A Wife's Hymn Against Rival Wives
Rigveda X.159 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) 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 spoken in a woman's voice — traditionally attributed to Śacī Paulomī — declaring her victory over rival wives and her mastery over her husband's household.
1. Yonder sun has risen; and with it my own fortune has risen. I, knowing this, all-conquering, have prevailed over my husband.
2. I am the banner, I am the crest, I am the mighty one whose word decides the dispute. Let my husband act only by my will, since I have risen victorious.
3. My sons are slayers of rivals, and my daughter rules as a sovereign. And I am wholly victorious — over my husband, my word stands highest.
4. By the oblation with which Indra, having offered it, became foremost in brilliance among the gods — that same oblation have I now made, O gods, and by it I have indeed become one without rival.
5. Without rival, slayer of rivals, victorious, all-overpowering — I have stripped away the splendor of the other wives, and their gifts, as one takes from those who have no standing.
6. I have conquered these rival wives, all-overpowering, so that I may reign over this man, my husband, and over his people.
Translator's note: verse 5's "astheyasām" (literally "of those without standing," i.e. unsteady or worthless ones) is a difficult compound; rendered here conservatively as describing the defeated rival wives' lack of standing. Verse 4's "kṛtvī" is likewise compact — read here as "having offered/made [the oblation]."
Colophon
Rigveda X.159 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.159
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.
ud asau sūryo agād ud ayam māmako bhagaḥ |
ahaṁ tad vidvalā patim abhy asākṣi viṣāsahiḥ || 1 ||
ahaṁ ketur aham mūrdhāham ugrā vivācanī |
mamed anu kratum patiḥ sehānāyā upācaret || 2 ||
mama putrāḥ śatruhaṇo 'tho me duhitā virāṭ |
utāham asmi saṁjayā patyau me śloka uttamaḥ || 3 ||
yenendro haviṣā kṛtvy abhavad dyumny uttamaḥ |
idaṁ tad akri devā asapatnā kilābhuvam || 4 ||
asapatnā sapatnaghnī jayanty abhibhūvarī |
āvṛkṣam anyāsāṁ varco rādho astheyasām iva || 5 ||
sam ajaiṣam imā ahaṁ sapatnīr abhibhūvarī |
yathāham asya vīrasya virājāni janasya ca || 6 ||
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).