Praises in Six Triplets, with the Gāyatrī
Rigveda III.62 closes Maṇḍala 3, the family book of Viśvāmitra, with eighteen verses arranged in six triplets, each addressed to a different power: Indra and Varuṇa, Bṛhaspati, Pūṣan, Savitṛ, Soma, and Mitra and Varuṇa. Its tenth verse is the Gāyatrī (Sāvitrī) mantra — the most recited verse in the Hindu world, whispered into the ear at initiation and repeated daily for three thousand years. Here it stands where it was composed: one small perfect verse among its companions.
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. These urgent prayers of ours, meant for you two, have not proved vain for your devoted friend. Where, Indra and Varuṇa, is that glory of yours, by which you bring provision to your friends?
2. This man, foremost of many, longing for wealth, calls to you again and again for help. One in will, Indra and Varuṇa, with the Maruts, with heaven and earth, hear my call.
3. Ours, Indra and Varuṇa, may that treasure be; ours, O Maruts, wealth with its full band of heroes. May the shielding goddesses protect us with their defenses, and may Hotrā Bhāratī favor us with her gifts.
4. Bṛhaspati, delight in our offerings, you who belong to all the gods; grant treasures to the worshipper.
5. Bow down with songs, at the rites, to shining Bṛhaspati — I pray for his unbendable might.
6. The bull of the peoples, wearing every form, undeceivable — Bṛhaspati, most worthy of choice.
7. This newest song of praise, O glowing Pūṣan, is recited by us, god, for you.
8. Take pleasure in this song of mine; favor my prize-seeking prayer, as a wooer favors his maiden.
9. He who looks out over all the worlds and sees them whole — may that Pūṣan be our protector.
10. May we hold in thought that most choice-worthy radiance of the god Savitṛ, that he may impel our insights.
11. Striving for the prize, we implore, with Puraṃdhi at our side, the gift of the god Savitṛ — the gift of Bhaga.
12. Inspired men, stirred by insight, bow to the god Savitṛ with sacrifices and well-turned hymns.
13. Soma goes forth, the finder of the way; he goes to the meeting-place of the gods, to sit at the womb of truth.
14. May Soma make our nourishment free of sickness — for us, and for the two-footed and the four-footed creature.
15. Lengthening our life, overcoming the powers that assail us, Soma has taken his seat in the gathering-place.
16. Mitra and Varuṇa, sprinkle our pasture with ghee, and the wide spaces with honey, you two of good resolve.
17. Far-famed, made strong by homage, you reign through the greatness of your skill — pure of commandment, with protections that reach longest.
18. Praised in song by Jamadagni, sit down at the womb of truth; drink the Soma, you who make the truth grow strong.
Translator's note: Verse 1's opening (imā u vām bhṛmayo…) is an old crux — bhṛmi, rendered "urgent prayers," is literally a whirring or restless striving, and the syntax is compressed; the rendering keeps the surest sense. Verse 10 is the Gāyatrī: tat savitur vareṇyam bhargo devasya dhīmahi, dhiyo yo naḥ pracodayāt — "radiance" renders bhargas and "impel our insights" the causative pracodayāt, whose subject is Savitṛ, the Impeller. Puraṃdhi in verse 11 is the goddess Plenitude, left as a name. In verse 17, drāghiṣṭhābhiḥ ("with the longest…") lacks its noun in the Sanskrit; "protections" is supplied as the likeliest ellipsis.
Colophon
Rigveda III.62 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.62
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.
imā u vām bhṛmayo manyamānā yuvāvate na tujyā abhūvan |
kva1 tyad indrāvaruṇā yaśo vāṁ yena smā sinam bharathaḥ sakhibhyaḥ || 1 ||
ayam u vām purutamo rayīyañ chaśvattamam avase johavīti |
sajoṣāv indrāvaruṇā marudbhir divā pṛthivyā śṛṇutaṁ havam me || 2 ||
asme tad indrāvaruṇā vasu ṣyād asme rayir marutaḥ sarvavīraḥ |
asmān varūtrīḥ śaraṇair avantv asmān hotrā bhāratī dakṣiṇābhiḥ || 3 ||
bṛhaspate juṣasva no havyāni viśvadevya |
rāsva ratnāni dāśuṣe || 4 ||
śucim arkair bṛhaspatim adhvareṣu namasyata |
anāmy oja ā cake || 5 ||
vṛṣabhaṁ carṣaṇīnāṁ viśvarūpam adābhyam |
bṛhaspatiṁ vareṇyam || 6 ||
iyaṁ te pūṣann āghṛṇe suṣṭutir deva navyasī |
asmābhis tubhyaṁ śasyate || 7 ||
tāṁ juṣasva giram mama vājayantīm avā dhiyam |
vadhūyur iva yoṣaṇām || 8 ||
yo viśvābhi vipaśyati bhuvanā saṁ ca paśyati |
sa naḥ pūṣāvitā bhuvat || 9 ||
tat savitur vareṇyam bhargo devasya dhīmahi |
dhiyo yo naḥ pracodayāt || 10 ||
devasya savitur vayaṁ vājayantaḥ puraṁdhyā |
bhagasya rātim īmahe || 11 ||
devaṁ naraḥ savitāraṁ viprā yajñaiḥ suvṛktibhiḥ |
namasyanti dhiyeṣitāḥ || 12 ||
somo jigāti gātuvid devānām eti niṣkṛtam |
ṛtasya yonim āsadam || 13 ||
somo asmabhyaṁ dvipade catuṣpade ca paśave |
anamīvā iṣas karat || 14 ||
asmākam āyur vardhayann abhimātīḥ sahamānaḥ |
somaḥ sadhastham āsadat || 15 ||
ā no mitrāvaruṇā ghṛtair gavyūtim ukṣatam |
madhvā rajāṁsi sukratū || 16 ||
uruśaṁsā namovṛdhā mahnā dakṣasya rājathaḥ |
drāghiṣṭhābhiḥ śucivratā || 17 ||
gṛṇānā jamadagninā yonāv ṛtasya sīdatam |
pātaṁ somam ṛtāvṛdhā || 18 ||
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).