Hymn to the Ṛbhus
Rigveda IV.37 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) from Maṇḍala 4 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. Come, O Vājas, O Ṛbhukṣans, O gods, to our sacrifice, by the paths the gods travel — as, delighted ones, you have held to Manu's sacrifice among these peoples, on the fair days.
2. Let these sacrifices, welcomed today, clothed in ghee, be pleasing to your heart and mind as they come to you. May the full pressed juices run golden for you; drunk, may they gladden you toward wisdom and strength.
3. As the threefold hymn, set in place by the gods, is offered to you, O Vājas, O Ṛbhukṣans, so I call on you, as Manu did, among these nearer peoples; I pour the soma to you, among the high-heaven ones.
4. For you have become ones with sleek horses, with shining chariots, with cheek-guards of iron, mighty ones, well adorned with gold. O sons of Indra, O offspring of strength, the foremost draught is set out for you, for your exhilaration.
5. O Ṛbhukṣans, we call on Ṛbhu — wealth in the contest, the mightiest ally, joined with Indra, ever best at winning, joined with the Aśvins.
6. That mortal indeed, O Ṛbhus, whom you and Indra favor — let him be a winner through his insight, in the contest for wisdom, and with his steed.
7. Mark out for us, O Vājas, O Ṛbhukṣans, the paths for sacrificing. Praised by us, O bounteous ones, may we win through to all our hopes.
8. Grant us that wealth, O Vājas, O Ṛbhukṣans, O Indra, O Nāsatyas — together with a horse, bestow much on the peoples, for the sake of bounty.
Translator's note: verse 1's "vājāḥ" and "ṛbhukṣaṇaḥ" are two of the three Ṛbhus' names (with Vibhvan understood) used together as a vocative address to the group; this pairing repeats through the hymn. "Bṛhaddiva" in verse 3 (rendered "high-heaven ones") and "tryudāyam" (rendered "threefold hymn," literally "triple ascent," likely referring to the three daily soma-pressings) are compact epithets kept close to their literal sense rather than expanded.
Colophon
Rigveda IV.37 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 IV.37
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.
upa no vājā adhvaram ṛbhukṣā devā yāta pathibhir devayānaiḥ |
yathā yajñam manuṣo vikṣv ā3su dadhidhve raṇvāḥ sudineṣv ahnām || 1 ||
te vo hṛde manase santu yajñā juṣṭāso adya ghṛtanirṇijo guḥ |
pra vaḥ sutāso harayanta pūrṇāḥ kratve dakṣāya harṣayanta pītāḥ || 2 ||
tryudāyaṁ devahitaṁ yathā vaḥ stomo vājā ṛbhukṣaṇo dade vaḥ |
juhve manuṣvad uparāsu vikṣu yuṣme sacā bṛhaddiveṣu somam || 3 ||
pīvoaśvāḥ śucadrathā hi bhūtāyaḥśiprā vājinaḥ suniṣkāḥ |
indrasya sūno śavaso napāto 'nu vaś cety agriyam madāya || 4 ||
ṛbhum ṛbhukṣaṇo rayiṁ vāje vājintamaṁ yujam |
indrasvantaṁ havāmahe sadāsātamam aśvinam || 5 ||
sed ṛbhavo yam avatha yūyam indraś ca martyam |
sa dhībhir astu sanitā medhasātā so arvatā || 6 ||
vi no vājā ṛbhukṣaṇaḥ pathaś citana yaṣṭave |
asmabhyaṁ sūrayaḥ stutā viśvā āśās tarīṣaṇi || 7 ||
taṁ no vājā ṛbhukṣaṇa indra nāsatyā rayim |
sam aśvaṁ carṣaṇibhya ā puru śasta maghattaye || 8 ||
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).