Hymn to Yama
Rigveda X.14 is the great funeral hymn of the Veda, addressed to Yama, the first mortal to die and therefore the first to find the way — the king of the fathers who "spied out the path for many." It accompanies the dead along the ancient roads past the two four-eyed dogs of Saramā to the feast of the ancestors, and it is still recited at Hindu funerals three thousand years on. Verses 7 and 8 — "go forth, go forth by the ancient paths, where our ancient fathers have gone… leaving behind what is blemished, come home again; be united with a radiant body" — are among the most consoling lines in ancient literature.
This is a Good Works Translation produced for the Good Works Library from the Sanskrit of the Śākala recension.
1. Worship with oblation Yama the king, son of Vivasvant, the gatherer of the people — who went forth along the great slopes, who has spied out the path for many.
2. Yama was the first to find the way for us; this range is not to be taken from us. Where our ancient fathers went forth, there those born after walk their own paths.
3. Mātali grew strong through the Kavyas, Yama through the Aṅgirases, Bṛhaspati grew strong through the singers of the ṛc — those whom the gods have strengthened, and those who strengthen the gods; some rejoice in "svāhā," others in "svadhā."
4. Sit down, O Yama, on this strewn grass, in accord with the Aṅgirasian fathers. Let the hymns proclaimed by the seers bring you here; rejoice, O king, in this oblation.
5. Come, O Yama, with the Aṅgirases worthy of worship; rejoice here with the Vairūpas. I call Vivasvant, who is your father, seated here at this sacrifice on the sacred grass.
6. The Aṅgirases, our fathers, the Navagvas, the Atharvans, the Bhṛgus worthy of soma — may we stand in the good favor of these worship-worthy ones, in their blessed goodwill.
7. Go forth, go forth by the ancient paths, where our ancient fathers have gone. There you shall see the two kings rejoicing with svadhā: Yama, and the god Varuṇa.
8. Unite with the fathers, unite with Yama, with the reward of sacrifice and good works, in the highest heaven. Leaving behind what is blemished, come home again; be united with a radiant body.
9. Depart, go away, disperse from here — for him the fathers have fashioned this place, adorned with days, waters, and nights; Yama gives him this resting-place.
10. Run past the two dogs, sons of Saramā, the four-eyed, dappled ones, by the good path. Then approach the fathers, bountiful ones, who rejoice at the shared feast with Yama.
11. Your two dogs, O Yama, the guardians, four-eyed, path-guarding, watchers of men — to them deliver this one, O king; grant him well-being and freedom from sickness.
12. Yama's two messengers roam among the people, broad-nosed, life-devouring, mighty. May they give back to us today, here, our life-breath, blessed, that we may see the sun again.
13. Press the soma for Yama; offer the oblation for Yama. The sacrifice, duly prepared, goes to Yama with Agni as its messenger.
14. Offer to Yama the ghee-laden oblation, and stand forth in worship. May he grant us, among the gods, a long life, that we may live long.
15. Offer to Yama the king the sweetest oblation. This homage is for the seers, the first-born, for the ancient ones, the makers of the path.
16. He moves with the Trikadrukas; six are vast, one alone is the great one. Triṣṭubh, Gāyatrī, all the meters — these are established in Yama.
Translator's note: verse 12's epithet "udumbalau" is obscure and rendered conservatively as "mighty." Verse 16 alludes to the ritual Trikadruka rites and a traditional numerology of meters whose precise reference is not fully recoverable; it is rendered as literally as the Sanskrit allows.
Colophon
Rigveda X.14 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.14
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.
pareyivāṁsam pravato mahīr anu bahubhyaḥ panthām anupaspaśānam |
vaivasvataṁ saṁgamanaṁ janānāṁ yamaṁ rājānaṁ haviṣā duvasya || 1 ||
yamo no gātum prathamo viveda naiṣā gavyūtir apabhartavā u |
yatrā naḥ pūrve pitaraḥ pareyur enā jajñānāḥ pathyā3 anu svāḥ || 2 ||
mātalī kavyair yamo aṅgirobhir bṛhaspatir ṛkvabhir vāvṛdhānaḥ |
yām̐ś ca devā vāvṛdhur ye ca devān svāhānye svadhayānye madanti || 3 ||
imaṁ yama prastaram ā hi sīdāṅgirobhiḥ pitṛbhiḥ saṁvidānaḥ |
ā tvā mantrāḥ kaviśastā vahantv enā rājan haviṣā mādayasva || 4 ||
aṅgirobhir ā gahi yajñiyebhir yama vairūpair iha mādayasva |
vivasvantaṁ huve yaḥ pitā te 'smin yajñe barhiṣy ā niṣadya || 5 ||
aṅgiraso naḥ pitaro navagvā atharvāṇo bhṛgavaḥ somyāsaḥ |
teṣāṁ vayaṁ sumatau yajñiyānām api bhadre saumanase syāma || 6 ||
prehi prehi pathibhiḥ pūrvyebhir yatrā naḥ pūrve pitaraḥ pareyuḥ |
ubhā rājānā svadhayā madantā yamam paśyāsi varuṇaṁ ca devam || 7 ||
saṁ gacchasva pitṛbhiḥ saṁ yameneṣṭāpūrtena parame vyoman |
hitvāyāvadyam punar astam ehi saṁ gacchasva tanvā suvarcāḥ || 8 ||
apeta vīta vi ca sarpatāto 'smā etam pitaro lokam akran |
ahobhir adbhir aktubhir vyaktaṁ yamo dadāty avasānam asmai || 9 ||
ati drava sārameyau śvānau caturakṣau śabalau sādhunā pathā |
athā pitṝn suvidatrām̐ upehi yamena ye sadhamādam madanti || 10 ||
yau te śvānau yama rakṣitārau caturakṣau pathirakṣī nṛcakṣasau |
tābhyām enam pari dehi rājan svasti cāsmā anamīvaṁ ca dhehi || 11 ||
urūṇasāv asutṛpā udumbalau yamasya dūtau carato janām̐ anu |
tāv asmabhyaṁ dṛśaye sūryāya punar dātām asum adyeha bhadram || 12 ||
yamāya somaṁ sunuta yamāya juhutā haviḥ |
yamaṁ ha yajño gacchaty agnidūto araṁkṛtaḥ || 13 ||
yamāya ghṛtavad dhavir juhota pra ca tiṣṭhata |
sa no deveṣv ā yamad dīrgham āyuḥ pra jīvase || 14 ||
yamāya madhumattamaṁ rājñe havyaṁ juhotana |
idaṁ nama ṛṣibhyaḥ pūrvajebhyaḥ pūrvebhyaḥ pathikṛdbhyaḥ || 15 ||
trikadrukebhiḥ patati ṣaḻ urvīr ekam id bṛhat |
triṣṭub gāyatrī chandāṁsi sarvā tā yama āhitā || 16 ||
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).