Hymn to Viśvakarman
Rigveda X.81 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. The hymn addresses Viśvakarman, "the all-maker," asking by what support and what material he fashioned heaven and earth.
1. He who, offering up all these beings, sat down as seer and Hotar—our father—seeking wealth through his blessing, having covered over the first ones, entered among the later-born.
2. What indeed was the standing-place, the support? What was the starting point, and how was it, from which Viśvakarman, generating the earth, and seeing in every direction, unveiled the sky by his might?
3. He who has eyes on every side, a face on every side, arms on every side, feet on every side—he forges together with his two arms, together with his wings, generating heaven and earth, the one god.
4. What indeed was the wood, and what was that tree, from which they carved out heaven and earth? Ask, you thoughtful ones, in your minds, that on which he stood, upholding the worlds.
5. Your highest realms, your lowest, and your middle ones too, O Viśvakarman—teach these to your friends at the offering, O self-powerful one; sacrifice your own self, growing your own body.
6. O Viśvakarman, strengthened by the oblation, sacrifice earth and heaven yourself. Let other people round about be confounded here—let the bounteous lord be ours.
7. Let us today call, for help in the contest, upon Viśvakarman, lord of speech, swift as thought. May he delight in all our invocations—he who brings good to all, whose deeds are effective—for our aid.
Translator's note: verse 1's "prathamacchad" (rendered "covered over the first ones") and verse 3's "patatraiḥ" (rendered "wings," in context of forging/blowing) are both notoriously compressed phrases in this hymn; the renderings above are conservative and stay close to the literal Sanskrit rather than smoothing them into a fixed interpretation.
Colophon
Rigveda X.81 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.81
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.
ya imā viśvā bhuvanāni juhvad ṛṣir hotā ny asīdat pitā naḥ |
sa āśiṣā draviṇam icchamānaḥ prathamacchad avarām̐ ā viveśa || 1 ||
kiṁ svid āsīd adhiṣṭhānam ārambhaṇaṁ katamat svit kathāsīt |
yato bhūmiṁ janayan viśvakarmā vi dyām aurṇon mahinā viśvacakṣāḥ || 2 ||
viśvataścakṣur uta viśvatomukho viśvatobāhur uta viśvataspāt |
sam bāhubhyāṁ dhamati sam patatrair dyāvābhūmī janayan deva ekaḥ || 3 ||
kiṁ svid vanaṁ ka u sa vṛkṣa āsa yato dyāvāpṛthivī niṣṭatakṣuḥ |
manīṣiṇo manasā pṛcchated u tad yad adhyatiṣṭhad bhuvanāni dhārayan || 4 ||
yā te dhāmāni paramāṇi yāvamā yā madhyamā viśvakarmann utemā |
śikṣā sakhibhyo haviṣi svadhāvaḥ svayaṁ yajasva tanvaṁ vṛdhānaḥ || 5 ||
viśvakarman haviṣā vāvṛdhānaḥ svayaṁ yajasva pṛthivīm uta dyām |
muhyantv anye abhito janāsa ihāsmākam maghavā sūrir astu || 6 ||
vācas patiṁ viśvakarmāṇam ūtaye manojuvaṁ vāje adyā huvema |
sa no viśvāni havanāni joṣad viśvaśambhūr avase sādhukarmā || 7 ||
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).