Hymn to the Viśvedevas
Rigveda V.41 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) from Maṇḍala 5 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. Who now, Mitra and Varuna, following truth — of great heaven or of the earthly god, or in the seat of truth — will you two protect us? Give the sacrificer prizes, as though they were cattle.
2. May Mitra, Varuna, Aryaman, Ayu, Indra, the lord of the Ribhus, and the Maruts take pleasure in us — we who, with gestures of homage, offer a well-woven hymn, a song of praise to bountiful Rudra, all of one accord.
3. Ashvins, most eager ones, we call you here, in the flight of the wind, for the thriving of our chariot team. And to the Asura of heaven too, bring forward our thought, like oblations, for the one who sacrifices.
4. The victorious heavenly one, priest of the Kanvas; Trita of heaven, of one mind; Vata; Agni; Pushan; Bhaga, all-nourishing at the offering — they have come, as to a contest, most richly horsed.
5. Bring forward your wealth yoked with horses; let our thought be set on the pursuit of riches, for help. The kindly hotar of Aushija, by his approaches — that is your way too, Maruts, mighty ones.
6. Make Vayu, yoker of the chariot, come forth for you; make the inspired god, worthy of praise, come forth with our songs. The seekers of vigor, followers of truth, the Purandhis — may the good mistresses here set their favor on our prayer.
7. We draw near to you eagerly with praiseworthy shouts of strength — the two mighty daughters of heaven, with illuminating songs. Dawn and Night, as though knowing everything, the two of them bring the sacrifice to the mortal.
8. I sing out to you, men blessed with abundance — to the lord of the dwelling and to Tvashtar, freely giving. Wealth-bearing Dhishana, of one accord, with gestures of homage, and the lords of the forest and the plants — I sing in pursuit of riches.
9. For our sons and for our lineage, may the mountains stand by us, the self-shining ones, heroic like the Vasus. May the admirable Aptya, worthy of worship, always strengthen our praise, manly, in our endeavor.
10. I have praised the offspring of the bull, the earth's own germ — Trita, grandson of the waters, with a well-woven hymn. Agni is praised like a swift runner, with his roaring strength; flame-haired, he consumes the woods.
11. What shall we say to the great son of Rudra? What to wise Bhaga, for wealth? May the waters and the plants favor us, and heaven, the woods, the tree-covered mountains.
12. May the lord of strength hear our songs — he who crosses the mist, vigorous, ranging everywhere. May the waters hear, bright as fortress walls, gathering around the streams of the roaring pressing-stone.
13. We know indeed, great ones, your way; we speak of it, wonder-workers, holding what is to be desired. Even the thriving birds swoop down in agitation on the mortal who is pursued with blows.
14. To the divine and earthly beings, and to the waters, I have spoken for the great sacrificer. May the heavens grow, and the bright-tipped songs; may the streams, once set flowing, swell upward.
15. At every step my old age has been set aside, by the powerful protectress with her guardians. May the great mother Rasa follow us, together with our patrons — she who is straight-handed and straight-dealing.
16. How shall we honor the bounteous ones with homage? With this approach, Maruts, in our call — far-famed Maruts, in our call. May the serpent of the deep not deliver us to harm; may it become a source of favor for us.
17. So, indeed, for offspring rich in cattle — the gods... the mortal wins your favor. Here, may the kindly sustenance of her body remain; and my old age too — may Nirriti swallow it.
18. May we obtain that strengthening favor of yours, gods — that refreshment, Vasus, through the praise-song of the cow. May she, the bounteous, gracious goddess, running toward us, come for our well-being.
19. May Ila, mother of the herd, together with the rivers, or Urvashi, sing out to us. Or may Urvashi, and Brihaddiva, once praised, wrap us round with the offering of humankind.
20. May she cling to us, source of strength-giving abundance.
Translator's note: The Sanskrit itself is difficult and, in places, textually damaged. Verse 1 breaks off mid-word ("de") in the source as printed; the sense is completed only approximately. Verse 10's "etarī" (rendered "swift runner") and verse 16's "upamātivaniḥ" (rendered loosely as "source of favor") are rare compounds whose precise meaning is uncertain. Verse 17 repeats a half-line and shifts subject abruptly in the source itself; the translation follows the Sanskrit as printed rather than smoothing it over. Proper names — Aushija, the Ribhus, Purandhi, Dhishana, Aptya, Rasa, Nirriti, Ila, Urvashi, Brihaddiva — are kept untranslated as they name specific Vedic beings and rivers. Verse 20 is a single half-line in the source; it is translated as it stands.
