Hymn to Agni and the Maruts
Rigveda V.60 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. I invoke Agni, giver of good help, with homage here; may he, well-disposed, take note of what we have done. As with racing chariots I bring this offering forward; circling him with reverence, may I fully complete the hymn of praise to the Maruts.
2. You who have mounted your renowned dappled mares, in easy-riding chariots, O Rudras, O Maruts — even the forests bow down before you, fierce ones, in fear; even the earth trembles, even the mountain.
3. Even the great, mighty mountain was afraid; even the ridge of heaven trembled at the sound of you. When you sport, O spear-armed Maruts, you rush together like converging waters.
4. Like wealthy suitors, they have adorned their bodies with gold, by their own power. For splendor, the mightier, more excellent ones have wrought greatness together upon their bodies, upon their chariots.
5. These brothers, with none eldest and none youngest, have grown up together for good fortune. Their father is the ever-youthful, skillful Rudra; their mother is the good-milking Pṛśni — good days belong to the Maruts.
6. Whether you stand in the highest reach of heaven, or the middle, or the lowest, O fortunate ones — from there, Rudras, and you too, Agni, take note now of the oblation we offer.
7. And when, O all-knowing Maruts, together with Agni, you drive down from the higher ridges of heaven — you, rejoicing, thundering, destroyers of foes — grant good things to the sacrificer who presses the soma.
8. O Agni, drink the soma, rejoicing, together with the Maruts — the beautifying ones, the hymn-singing ones, the ones who adorn their troop, the purifying, all-quickening, living ones. O Vaiśvānara, be joined, as of old, with your banner of light.
Translator's note: v.1 "pradakṣiṇit" (turning to the right, i.e. circumambulating reverently) is rendered as "circling him with reverence." v.4 "raivatāsaḥ" (an epithet of uncertain precise sense, perhaps "wealthy ones" or "sons of Revat") is rendered conservatively as "wealthy suitors." v.6's "uttame / madhyame / vāvame" (highest/middle/lowest) most likely describes three tiers of the sky rather than three literal places; the imagery is kept literal here rather than resolved.
Colophon
Rigveda V.60 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.60
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.
īḻe agniṁ svavasaṁ namobhir iha prasatto vi cayat kṛtaṁ naḥ |
rathair iva pra bhare vājayadbhiḥ pradakṣiṇin marutāṁ stomam ṛdhyām || 1 ||
ā ye tasthuḥ pṛṣatīṣu śrutāsu sukheṣu rudrā maruto ratheṣu |
vanā cid ugrā jihate ni vo bhiyā pṛthivī cid rejate parvataś cit || 2 ||
parvataś cin mahi vṛddho bibhāya divaś cit sānu rejata svane vaḥ |
yat krīḻatha maruta ṛṣṭimanta āpa iva sadhryañco dhavadhve || 3 ||
varā ived raivatāso hiraṇyair abhi svadhābhis tanvaḥ pipiśre |
śriye śreyāṁsas tavaso ratheṣu satrā mahāṁsi cakrire tanūṣu || 4 ||
ajyeṣṭhāso akaniṣṭhāsa ete sam bhrātaro vāvṛdhuḥ saubhagāya |
yuvā pitā svapā rudra eṣāṁ sudughā pṛśniḥ sudinā marudbhyaḥ || 5 ||
yad uttame maruto madhyame vā yad vāvame subhagāso divi ṣṭha |
ato no rudrā uta vā nv a1syāgne vittād dhaviṣo yad yajāma || 6 ||
agniś ca yan maruto viśvavedaso divo vahadhva uttarād adhi ṣṇubhiḥ |
te mandasānā dhunayo riśādaso vāmaṁ dhatta yajamānāya sunvate || 7 ||
agne marudbhiḥ śubhayadbhir ṛkvabhiḥ somam piba mandasāno gaṇaśribhiḥ |
pāvakebhir viśvaminvebhir āyubhir vaiśvānara pradivā ketunā sajūḥ || 8 ||
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).