth, bountiful, with your spears, shaking loose even the unshakable by your strength — swift as thought, O Maruts, troop of bulls, when you yoked your dappled mares to your chariots.
5. When you yoked the dappled mares to the chariots, O Maruts, speeding the pressing-stone onward in the contest, the streams of the ruddy one pour out, and like a hide they drench the earth with waters.
6. Let your swift steeds, swift-flying, bring you here; come forth with your arms outstretched. Sit down on the sacred grass — a wide seat is made for you. Rejoice, O Maruts, in the sweet draught.
7. They, self-strong, grew in greatness; they took their stand in the firmament, they made for themselves a wide seat. When Viṣṇu hastened to the bull who was shaken with rapture, they, like birds, settled upon the dear sacred grass.
8. Like heroes eager for battle, like warriors advancing, like seekers of glory they have striven in the fights. All beings fear the Maruts, these men terrible to behold like kings.
9. When Tvaṣṭṛ, the skillful craftsman, fashioned the well-made golden thunderbolt with a thousand points, Indra took it up to perform manly deeds — he slew Vṛtra, he released the flood of waters.
10. They pushed the well upward by their strength; they split apart even the firm-set mountain. Blowing their pipe, the bountiful Maruts, in the rapture of soma, made merry sport.
11. They tipped the well aslant in that direction, and poured out the spring for thirsty Gotama. Coming with their help, the brilliant-rayed ones satisfied the sage's desire with their mighty powers.
12. Whatever shelters you have for the one who toils in worship, grant threefold protection to the one who offers. Grant those to us too, O Maruts; bestow on us wealth rich in strong sons, O mighty bulls.
Translator's note: verse 5's "aruṣasya" (the ruddy/red one) is left as a plain epithet rather than resolved to a specific referent, since the Sanskrit itself does not specify whether the sun, fire, or a horse is meant. Verse 11's "Gotama" names the seer traditionally credited with this hymn, appearing here as a figure within the hymn's own narrative.
Colophon
Rigveda I.85 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.85
pra ye śumbhante janayo na saptayo yāman rudrasya sūnavaḥ sudaṁsasaḥ |
rodasī hi marutaś cakrire vṛdhe madanti vīrā vidatheṣu ghṛṣvayaḥ || 1 ||
ta ukṣitāso mahimānam āśata divi rudrāso adhi cakrire sadaḥ |
arcanto arkaṁ janayanta indriyam adhi śriyo dadhire pṛśnimātaraḥ || 2 ||
gomātaro yac chubhayante añjibhis tanūṣu śubhrā dadhire virukmataḥ |
bādhante viśvam abhimātinam apa vartmāny eṣām anu rīyate ghṛtam || 3 ||
vi ye bhrājante sumakhāsa ṛṣṭibhiḥ pracyāvayanto acyutā cid ojasā |
manojuvo yan maruto ratheṣv ā vṛṣavrātāsaḥ pṛṣatīr ayugdhvam || 4 ||
pra yad ratheṣu pṛṣatīr ayugdhvaṁ vāje adrim maruto raṁhayantaḥ |
utāruṣasya vi ṣyanti dhārāś carmevodabhir vy undanti bhūma || 5 ||
ā vo vahantu saptayo raghuṣyado raghupatvānaḥ pra jigāta bāhubhiḥ |
sīdatā barhir uru vaḥ sadas kṛtam mādayadhvam maruto madhvo andhasaḥ || 6 ||
te 'vardhanta svatavaso mahitvanā nākaṁ tasthur uru cakrire sadaḥ |
viṣṇur yad dhāvad vṛṣaṇam madacyutaṁ vayo na sīdann adhi barhiṣi priye || 7 ||
śūrā ived yuyudhayo na jagmayaḥ śravasyavo na pṛtanāsu yetire |
bhayante viśvā bhuvanā marudbhyo rājāna iva tveṣasaṁdṛśo naraḥ || 8 ||
tvaṣṭā yad vajraṁ sukṛtaṁ hiraṇyayaṁ sahasrabhṛṣṭiṁ svapā avartayat |
dhatta indro nary apāṁsi kartave 'han vṛtraṁ nir apām aubjad arṇavam || 9 ||
ūrdhvaṁ nunudre 'vataṁ ta ojasā dādṛhāṇaṁ cid bibhidur vi parvatam |
dhamanto vāṇam marutaḥ sudānavo made somasya raṇyāni cakrire || 10 ||
jihmaṁ nunudre 'vataṁ tayā diśāsiñcann utsaṁ gotamāya tṛṣṇaje |
ā gacchantīm avasā citrabhānavaḥ kāmaṁ viprasya tarpayanta dhāmabhiḥ || 11 ||
yā vaḥ śarma śaśamānāya santi tridhātūni dāśuṣe yacchatādhi |
asmabhyaṁ tāni maruto vi yanta rayiṁ no dhatta vṛṣaṇaḥ suvīram || 12 ||
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).