Hymn to Brahmaṇaspati
Rigveda II.24 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. Heed this offering, you who hold power over it; with this new, great song let us worship you. So that our bounteous friend sings your praise, Brahmaṇaspati — bring our prayer to fulfillment.
2. He who bent low the things that bow, and with fury tore apart the strongholds of Śambara by his strength — Brahmaṇaspati shook loose what was unshakeable, and entered the wealth-holding mountain.
3. That deed was for the most godlike of gods to do: the firm things loosened, the fixed things gave way. He drove out the cows, split open Vala with the sacred formula, hid the darkness, and made the sunlight visible.
4. Brahmaṇaspati pierced through, by his strength, the stone-mouthed well that streams with honey. From that very source all the sun-seeing ones drank; together they poured out the swelling spring in abundance.
5. Those ancient worlds, once come into being, held their doors closed to you through many exultant autumns; unyoked, they range each on its own separate course — the tracks that Brahmaṇaspati has laid.
6. Those who, pressing on, reached that treasure of the Paṇis, hidden far off in a cave — those knowing ones, having seen through the falsehoods, went back out again to where they had come from.
7. The truthful ones, having seen through the falsehoods once more, the seers, took their stand upon the great paths. They kindled with their two arms a fire in the stone; no one is a stranger to it, for it was they who set it free.
8. With his swift bow strung with truth, Brahmaṇaspati reaches, wherever he wishes, whatever he aims at. True are his arrows, with which he shoots — visible to men, drawn back to the ear, for all to see.
9. He is the one who draws together, he who leads apart, the household priest; he is well-praised, he is Brahmaṇaspati in the fight. When by his skillful thought he carries off the prize from riches, the sun burns freely, the burning pair blaze unchecked.
10. Wide-reaching, mighty, foremost, are the good gifts of bountiful Bṛhaspati, ready to be granted — these are the winnings of the desirable, prize-bearing one, by which both kinds of people enjoy their settlements.
11. You who in the lower field are in every way far-reaching, and have grown great and joyous through your strength — that god has spread out broad, facing the other gods; Brahmaṇaspati encompasses all of that.
12. Everything is true of you two bounteous ones; not even the waters transgress your ordinance. Come to our offering, Indra and Brahmaṇaspati, to our food, like two yoke-fellows — come, you strong ones.
13. And the foremost bearers listen accordingly; the assembly-worthy inspired poet carries off riches by his thought. Unyielding against hostility, he takes on the debt at will — he indeed is the mighty one in the clash, Brahmaṇaspati.
14. According to his will there arose Brahmaṇaspati's true zeal, his, about to do a great deed; he who drove out the cows distributed them abroad to heaven — like a great flood he surged apart with his strength.
15. O Brahmaṇaspati, may we always be masters of well-governed, life-giving wealth. Join heroes to us among our heroes, you who, as lord, desire my call through the sacred formula.
16. O Brahmaṇaspati, be the guide of this hymn; take notice, and quicken our offspring. All that is good which the gods favor — may we, rich in good heroes, speak of it loudly at the sacrifice.
Translator's note: verses 5, 7, and 13 contain phrasing (the closed "doors" of ancient worlds, the fire "no one is a stranger to," the taking on of a "debt" in battle) whose precise sense is debated among readers of Vedic Sanskrit; the renderings above follow the words conservatively rather than resolve the ambiguity by conjecture.
Colophon
Rigveda II.24 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.
🌲
Source Text: ṛgveda II.24
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.
semām aviḍḍhi prabhṛtiṁ ya īśiṣe 'yā vidhema navayā mahā girā |
yathā no mīḍhvān stavate sakhā tava bṛhaspate sīṣadhaḥ sota no matim || 1 ||
yo nantvāny anaman ny ojasotādardar manyunā śambarāṇi vi |
prācyāvayad acyutā brahmaṇas patir ā cāviśad vasumantaṁ vi parvatam || 2 ||
tad devānāṁ devatamāya kartvam aśrathnan dṛḻhāvradanta vīḻitā |
ud gā ājad abhinad brahmaṇā valam agūhat tamo vy acakṣayat svaḥ || 3 ||
aśmāsyam avatam brahmaṇas patir madhudhāram abhi yam ojasātṛṇat |
tam eva viśve papire svardṛśo bahu sākaṁ sisicur utsam udriṇam || 4 ||
sanā tā kā cid bhuvanā bhavītvā mādbhiḥ śaradbhir duro varanta vaḥ |
ayatantā carato anyad-anyad id yā cakāra vayunā brahmaṇas patiḥ || 5 ||
abhinakṣanto abhi ye tam ānaśur nidhim paṇīnām paramaṁ guhā hitam |
te vidvāṁsaḥ praticakṣyānṛtā punar yata u āyan tad ud īyur āviśam || 6 ||
ṛtāvānaḥ praticakṣyānṛtā punar āta ā tasthuḥ kavayo mahas pathaḥ |
te bāhubhyāṁ dhamitam agnim aśmani nakiḥ ṣo asty araṇo jahur hi tam || 7 ||
ṛtajyena kṣipreṇa brahmaṇas patir yatra vaṣṭi pra tad aśnoti dhanvanā |
tasya sādhvīr iṣavo yābhir asyati nṛcakṣaso dṛśaye karṇayonayaḥ || 8 ||
sa saṁnayaḥ sa vinayaḥ purohitaḥ sa suṣṭutaḥ sa yudhi brahmaṇas patiḥ |
cākṣmo yad vājam bharate matī dhanād it sūryas tapati tapyatur vṛthā || 9 ||
vibhu prabhu prathamam mehanāvato bṛhaspateḥ suvidatrāṇi rādhyā |
imā sātāni venyasya vājino yena janā ubhaye bhuñjate viśaḥ || 10 ||
yo 'vare vṛjane viśvathā vibhur mahām u raṇvaḥ śavasā vavakṣitha |
sa devo devān prati paprathe pṛthu viśved u tā paribhūr brahmaṇas patiḥ || 11 ||
viśvaṁ satyam maghavānā yuvor id āpaś cana pra minanti vrataṁ vām |
acchendrābrahmaṇaspatī havir no 'nnaṁ yujeva vājinā jigātam || 12 ||
utāśiṣṭhā anu śṛṇvanti vahnayaḥ sabheyo vipro bharate matī dhanā |
vīḻudveṣā anu vaśa ṛṇam ādadiḥ sa ha vājī samithe brahmaṇas patiḥ || 13 ||
brahmaṇas pater abhavad yathāvaśaṁ satyo manyur mahi karmā kariṣyataḥ |
yo gā udājat sa dive vi cābhajan mahīva rītiḥ śavasāsarat pṛthak || 14 ||
brahmaṇas pate suyamasya viśvahā rāyaḥ syāma rathyo3 vayasvataḥ |
vīreṣu vīrām̐ upa pṛṅdhi nas tvaṁ yad īśāno brahmaṇā veṣi me havam || 15 ||
brahmaṇas pate tvam asya yantā sūktasya bodhi tanayaṁ ca jinva |
viśvaṁ tad bhadraṁ yad avanti devā bṛhad vadema vidathe suvīrāḥ || 16 ||
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).