Hymn to Bṛhaspati (Brahmaṇaspati)
Rigveda II.23 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) from Maṇḍala 2 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. We call on you, lord of the troops of troops, sage of sages, most renowned of all — eldest king of the sacred formulas. O Brahmaṇaspati, hear us, and with your help sit down upon the seat.
2. Even the gods, O wise lord, O Bṛhaspati, have received through you their share in the sacrifice. Like the sun with its light, great one, you are indeed the begetter of all sacred formulas.
3. Driving back slander and the darknesses, you mount the light-filled chariot of truth. O Bṛhaspati, fearsome one, humbler of enemies, slayer of demons, breaker-open of the cattle-pen, finder of the sunlight.
4. With good guidance you lead, you protect the man who makes offering to you — distress does not reach him. You are the scorcher of those who hate the sacred formula, the queller of their fury. O Bṛhaspati, that is your great greatness.
5. No distress, no misfortune from anywhere, no hostility, no deceiver overtakes him whom you, good protector, guard, O Brahmaṇaspati — from him you drive away every injury.
6. You are our protector, path-maker, far-seeing one; for your ordinance we sing you with our thoughts. O Bṛhaspati, whoever sets treachery against us — let his own violent ruin destroy him.
7. And should any hostile mortal, a treacherous wolf, seek to harm us though we are without fault — O Bṛhaspati, turn him from the path; make the way smooth for us, for this feast of the gods.
8. We call on you as protector of our bodies, deliverer, as our devoted advocate. O Bṛhaspati, strike down the scorners of the gods; let evil men attain no further favor.
9. With you as our good increaser, O Brahmaṇaspati, may we win the enviable wealth of men. Whatever hostilities stand against us, far or near, crush them — they are worthless.
10. With you as our full and gainful ally, O Bṛhaspati, may we win the highest vigor. Let no evil-speaker who seeks to harm us have power over us; well-praising, may we prosper through our thoughts.
11. Unyielding bull, who answers the call to battle, scorcher, subduer of the enemy in combat — you are true, O punisher of the guilty, Brahmaṇaspati, tamer even of the fierce and violent one.
12. Whoever with a godless mind seeks to injure us, who thinks himself mighty in command and seeks to kill — O Bṛhaspati, let his weapon not reach us; put down the fury of that evil, arrogant one.
13. To be called on in battles, to be approached with homage, who goes forth in the contests, winner of every prize — Bṛhaspati has hewn down all the hostile assaults of the enemy, as one hews down chariots.
14. With your sharpest burning heat, burn the demons who have set reproach against you, whose strength is plain to see. Make manifest what is worthy of your hymn of praise, O Bṛhaspati; tear apart the slanders.
15. O Bṛhaspati, whatever splendor, full of purpose, shines out among the people beyond what the rival deserves — whatever shines forth with strength, O one born of truth — grant us that wondrous wealth.
16. Do not give us over to thieves, deceivers unharmed who stand in the place of harm, greedy for our food. The onslaughts of the gods move toward the heart — O Bṛhaspati, they know nothing beyond mere sound.
17. Tvaṣṭṛ begot you out beyond all worlds, the sage of every sacred chant. He, Brahmaṇaspati, discoverer of the debt owed, punisher of the debtor, slayer of deceit, upholder of the great cosmic order.
18. For your glory the mountain opened wide, when you, O Aṅgiras, released the herd of cows. With Indra as your ally, you forced out the flood of waters that lay wrapped in darkness, O Bṛhaspati.
19. O Brahmaṇaspati, be the guide of this well-spoken hymn, and quicken our offspring. All that good which the gods favor — may we, rich in able men, speak aloud in the assembly.
Translator's note: verse 16 is one of the more obscure verses in the hymn; "nirāmiṇo" (rendered here "unharmed") and the closing half-line ("they know nothing beyond mere sound") are translated conservatively, following the most literal sense of the Sanskrit rather than any smoothing paraphrase. Verse 15's "arya" (rendered "rival") and verse 9's "anapnasaḥ" (rendered "worthless") are likewise terse, disputed terms translated at their plainest sense.
