Hymn to the Viśvedevas
Rigveda III.54 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.
1. This song of strength, fit for the sacred gathering, they who make it again and again have brought forward to the Great One, worthy of praise. Let him hear us with his household flames; let unfailing Agni hear us with his heavenly flames.
2. Sing a great hymn to great Heaven and to Earth — my desire moves, seeking, knowing its aim. At whose praise, in the sacred gatherings, the worshiping gods rejoice together with these two.
3. O two worlds, let your order be true; be truly present for our great welfare. This homage to Heaven and to Earth, O Agni, I offer; I worship with an oblation, I ask for a treasure.
4. And indeed the ancients of old found you, O truth-speaking, order-possessing worlds. Even the heroic men, O Earth, discovering you, have praised you both in battle, in the winning of glory.
5. Who truly knows? Who here could declare which path leads toward the gods? Their nearest seats have been seen, but they exist in the farther, hidden ordinances.
6. The seer who watches over men has beheld them, the two rejoicing in the streaming ghee, in the womb of order. They have made their seats apart, as a bird its wings, yet united in one common purpose.
7. Though one in nature, yet separated, with their two ends far apart, the two wakeful ones have stood in a fixed place. And being two young sisters, they are also called by the name of a wedded pair.
8. These two have discerned all these creatures, bearing the great gods, and they do not waver. The one power rules over all — the moving and the fixed, what walks and what flies — born forth in its many forms.
9. I approach the ancient, age-old truth from near at hand, of the great father, the begetter — that is kindred to us — where the gods, marveling at its courses, stood within on the wide, outspread path.
10. I proclaim this hymn to the two worlds; may the gentle ones, whose tongue is Agni, hear it — Mitra, the sovereign Varuṇa, the youthful ones, the Ādityas, the sages, far-renowned.
11. Golden-handed Savitṛ, fair of tongue, ruling three times from heaven in the sacred gathering — you have made your call heard among the gods, O Savitṛ; now impel toward us complete well-being.
12. May Tvaṣṭṛ, the skillful, fair-handed, self-sufficient, order-possessing god, grant us those things for our help. O Ṛbhus, joined with Pūṣan, rejoice — you who, with the pressing-stones raised upright, have fashioned the sacrifice.
13. The Maruts, with lightning for chariots, armed with spears, the young heroes of heaven, born of order, untiring — may they, worshipful, together with Sarasvatī, hear us; may the mighty ones grant wealth accompanied by heroic sons.
14. The hymns and songs have gone, like workers seeking Bhaga's favor, onto the path of Viṣṇu, the many-wondrous one — the wide-strider, the eminent one, whose many young mother-powers do not fail him.
15. Indra, ruling with all his heroic powers, has filled both worlds with his greatness. O fort-destroyer, slayer of Vṛtra, whose army is bold, having gathered them, bring to us abundant cattle.
16. O Nāsatyas, my two fathers, seeking out kinship — the lovely name of the two Aśvins is a name of shared origin. For you two are the givers of wealth; wisely and undeceived, you guard for us the gift of riches.
17. Great is that lovely name of yours, O sages, that you, all the gods, exist within Indra. O friend, much-invoked, fashion this our hymn for gain, together with the dear Ṛbhus.
18. May Aryaman, Aditi, and the worshipful ones be with us; unbroken are the ordinances of Varuṇa. Keep us from a course without offspring; let our path be rich in children and in cattle.
19. May the messenger of the gods, sent forth in many ways, declare us faultless in our whole welfare. Let Earth, Heaven, and the Waters hear us, the Sun with the stars, and the wide midair.
20. Let the mighty mountains, firmly secure, rejoicing in the offering, hear us. Let Aditi, with the Ādityas, hear us; let the Maruts grant us blessed shelter.
21. May our path always be easy to travel and full of food; O gods, mingle the plants with sweetness. O Agni, in friendship do not withhold good fortune from me; may I rise to riches, to the seat of abundant sustenance.
22. Relish the offerings; shine forth, bringing us abundance; grant us renown. O Agni, conquer in battle all those enemies; shine upon us, well-disposed, all our days.
Translator's note: Verses 5–9 form a riddle-hymn passage on the paired nature of Heaven and Earth (rodasī); several phrases (e.g. the "mother-powers" of Viṣṇu in verse 14, "akavaiḥ" in verse 16) are genuinely obscure in the Sanskrit and are rendered conservatively rather than confidently resolved.
