Dialogue of Saramā and the Paṇis
Rigveda X.108 is a sūkta (hymn) from Maṇḍala 10 of the Rigveda, one of the 1,028 hymns organized within the ten books of the oldest Veda. The Rigveda was composed approximately 1700–1100 BCE in Vedic Sanskrit and preserved through oral transmission across millennia.
This is a Good Works Translation produced for the Good Works Library from the Sanskrit of the Śākala recension. The hymn is a dialogue (saṃvāda) between Saramā, the divine hound sent by Indra, and the Paṇis, the demons who have hidden away a great hoard of cows. Speakers alternate verse by verse.
1. Seeking what, Saramā, have you arrived here? The road is long, leading far away and devouring. What is your errand here? What urgency drove you? How did you cross the waters of the Rasā?
2. Sent as Indra's messenger, I travel, seeking your great hoards, O Paṇis. Through fear I leapt across — that saved us — so I crossed the waters of the Rasā.
3. What kind of being is Indra, Saramā? What does he look like, whose messenger you are, having run from so far away? Let him come here, and we will make a pact with him — then he can be lord of our cows.
4. I do not know him as one who can be tricked — he is the trickster of tricksters, he whose messenger I have run from so far. The deep, flowing rivers cannot hide him. Struck down by Indra, you Paṇis will lie dead.
5. These are the cows you were seeking, Saramā, flying around the far ends of heaven, O fortunate one. Who would give them up to you without a fight? And our weapons are sharp.
6. Powerless are your words, O Paṇis; may your wicked bodies be proof against arrows, as you claim. May your path be unassailable, as you say — yet Bṛhaspati will show mercy to neither side.
7. This treasure, Saramā, is rooted on rock, packed full with cows, horses, and goods. The Paṇis who guard it are good guardians. You have come here for nothing — to an empty trail.
8. Here the seers will come, sharpened by soma — Ayāsya, the Aṅgirases, the Navagvas. They will break open this enclosure of cows and share it out. Then, Paṇis, you will spit out these very words.
9. So you have come, Saramā, driven here by a divine power. I will make you a sister — do not go back. We will give you a share of the cows, O fortunate one.
10. I know no brotherhood or sisterhood with you. Indra knows, and the terrible Aṅgirases know. Desire for cows spurred me on when I came. Go far away from here, Paṇis — farther still.
11. Go far away, Paṇis, farther still. Let the cows come forth, lowing, according to truth — those that Bṛhaspati found hidden, along with Soma, the pressing stones, and the inspired seers.
Translator's note: verse 6's "asenyā vacāṁsi" ("unwarlike/powerless words") and the claim that the Paṇis' bodies are proof against arrows are rendered as Saramā's sarcastic echo of the Paṇis' own boast, following the sense of the Sanskrit; the line is addressed mockingly, not as a literal blessing. In verse 11, "minatīḥ" (of the cows) is translated as "lowing," describing the sound of cattle being released, rather than a form related to violation or diminishment.
Colophon
Rigveda X.108 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 X.108
Sanskrit source text from the Aufrecht edition (1877) via GRETIL (Van Nooten & Holland input). Presented here for reference, study, and verification alongside the English translation above.
kim icchantī saramā predam ānaḍ dūre hy adhvā jaguriḥ parācaiḥ |
kāsmehitiḥ kā paritakmyāsīt kathaṁ rasāyā ataraḥ payāṁsi || 1 ||
indrasya dūtīr iṣitā carāmi maha icchantī paṇayo nidhīn vaḥ |
atiṣkado bhiyasā tan na āvat tathā rasāyā ataram payāṁsi || 2 ||
kīdṛṅṅ indraḥ sarame kā dṛśīkā yasyedaṁ dūtīr asaraḥ parākāt |
ā ca gacchān mitram enā dadhāmāthā gavāṁ gopatir no bhavāti || 3 ||
nāhaṁ taṁ veda dabhyaṁ dabhat sa yasyedaṁ dūtīr asaram parākāt |
na taṁ gūhanti sravato gabhīrā hatā indreṇa paṇayaḥ śayadhve || 4 ||
imā gāvaḥ sarame yā aicchaḥ pari divo antān subhage patantī |
kas ta enā ava sṛjād ayudhvy utāsmākam āyudhā santi tigmā || 5 ||
asenyā vaḥ paṇayo vacāṁsy aniṣavyās tanvaḥ santu pāpīḥ |
adhṛṣṭo va etavā astu panthā bṛhaspatir va ubhayā na mṛḻāt || 6 ||
ayaṁ nidhiḥ sarame adribudhno gobhir aśvebhir vasubhir nyṛṣṭaḥ |
rakṣanti tam paṇayo ye sugopā reku padam alakam ā jagantha || 7 ||
eha gamann ṛṣayaḥ somaśitā ayāsyo aṅgiraso navagvāḥ |
ta etam ūrvaṁ vi bhajanta gonām athaitad vacaḥ paṇayo vamann it || 8 ||
evā ca tvaṁ sarama ājagantha prabādhitā sahasā daivyena |
svasāraṁ tvā kṛṇavai mā punar gā apa te gavāṁ subhage bhajāma || 9 ||
nāhaṁ veda bhrātṛtvaṁ no svasṛtvam indro vidur aṅgirasaś ca ghorāḥ |
gokāmā me acchadayan yad āyam apāta ita paṇayo varīyaḥ || 10 ||
dūram ita paṇayo varīya ud gāvo yantu minatīr ṛtena |
bṛhaspatir yā avindan nigūḻhāḥ somo grāvāṇa ṛṣayaś ca viprāḥ || 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).