Hymn to Prajāpati, for Offspring

Rigveda X.183 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 traditionally addressed to Prajāpati, the ordainer and generator of beings: the first verse speaks to a son, the second to a daughter, and the third gives the creator's own words.

1. I saw you, aware in mind, born from heat, brought forth by heat. Granting offspring here, and wealth here, bring yourself forth with offspring, you who desire sons.

2. I saw you, pondering in mind, pleading in your own body at the fitting season. Come up to me, calling aloud — become a young woman again. Bring yourself forth with offspring, you who desire sons.

3. I placed the seed in the plants; I am within all beings. I begot offspring on the earth; I gave sons to the women who are yet to come.

Translator's note: verse 1 addresses a male ("putrakāma," desiring sons); verse 2 addresses a female ("putrakāme," same phrase in the feminine) in nearly identical words. Verse 3 shifts to the first person, presumably Prajāpati's own voice, claiming to have set generative power in plants, beings, and future wives. "uccā" (verse 2) literally means "loudly" or "up/aloft" — rendered here as "calling aloud."

Colophon

Rigveda X.183 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.183

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.

apaśyaṁ tvā manasā cekitānaṁ tapaso jātaṁ tapaso vibhūtam |
iha prajām iha rayiṁ rarāṇaḥ pra jāyasva prajayā putrakāma || 1 ||

apaśyaṁ tvā manasā dīdhyānāṁ svāyāṁ tanū ṛtvye nādhamānām |
upa mām uccā yuvatir babhūyāḥ pra jāyasva prajayā putrakāme || 2 ||

ahaṁ garbham adadhām oṣadhīṣv ahaṁ viśveṣu bhuvaneṣv antaḥ |
aham prajā ajanayam pṛthivyām ahaṁ janibhyo aparīṣu putrān || 3 ||

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).