Hymn to the Cows
Rigveda VI.28 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) from Maṇḍala 6 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 cows have come and brought us good fortune; let them settle in the stall and delight us. May they be here with many young and many colors, milked for Indra through many dawns.
2. Indra helps the one who sacrifices and the one who gives freely; he gives, and does not steal what is his own. Increasing this man's wealth more and more, he settles the god-seeking man on untilled land.
3. These cows do not perish, no thief harms them; no hostile troublemaker dares assail them. With them one worships the gods and gives gifts; the lord of the cows stays long together with them.
4. No dust-raising horse overtakes them; they do not go near the place of slaughter. Following his wide and fearless range, the cows of the sacrificing mortal roam freely.
5. Cows are Bhaga, cows are Indra to me; cows are the first portion of the soma. These cows here, o people — that is Indra; with heart and mind I long for Indra indeed.
6. You cows fatten even the lean one, you make even the plain one handsome. You make the house prosperous, cows of the good lowing voice; your great vigor is spoken of in the assemblies.
7. Bearing young, grazing on good pasture, drinking pure water at a good watering place — may no thief have power over you, no one who curses evil; may Rudra's weapon pass you by.
8. Let this union be granted among these cows; let it join the bull's seed, let it join Indra's virile power.
Translator's note: verse 4's "saṁskṛtatram" (a place of preparation or cutting) is rendered conservatively as "place of slaughter." Verse 8's "upaparcanam" / "pṛcyatām" (mingling, joining) is an obscure ritual term, likely invoking a blessing on the herd's breeding; it is rendered conservatively rather than expanded.
Colophon
Rigveda VI.28 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 VI.28
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.
ā gāvo agmann uta bhadram akran sīdantu goṣṭhe raṇayantv asme |
prajāvatīḥ pururūpā iha syur indrāya pūrvīr uṣaso duhānāḥ || 1 ||
indro yajvane pṛṇate ca śikṣaty uped dadāti na svam muṣāyati |
bhūyo-bhūyo rayim id asya vardhayann abhinne khilye ni dadhāti devayum || 2 ||
na tā naśanti na dabhāti taskaro nāsām āmitro vyathir ā dadharṣati |
devām̐ś ca yābhir yajate dadāti ca jyog it tābhiḥ sacate gopatiḥ saha || 3 ||
na tā arvā reṇukakāṭo aśnute na saṁskṛtatram upa yanti tā abhi |
urugāyam abhayaṁ tasya tā anu gāvo martasya vi caranti yajvanaḥ || 4 ||
gāvo bhago gāva indro me acchān gāvaḥ somasya prathamasya bhakṣaḥ |
imā yā gāvaḥ sa janāsa indra icchāmīd dhṛdā manasā cid indram || 5 ||
yūyaṁ gāvo medayathā kṛśaṁ cid aśrīraṁ cit kṛṇuthā supratīkam |
bhadraṁ gṛhaṁ kṛṇutha bhadravāco bṛhad vo vaya ucyate sabhāsu || 6 ||
prajāvatīḥ sūyavasaṁ riśantīḥ śuddhā apaḥ suprapāṇe pibantīḥ |
mā vaḥ stena īśata māghaśaṁsaḥ pari vo hetī rudrasya vṛjyāḥ || 7 ||
upedam upaparcanam āsu goṣūpa pṛcyatām |
upa ṛṣabhasya retasy upendra tava vīrye || 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).