Hymn to Bṛhaspati
Rigveda X.67 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. This seven-headed thought, born of truth, vast in reach — our father found it in the old days. Āyāsya, born for all people, truly begot the fourth of it, proclaiming the hymn to Indra.
2. Speaking truth, thinking straight, the sons of heaven, the heroes of the mighty lord — the Aṅgirases, holding the inspired station, conceived the first foundation of the sacrifice.
3. Like geese, with loud-calling companions, they cast off the bonds made of stone. Bṛhaspati bellowed at the cows, and praised them, and, knowing, sang out.
4. Below with two doors, above with one, the cows stood hidden, held fast in the dam of untruth. Bṛhaspati, seeking light in the darkness, drove the ruddy cows upward — for he opened all three.
5. Splitting open this stronghold that lay turned away, he cut three things at once out of the deep reservoir. Bṛhaspati found the dawn, the sun, the cow, and the sacred chant, thundering like the sky.
6. Indra split open Vala, guardian of the milking cows, with a roar, as if with a single blow. Seeking the mingled draught with his sweat-anointed companions, he made the Paṇi weep, and stole away the cows.
7. He, with true and blazing companions, split apart by their prizes the one who held the cows fast. Brahmaṇaspati, with bulls and boars sweating from the heat, won through to the wealth.
8. They, with a truthful mind, begging the lord of cows for the cows, urged him on with their thoughts. Bṛhaspati, with his fellows who shield each other from blame, self-yoked, released the ruddy cows upward.
9. Strengthening him with kindly thoughts — him who roars like a lion in his place — Bṛhaspati the bull, in the winning of heroes: may we rejoice with him, the victor, in battle after battle.
10. When he won the prize of every form and climbed to heaven, to the higher seats, we strengthen Bṛhaspati the bull, many as we are, bearing light in our mouths.
11. Make our blessing true, to grant us strength — for you two help even the humble in your own ways. Let all hostility fall behind us. Hear this, O Heaven and Earth, you who set all things in motion.
12. Indra, by his greatness, split open the head of Arbuda, of the great flood. He slew the serpent, he let the seven rivers flow free. O Heaven and Earth, with the gods, carry us forward.
Translator's note: verse 1's "turīyaṁ svit" ("the fourth, indeed") is an obscure fragment with no clear referent in context — rendered literally rather than resolved. Verse 6's "kareṇeva" (likened to a hand or an elephant's trunk) is kept as a plain simile since the exact image is uncertain.
Colophon
Rigveda X.67 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.67
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.
imāṁ dhiyaṁ saptaśīrṣṇīm pitā na ṛtaprajātām bṛhatīm avindat |
turīyaṁ svij janayad viśvajanyo 'yāsya uktham indrāya śaṁsan || 1 ||
ṛtaṁ śaṁsanta ṛju dīdhyānā divas putrāso asurasya vīrāḥ |
vipram padam aṅgiraso dadhānā yajñasya dhāma prathamam mananta || 2 ||
haṁsair iva sakhibhir vāvadadbhir aśmanmayāni nahanā vyasyan |
bṛhaspatir abhikanikradad gā uta prāstaud uc ca vidvām̐ agāyat || 3 ||
avo dvābhyām para ekayā gā guhā tiṣṭhantīr anṛtasya setau |
bṛhaspatis tamasi jyotir icchann ud usrā ākar vi hi tisra āvaḥ || 4 ||
vibhidyā puraṁ śayathem apācīṁ nis trīṇi sākam udadher akṛntat |
bṛhaspatir uṣasaṁ sūryaṁ gām arkaṁ viveda stanayann iva dyauḥ || 5 ||
indro valaṁ rakṣitāraṁ dughānāṁ kareṇeva vi cakartā raveṇa |
svedāñjibhir āśiram icchamāno 'rodayat paṇim ā gā amuṣṇāt || 6 ||
sa īṁ satyebhiḥ sakhibhiḥ śucadbhir godhāyasaṁ vi dhanasair adardaḥ |
brahmaṇas patir vṛṣabhir varāhair gharmasvedebhir draviṇaṁ vy ānaṭ || 7 ||
te satyena manasā gopatiṁ gā iyānāsa iṣaṇayanta dhībhiḥ |
bṛhaspatir mithoavadyapebhir ud usriyā asṛjata svayugbhiḥ || 8 ||
taṁ vardhayanto matibhiḥ śivābhiḥ siṁham iva nānadataṁ sadhasthe |
bṛhaspatiṁ vṛṣaṇaṁ śūrasātau bhare-bhare anu madema jiṣṇum || 9 ||
yadā vājam asanad viśvarūpam ā dyām arukṣad uttarāṇi sadma |
bṛhaspatiṁ vṛṣaṇaṁ vardhayanto nānā santo bibhrato jyotir āsā || 10 ||
satyām āśiṣaṁ kṛṇutā vayodhai kīriṁ cid dhy avatha svebhir evaiḥ |
paścā mṛdho apa bhavantu viśvās tad rodasī śṛṇutaṁ viśvaminve || 11 ||
indro mahnā mahato arṇavasya vi mūrdhānam abhinad arbudasya |
ahann ahim ariṇāt sapta sindhūn devair dyāvāpṛthivī prāvataṁ naḥ || 12 ||
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).