Hymn to the All-Gods (Viśvedevāḥ)
Rigveda X.66 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. I call the gods of great renown, for well-being — makers of light, wise about the rite — who have grown ever greater, possessors of all things, immortal, with Indra as their chief, strengtheners of truth.
2. Sent forth by Indra, directed by Varuṇa, who have won their share of the sun's light — on the troop of the Maruts, in their domain, let us fix our thought; for the bounteous ones the patrons bring forth the sacrifice.
3. May Indra with the Vasus guard our household on every side; may Aditi with the Ādityas grant us shelter. May the god Rudra with the Rudras show us mercy; may Tvaṣṭar with the divine wives stir us toward well-being.
4. Aditi, Heaven and Earth, the great Truth, Indra and Viṣṇu, the Maruts, the lofty sunlight — we call on the gods, the Ādityas, for help; the Vasus, the Rudras, and Savitar of wondrous works.
5. Sarasvant with his insights, Varuṇa whose ordinances hold firm, Pūṣan, mighty Viṣṇu, Vāyu, the two Aśvins — the makers of the sacred formula, immortal, possessors of all things — may they grant us a threefold shelter from distress.
6. A bull is the sacrifice; let the worshipful powers be bulls — the gods bulls, the makers of oblation bulls; bulls are Heaven and Earth, keepers of Truth; a bull is Parjanya, and bulls are those hymned as bulls.
7. Agni and Soma, bulls, much-praised bulls, I call upon to win the prize; those two bulls whom the bulls have worshipped with sacrifice directed to the gods — may they grant us a threefold shelter.
8. They whose ordinances hold firm, the rulers, the perfecters of the rite, the ones of high heaven, the glory of the ceremonies, whose Hotar is Agni, followers of Truth and free of deceit — they released the waters after the conquest of Vṛtra.
9. They brought forth Heaven and Earth according to their ordinance, the waters, the plants, and the sacrificial trees. They filled the mid-air and the sunlight, for our help; the gods adorned their own bodies as they wished.
10. The upholders of heaven, the skilled-handed Ṛbhus, Vāta and Parjanya, roaring like a buffalo — may the waters and the plants carry forward our songs; may Bhaga, the Giver, and the prize-bearer heed my call.
11. The sea, the rivers, the region of mid-air, Aja Ekapād, the Thunderer, the flood, Ahi Budhnya — may these hear my words, and all the gods, and my patrons too.
12. May we be as men fit for your feast, O gods; lead our sacrifice forward rightly. O Ādityas, Rudras, Vasus of good gifts, quicken these sacred words as they are spoken.
13. The two divine Hotars, first ones set as priests — I follow rightly along the path of Truth. We turn to the Lord of the Field, our neighbor, and to all the immortal gods who are never far off.
14. The sons of Vasiṣṭha have raised their voice as their father did, calling on the gods as that seer once did, for well-being. Like pleased kinsmen drawing near at our wish — O gods, shake down wealth upon us.
15. Vasiṣṭha has praised the immortal gods who preside over all the worlds. May they grant us wide room today. Protect us always with your blessings.
Translator's note: verse 9's "vaśaṁ devāsas tanvī3 ni māmṛjuḥ" is rendered conservatively as "the gods adorned their own bodies as they wished" — the exact sense of vaśam (at will / at pleasure) with tanvīḥ (bodies) here is not fully certain. Verse 11's Aja Ekapād ("the one-footed goat/driver") and Ahi Budhnya ("the serpent of the depths") are left as proper names, following standard Vedic usage, since they name deities rather than describing ordinary objects.
Colophon
Rigveda X.66 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.66
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.
devān huve bṛhacchravasaḥ svastaye jyotiṣkṛto adhvarasya pracetasaḥ |
ye vāvṛdhuḥ prataraṁ viśvavedasa indrajyeṣṭhāso amṛtā ṛtāvṛdhaḥ || 1 ||
indraprasūtā varuṇapraśiṣṭā ye sūryasya jyotiṣo bhāgam ānaśuḥ |
marudgaṇe vṛjane manma dhīmahi māghone yajñaṁ janayanta sūrayaḥ || 2 ||
indro vasubhiḥ pari pātu no gayam ādityair no aditiḥ śarma yacchatu |
rudro rudrebhir devo mṛḻayāti nas tvaṣṭā no gnābhiḥ suvitāya jinvatu || 3 ||
aditir dyāvāpṛthivī ṛtam mahad indrāviṣṇū marutaḥ svar bṛhat |
devām̐ ādityām̐ avase havāmahe vasūn rudrān savitāraṁ sudaṁsasam || 4 ||
sarasvān dhībhir varuṇo dhṛtavrataḥ pūṣā viṣṇur mahimā vāyur aśvinā |
brahmakṛto amṛtā viśvavedasaḥ śarma no yaṁsan trivarūtham aṁhasaḥ || 5 ||
vṛṣā yajño vṛṣaṇaḥ santu yajñiyā vṛṣaṇo devā vṛṣaṇo haviṣkṛtaḥ |
vṛṣaṇā dyāvāpṛthivī ṛtāvarī vṛṣā parjanyo vṛṣaṇo vṛṣastubhaḥ || 6 ||
agnīṣomā vṛṣaṇā vājasātaye purupraśastā vṛṣaṇā upa bruve |
yāv ījire vṛṣaṇo devayajyayā tā naḥ śarma trivarūthaṁ vi yaṁsataḥ || 7 ||
dhṛtavratāḥ kṣatriyā yajñaniṣkṛto bṛhaddivā adhvarāṇām abhiśriyaḥ |
agnihotāra ṛtasāpo adruho 'po asṛjann anu vṛtratūrye || 8 ||
dyāvāpṛthivī janayann abhi vratāpa oṣadhīr vanināni yajñiyā |
antarikṣaṁ sva1r ā paprur ūtaye vaśaṁ devāsas tanvī3 ni māmṛjuḥ || 9 ||
dhartāro diva ṛbhavaḥ suhastā vātāparjanyā mahiṣasya tanyatoḥ |
āpa oṣadhīḥ pra tirantu no giro bhago rātir vājino yantu me havam || 10 ||
samudraḥ sindhū rajo antarikṣam aja ekapāt tanayitnur arṇavaḥ |
ahir budhnyaḥ śṛṇavad vacāṁsi me viśve devāsa uta sūrayo mama || 11 ||
syāma vo manavo devavītaye prāñcaṁ no yajñam pra ṇayata sādhuyā |
ādityā rudrā vasavaḥ sudānava imā brahma śasyamānāni jinvata || 12 ||
daivyā hotārā prathamā purohita ṛtasya panthām anv emi sādhuyā |
kṣetrasya patim prativeśam īmahe viśvān devām̐ amṛtām̐ aprayucchataḥ || 13 ||
vasiṣṭhāsaḥ pitṛvad vācam akrata devām̐ īḻānā ṛṣivat svastaye |
prītā iva jñātayaḥ kāmam etyāsme devāso 'va dhūnutā vasu || 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).