Dialogue with the Rivers

Rigveda III.33 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) from Maṇḍala 3 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 is addressed to the rivers Vipāś and Śutudrī (the Beas and Sutlej) by the sage Viśvāmitra, whose people must cross them.

1. Eager, from the lap of the mountains, like two mares let loose and neighing, like two bright mother-cows licking their calves, the Vipāś and the Śutudrī race forward with their waters.

2. Impelled by Indra, seeking his onrush, you two go toward the ocean like chariot-mares. Swelling together with your waves, filling one another, bright ones — one of you flows into the other.

3. I have come toward the Sindhu, most motherly of streams; we have reached the wide, fortunate Vipāś. Like two mothers licking a calf, they move together along a shared bed.

4. We, swelling with our waters, move along the course the gods have made for us; our onrush, once loosed, cannot be turned back. Why does the inspired poet call so loudly upon the rivers?

5. Rest a moment for my soma-worthy speech, O truthful ones, in your course. I, the son of Kuśika, seeking aid, have called out with great insight toward the Sindhu.

6. Indra of the thunderbolt arm dug channels for us; he struck down Vṛtra, the barrier of the rivers. The god Savitṛ of the fair hands led us on; at his impulse we, the wide ones, go forth.

7. That heroic deed of Indra is to be proclaimed forever — that he cut the serpent apart. With his bolt he struck down those who hemmed in the waters, and the waters flowed, seeking their course.

8. O singer, do not forget this word, so that later generations may hear your call. O poet, take pleasure in us at your hymns; do not lay us low among men — homage to you.

9. O sisters, listen well to the singer; he has come to you from afar with wagon and chariot. Bow down well, be easy to cross, O rivers; keep your channels low, with your currents beneath him.

10. We will listen to your words, O singer; you have come from afar with wagon and chariot. I will bow down for you, like a young wife swelling with milk for her husband, like a maiden for a young man — continually, for you.

11. When indeed the Bharatas, the clan that seeks cattle, driven on and impelled by Indra, shall cross over you, then let your onrush, once loosed, run on. I choose your favor, you who are worthy of worship.

12. The Bharatas who sought cattle have crossed over; the inspired poet has won the favor of the rivers. Swell forward, you who bring nourishment and good gifts; fill your channels, go swiftly.

13. Let the wave lift up the yoke-pin, O waters; loosen the harness-straps. Let not the two inviolable ones, free of offense, come to grief through the wrongdoing of the yoke.

Translator's note: Verse 13 is the most obscure in the hymn — it describes unyoking after the crossing, but the exact sense of "let the two inviolable ones... come to grief through the wrongdoing of the yoke" is uncertain and rendered conservatively here. Verses 3 and 10 shift the speaking voice between Viśvāmitra and the rivers themselves, as in the Sanskrit; no additional dialogue markers have been added.

Colophon

Rigveda III.33 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 III.33

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.

pra parvatānām uśatī upasthād aśve iva viṣite hāsamāne |
gāveva śubhre mātarā rihāṇe vipāṭ chutudrī payasā javete || 1 ||

indreṣite prasavam bhikṣamāṇe acchā samudraṁ rathyeva yāthaḥ |
samārāṇe ūrmibhiḥ pinvamāne anyā vām anyām apy eti śubhre || 2 ||

acchā sindhum mātṛtamām ayāsaṁ vipāśam urvīṁ subhagām aganma |
vatsam iva mātarā saṁrihāṇe samānaṁ yonim anu saṁcarantī || 3 ||

enā vayam payasā pinvamānā anu yoniṁ devakṛtaṁ carantīḥ |
na vartave prasavaḥ sargataktaḥ kiṁyur vipro nadyo johavīti || 4 ||

ramadhvam me vacase somyāya ṛtāvarīr upa muhūrtam evaiḥ |
pra sindhum acchā bṛhatī manīṣāvasyur ahve kuśikasya sūnuḥ || 5 ||

indro asmām̐ aradad vajrabāhur apāhan vṛtram paridhiṁ nadīnām |
devo 'nayat savitā supāṇis tasya vayam prasave yāma urvīḥ || 6 ||

pravācyaṁ śaśvadhā vīrya1ṁ tad indrasya karma yad ahiṁ vivṛścat |
vi vajreṇa pariṣado jaghānāyann āpo 'yanam icchamānāḥ || 7 ||

etad vaco jaritar māpi mṛṣṭhā ā yat te ghoṣān uttarā yugāni |
uktheṣu kāro prati no juṣasva mā no ni kaḥ puruṣatrā namas te || 8 ||

o ṣu svasāraḥ kārave śṛṇota yayau vo dūrād anasā rathena |
ni ṣū namadhvam bhavatā supārā adhoakṣāḥ sindhavaḥ srotyābhiḥ || 9 ||

ā te kāro śṛṇavāmā vacāṁsi yayātha dūrād anasā rathena |
ni te naṁsai pīpyāneva yoṣā maryāyeva kanyā śaśvacai te || 10 ||

yad aṅga tvā bharatāḥ saṁtareyur gavyan grāma iṣita indrajūtaḥ |
arṣād aha prasavaḥ sargatakta ā vo vṛṇe sumatiṁ yajñiyānām || 11 ||

atāriṣur bharatā gavyavaḥ sam abhakta vipraḥ sumatiṁ nadīnām |
pra pinvadhvam iṣayantīḥ surādhā ā vakṣaṇāḥ pṛṇadhvaṁ yāta śībham || 12 ||

ud va ūrmiḥ śamyā hantv āpo yoktrāṇi muñcata |
māduṣkṛtau vyenasāghnyau śūnam āratām || 13 ||

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).