Hymn to the All-Gods (Viśvedevāḥ)
Rigveda X.65 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. Agni, Indra, Varuna, Mitra, Aryaman, Vayu, Pushan, Sarasvati — all of one accord; the Adityas, Vishnu, the Maruts, the great light of the sun, Soma, Rudra, Aditi, and Brahmanaspati.
2. Indra and Agni, the true lords in the slayings of Vritra, spurring each other on, sharing one dwelling, filled the vast mid-air with their strength — and Soma, glorious with ghee, stirring up their greatness.
3. By the greatness of these great, unassailable ones, I who know the truth-order raise my praises to those who grow strong through that order. May they of wondrous bounty, who span the surging flood of waters, good friends to us, grant us their favor.
4. The light of the sun, the realms of mid-air, the shining spaces, Heaven and Earth — they propped these up by their strength. Like nourishing food, magnifying themselves, the generous gods, the wise ones, are praised for Manu's sake.
5. Strive to give to Mitra, and to Varuna the giver — the two sovereign kings who in their minds never neglect their worshipers; whose vast domain shines bright by their law, whose two world-halves, the earth and sky, seek their support like troops seeking aid.
6. The cow that circles her appointed path, yielding her milk, obedient to the ordinance, unhindered — she, once named, gives her offering to Varuna the giver, to the gods, and to Vivasvant at the sacrificial fire.
7. Dwellers of heaven, with Agni as their tongue, grown strong through the truth-order, they sit pondering the womb of truth. Having propped up heaven, they drew forth the waters by their strength; having begotten the sacrifice, they tended it closely.
8. The two encompassing parents, one born before, one after, dwelling together in a single home within the womb of truth — Heaven and Earth, bound to Varuna's ordinance, swell with ghee-rich milk for the mighty buffalo.
9. Parjanya and Vata, the two rain-swollen bulls, Indra and Vayu, Varuna, Mitra, Aryaman — we call on the gods, the Adityas, and Aditi, whether they belong to earth, to heaven, or to the waters.
10. Tvashtar and Vayu, whom the Ribhus honor, the two divine priests of invocation, and Dawn — we call on them for our well-being. We beseech Brihaspati, devourer of Vritra, the wise one, and Soma who belongs to Indra — we who seek to win the prize.
11. Begetting sacred speech, the cow, the horse, the herbs, the trees, the earth, the mountains, the waters, and raising the sun into the sky, the bountiful gods send forth their Aryan ordinances over the earth.
12. O Ashvins, you rescued Bhujyu from his distress; you gave new life to Shyava, son of Vadhrimati; you brought Kamadyu to Vimada; you set Vishnapu free for Vishvaka.
13. The daughter of Pavīru, the thunder, Aja Ekapad who upholds the sky, the river, and the waters of the sea — may all the gods hear these words of mine, and Sarasvati too, together with Insight and Abundance.
14. All the gods, together with Insight and Abundance, worthy of worship for Manu's sake, undying, knowers of the truth-order — companions of bounty, attendants, finders of the sunlight — may they delight in our songs, our sacred speech, our hymn, our light.
15. Vasishtha has praised the immortal gods, who stand over all the worlds. May they grant us wide room today. Guard us always with your blessings.
Translator's note: several phrases resist a single confident rendering. Verse 3's "apsavam arṇavam" (the watery flood the gods are said to span) and verse 13's "pāvīravī" (rendered here as "daughter of Pavīru," a name for the thunder) are conservative renderings of genuinely compact, elliptical Vedic phrasing.
Colophon
Rigveda X.65 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.65
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.
agnir indro varuṇo mitro aryamā vāyuḥ pūṣā sarasvatī sajoṣasaḥ |
ādityā viṣṇur marutaḥ svar bṛhat somo rudro aditir brahmaṇas patiḥ || 1 ||
indrāgnī vṛtrahatyeṣu satpatī mitho hinvānā tanvā3 samokasā |
antarikṣam mahy ā paprur ojasā somo ghṛtaśrīr mahimānam īrayan || 2 ||
teṣāṁ hi mahnā mahatām anarvaṇāṁ stomām̐ iyarmy ṛtajñā ṛtāvṛdhām |
ye apsavam arṇavaṁ citrarādhasas te no rāsantām mahaye sumitryāḥ || 3 ||
svarṇaram antarikṣāṇi rocanā dyāvābhūmī pṛthivīṁ skambhur ojasā |
pṛkṣā iva mahayantaḥ surātayo devāḥ stavante manuṣāya sūrayaḥ || 4 ||
mitrāya śikṣa varuṇāya dāśuṣe yā samrājā manasā na prayucchataḥ |
yayor dhāma dharmaṇā rocate bṛhad yayor ubhe rodasī nādhasī vṛtau || 5 ||
yā gaur vartanim paryeti niṣkṛtam payo duhānā vratanīr avārataḥ |
sā prabruvāṇā varuṇāya dāśuṣe devebhyo dāśad dhaviṣā vivasvate || 6 ||
divakṣaso agnijihvā ṛtāvṛdha ṛtasya yoniṁ vimṛśanta āsate |
dyāṁ skabhitvy a1pa ā cakrur ojasā yajñaṁ janitvī tanvī3 ni māmṛjuḥ || 7 ||
parikṣitā pitarā pūrvajāvarī ṛtasya yonā kṣayataḥ samokasā |
dyāvāpṛthivī varuṇāya savrate ghṛtavat payo mahiṣāya pinvataḥ || 8 ||
parjanyāvātā vṛṣabhā purīṣiṇendravāyū varuṇo mitro aryamā |
devām̐ ādityām̐ aditiṁ havāmahe ye pārthivāso divyāso apsu ye || 9 ||
tvaṣṭāraṁ vāyum ṛbhavo ya ohate daivyā hotārā uṣasaṁ svastaye |
bṛhaspatiṁ vṛtrakhādaṁ sumedhasam indriyaṁ somaṁ dhanasā u īmahe || 10 ||
brahma gām aśvaṁ janayanta oṣadhīr vanaspatīn pṛthivīm parvatām̐ apaḥ |
sūryaṁ divi rohayantaḥ sudānava āryā vratā visṛjanto adhi kṣami || 11 ||
bhujyum aṁhasaḥ pipṛtho nir aśvinā śyāvam putraṁ vadhrimatyā ajinvatam |
kamadyuvaṁ vimadāyohathur yuvaṁ viṣṇāpva1ṁ viśvakāyāva sṛjathaḥ || 12 ||
pāvīravī tanyatur ekapād ajo divo dhartā sindhur āpaḥ samudriyaḥ |
viśve devāsaḥ śṛṇavan vacāṁsi me sarasvatī saha dhībhiḥ puraṁdhyā || 13 ||
viśve devāḥ saha dhībhiḥ puraṁdhyā manor yajatrā amṛtā ṛtajñāḥ |
rātiṣāco abhiṣācaḥ svarvidaḥ sva1r giro brahma sūktaṁ juṣerata || 14 ||
devān vasiṣṭho amṛtān vavande ye viśvā bhuvanābhi pratasthuḥ |
te no rāsantām urugāyam adya yūyam pāta svastibhiḥ sadā naḥ || 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).