Colophon
Rigveda V.41 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 V.41
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.
ko nu vām mitrāvaruṇāv ṛtāyan divo vā mahaḥ pārthivasya vā de |
ṛtasya vā sadasi trāsīthāṁ no yajñāyate vā paśuṣo na vājān || 1 ||
te no mitro varuṇo aryamāyur indra ṛbhukṣā maruto juṣanta |
namobhir vā ye dadhate suvṛktiṁ stomaṁ rudrāya mīḻhuṣe sajoṣāḥ || 2 ||
ā vāṁ yeṣṭhāśvinā huvadhyai vātasya patman rathyasya puṣṭau |
uta vā divo asurāya manma prāndhāṁsīva yajyave bharadhvam || 3 ||
pra sakṣaṇo divyaḥ kaṇvahotā trito divaḥ sajoṣā vāto agniḥ |
pūṣā bhagaḥ prabhṛthe viśvabhojā ājiṁ na jagmur āśvaśvatamāḥ || 4 ||
pra vo rayiṁ yuktāśvam bharadhvaṁ rāya eṣe 'vase dadhīta dhīḥ |
suśeva evair auśijasya hotā ye va evā marutas turāṇām || 5 ||
pra vo vāyum rathayujam kṛṇudhvam pra devam vipram panitāram arkaiḥ |
iṣudhyava ṛtasāpaḥ purandhīr vasvīr no atra patnīr ā dhiye dhuḥ || 6 ||
upa va eṣe vandyebhiḥ śūṣaiḥ pra yahvī divaś citayadbhir arkaiḥ |
uṣāsānaktā viduṣīva viśvam ā hā vahato martyāya yajñam || 7 ||
abhi vo arce poṣyāvato nṝn vāstoṣ patiṁ tvaṣṭāraṁ rarāṇaḥ |
dhanyā sajoṣā dhiṣaṇā namobhir vanaspatīm̐r oṣadhī rāya eṣe || 8 ||
tuje nas tane parvatāḥ santu svaitavo ye vasavo na vīrāḥ |
panita āptyo yajataḥ sadā no vardhān naḥ śaṁsaṁ naryo abhiṣṭau || 9 ||
vṛṣṇo astoṣi bhūmyasya garbhaṁ trito napātam apāṁ suvṛkti |
gṛṇīte agnir etarī na śūṣaiḥ śociṣkeśo ni riṇāti vanā || 10 ||
kathā mahe rudriyāya bravāma kad rāye cikituṣe bhagāya |
āpa oṣadhīr uta no 'vantu dyaur vanā girayo vṛkṣakeśāḥ || 11 ||
śṛṇotu na ūrjām patir giraḥ sa nabhas tarīyām̐ iṣiraḥ parijmā |
śṛṇvantv āpaḥ puro na śubhrāḥ pari sruco babṛhāṇasyādreḥ || 12 ||
vidā cin nu mahānto ye va evā bravāma dasmā vāryaṁ dadhānāḥ |
vayaś cana subhva1 āva yanti kṣubhā martam anuyataṁ vadhasnaiḥ || 13 ||
ā daivyāni pārthivāni janmāpaś cācchā sumakhāya vocam |
vardhantāṁ dyāvo giraś candrāgrā udā vardhantām abhiṣātā arṇāḥ || 14 ||
pade-pade me jarimā ni dhāyi varūtrī vā śakrā yā pāyubhiś ca |
siṣaktu mātā mahī rasā naḥ smat sūribhir ṛjuhasta ṛjuvaniḥ || 15 ||
kathā dāśema namasā sudānūn evayā maruto acchoktau praśravaso maruto acchoktau |
mā no 'hir budhnyo riṣe dhād asmākam bhūd upamātivaniḥ || 16 ||
iti cin nu prajāyai paśumatyai devāso vanate martyo va ā devāso vanate martyo vaḥ |
atrā śivāṁ tanvo dhāsim asyā jarāṁ cin me nirṛtir jagrasīta || 17 ||
tāṁ vo devāḥ sumatim ūrjayantīm iṣam aśyāma vasavaḥ śasā goḥ |
sā naḥ sudānur mṛḻayantī devī prati dravantī suvitāya gamyāḥ || 18 ||
abhi na iḻā yūthasya mātā sman nadībhir urvaśī vā gṛṇātu |
urvaśī vā bṛhaddivā gṛṇānābhyūrṇvānā prabhṛthasyāyoḥ || 19 ||
siṣaktu na ūrjavyasya puṣṭeḥ || 20 ||
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).