Hymn to the Viśvedevas (All-Gods)
Rigveda X.64 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. How shall we, on the course of which god, meditate on the name worth thinking, among those who hear? Who will show mercy? Which one will bring us joy? Which one will turn toward us with help?
2. The powers stir with will in our hearts, the thoughts yearn, the longings fly out to every quarter. No comforter other than these is found; my desires have fastened upon the gods.
3. Shall we honor with song Narashamsa, or Pushan, or Agohya who cannot be hidden, or Agni kindled by the gods' own hand? Surya and the Moon, the bright Moon, Yama on high, Trita, Vata, Usas, Night, the two Ashvins?
4. By what song, with what praise, does loud-voiced Brihaspati grow strong through well-woven hymns? Let Aja Ekapad, with the singers ready at call, let Ahi Budhnya hear our invocation.
5. Or, Aditi, at the birth-ordinance of Daksha, do you draw hither the two kings Mitra and Varuna? And Aryaman, whose path none surpasses, of many chariots, of seven Hotars, present among beings of every form?
6. Let all our coursers who hear the call hear this call — the vigorous ones of measured pace, who win thousands as if by their own strength in a contest of skill, who have carried off great spoil in the fray.
7. Bring forth, with your praise-songs, Vayu who yokes the chariot, and Purandhi, and Pushan for friendship; for they, at the prompting of the god Savitar, follow his purpose, being of one mind with him.
8. We call for help the thrice-seven flowing rivers, the great waters, the trees, the mountains, Agni, Krishanu the bowman, Tishya in his place, and Rudra among the Rudras, he of Rudra's own nature.
9. Sarasvati, Sarayu, Sindhu with their waves — let the great, mighty, surging rivers come with help. Divine waters, life-giving mothers — pour out for us milk rich in ghee and honey.
10. And let mother Brihaddiva hear our words, and Tvashtar the father with his divine wives; Ribhukshan, Vaja, the lord of the chariot, Bhaga — let the delightful praise-song of the worshiper protect us.
11. Delightful to behold, like a dwelling rich with food, is the auspicious praise of the Rudras, the Maruts. May we be renowned among the people through our cattle; may we, gods, always be attended by abundance.
12. The insight that you gave me, O Maruts, Indra, gods, Varuna, Mitra — swell it like a milk-cow with milk; surely you will carry our songs upon your chariot.
13. Surely, indeed, O Maruts, you take notice of this our kinship with you. At the navel-point where we first were joined together, there let Aditi establish our bond.
14. For Heaven and Earth, the two great mothers, the two goddesses worthy of worship, mothers of the gods by birth — both sustain both broods, of god and man, with their sustaining powers, and with the Fathers pour forth abundant seed.
15. This office of the Hotr reaches all that is to be desired — Brihaspati, and Aramati most worthy of praise — where the soma-pressing stone sounds loud, the wise ones have cried out with their thoughts.
16. Thus the loud-voiced poet, knowing the sacred order, desiring wealth, longing for riches, the inspired Gaya, with hymns and thoughts here, has enriched the divine race.
17. Thus the son of Plati, the wise one, has strengthened you, all Adityas, and Aditi as well. The ruling immortals — the divine race — has been extolled by Gaya.
Translator's note: several proper names are kept untranslated as the standard names of deities and seers — Narashamsa, Agohya, Aja Ekapad, Ahi Budhnya, Aramati, Purandhi, Brihaddiva, Ribhukshan, Krishanu, Tishya, and Gaya son of Plati (the hymn's own poet, who names himself in the closing verses). Verse 8's "astṝn" is rendered "the bowman" following its sense as an epithet of Krishanu rather than a separate figure.
Colophon
Rigveda X.64 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.64
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.
kathā devānāṁ katamasya yāmani sumantu nāma śṛṇvatām manāmahe |
ko mṛḻāti katamo no mayas karat katama ūtī abhy ā vavartati || 1 ||
kratūyanti kratavo hṛtsu dhītayo venanti venāḥ patayanty ā diśaḥ |
na marḍitā vidyate anya ebhyo deveṣu me adhi kāmā ayaṁsata || 2 ||
narā vā śaṁsam pūṣaṇam agohyam agniṁ deveddham abhy arcase girā |
sūryāmāsā candramasā yamaṁ divi tritaṁ vātam uṣasam aktum aśvinā || 3 ||
kathā kavis tuvīravān kayā girā bṛhaspatir vāvṛdhate suvṛktibhiḥ |
aja ekapāt suhavebhir ṛkvabhir ahiḥ śṛṇotu budhnyo3 havīmani || 4 ||
dakṣasya vādite janmani vrate rājānā mitrāvaruṇā vivāsasi |
atūrtapanthāḥ pururatho aryamā saptahotā viṣurūpeṣu janmasu || 5 ||
te no arvanto havanaśruto havaṁ viśve śṛṇvantu vājino mitadravaḥ |
sahasrasā medhasātāv iva tmanā maho ye dhanaṁ samitheṣu jabhrire || 6 ||
pra vo vāyuṁ rathayujam puraṁdhiṁ stomaiḥ kṛṇudhvaṁ sakhyāya pūṣaṇam |
te hi devasya savituḥ savīmani kratuṁ sacante sacitaḥ sacetasaḥ || 7 ||
triḥ sapta sasrā nadyo mahīr apo vanaspatīn parvatām̐ agnim ūtaye |
kṛśānum astṝn tiṣyaṁ sadhastha ā rudraṁ rudreṣu rudriyaṁ havāmahe || 8 ||
sarasvatī sarayuḥ sindhur ūrmibhir maho mahīr avasā yantu vakṣaṇīḥ |
devīr āpo mātaraḥ sūdayitnvo ghṛtavat payo madhuman no arcata || 9 ||
uta mātā bṛhaddivā śṛṇotu nas tvaṣṭā devebhir janibhiḥ pitā vacaḥ |
ṛbhukṣā vājo rathaspatir bhago raṇvaḥ śaṁsaḥ śaśamānasya pātu naḥ || 10 ||
raṇvaḥ saṁdṛṣṭau pitumām̐ iva kṣayo bhadrā rudrāṇām marutām upastutiḥ |
gobhiḥ ṣyāma yaśaso janeṣv ā sadā devāsa iḻayā sacemahi || 11 ||
yām me dhiyam maruta indra devā adadāta varuṇa mitra yūyam |
tām pīpayata payaseva dhenuṁ kuvid giro adhi rathe vahātha || 12 ||
kuvid aṅga prati yathā cid asya naḥ sajātyasya maruto bubodhatha |
nābhā yatra prathamaṁ saṁnasāmahe tatra jāmitvam aditir dadhātu naḥ || 13 ||
te hi dyāvāpṛthivī mātarā mahī devī devāñ janmanā yajñiye itaḥ |
ubhe bibhṛta ubhayam bharīmabhiḥ purū retāṁsi pitṛbhiś ca siñcataḥ || 14 ||
vi ṣā hotrā viśvam aśnoti vāryam bṛhaspatir aramatiḥ panīyasī |
grāvā yatra madhuṣud ucyate bṛhad avīvaśanta matibhir manīṣiṇaḥ || 15 ||
evā kavis tuvīravām̐ ṛtajñā draviṇasyur draviṇasaś cakānaḥ |
ukthebhir atra matibhiś ca vipro 'pīpayad gayo divyāni janma || 16 ||
evā plateḥ sūnur avīvṛdhad vo viśva ādityā adite manīṣī |
īśānāso naro amartyenāstāvi jano divyo gayena || 17 ||
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).