Hymn to Dadhikrāvan, the Divine Horse
Rigveda IV.39 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. Let us now praise swift Dadhikrā, and glorify him together with heaven and earth. May the dawns, as they brighten, be gracious to me, and carry me safely across all dangers.
2. I glorify the greatness of the courser — the purpose-fulfilling, much-desired, mighty Dadhikrāvan — whom Mitra and Varuṇa gave to the Pūrus, shining like Agni, the one who carries all through to victory.
3. Whoever has made this praise of the horse Dadhikrāvan, at the kindling of the fire, at the breaking forth of dawn — may Aditi make him free of fault, in accord with Mitra and Varuṇa.
4. When we have called to mind the great nourishing strength of Dadhikrāvan, and the auspicious name of the Maruts, then for our well-being we call upon Varuṇa, Mitra, Agni, and Indra of the thunderbolt arm.
5. Both sides call out as if to Indra, rising and advancing toward the sacrifice. And Dadhikrā, the one who brings prosperity to mortals — Mitra and Varuṇa gave him to us as our horse.
6. I have sung the praise of Dadhikrāvan, the victorious, the strong horse. May he make our faces fragrant with good fortune; may he prolong our lifetimes.
Translator's note: verse 4's syntax stacks several genitives ("of Dadhikrāvan, of nourishment, of strength, of greatness") loosely around a single verb of thought; the rendering above keeps them bound to Dadhikrāvan as their sense most plausibly requires. Verse 6's "surabhi no mukhā karat" (literally "may he make our faces/mouths fragrant") is an idiom for granted good fortune or good repute, rendered accordingly.
Colophon
Rigveda IV.39 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.39
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.
āśuṁ dadhikrāṁ tam u nu ṣṭavāma divas pṛthivyā uta carkirāma |
ucchantīr mām uṣasaḥ sūdayantv ati viśvāni duritāni parṣan || 1 ||
mahaś carkarmy arvataḥ kratuprā dadhikrāvṇaḥ puruvārasya vṛṣṇaḥ |
yam pūrubhyo dīdivāṁsaṁ nāgniṁ dadathur mitrāvaruṇā taturim || 2 ||
yo aśvasya dadhikrāvṇo akārīt samiddhe agnā uṣaso vyuṣṭau |
anāgasaṁ tam aditiḥ kṛṇotu sa mitreṇa varuṇenā sajoṣāḥ || 3 ||
dadhikrāvṇa iṣa ūrjo maho yad amanmahi marutāṁ nāma bhadram |
svastaye varuṇam mitram agniṁ havāmaha indraṁ vajrabāhum || 4 ||
indram ived ubhaye vi hvayanta udīrāṇā yajñam upaprayantaḥ |
dadhikrām u sūdanam martyāya dadathur mitrāvaruṇā no aśvam || 5 ||
dadhikrāvṇo akāriṣaṁ jiṣṇor aśvasya vājinaḥ |
surabhi no mukhā karat pra ṇa āyūṁṣi tāriṣat || 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).