Hymn to the Ṛbhus
Rigveda III.60 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. Here and here, men bound in kinship of mind, the eager ones have come toward these things with knowledge. By the skills through which the sons of Sudhanvan, quick in form and swift to act, attained their share in the sacrifice.
2. By the powers with which they carved the ritual cups, by the skill with which they made a cow live again from its hide, by the mind with which they fashioned the two bay horses — by that the Ṛbhus attained godhood.
3. The Ṛbhus attained the friendship of Indra; descendants of Manu, they hastened to their labors. The sons of Sudhanvan won immortality, having labored well through good deeds, doers of good work.
4. You ride on the same chariot as Indra, together at the soma pressing, and you come with splendor among those who desire you. Your good deeds, O priestly ones, cannot be matched — nor your heroic acts, O Ṛbhus, sons of Sudhanvan.
5. O Indra, with the strong Ṛbhus, pour into your two hands the pressed soma that has been mixed. Impelled by our devotion, O bounteous one, rejoice in the house of the worshiper together with the men, the sons of Sudhanvan.
6. O Indra, accompanied by the Ṛbhus, full of strength, rejoice here with us at this offering through your power, O much-praised one. These rites have been kept for you, in accordance with the ordinances of the gods and the laws of men.
7. O Indra, with the mighty Ṛbhus, granting strength here, come to the singer's sacrificial praise. With a hundred eager signals, for the sake of man, you who lead a thousand paths, come to the offering of the rite.
Translator's note: several words resist confident single-word English. "Uśijaḥ" (v.1) names a class of eager or longing figures, here rendered "the eager ones." "Pratijūtivarpasaḥ" (v.1), an epithet of the Ṛbhus, is rendered "quick in form and swift to act," combining its senses of swift response and outward form. "Vaśānām" (v.4) — "those who desire/will" — is kept general rather than assigned a specific referent. "Svasarāṇi" (v.6), literally something like "own courses" or "kindred sessions," is rendered "rites" for readability. The famous feat in verse 2 of making "a cow flow from a hide" (gāṁ ariṇīta carmaṇaḥ) refers to the Ṛbhus' legendary restoration of a cow from its skin, one of their signature wonders.
Colophon
Rigveda III.60 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.60
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.
iheha vo manasā bandhutā nara uśijo jagmur abhi tāni vedasā |
yābhir māyābhiḥ pratijūtivarpasaḥ saudhanvanā yajñiyam bhāgam ānaśa || 1 ||
yābhiḥ śacībhiś camasām̐ apiṁśata yayā dhiyā gām ariṇīta carmaṇaḥ |
yena harī manasā niratakṣata tena devatvam ṛbhavaḥ sam ānaśa || 2 ||
indrasya sakhyam ṛbhavaḥ sam ānaśur manor napāto apaso dadhanvire |
saudhanvanāso amṛtatvam erire viṣṭvī śamībhiḥ sukṛtaḥ sukṛtyayā || 3 ||
indreṇa yātha sarathaṁ sute sacām̐ atho vaśānām bhavathā saha śriyā |
na vaḥ pratimai sukṛtāni vāghataḥ saudhanvanā ṛbhavo vīryāṇi ca || 4 ||
indra ṛbhubhir vājavadbhiḥ samukṣitaṁ sutaṁ somam ā vṛṣasvā gabhastyoḥ |
dhiyeṣito maghavan dāśuṣo gṛhe saudhanvanebhiḥ saha matsvā nṛbhiḥ || 5 ||
indra ṛbhumān vājavān matsveha no 'smin savane śacyā puruṣṭuta |
imāni tubhyaṁ svasarāṇi yemire vratā devānām manuṣaś ca dharmabhiḥ || 6 ||
indra ṛbhubhir vājibhir vājayann iha stomaṁ jaritur upa yāhi yajñiyam |
śataṁ ketebhir iṣirebhir āyave sahasraṇītho adhvarasya homani || 7 ||
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).