Hymn to Vāta (the Wind)
Rigveda X.168 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.
1. Now I will speak the greatness of Wind's chariot: he goes shattering things, his roar thundering. He goes touching the sky, turning things ruddy, and he goes casting up dust from the earth.
2. His gusts drive forth together, following after Wind; they go to him as women go to a gathering. United with them, the god travels in one chariot — king of this whole world.
3. Traveling by paths through the mid-air, he never settles down, not for a single day. Friend of the waters, firstborn, upholder of order — where indeed was he born? From where did he come into being?
4. Breath of the gods, germ of the world, this god wanders as he wishes. Only his roars are heard — not his form. To that Wind let us offer homage with an oblation.
Colophon
Rigveda X.168 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.168
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.
vātasya nu mahimānaṁ rathasya rujann eti stanayann asya ghoṣaḥ |
divispṛg yāty aruṇāni kṛṇvann uto eti pṛthivyā reṇum asyan || 1 ||
sam prerate anu vātasya viṣṭhā ainaṁ gacchanti samanaṁ na yoṣāḥ |
tābhiḥ sayuk sarathaṁ deva īyate 'sya viśvasya bhuvanasya rājā || 2 ||
antarikṣe pathibhir īyamāno na ni viśate katamac canāhaḥ |
apāṁ sakhā prathamajā ṛtāvā kva svij jātaḥ kuta ā babhūva || 3 ||
ātmā devānām bhuvanasya garbho yathāvaśaṁ carati deva eṣaḥ |
ghoṣā id asya śṛṇvire na rūpaṁ tasmai vātāya haviṣā vidhema || 4 ||
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).