Hymn Against the Omen of the Dove
Rigveda X.165 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. A dove entering the house is treated as a messenger sent by Nirṛti (Dissolution) and by Yama, lord of Death; the hymn calls on the gods and on Agni to turn the omen aside and to keep the household and its cattle unharmed.
1. O gods, when a dove, sent forth, wishing this, has come here as a messenger of Nirṛti — let us sing praise to it, let us make atonement for it; may there be well-being for us, for the two-footed and for the four-footed.
2. May the dove sent to us be kind, blameless, O gods, a bird in our houses; for let Agni the inspired one accept our offering; let the winged weapon pass us by.
3. The winged weapon does not deceive us; it sets its mark at the fire-priest's hearth. May there be well-being for our cattle and for our people; let not the dove harm us here, O gods.
4. When the owl cries, that is nothing; so too when the dove sets its mark in the fire. To him whose messenger this one is sent — to Yama, to Death — let there be homage.
5. With this verse drive the dove away, drive it forth; rejoicing in the offering, lead the cow around; putting away all misfortunes, having left our strength with us, let the swiftest-flying one fly off.
Translator's note: āṣṭryām in verse 3 is an obscure word (perhaps "goad" or a post at the hearth); it is rendered conservatively as "sets its mark," following the parallel phrase in verse 4. "Winged weapon" (hetiḥ pakṣiṇī) names the missile or stroke of death the dove is imagined to carry.
Colophon
Rigveda X.165 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.165
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.
devāḥ kapota iṣito yad icchan dūto nirṛtyā idam ājagāma |
tasmā arcāma kṛṇavāma niṣkṛtiṁ śaṁ no astu dvipade śaṁ catuṣpade || 1 ||
śivaḥ kapota iṣito no astv anāgā devāḥ śakuno gṛheṣu |
agnir hi vipro juṣatāṁ havir naḥ pari hetiḥ pakṣiṇī no vṛṇaktu || 2 ||
hetiḥ pakṣiṇī na dabhāty asmān āṣṭryām padaṁ kṛṇute agnidhāne |
śaṁ no gobhyaś ca puruṣebhyaś cāstu mā no hiṁsīd iha devāḥ kapotaḥ || 3 ||
yad ulūko vadati mogham etad yat kapotaḥ padam agnau kṛṇoti |
yasya dūtaḥ prahita eṣa etat tasmai yamāya namo astu mṛtyave || 4 ||
ṛcā kapotaṁ nudata praṇodam iṣam madantaḥ pari gāṁ nayadhvam |
saṁyopayanto duritāni viśvā hitvā na ūrjam pra patāt patiṣṭhaḥ || 5 ||
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).