Hymn to the Waters
Rigveda X.30 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. Let a path go forth to the gods, for the sacred formula, toward the waters — swift as the mind's own harnessing. Grant a well-wrought hymn to the great foundation of Mitra and Varuṇa, to the wide-flowing one.
2. O Adhvaryus, be full of the oblation — go now to the waters, eager toward the eager ones. That wave which the ruddy eagle looks down upon — set it moving today, you skillful-handed ones.
3. O Adhvaryus, go to the sea of waters; worship the Child of the Waters with the oblation. May he give you today a well-purified wave; for him press out the honey-sweet soma.
4. Who, without kindling-wood, shines within the waters, whom the inspired ones call upon at the rites — O Child of the Waters, give the honey-sweet waters by which Indra grew strong for his deed of might.
5. The waters by which Soma delights and rejoices, as a young man delights among fair young women — go toward those waters, O Adhvaryu; and when you pour the soma, purify it with the sacred plants.
6. So indeed do young women bow to the young man, when the eager one goes eagerly toward them; the Adhvaryus, the goddess Dhiṣaṇā, and the divine waters are of one mind, in accord together.
7. He who made a way for you when you were held back, who freed you from the great curse — to that Indra send forth the honey-sweet wave, the one that gladdens the gods, O waters.
8. Send forth to him the honey-sweet wave, which is your own offspring, O rivers, the spring of honey, ghee-backed, worthy to be invoked at the rites. O wealthy waters, hear my call.
9. O rivers, send forth that exhilarating wave, Indra's drink, which stirs both realms — the intoxicating spring, born of Uśanas, born of the cloud, ranging about the triple-threaded rite.
10. Turning now in twin streams, moving like raiders contending over cattle at pasture — O seer, praise the waters, the mothers, the mistresses of the world, growing together, sharing one womb.
11. Speed our rite onward, gods, by this worship; speed the sacred formula toward the winning of riches. At the yoking of truth, loosen your udder — be quick to hear us, O waters.
12. O wealthy waters, you rule over good things and bear auspicious power and the draught of immortality; you are mistresses of riches and of good offspring. May Sarasvatī set that vital strength firm in the singer.
13. When the waters were seen approaching, bearing ghee, milk, and honey, of one mind with the Adhvaryus, bringing the well-pressed soma to Indra —
14. now these rich ones have come, bringing fortune to the living. O Adhvaryu friends, seat them; you who serve the soma, set them down with care on the sacred grass, these waters in accord with the Child of the Waters.
15. The eager waters have come to this sacred grass; seeking the gods, they have taken their seat at the rite. O Adhvaryus, press the soma for Indra — your worship of the gods has grown strong and able.
Translator's note: verse 9's "auśānam" (rendered "born of Uśanas") is an obscure epithet linking the wave to the seer/sage Uśanas Kāvya; its precise sense is uncertain and rendered conservatively here.
Colophon
Rigveda X.30 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.
🌲
Source Text: ṛgveda X.30
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.
pra devatrā brahmaṇe gātur etv apo acchā manaso na prayukti |
mahīm mitrasya varuṇasya dhāsim pṛthujrayase rīradhā suvṛktim || 1 ||
adhvaryavo haviṣmanto hi bhūtācchāpa itośatīr uśantaḥ |
ava yāś caṣṭe aruṇaḥ suparṇas tam āsyadhvam ūrmim adyā suhastāḥ || 2 ||
adhvaryavo 'pa itā samudram apāṁ napātaṁ haviṣā yajadhvam |
sa vo dadad ūrmim adyā supūtaṁ tasmai somam madhumantaṁ sunota || 3 ||
yo anidhmo dīdayad apsv a1ntar yaṁ viprāsa īḻate adhvareṣu |
apāṁ napān madhumatīr apo dā yābhir indro vāvṛdhe vīryāya || 4 ||
yābhiḥ somo modate harṣate ca kalyāṇībhir yuvatibhir na maryaḥ |
tā adhvaryo apo acchā parehi yad āsiñcā oṣadhībhiḥ punītāt || 5 ||
eved yūne yuvatayo namanta yad īm uśann uśatīr ety accha |
saṁ jānate manasā saṁ cikitre 'dhvaryavo dhiṣaṇāpaś ca devīḥ || 6 ||
yo vo vṛtābhyo akṛṇod u lokaṁ yo vo mahyā abhiśaster amuñcat |
tasmā indrāya madhumantam ūrmiṁ devamādanam pra hiṇotanāpaḥ || 7 ||
prāsmai hinota madhumantam ūrmiṁ garbho yo vaḥ sindhavo madhva utsaḥ |
ghṛtapṛṣṭham īḍyam adhvareṣv āpo revatīḥ śṛṇutā havam me || 8 ||
taṁ sindhavo matsaram indrapānam ūrmim pra heta ya ubhe iyarti |
madacyutam auśānaṁ nabhojām pari tritantuṁ vicarantam utsam || 9 ||
āvarvṛtatīr adha nu dvidhārā goṣuyudho na niyavaṁ carantīḥ |
ṛṣe janitrīr bhuvanasya patnīr apo vandasva savṛdhaḥ sayonīḥ || 10 ||
hinotā no adhvaraṁ devayajyā hinota brahma sanaye dhanānām |
ṛtasya yoge vi ṣyadhvam ūdhaḥ śruṣṭīvarīr bhūtanāsmabhyam āpaḥ || 11 ||
āpo revatīḥ kṣayathā hi vasvaḥ kratuṁ ca bhadram bibhṛthāmṛtaṁ ca |
rāyaś ca stha svapatyasya patnīḥ sarasvatī tad gṛṇate vayo dhāt || 12 ||
prati yad āpo adṛśram āyatīr ghṛtam payāṁsi bibhratīr madhūni |
adhvaryubhir manasā saṁvidānā indrāya somaṁ suṣutam bharantīḥ || 13 ||
emā agman revatīr jīvadhanyā adhvaryavaḥ sādayatā sakhāyaḥ |
ni barhiṣi dhattana somyāso 'pāṁ naptrā saṁvidānāsa enāḥ || 14 ||
āgmann āpa uśatīr barhir edaṁ ny adhvare asadan devayantīḥ |
adhvaryavaḥ sunutendrāya somam abhūd u vaḥ suśakā devayajyā || 15 ||
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).