Hymn to the Maruts
Rigveda V.55 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. The truly worshipful Maruts, with shining spears, their chests adorned with gold, have taken on great vital power. They move with swift, well-guided horses; the chariots follow the track of their splendor.
2. You yourselves have taken on strength, as is your way; great and mighty, you shine out wide. And with your might they have measured out the space between heaven and earth. The chariots follow the track of their splendor.
3. Born together, well-formed, nourished together, these men have grown ever greater for glory's sake — radiant like the rays of the sun. The chariots follow the track of their splendor.
4. Your greatness, O Maruts, is fit to be displayed, worth beholding like the very light of the sun. And set us too within immortality. The chariots follow the track of their splendor.
5. You stir it up, O Maruts, out of the ocean; rich with water, you make the rain fall. Your streams never run dry, O wondrous ones. The chariots follow the track of their splendor.
6. When you yoked the dappled mares to the chariot-poles and put on your golden garments, you scattered, O Maruts, every rival power. The chariots follow the track of their splendor.
7. Neither mountains nor rivers hold you back; wherever you have resolved to go, O Maruts, there you go. And you travel across heaven and earth. The chariots follow the track of their splendor.
8. Whatever is ancient, O Maruts, and whatever is new, whatever is proclaimed, O bountiful ones, and whatever is sung in praise — of all that, be the knowers. The chariots follow the track of their splendor.
9. Be gracious to us, O Maruts; do not strike us down. Grant us shelter, wide and plentiful. Attend to the friendship of your praiser. The chariots follow the track of their splendor.
10. Lead us on toward greater well-being, out of distress, O Maruts, as we praise you. Accept our offered gift, you worthy of worship — may we become lords of riches.
Translator's note: the refrain closing verses 1–9, śubhaṁ yātām anu rathā avṛtsata, is rendered "the chariots follow the track of their splendor"; śubham can mean both physical brightness and the ordered beauty of the Maruts' procession, and the phrase resists a single fixed English equivalent verse to verse. In verse 6, pṛṣatīḥ ("the dappled ones") is taken as the spotted mares/deer conventionally yoked to the Maruts' chariot.
Colophon
Rigveda V.55 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.55
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.
prayajyavo maruto bhrājadṛṣṭayo bṛhad vayo dadhire rukmavakṣasaḥ |
īyante aśvaiḥ suyamebhir āśubhiḥ śubhaṁ yātām anu rathā avṛtsata || 1 ||
svayaṁ dadhidhve taviṣīṁ yathā vida bṛhan mahānta urviyā vi rājatha |
utāntarikṣam mamire vy ojasā śubhaṁ yātām anu rathā avṛtsata || 2 ||
sākaṁ jātāḥ subhvaḥ sākam ukṣitāḥ śriye cid ā prataraṁ vāvṛdhur naraḥ |
virokiṇaḥ sūryasyeva raśmayaḥ śubhaṁ yātām anu rathā avṛtsata || 3 ||
ābhūṣeṇyaṁ vo maruto mahitvanaṁ didṛkṣeṇyaṁ sūryasyeva cakṣaṇam |
uto asmām̐ amṛtatve dadhātana śubhaṁ yātām anu rathā avṛtsata || 4 ||
ud īrayathā marutaḥ samudrato yūyaṁ vṛṣṭiṁ varṣayathā purīṣiṇaḥ |
na vo dasrā upa dasyanti dhenavaḥ śubhaṁ yātām anu rathā avṛtsata || 5 ||
yad aśvān dhūrṣu pṛṣatīr ayugdhvaṁ hiraṇyayān praty atkām̐ amugdhvam |
viśvā it spṛdho maruto vy asyatha śubhaṁ yātām anu rathā avṛtsata || 6 ||
na parvatā na nadyo varanta vo yatrācidhvam maruto gacchathed u tat |
uta dyāvāpṛthivī yāthanā pari śubhaṁ yātām anu rathā avṛtsata || 7 ||
yat pūrvyam maruto yac ca nūtanaṁ yad udyate vasavo yac ca śasyate |
viśvasya tasya bhavathā navedasaḥ śubhaṁ yātām anu rathā avṛtsata || 8 ||
mṛḻata no maruto mā vadhiṣṭanāsmabhyaṁ śarma bahulaṁ vi yantana |
adhi stotrasya sakhyasya gātana śubhaṁ yātām anu rathā avṛtsata || 9 ||
yūyam asmān nayata vasyo acchā nir aṁhatibhyo maruto gṛṇānāḥ |
juṣadhvaṁ no havyadātiṁ yajatrā vayaṁ syāma patayo rayīṇām || 10 ||
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).