Hymn to the Maruts
Rigveda V.54 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. Anoint forth this speech to the Marut host, self-luminous, mountain-shaking; to the one who roars with heat from heaven, worshipped along the ridge, of bright renown — sing out great manly power.
2. Forth go your powers, O Maruts — strong, rain-seeking, vigor-increasing, horse-yoking, wide-ranging. They join together with the lightning; Trita roars; the waters resound in their wide channels.
3. The men great with lightning, hurlers of stone, flashing like the wind — the Maruts, shakers of mountains — again and again wrapped in thunder-roar, giving rain, thundering as they come, impetuous, surging with strength.
4. Through the nights, O Rudras, through the days, mighty ones, through the mid-air, through the dusty regions, you shakers move — when you drive through the plains as through open water, through hard mountain passes, O Maruts, you are never harmed.
5. That heroic power of yours, O Maruts, that greatness, stretches far, like the sun's course. These Maruts, on their journey, of unseized brilliance — when, needing no horse, you swept down upon the mountain.
6. The host shone bright, O Maruts, when you seized the flood; you strip the tree like plunderers, you ordainers of order. Then, being of one accord, grant us devotion — and lead us, as one guides a moving eye, along an easy path.
7. He is not overcome, O Maruts, he is not slain, he does not fail, does not waver, is not harmed — his riches do not dwindle, nor his sources of help — he whom, whether sage or king, you send forth in favor.
8. Yoked with their team, like men who conquer whole hosts, like Aryaman, the Maruts, bearing their water-vessels — they swell the spring when the mighty ones roar, and they drench the earth with the sweetness of their draught.
9. This earth grows full of downward paths for the Maruts as they go; the sky grows full of paths for those advancing; the ways of the mid-air are full of slopes; the mountains, quick to pour out their streams, are full of slopes.
10. When, O Maruts, bearing your burden together, sun-bright, you exult at sunrise, you men of heaven — your running horses do not slacken here; at once you reach the far end of this road.
11. On your shoulders, spears; on your feet, anklets; on your chests, golden ornaments, O Maruts, and beauty upon your chariot; in your two hands, lightnings that blaze like fire; on your heads, golden helmets spread wide.
12. That firmament of the lord, of unseized brilliance, the bright fruit — O Maruts, you shake it loose. They converged together, they blazed forth in their troop's might, when the truth-loving ones sound out their far-spread roar.
13. Of the wealth given by you, O clear-seeing Maruts, may we be the possessors — wealth full of vigor — which never fails, like Tiṣya of heaven; grant to us, O Maruts, a thousandfold portion.
14. You, O Maruts, grant wealth rich in desirable heroes; you protect the sage, the singer of Sāman hymns; you give the swift steed as a prize to the warrior; you set up the king who listens readily.
15. That wealth of yours I beg, you whose help is instant, by which we might spread out over men as the sun spreads over the sky. Gladly accept, O Maruts, this welcome speech of mine, by whose strength we might cross a hundred winters.
Translator's note: several phrases in this hymn are genuinely obscure in the received Sanskrit — among them "anaśvadām" (v.5, rendered conservatively as "needing no horse"), "kapaneva" (v.6, "like plunderers"), and "ruśat pippalam" (v.12, "the bright fruit," possibly a figure for the sun or moon). These are translated conservatively rather than confidently resolved.
Colophon
Rigveda V.54 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.54
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 śardhāya mārutāya svabhānava imāṁ vācam anajā parvatacyute |
gharmastubhe diva ā pṛṣṭhayajvane dyumnaśravase mahi nṛmṇam arcata || 1 ||
pra vo marutas taviṣā udanyavo vayovṛdho aśvayujaḥ parijrayaḥ |
saṁ vidyutā dadhati vāśati tritaḥ svaranty āpo 'vanā parijrayaḥ || 2 ||
vidyunmahaso naro aśmadidyavo vātatviṣo marutaḥ parvatacyutaḥ |
abdayā cin muhur ā hrādunīvṛtaḥ stanayadamā rabhasā udojasaḥ || 3 ||
vy a1ktūn rudrā vy ahāni śikvaso vy a1ntarikṣaṁ vi rajāṁsi dhūtayaḥ |
vi yad ajrām̐ ajatha nāva īṁ yathā vi durgāṇi maruto nāha riṣyatha || 4 ||
tad vīryaṁ vo maruto mahitvanaṁ dīrghaṁ tatāna sūryo na yojanam |
etā na yāme agṛbhītaśociṣo 'naśvadāṁ yan ny ayātanā girim || 5 ||
abhrāji śardho maruto yad arṇasam moṣathā vṛkṣaṁ kapaneva vedhasaḥ |
adha smā no aramatiṁ sajoṣasaś cakṣur iva yantam anu neṣathā sugam || 6 ||
na sa jīyate maruto na hanyate na sredhati na vyathate na riṣyati |
nāsya rāya upa dasyanti notaya ṛṣiṁ vā yaṁ rājānaṁ vā suṣūdatha || 7 ||
niyutvanto grāmajito yathā naro 'ryamaṇo na marutaḥ kabandhinaḥ |
pinvanty utsaṁ yad ināso asvaran vy undanti pṛthivīm madhvo andhasā || 8 ||
pravatvatīyam pṛthivī marudbhyaḥ pravatvatī dyaur bhavati prayadbhyaḥ |
pravatvatīḥ pathyā antarikṣyāḥ pravatvantaḥ parvatā jīradānavaḥ || 9 ||
yan marutaḥ sabharasaḥ svarṇaraḥ sūrya udite madathā divo naraḥ |
na vo 'śvāḥ śrathayantāha sisrataḥ sadyo asyādhvanaḥ pāram aśnutha || 10 ||
aṁseṣu va ṛṣṭayaḥ patsu khādayo vakṣaḥsu rukmā maruto rathe śubhaḥ |
agnibhrājaso vidyuto gabhastyoḥ śiprāḥ śīrṣasu vitatā hiraṇyayīḥ || 11 ||
taṁ nākam aryo agṛbhītaśociṣaṁ ruśat pippalam maruto vi dhūnutha |
sam acyanta vṛjanātitviṣanta yat svaranti ghoṣaṁ vitatam ṛtāyavaḥ || 12 ||
yuṣmādattasya maruto vicetaso rāyaḥ syāma rathyo3 vayasvataḥ |
na yo yucchati tiṣyo3 yathā divo3 'sme rāranta marutaḥ sahasriṇam || 13 ||
yūyaṁ rayim marutaḥ spārhavīraṁ yūyam ṛṣim avatha sāmavipram |
yūyam arvantam bharatāya vājaṁ yūyaṁ dhattha rājānaṁ śruṣṭimantam || 14 ||
tad vo yāmi draviṇaṁ sadyaūtayo yenā sva1r ṇa tatanāma nṝm̐r abhi |
idaṁ su me maruto haryatā vaco yasya tarema tarasā śataṁ himāḥ || 15 ||
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).