Hymn to Sūrya
Rigveda X.37 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. Homage to the eye of Mitra and Varuṇa, the great god — honor that truth. To the far-seen one, born of the gods, the banner, to the son of Heaven, to Sūrya — proclaim praise.
2. May that true word protect me on every side, wherever heaven and the days have stretched forth. Everything else that moves comes to rest — but the waters flow every day, and every day the Sun rises.
3. No godless one abides before you of old, when you drive your chariot with the flying steeds. One track turns onward through the eastern realm; with the other light you rise upward, O Sūrya.
4. With the light by which you drive off darkness, O Sūrya, and rouse the whole world with your radiance — with that, drive away from us all languor, all neglect of offering, all sickness, all evil dreams.
5. For, sent forth, you guard the law of all, and without anger you proceed by your own nature. When today we call upon you, Sūrya, may the gods approve this intention of ours.
6. May Heaven and Earth, the Waters, Indra, and the Maruts hear this call, this word of ours. May we not come to nothing in the sight of the Sun; living well, may we reach old age.
7. Every day, with good minds and clear eyes, rich in children, free from sickness, blameless, may we, living long, behold you rising day by day, O Sūrya, whose greatness is like Mitra's.
8. You who bear the great light, far-seeing one, shining, a delight to every eye, mounting up over the vast expanse — may we, living, behold you, O Sūrya.
9. By whose sign all beings go forth, and by whose sign they settle down through the nights — with blamelessness, O golden-haired Sūrya, rise upon us day by day with ever-greater bounty.
10. Be a blessing to us with your gaze, a blessing by day, a blessing by your radiance, a blessing in cold, a blessing in heat — so that it be well on the road and well at home. Grant us, O Sūrya, that bright wealth.
11. O gods, grant shelter to both our kinds — the two-footed and the four-footed. Eating, drinking, thriving, well-fed — grant us that welfare and health, free from harm.
12. Whatever grave wrong we have done against you, O gods, with the tongue, or through an error of mind that offends the gods — on whoever, mean-spirited, wishes ill upon us, on him, O Vasus, lay that guilt.
Translator's note: "etaśa" (verse 3) names a mythical steed associated with the Sun's chariot, rendered here simply as "steeds." "Pājas" (verse 8), a term for form, surface, or radiant body, is rendered "expanse." "Vasavaḥ" (verse 12) addresses the Vasus, a group of deities, kept untranslated as a proper name.
Colophon
Rigveda X.37 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.37
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.
namo mitrasya varuṇasya cakṣase maho devāya tad ṛtaṁ saparyata |
dūredṛśe devajātāya ketave divas putrāya sūryāya śaṁsata || 1 ||
sā mā satyoktiḥ pari pātu viśvato dyāvā ca yatra tatanann ahāni ca |
viśvam anyan ni viśate yad ejati viśvāhāpo viśvāhod eti sūryaḥ || 2 ||
na te adevaḥ pradivo ni vāsate yad etaśebhiḥ patarai ratharyasi |
prācīnam anyad anu vartate raja ud anyena jyotiṣā yāsi sūrya || 3 ||
yena sūrya jyotiṣā bādhase tamo jagac ca viśvam udiyarṣi bhānunā |
tenāsmad viśvām anirām anāhutim apāmīvām apa duṣṣvapnyaṁ suva || 4 ||
viśvasya hi preṣito rakṣasi vratam aheḻayann uccarasi svadhā anu |
yad adya tvā sūryopabravāmahai taṁ no devā anu maṁsīrata kratum || 5 ||
taṁ no dyāvāpṛthivī tan na āpa indraḥ śṛṇvantu maruto havaṁ vacaḥ |
mā śūne bhūma sūryasya saṁdṛśi bhadraṁ jīvanto jaraṇām aśīmahi || 6 ||
viśvāhā tvā sumanasaḥ sucakṣasaḥ prajāvanto anamīvā anāgasaḥ |
udyantaṁ tvā mitramaho dive-dive jyog jīvāḥ prati paśyema sūrya || 7 ||
mahi jyotir bibhrataṁ tvā vicakṣaṇa bhāsvantaṁ cakṣuṣe-cakṣuṣe mayaḥ |
ārohantam bṛhataḥ pājasas pari vayaṁ jīvāḥ prati paśyema sūrya || 8 ||
yasya te viśvā bhuvanāni ketunā pra cerate ni ca viśante aktubhiḥ |
anāgāstvena harikeśa sūryāhnāhnā no vasyasā-vasyasod ihi || 9 ||
śaṁ no bhava cakṣasā śaṁ no ahnā śam bhānunā śaṁ himā śaṁ ghṛṇena |
yathā śam adhvañ cham asad duroṇe tat sūrya draviṇaṁ dhehi citram || 10 ||
asmākaṁ devā ubhayāya janmane śarma yacchata dvipade catuṣpade |
adat pibad ūrjayamānam āśitaṁ tad asme śaṁ yor arapo dadhātana || 11 ||
yad vo devāś cakṛma jihvayā guru manaso vā prayutī devaheḻanam |
arāvā yo no abhi ducchunāyate tasmin tad eno vasavo ni dhetana || 12 ||
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).