Colophon
Rigveda III.54 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 III.54
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.
imam mahe vidathyāya śūṣaṁ śaśvat kṛtva īḍyāya pra jabhruḥ |
śṛṇotu no damyebhir anīkaiḥ śṛṇotv agnir divyair ajasraḥ || 1 ||
mahi mahe dive arcā pṛthivyai kāmo ma icchañ carati prajānan |
yayor ha stome vidatheṣu devāḥ saparyavo mādayante sacāyoḥ || 2 ||
yuvor ṛtaṁ rodasī satyam astu mahe ṣu ṇaḥ suvitāya pra bhūtam |
idaṁ dive namo agne pṛthivyai saparyāmi prayasā yāmi ratnam || 3 ||
uto hi vām pūrvyā āvividra ṛtāvarī rodasī satyavācaḥ |
naraś cid vāṁ samithe śūrasātau vavandire pṛthivi vevidānāḥ || 4 ||
ko addhā veda ka iha pra vocad devām̐ acchā pathyā3 kā sam eti |
dadṛśra eṣām avamā sadāṁsi pareṣu yā guhyeṣu vrateṣu || 5 ||
kavir nṛcakṣā abhi ṣīm acaṣṭa ṛtasya yonā vighṛte madantī |
nānā cakrāte sadanaṁ yathā veḥ samānena kratunā saṁvidāne || 6 ||
samānyā viyute dūreante dhruve pade tasthatur jāgarūke |
uta svasārā yuvatī bhavantī ād u bruvāte mithunāni nāma || 7 ||
viśved ete janimā saṁ vivikto maho devān bibhratī na vyathete |
ejad dhruvam patyate viśvam ekaṁ carat patatri viṣuṇaṁ vi jātam || 8 ||
sanā purāṇam adhy emy ārān mahaḥ pitur janitur jāmi tan naḥ |
devāso yatra panitāra evair urau pathi vyute tasthur antaḥ || 9 ||
imaṁ stomaṁ rodasī pra bravīmy ṛdūdarāḥ śṛṇavann agnijihvāḥ |
mitraḥ samrājo varuṇo yuvāna ādityāsaḥ kavayaḥ paprathānāḥ || 10 ||
hiraṇyapāṇiḥ savitā sujihvas trir ā divo vidathe patyamānaḥ |
deveṣu ca savitaḥ ślokam aśrer ād asmabhyam ā suva sarvatātim || 11 ||
sukṛt supāṇiḥ svavām̐ ṛtāvā devas tvaṣṭāvase tāni no dhāt |
pūṣaṇvanta ṛbhavo mādayadhvam ūrdhvagrāvāṇo adhvaram ataṣṭa || 12 ||
vidyudrathā maruta ṛṣṭimanto divo maryā ṛtajātā ayāsaḥ |
sarasvatī śṛṇavan yajñiyāso dhātā rayiṁ sahavīraṁ turāsaḥ || 13 ||
viṣṇuṁ stomāsaḥ purudasmam arkā bhagasyeva kāriṇo yāmani gman |
urukramaḥ kakuho yasya pūrvīr na mardhanti yuvatayo janitrīḥ || 14 ||
indro viśvair vīryai3ḥ patyamāna ubhe ā paprau rodasī mahitvā |
puraṁdaro vṛtrahā dhṛṣṇuṣeṇaḥ saṁgṛbhyā na ā bharā bhūri paśvaḥ || 15 ||
nāsatyā me pitarā bandhupṛcchā sajātyam aśvinoś cāru nāma |
yuvaṁ hi stho rayidau no rayīṇāṁ dātraṁ rakṣethe akavair adabdhā || 16 ||
mahat tad vaḥ kavayaś cāru nāma yad dha devā bhavatha viśva indre |
sakha ṛbhubhiḥ puruhūta priyebhir imāṁ dhiyaṁ sātaye takṣatā naḥ || 17 ||
aryamā ṇo aditir yajñiyāso 'dabdhāni varuṇasya vratāni |
yuyota no anapatyāni gantoḥ prajāvān naḥ paśumām̐ astu gātuḥ || 18 ||
devānāṁ dūtaḥ purudha prasūto 'nāgān no vocatu sarvatātā |
śṛṇotu naḥ pṛthivī dyaur utāpaḥ sūryo nakṣatrair urv a1ntarikṣam || 19 ||
śṛṇvantu no vṛṣaṇaḥ parvatāso dhruvakṣemāsa iḻayā madantaḥ |
ādityair no aditiḥ śṛṇotu yacchantu no marutaḥ śarma bhadram || 20 ||
sadā sugaḥ pitumām̐ astu panthā madhvā devā oṣadhīḥ sam pipṛkta |
bhago me agne sakhye na mṛdhyā ud rāyo aśyāṁ sadanam purukṣoḥ || 21 ||
svadasva havyā sam iṣo didīhy asmadrya1k sam mimīhi śravāṁsi |
viśvām̐ agne pṛtsu tāñ jeṣi śatrūn ahā viśvā sumanā dīdihī naḥ || 22 ||
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).