A Prayer for Long Life and Healing
Rigveda X.59 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. Life is carried forward, further and anew, like a skilled charioteer guiding his chariot. Then Cyavana rises up with strength toward his goal. Let Nirṛti, dissolution, go far away.
2. Now let us make a chant for wealth, a store of food, abundant renown in many forms. Let the singer take delight in all these things of ours. Let Nirṛti, dissolution, go far away.
3. May we prevail over the rival through manly strength, as heaven surpasses earth, as mountains surpass the plains. The singer has taken note of all these things of ours. Let Nirṛti, dissolution, go far away.
4. O Soma, do not give us over to death. May we see the sun rising. Let old age, granted through the days, be kind to us. Let Nirṛti, dissolution, go far away.
5. O Asunīti, hold our mind within us. Extend our lifespan well, that we may live. Grant us delight in the sight of the sun. Make our body flourish with ghee.
6. O Asunīti, restore sight in us again, restore breath and enjoyment here in us again. Long may we see the sun rising. O Anumati, show us mercy, grant us well-being.
7. Let Earth give us back our life-breath again, let goddess Heaven again, let the Midspace again. Let Soma give us back our body again. Let Pūṣan again grant the path that leads to well-being.
8. May the two world-halves, the youthful mothers of cosmic order, bring well-being to him who is well-befriended. Let them carry away whatever affliction there is. O Heaven, O Earth, let the affliction go down to the ground — let nothing at all cause you pain.
9. Down come the pair, down come the three — the remedies of heaven travel down. The single one moves upon the earth. Let them carry away whatever affliction there is. O Heaven, O Earth, let the affliction go down to the ground — let nothing at all cause you pain.
10. O Indra, bring back the draft-ox that drew the cart of Uśīnarāṇī. Let them carry away whatever affliction there is. O Heaven, O Earth, let the affliction go down to the ground — let nothing at all cause you pain.
Translator's note: "Asunīte" (verses 5–6) is a vocative addressed to Asunīti, a personification of "leading/guiding the life-breath" — rendered here as a name rather than translated, following the pattern of other personified abstractions in the hymn (Nirṛti, Anumati). In verse 9, "the pair" and "the three" (dvake, trikā) are left as the Sanskrit gives them — the referents (likely groups of healing waters or remedies descending from the sky) are not specified in the verse itself.
Colophon
Rigveda X.59 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.59
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 tāry āyuḥ prataraṁ navīyaḥ sthātāreva kratumatā rathasya |
adha cyavāna ut tavīty artham parātaraṁ su nirṛtir jihītām || 1 ||
sāman nu rāye nidhiman nv annaṁ karāmahe su purudha śravāṁsi |
tā no viśvāni jaritā mamattu parātaraṁ su nirṛtir jihītām || 2 ||
abhī ṣv a1ryaḥ pauṁsyair bhavema dyaur na bhūmiṁ girayo nājrān |
tā no viśvāni jaritā ciketa parātaraṁ su nirṛtir jihītām || 3 ||
mo ṣu ṇaḥ soma mṛtyave parā dāḥ paśyema nu sūryam uccarantam |
dyubhir hito jarimā sū no astu parātaraṁ su nirṛtir jihītām || 4 ||
asunīte mano asmāsu dhāraya jīvātave su pra tirā na āyuḥ |
rārandhi naḥ sūryasya saṁdṛśi ghṛtena tvaṁ tanvaṁ vardhayasva || 5 ||
asunīte punar asmāsu cakṣuḥ punaḥ prāṇam iha no dhehi bhogam |
jyok paśyema sūryam uccarantam anumate mṛḻayā naḥ svasti || 6 ||
punar no asum pṛthivī dadātu punar dyaur devī punar antarikṣam |
punar naḥ somas tanvaṁ dadātu punaḥ pūṣā pathyā3ṁ yā svastiḥ || 7 ||
śaṁ rodasī subandhave yahvī ṛtasya mātarā |
bharatām apa yad rapo dyauḥ pṛthivi kṣamā rapo mo ṣu te kiṁ canāmamat || 8 ||
ava dvake ava trikā divaś caranti bheṣajā |
kṣamā cariṣṇv ekakam bharatām apa yad rapo dyauḥ pṛthivi kṣamā rapo mo ṣu te kiṁ canāmamat || 9 ||
sam indreraya gām anaḍvāhaṁ ya āvahad uśīnarāṇyā anaḥ |
bharatām apa yad rapo dyauḥ pṛthivi kṣamā rapo mo ṣu te kiṁ canāmamat || 10 ||
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).