Hymn to the Viśvedevas
Rigveda V.49 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. The hymn calls on Savitar and Bhaga, the Aśvins, Pūṣan, Aditi, and the great gods Indra, Viṣṇu, Varuṇa, Mitra, and Agni in turn, asking for shelter, riches, and the departure of danger.
1. Today I seek for you the god Savitar, and Bhaga, who distributes wealth to every man. May I turn you two here, generous heroes — day after day, O Aśvins, seeking your friendship.
2. Knowing the coming-forth of the mighty one, honor the god Savitar with hymns of praise. Let the discerning worshiper address him with homage — the eldest, who distributes wealth to man.
3. With a bounteous hand she shares out the desirable things: Pūṣan, Bhaga, and Aditi clothe the dawns. Indra, Viṣṇu, Varuṇa, Mitra, Agni — these wondrous gods bring forth the fair days.
4. May Savitar, the unassailable, grant us that shelter; may the surging rivers follow after it. When the priest of the rite has spoken his invocation, may we become masters of riches, rich in the wealth of the prize.
5. Those who gave such homage to the Vasus, who spoke well-formed words to Mitra and Varuṇa — let the monstrous danger depart, make wide room for us. With the favor of heaven and earth may we rejoice.
Translator's note: two words resist confident rendering. "adatrayā" (verse 3) is rendered "with a bounteous hand" — its root sense of giving is clear, but the exact grammatical force is uncertain. "abhva" (verse 5), rendered "monstrous danger," denotes a shapeless or monstrous power/calamity in Vedic usage; no single modern English word covers it exactly.
Colophon
Rigveda V.49 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.49
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.
devaṁ vo adya savitāram eṣe bhagaṁ ca ratnaṁ vibhajantam āyoḥ |
ā vāṁ narā purubhujā vavṛtyāṁ dive-dive cid aśvinā sakhīyan || 1 ||
prati prayāṇam asurasya vidvān sūktair devaṁ savitāraṁ duvasya |
upa bruvīta namasā vijānañ jyeṣṭhaṁ ca ratnaṁ vibhajantam āyoḥ || 2 ||
adatrayā dayate vāryāṇi pūṣā bhago aditir vasta usraḥ |
indro viṣṇur varuṇo mitro agnir ahāni bhadrā janayanta dasmāḥ || 3 ||
tan no anarvā savitā varūthaṁ tat sindhava iṣayanto anu gman |
upa yad voce adhvarasya hotā rāyaḥ syāma patayo vājaratnāḥ || 4 ||
pra ye vasubhya īvad ā namo dur ye mitre varuṇe sūktavācaḥ |
avaitv abhvaṁ kṛṇutā varīyo divaspṛthivyor avasā madema || 5 ||
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).