Hymn to Savitṛ
Rigveda II.38 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. This god Savitṛ, the tireless worker, the bearer of oblations, has risen up again for his unceasing task. Now indeed he apportions treasure to the gods, and he has shared the feast-offering in well-being.
2. For all the world to heed him, the god stands upright and stretches forth his broad-palmed arms. Even the waters are held fast within his ordinance; even this wandering wind comes to rest within it.
3. Even those going with swift steeds he now unyokes; he has brought even the tireless one to a halt in its course. He has restrained the swift, gliding ones; in accordance with Savitṛ's ordinance, release has come.
4. Again the weaving one has drawn together and covered over what was spread out; in the midst of the work the steady one has laid down his strength. Rising up, having gathered himself, he has marked off the seasons; Savitṛ the god, ever devoted, has come.
5. Into their many dwellings all the life of the household is distributed, and the flame of Agni springs forth. The mother has given the eldest portion to the son, following the sign set in motion by Savitṛ.
6. He who stood forth seeking gain has turned back again; the desire of all wandering creatures has come to rest at home. He has come, having left behind the ever-flowing waters in their changed state, in accordance with the ordinance of divine Savitṛ.
7. By you the watery portion was set within the waters; the hunters have ranged out over the dry lands. The woodlands belong to the creatures — no one transgresses these ordinances of the god Savitṛ.
8. The watery womb which Varuṇa is to bring to completion trembles, unwhetted, in an instant. Every creature has gone as cattle go to the fold; Savitṛ has marked out the births, each in its place.
9. Whose ordinance neither Indra, Varuṇa, nor Mitra, nor Aryaman, nor Rudra transgresses, nor the hostile powers — him, this god Savitṛ, I invoke for well-being, with gestures of homage.
10. Urging on fortune, insight, and abundance, may Narāśaṁsa, lord of the divine women, protect us. At the gaining, at the gathering of riches, may we be dear to the god Savitṛ.
11. To us may that desirable bounty, given by you, come from heaven, from the waters, from the earth. May it bring well-being to the praisers, to the kinsman, to the far-praised singer, O Savitṛ.
Translator's note: Verses 3 and 8 contain rare, obscure vocabulary (including the compound rendered here as "swift, gliding ones" and the phrase describing the "watery womb" associated with Varuṇa) whose precise sense is uncertain even in the scholarly tradition; they are rendered here conservatively, staying close to the individual Sanskrit words rather than resolving the ambiguity.
Colophon
Rigveda II.38 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.38
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.
ud u ṣya devaḥ savitā savāya śaśvattamaṁ tadapā vahnir asthāt |
nūnaṁ devebhyo vi hi dhāti ratnam athābhajad vītihotraṁ svastau || 1 ||
viśvasya hi śruṣṭaye deva ūrdhvaḥ pra bāhavā pṛthupāṇiḥ sisarti |
āpaś cid asya vrata ā nimṛgrā ayaṁ cid vāto ramate parijman || 2 ||
āśubhiś cid yān vi mucāti nūnam arīramad atamānaṁ cid etoḥ |
ahyarṣūṇāṁ cin ny ayām̐ aviṣyām anu vrataṁ savitur moky āgāt || 3 ||
punaḥ sam avyad vitataṁ vayantī madhyā kartor ny adhāc chakma dhīraḥ |
ut saṁhāyāsthād vy ṛ1tūm̐r adardhar aramatiḥ savitā deva āgāt || 4 ||
nānaukāṁsi duryo viśvam āyur vi tiṣṭhate prabhavaḥ śoko agneḥ |
jyeṣṭham mātā sūnave bhāgam ādhād anv asya ketam iṣitaṁ savitrā || 5 ||
samāvavarti viṣṭhito jigīṣur viśveṣāṁ kāmaś caratām amābhūt |
śaśvām̐ apo vikṛtaṁ hitvy āgād anu vrataṁ savitur daivyasya || 6 ||
tvayā hitam apyam apsu bhāgaṁ dhanvānv ā mṛgayaso vi tasthuḥ |
vanāni vibhyo nakir asya tāni vratā devasya savitur minanti || 7 ||
yādrādhya1ṁ varuṇo yonim apyam aniśitaṁ nimiṣi jarbhurāṇaḥ |
viśvo mārtāṇḍo vrajam ā paśur gāt sthaśo janmāni savitā vy ākaḥ || 8 ||
na yasyendro varuṇo na mitro vratam aryamā na minanti rudraḥ |
nārātayas tam idaṁ svasti huve devaṁ savitāraṁ namobhiḥ || 9 ||
bhagaṁ dhiyaṁ vājayantaḥ puraṁdhiṁ narāśaṁso gnāspatir no avyāḥ |
āye vāmasya saṁgathe rayīṇām priyā devasya savituḥ syāma || 10 ||
asmabhyaṁ tad divo adbhyaḥ pṛthivyās tvayā dattaṁ kāmyaṁ rādha ā gāt |
śaṁ yat stotṛbhya āpaye bhavāty uruśaṁsāya savitar jaritre || 11 ||
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).