Hymn to Mitra-Varuṇa
Rigveda V.63 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. You two, guardians of ṛta, whose ordinances are true, mount your chariot in the highest heaven. For the one here whom you, Mitra and Varuṇa, help — for him the sweet rain of heaven swells.
2. Sovereign rulers of this world, Mitra and Varuṇa, who see the sun at the sacred gathering — we beg of you rain, bounty, the gift of the immortal. Between heaven and earth the thunders range.
3. Sovereign, mighty, bull-like, lords of heaven and earth, Mitra and Varuṇa, all-seeing — with bright clouds you approach the thunder's roar; you make heaven rain by the magic power of the Asura.
4. Your magic power, Mitra and Varuṇa, is set in heaven; the sun, the light, moves as a wondrous weapon. You conceal it in heaven with cloud and rain, while Parjanya's honeyed drops are stirred to motion.
5. The Maruts yoke their easy chariot for splendor, like a hero in the quest for cattle, O Mitra and Varuṇa. The bright thunders range through the realms; you two sovereigns of heaven drench the earth as with milk.
6. A good voice, rich, wondrous, full of vigor — Parjanya speaks it, O Mitra and Varuṇa. Maruts, clothe yourselves well in cloud by your power; make heaven rain, ruddy and without stain.
7. By law, Mitra and Varuṇa, wise ones, you guard the ordinances through the magic power of the Asura. By ṛta you rule the whole world; you set the sun, that wondrous chariot, in heaven.
Translator's note: "māyā" (vv. 3, 4, 7) carries the Vedic sense of creative/occult power proper to the Asura-gods, not deception — rendered here as "magic power." "Asura" in this hymn is an honorific epithet of Mitra-Varuṇa's divine sovereignty, not the later demonic sense.
Colophon
Rigveda V.63 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.63
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.
ṛtasya gopāv adhi tiṣṭhatho rathaṁ satyadharmāṇā parame vyomani |
yam atra mitrāvaruṇāvatho yuvaṁ tasmai vṛṣṭir madhumat pinvate divaḥ || 1 ||
samrājāv asya bhuvanasya rājatho mitrāvaruṇā vidathe svardṛśā |
vṛṣṭiṁ vāṁ rādho amṛtatvam īmahe dyāvāpṛthivī vi caranti tanyavaḥ || 2 ||
samrājā ugrā vṛṣabhā divas patī pṛthivyā mitrāvaruṇā vicarṣaṇī |
citrebhir abhrair upa tiṣṭhatho ravaṁ dyāṁ varṣayatho asurasya māyayā || 3 ||
māyā vām mitrāvaruṇā divi śritā sūryo jyotiś carati citram āyudham |
tam abhreṇa vṛṣṭyā gūhatho divi parjanya drapsā madhumanta īrate || 4 ||
rathaṁ yuñjate marutaḥ śubhe sukhaṁ śūro na mitrāvaruṇā gaviṣṭiṣu |
rajāṁsi citrā vi caranti tanyavo divaḥ samrājā payasā na ukṣatam || 5 ||
vācaṁ su mitrāvaruṇāv irāvatīm parjanyaś citrāṁ vadati tviṣīmatīm |
abhrā vasata marutaḥ su māyayā dyāṁ varṣayatam aruṇām arepasam || 6 ||
dharmaṇā mitrāvaruṇā vipaścitā vratā rakṣethe asurasya māyayā |
ṛtena viśvam bhuvanaṁ vi rājathaḥ sūryam ā dhattho divi citryaṁ ratham || 7 ||
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).