Hymn to the Viśvedevas
Rigveda III.57 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 moves through several deities in turn — Indra, Pūṣan, the sisters and cows of a riddling verse, Heaven and Earth, and finally Agni — the pattern typical of hymns addressed to the Viśvedevas, "All the Gods."
1. The discerning ones have found, for me, this thought: a milch-cow wandering, unyoked, herdless — who at once yielded her abundant nourishment. Indra and Agni are the praisers of her.
2. Indra, and good Pūṣan too, the two bulls of skillful hands, pleased as though from heaven, milked her though she lay still. When all the gods rejoiced in her, may I, O Vasus, win your favor here.
3. The kinswomen who desire the bull's power, bowing in homage, recognize the seed within him. The milch-cows, lowing, move toward the calf — they range around the great one, bearing wondrous forms.
4. I address Heaven and Earth, the two well-founded ones, yoking the pressing-stones at the rite with my thought. These, bearing many boons, stand upright for Manu — visible, worthy of worship.
5. Your tongue, O Agni, honeyed and wise, far-reaching, is invoked among the gods. With it, here, for our protection, seat all the worshipful ones, and give them the sweet drink.
6. Your stream, O Agni, like a mountain torrent, following on, has swelled, O wondrous god. That providence grant to us, O Jātavedas; O Vasu, grant the goodwill that belongs to all people.
Translator's note: verses 1–3 turn on a riddle-hymn convention common in the Rigveda, where a "milch-cow" (dhenu) figures poetic insight or speech itself, milked by the gods and desired by unnamed "kinswomen" (jāmayaḥ); the referents are left as ambiguous in this translation as they are in the Sanskrit, rather than resolved by guesswork.
Colophon
Rigveda III.57 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.57
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 me vivikvām̐ avidan manīṣāṁ dhenuṁ carantīm prayutām agopām |
sadyaś cid yā duduhe bhūri dhāser indras tad agniḥ panitāro asyāḥ || 1 ||
indraḥ su pūṣā vṛṣaṇā suhastā divo na prītāḥ śaśayaṁ duduhre |
viśve yad asyāṁ raṇayanta devāḥ pra vo 'tra vasavaḥ sumnam aśyām || 2 ||
yā jāmayo vṛṣṇa icchanti śaktiṁ namasyantīr jānate garbham asmin |
acchā putraṁ dhenavo vāvaśānā mahaś caranti bibhrataṁ vapūṁṣi || 3 ||
acchā vivakmi rodasī sumeke grāvṇo yujāno adhvare manīṣā |
imā u te manave bhūrivārā ūrdhvā bhavanti darśatā yajatrāḥ || 4 ||
yā te jihvā madhumatī sumedhā agne deveṣūcyata urūcī |
tayeha viśvām̐ avase yajatrān ā sādaya pāyayā cā madhūni || 5 ||
yā te agne parvatasyeva dhārāsaścantī pīpayad deva citrā |
tām asmabhyam pramatiṁ jātavedo vaso rāsva sumatiṁ viśvajanyām || 6 ||
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).