Hymn to the Viśvedevas (All-Gods)
Rigveda V.42 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. Let this most beneficial meditative song now reach Varuṇa, Mitra, Bhaga, and Aditi. Let the one of dappled origin, the five-fold priest, whose path none can overtake, the mighty lord who brings joy, hear it.
2. May Aditi receive my hymn of praise, dear and pleasing to the heart, as a mother receives her son — the beloved sacred formula that is set for the gods, and whatever brings me joy in Mitra and Varuṇa.
3. Rouse up the most inspired of the sages, and honor him with honey and ghee. May the god Savitar impel toward us goods that are ample, well-placed, and radiant.
4. O Indra, lead us together with a favoring mind, together with cattle; O lord of bay horses, together with the wise patrons, together with well-being; together with the sacred formula that is set for the gods, together with the favor of the gods worthy of worship.
5. God Bhaga, Savitar who allots wealth, Indra the winner of Vṛtra's treasures, Ṛbhukṣan, Vāja, or Purandhi — may these immortal, swift ones protect us.
6. Let us proclaim the deeds of him who is accompanied by the Maruts, unopposed, victorious, unaging. Neither the ancients, O bountiful one, nor those who come after, nor anyone now living has matched your heroic power.
7. Praise the foremost bestower of treasure, Bṛhaspati, the winner of riches, who is most gracious to the one who recites and praises him; rich in wealth, he has come to the one calling out to him.
8. O Bṛhaspati, accompanied by your help and unharmed, the bountiful patrons, rich in good sons — those who give horses, or are givers of cattle, those who give garments, the fortunate ones — among them let there be riches.
9. Make the wealth of those flow away — those who enjoy it without giving, unmoved by our hymns; those grown strong in their own willfulness, lawless, the haters of sacred speech — drive them away from the sun.
10. He who, at the feast of the gods, counts himself among the demons — chase that one down, O Maruts, with your wheel-less pursuit. Whoever reviles the ritual labor of one who has labored for you — let that sweating one be left to empty desires.
11. Praise him who has a good bow and good arrows, who rules over every remedy. Worship Rudra for great good will; honor the divine lord with acts of homage.
12. The household goddesses, skillful and deft-handed, the wives of the bull, the rivers shaped by Vibhvan — Sarasvatī, Bṛhaddivā, and Rākā, the bright ones, granting their gifts, may they grant us free and open room.
13. I offer my wisdom, my newest-born song, to the great one, the good refuge, who, touching upon the daughter's flanks and shaping her forms, made this world for us.
14. O singer, may your fine praise now reach the thundering, roaring lord of refreshment, who drives on the one accompanied by clouds and water, drenching both worlds with lightning.
15. This hymn of praise is directed toward the Marut troop; may it reach the youthful sons of Rudra. Desire calls me toward wealth and toward well-being; praise, O tireless one, those whose horses are dappled.
16. May this hymn of praise reach earth, the atmosphere, the forest trees and the plants, for the sake of wealth. Let each and every god be easy for me to call upon. Let not mother Earth place us in ill favor.
17. O gods, may we dwell in a wide, unconstrained place.
18. May we come together with the fresh help of the two Aśvins, the joy-bringing, well-guiding ones. Bring to us wealth and heroic sons, and every fortune, O immortal ones.
Translator's note: verse 3's "unattainam" (line 47) is textually irregular and may reflect a corrupted or mis-segmented reading; it is rendered conservatively as "honor him," following the sense of anointing with honey and ghee that the surrounding words carry. Verse 10's "acakrebhiḥ" ("wheel-less") and verse 13's "āhanā" (a rare verb form) are likewise rendered conservatively where the exact sense is uncertain.
Colophon
Rigveda V.42 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.42
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.
pra śaṁtamā varuṇaṁ dīdhitī gīr mitram bhagam aditiṁ nūnam aśyāḥ |
pṛṣadyoniḥ pañcahotā śṛṇotv atūrtapanthā asuro mayobhuḥ || 1 ||
prati me stomam aditir jagṛbhyāt sūnuṁ na mātā hṛdyaṁ suśevam |
brahma priyaṁ devahitaṁ yad asty aham mitre varuṇe yan mayobhu || 2 ||
ud īraya kavitamaṁ kavīnām unattainam abhi madhvā ghṛtena |
sa no vasūni prayatā hitāni candrāṇi devaḥ savitā suvāti || 3 ||
sam indra ṇo manasā neṣi gobhiḥ saṁ sūribhir harivaḥ saṁ svasti |
sam brahmaṇā devahitaṁ yad asti saṁ devānāṁ sumatyā yajñiyānām || 4 ||
devo bhagaḥ savitā rāyo aṁśa indro vṛtrasya saṁjito dhanānām |
ṛbhukṣā vāja uta vā puraṁdhir avantu no amṛtāsas turāsaḥ || 5 ||
marutvato apratītasya jiṣṇor ajūryataḥ pra bravāmā kṛtāni |
na te pūrve maghavan nāparāso na vīrya1ṁ nūtanaḥ kaś canāpa || 6 ||
upa stuhi prathamaṁ ratnadheyam bṛhaspatiṁ sanitāraṁ dhanānām |
yaḥ śaṁsate stuvate śambhaviṣṭhaḥ purūvasur āgamaj johuvānam || 7 ||
tavotibhiḥ sacamānā ariṣṭā bṛhaspate maghavānaḥ suvīrāḥ |
ye aśvadā uta vā santi godā ye vastradāḥ subhagās teṣu rāyaḥ || 8 ||
visarmāṇaṁ kṛṇuhi vittam eṣāṁ ye bhuñjate apṛṇanto na ukthaiḥ |
apavratān prasave vāvṛdhānān brahmadviṣaḥ sūryād yāvayasva || 9 ||
ya ohate rakṣaso devavītāv acakrebhis tam maruto ni yāta |
yo vaḥ śamīṁ śaśamānasya nindāt tucchyān kāmān karate siṣvidānaḥ || 10 ||
tam u ṣṭuhi yaḥ sviṣuḥ sudhanvā yo viśvasya kṣayati bheṣajasya |
yakṣvā mahe saumanasāya rudraṁ namobhir devam asuraṁ duvasya || 11 ||
damūnaso apaso ye suhastā vṛṣṇaḥ patnīr nadyo vibhvataṣṭāḥ |
sarasvatī bṛhaddivota rākā daśasyantīr varivasyantu śubhrāḥ || 12 ||
pra sū mahe suśaraṇāya medhāṁ giram bhare navyasīṁ jāyamānām |
ya āhanā duhitur vakṣaṇāsu rūpā mināno akṛṇod idaṁ naḥ || 13 ||
pra suṣṭutiḥ stanayantaṁ ruvantam iḻas patiṁ jaritar nūnam aśyāḥ |
yo abdimām̐ udanimām̐ iyarti pra vidyutā rodasī ukṣamāṇaḥ || 14 ||
eṣa stomo mārutaṁ śardho acchā rudrasya sūnūm̐r yuvanyūm̐r ud aśyāḥ |
kāmo rāye havate mā svasty upa stuhi pṛṣadaśvām̐ ayāsaḥ || 15 ||
praiṣa stomaḥ pṛthivīm antarikṣaṁ vanaspatīm̐r oṣadhī rāye aśyāḥ |
devo-devaḥ suhavo bhūtu mahyam mā no mātā pṛthivī durmatau dhāt || 16 ||
urau devā anibādhe syāma || 17 ||
sam aśvinor avasā nūtanena mayobhuvā supraṇītī gamema |
ā no rayiṁ vahatam ota vīrān ā viśvāny amṛtā saubhagāni || 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).