Colophon
Rigveda II.23 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 II.23
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.
gaṇānāṁ tvā gaṇapatiṁ havāmahe kaviṁ kavīnām upamaśravastamam |
jyeṣṭharājam brahmaṇām brahmaṇas pata ā naḥ śṛṇvann ūtibhiḥ sīda sādanam || 1 ||
devāś cit te asurya pracetaso bṛhaspate yajñiyam bhāgam ānaśuḥ |
usrā iva sūryo jyotiṣā maho viśveṣām ij janitā brahmaṇām asi || 2 ||
ā vibādhyā parirāpas tamāṁsi ca jyotiṣmantaṁ ratham ṛtasya tiṣṭhasi |
bṛhaspate bhīmam amitradambhanaṁ rakṣohaṇaṁ gotrabhidaṁ svarvidam || 3 ||
sunītibhir nayasi trāyase janaṁ yas tubhyaṁ dāśān na tam aṁho aśnavat |
brahmadviṣas tapano manyumīr asi bṛhaspate mahi tat te mahitvanam || 4 ||
na tam aṁho na duritaṁ kutaś cana nārātayas titirur na dvayāvinaḥ |
viśvā id asmād dhvaraso vi bādhase yaṁ sugopā rakṣasi brahmaṇas pate || 5 ||
tvaṁ no gopāḥ pathikṛd vicakṣaṇas tava vratāya matibhir jarāmahe |
bṛhaspate yo no abhi hvaro dadhe svā tam marmartu ducchunā harasvatī || 6 ||
uta vā yo no marcayād anāgaso 'rātīvā martaḥ sānuko vṛkaḥ |
bṛhaspate apa taṁ vartayā pathaḥ sugaṁ no asyai devavītaye kṛdhi || 7 ||
trātāraṁ tvā tanūnāṁ havāmahe 'vaspartar adhivaktāram asmayum |
bṛhaspate devanido ni barhaya mā durevā uttaraṁ sumnam un naśan || 8 ||
tvayā vayaṁ suvṛdhā brahmaṇas pate spārhā vasu manuṣyā dadīmahi |
yā no dūre taḻito yā arātayo 'bhi santi jambhayā tā anapnasaḥ || 9 ||
tvayā vayam uttamaṁ dhīmahe vayo bṛhaspate papriṇā sasninā yujā |
mā no duḥśaṁso abhidipsur īśata pra suśaṁsā matibhis tāriṣīmahi || 10 ||
anānudo vṛṣabho jagmir āhavaṁ niṣṭaptā śatrum pṛtanāsu sāsahiḥ |
asi satya ṛṇayā brahmaṇas pata ugrasya cid damitā vīḻuharṣiṇaḥ || 11 ||
adevena manasā yo riṣaṇyati śāsām ugro manyamāno jighāṁsati |
bṛhaspate mā praṇak tasya no vadho ni karma manyuṁ durevasya śardhataḥ || 12 ||
bhareṣu havyo namasopasadyo gantā vājeṣu sanitā dhanaṁ-dhanam |
viśvā id aryo abhidipsvo3 mṛdho bṛhaspatir vi vavarhā rathām̐ iva || 13 ||
tejiṣṭhayā tapanī rakṣasas tapa ye tvā nide dadhire dṛṣṭavīryam |
āvis tat kṛṣva yad asat ta ukthya1m bṛhaspate vi parirāpo ardaya || 14 ||
bṛhaspate ati yad aryo arhād dyumad vibhāti kratumaj janeṣu |
yad dīdayac chavasa ṛtaprajāta tad asmāsu draviṇaṁ dhehi citram || 15 ||
mā naḥ stenebhyo ye abhi druhas pade nirāmiṇo ripavo 'nneṣu jāgṛdhuḥ |
ā devānām ohate vi vrayo hṛdi bṛhaspate na paraḥ sāmno viduḥ || 16 ||
viśvebhyo hi tvā bhuvanebhyas pari tvaṣṭājanat sāmnaḥ-sāmnaḥ kaviḥ |
sa ṛṇacid ṛṇayā brahmaṇas patir druho hantā maha ṛtasya dhartari || 17 ||
tava śriye vy ajihīta parvato gavāṁ gotram udasṛjo yad aṅgiraḥ |
indreṇa yujā tamasā parīvṛtam bṛhaspate nir apām aubjo arṇavam || 18 ||
brahmaṇas pate tvam asya yantā sūktasya bodhi tanayaṁ ca jinva |
viśvaṁ tad bhadraṁ yad avanti devā bṛhad vadema vidathe suvīrāḥ || 19 ||
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).