Hymn to the Maruts
Rigveda V.53 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 knows the origin of these Maruts? Who was, in earlier times, in their favor, when the untiring ones yoked their teams?
2. Who has heard how these, standing in their chariots, journeyed? To whom did they stream forth? To Sudās — the waters followed, the rains together with nourishment.
3. They who came to me by day, on wings, in rapture, said: "These spotless young men — seeing them, praise them thus."
4. Who are adorned in ointments, in axes, self-luminous, in garlands, in golden ornaments, in bracelets — splendid on their chariots, on the open plains.
5. O Maruts, swift givers, I have set my heart on joy, following your chariots, as the rain-bearing skies move on their course.
6. The bounteous men shook loose heaven's vessel for the worshiper; they release Parjanya across the two world-halves; the rains go forth over the dry lands.
7. The bursting rivers, with their flood, streamed through the airy dust like milk-cows; flowing like horses freed at the end of a journey, when the swift ones turn and scatter.
8. Come, O Maruts, from heaven, from the mid-air, and from nearby — do not remain far off, at a distance.
9. Let not the Rasā, the Kubhā, the Krumu hold you back; let not the Sindhu restrain you; let not the marshy Sarayu stand in your way — let your favor be with us.
10. That troop of yours, of chariots, the brilliant Marut-band, ever new — the rains follow after it.
11. May we follow each host of yours, each band, each troop, with fitting praises, with our hymns of devotion.
12. To whom, well-born, offering the oblation today, have the Maruts gone forth on this course?
13. Grant us that imperishable seed of grain which you carry for offspring and progeny; grant what we beg of you — bounty, long life, good fortune.
14. May we pass beyond reproach with well-being, leaving behind blame and hostility. May the rained-down waters bring weal and welfare, a remedy at dawn — may we be together with the Maruts.
15. That mortal, O men, O Maruts, whom you protect, shall have good gods and good sons through all his days — may we be that one.
16. Praise the bountiful ones; on this praiser's journey they rejoice like cows in the pasture. Call them as one calls former friends; with song hymn these eager ones.
Translator's note: verse 3's "vibhiḥ" (rendered "on wings") and verse 9's river name "nitabhā" alongside Rasā, Kubhā, Krumu, Sindhu, and Sarayu are textually uncertain; both are translated conservatively, following the most literal sense of the Sanskrit rather than any interpretive gloss.
Colophon
Rigveda V.53 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.53
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 veda jānam eṣāṁ ko vā purā sumneṣv āsa marutām |
yad yuyujre kilāsyaḥ || 1 ||
aitān ratheṣu tasthuṣaḥ kaḥ śuśrāva kathā yayuḥ |
kasmai sasruḥ sudāse anv āpaya iḻābhir vṛṣṭayaḥ saha || 2 ||
te ma āhur ya āyayur upa dyubhir vibhir made |
naro maryā arepasa imān paśyann iti ṣṭuhi || 3 ||
ye añjiṣu ye vāśīṣu svabhānavaḥ srakṣu rukmeṣu khādiṣu |
śrāyā ratheṣu dhanvasu || 4 ||
yuṣmākaṁ smā rathām̐ anu mude dadhe maruto jīradānavaḥ |
vṛṣṭī dyāvo yatīr iva || 5 ||
ā yaṁ naraḥ sudānavo dadāśuṣe divaḥ kośam acucyavuḥ |
vi parjanyaṁ sṛjanti rodasī anu dhanvanā yanti vṛṣṭayaḥ || 6 ||
tatṛdānāḥ sindhavaḥ kṣodasā rajaḥ pra sasrur dhenavo yathā |
syannā aśvā ivādhvano vimocane vi yad vartanta enyaḥ || 7 ||
ā yāta maruto diva āntarikṣād amād uta |
māva sthāta parāvataḥ || 8 ||
mā vo rasānitabhā kubhā krumur mā vaḥ sindhur ni rīramat |
mā vaḥ pari ṣṭhāt sarayuḥ purīṣiṇy asme it sumnam astu vaḥ || 9 ||
taṁ vaḥ śardhaṁ rathānāṁ tveṣaṁ gaṇam mārutaṁ navyasīnām |
anu pra yanti vṛṣṭayaḥ || 10 ||
śardhaṁ-śardhaṁ va eṣāṁ vrātaṁ-vrātaṁ gaṇaṁ-gaṇaṁ suśastibhiḥ |
anu krāmema dhītibhiḥ || 11 ||
kasmā adya sujātāya rātahavyāya pra yayuḥ |
enā yāmena marutaḥ || 12 ||
yena tokāya tanayāya dhānya1m bījaṁ vahadhve akṣitam |
asmabhyaṁ tad dhattana yad va īmahe rādho viśvāyu saubhagam || 13 ||
atīyāma nidas tiraḥ svastibhir hitvāvadyam arātīḥ |
vṛṣṭvī śaṁ yor āpa usri bheṣajaṁ syāma marutaḥ saha || 14 ||
sudevaḥ samahāsati suvīro naro marutaḥ sa martyaḥ |
yaṁ trāyadhve syāma te || 15 ||
stuhi bhojān stuvato asya yāmani raṇan gāvo na yavase |
yataḥ pūrvām̐ iva sakhīm̐r anu hvaya girā gṛṇīhi kāminaḥ || 16 ||
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).