Hymn to the All-Gods (Viśvedevāḥ)
Rigveda X.53 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. He whom we sought with the mind — he has come, knowing the sacrifice, aware of its joints. May he sacrifice for us among the company of gods, the better sacrificer, for he shall sit down among us, in front, before us.
2. The Hotar has taken his seat and been made ready, the better sacrificer, for he has seen the well-set offerings. Let us sacrifice to the gods worthy of sacrifice — come! — let us invoke with ghee the gods worthy of invocation.
3. He has made our feast to the gods succeed today; we have found the hidden tongue of the sacrifice. He has come, fragrant, clothed in life, and has made our calling of the gods auspicious this day.
4. May I now shape that first utterance of speech, by which we gods might overcome the Asuras. And you, eaters of strength, you five peoples worthy of sacrifice — take pleasure in my priestly office!
5. Let the five peoples take pleasure in my priestly office, and those of cattle-born line who are worthy of sacrifice. May Earth guard us from earthly distress; may the Midspace guard us from distress out of heaven.
6. Stretching the thread, follow the gleam of the dusty air; guard the luminous paths shaped by insight. Weave without a knot, O singers, the work of your praise. Be a Manu — beget the race born of the gods.
7. Bind fast the axle-straps, you worthy of the soma; set the reins in order, and adorn them. Drive the eight-seated chariot round about — that same chariot by which the gods once led us to what is dear.
8. The stony flood is rushing — take firm hold together! Stand up! Cross over, friends! Here let us leave behind those who proved unkind to us; may we, well-disposed, cross over to the prizes.
9. Tvaṣṭar knows the crafts, most skillful of craftsmen, bearing the cups, the most soothing vessels for the gods to drink from. Now he sharpens the well-forged axe, with which Etaśa, Lord of the sacred formula, shall hew.
10. Now, seers, sharpen together the axes at hand, with which you carve a way toward the deathless. Being wise, lay bare the hidden footsteps, by which the gods themselves reached immortality.
11. They set the young woman in the womb, the calf in the mouth, with mind kept secret, and with tongue. He, ever well-disposed, fit for the yoke through all his days, seeking to win, wins the victory — by the deed alone.
Translator's note: Verse 9's "Etaśa" and verse 11's riddle-imagery (the maiden placed in the womb, the calf in the mouth) are deliberately cryptic in the Sanskrit itself — likely names and images drawn from a ritual riddle tradition whose full referents are not recoverable with certainty. They are rendered here conservatively, following the words rather than resolving the riddle.
Colophon
Rigveda X.53 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.53
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.
yam aicchāma manasā so3 'yam āgād yajñasya vidvān paruṣaś cikitvān |
sa no yakṣad devatātā yajīyān ni hi ṣatsad antaraḥ pūrvo asmat || 1 ||
arādhi hotā niṣadā yajīyān abhi prayāṁsi sudhitāni hi khyat |
yajāmahai yajñiyān hanta devām̐ īḻāmahā īḍyām̐ ājyena || 2 ||
sādhvīm akar devavītiṁ no adya yajñasya jihvām avidāma guhyām |
sa āyur āgāt surabhir vasāno bhadrām akar devahūtiṁ no adya || 3 ||
tad adya vācaḥ prathamam masīya yenāsurām̐ abhi devā asāma |
ūrjāda uta yajñiyāsaḥ pañca janā mama hotraṁ juṣadhvam || 4 ||
pañca janā mama hotraṁ juṣantāṁ gojātā uta ye yajñiyāsaḥ |
pṛthivī naḥ pārthivāt pātv aṁhaso 'ntarikṣaṁ divyāt pātv asmān || 5 ||
tantuṁ tanvan rajaso bhānum anv ihi jyotiṣmataḥ patho rakṣa dhiyā kṛtān |
anulbaṇaṁ vayata joguvām apo manur bhava janayā daivyaṁ janam || 6 ||
akṣānaho nahyatanota somyā iṣkṛṇudhvaṁ raśanā ota piṁśata |
aṣṭāvandhuraṁ vahatābhito rathaṁ yena devāso anayann abhi priyam || 7 ||
aśmanvatī rīyate saṁ rabhadhvam ut tiṣṭhata pra taratā sakhāyaḥ |
atrā jahāma ye asann aśevāḥ śivān vayam ut taremābhi vājān || 8 ||
tvaṣṭā māyā ved apasām apastamo bibhrat pātrā devapānāni śaṁtamā |
śiśīte nūnam paraśuṁ svāyasaṁ yena vṛścād etaśo brahmaṇas patiḥ || 9 ||
sato nūnaṁ kavayaḥ saṁ śiśīta vāśībhir yābhir amṛtāya takṣatha |
vidvāṁsaḥ padā guhyāni kartana yena devāso amṛtatvam ānaśuḥ || 10 ||
garbhe yoṣām adadhur vatsam āsany apīcyena manasota jihvayā |
sa viśvāhā sumanā yogyā abhi siṣāsanir vanate kāra ij jitim || 11 ||
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).