Hymn to the Maruts
Rigveda V.56 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 poet asks Agni to call down the storm-troop of the Maruts from the bright vault of heaven, then addresses the Maruts directly: mighty, roaring, shaking mountains loose with the force of their passing. The chariot horses — red mares, ruddy steeds, a swift tawny pair — are yoked for the journey, and the goddess Rodasī, Heaven-and-Earth, is pictured riding with the troop, glorified alongside them.
1. O Agni, today I call down from the luminous realm of heaven itself the vigorous troop of the Marut clans, adorned with golden ornaments and unguents.
2. Just as you intend in your heart, so my hopes have gone out to you. Those who have come nearest to your callings — strengthen them, the ones fearsome to behold.
3. Like the bountiful earth struck by rain, exulting, it comes to us. Like a bear, O Maruts — mighty, unruly in its strength, like a bull bellowing fiercely.
4. They who freely let loose their strength, like unruly cattle hard to yoke — they shake loose even the resounding rock, the mountain, the hill, with their courses.
5. Arise now! I call the most abundant, unprecedented troop of these Maruts, sprinkled with hymns of praise, as one calls forth a herd of cattle.
6. Yoke indeed the ruddy mares to the chariot; yoke the red ones to the chariots. Yoke the swift tawny pair to the pole for the drawing — the best drawers, to the pole for the drawing.
7. And that strong, loud-neighing red steed, beautiful to see, has here been set in place. Let him not delay long on your courses, O Maruts — urge him forward on the chariots.
8. Now we call hither the chariot of the Maruts, eager for glory, on which Heaven-and-Earth stands, bearing delights, together with the Maruts.
9. I call that troop of yours, splendid in its chariots, brilliant, worthy of praise, on which the well-born, fortunate, bountiful goddess is glorified together with the Maruts.
Translator's note: verse 3 turns on several rare, disputed words (śimīvān, dudhra, bhīmayu) describing the Maruts' force through animal comparisons (bear, bull); the rendering here is conservative. In verses 8–9, "Rodasī" (Heaven-and-Earth) is the likely referent of the unnamed feminine figure riding with the Maruts, following the word's standard sense in Marut hymns.
Colophon
Rigveda V.56 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.
🌲
Source Text: ṛgveda V.56
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.
agne śardhantam ā gaṇam piṣṭaṁ rukmebhir añjibhiḥ |
viśo adya marutām ava hvaye divaś cid rocanād adhi || 1 ||
yathā cin manyase hṛdā tad in me jagmur āśasaḥ |
ye te nediṣṭhaṁ havanāny āgaman tān vardha bhīmasaṁdṛśaḥ || 2 ||
mīḻhuṣmatīva pṛthivī parāhatā madanty ety asmad ā |
ṛkṣo na vo marutaḥ śimīvām̐ amo dudhro gaur iva bhīmayuḥ || 3 ||
ni ye riṇanty ojasā vṛthā gāvo na durdhuraḥ |
aśmānaṁ cit svarya1m parvataṁ girim pra cyāvayanti yāmabhiḥ || 4 ||
ut tiṣṭha nūnam eṣāṁ stomaiḥ samukṣitānām |
marutām purutamam apūrvyaṁ gavāṁ sargam iva hvaye || 5 ||
yuṅgdhvaṁ hy aruṣī rathe yuṅgdhvaṁ ratheṣu rohitaḥ |
yuṅgdhvaṁ harī ajirā dhuri voḻhave vahiṣṭhā dhuri voḻhave || 6 ||
uta sya vājy aruṣas tuviṣvaṇir iha sma dhāyi darśataḥ |
mā vo yāmeṣu marutaś ciraṁ karat pra taṁ ratheṣu codata || 7 ||
rathaṁ nu mārutaṁ vayaṁ śravasyum ā huvāmahe |
ā yasmin tasthau suraṇāni bibhratī sacā marutsu rodasī || 8 ||
taṁ vaḥ śardhaṁ ratheśubhaṁ tveṣam panasyum ā huve |
yasmin sujātā subhagā mahīyate sacā marutsu mīḻhuṣī || 9 ||
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).