Hymn to Pūṣan
Rigveda VI.54 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. Pūṣan, lead us together with a guide who knows, one who teaches the straight path, who says, "This is the way."
2. May we go forth together with Pūṣan, who points the way to the houses, who says, "These indeed are they."
3. Pūṣan's wheel never breaks, its nave never falls away, its rim never wavers.
4. Whoever honors him with an offering, that one Pūṣan does not forget — he is the first to find wealth.
5. May Pūṣan follow after our cattle; may Pūṣan guard our horses; may Pūṣan win us prize-wealth.
6. Pūṣan, go forth after the cattle of the worshiper who presses the soma, and of us who sing your praise.
7. Let none be lost, let none be harmed, let none be broken in the pit — then come to us with them unharmed.
8. We beg riches from Pūṣan who hears, the vigorous one, whose own wealth is never lost, the lord of riches.
9. Pūṣan, may we never come to harm under your ordinance; we are your praisers here.
10. May Pūṣan reach his right hand around us from afar; may he bring back to us what is lost.
Translator's note: in verse 7, "kevaṭa" (rendered here as "pit") is a rare and uncertain word, generally taken to mean a pit, hole, or pitfall into which stray cattle might fall; the rendering is conservative.
Colophon
Rigveda VI.54 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.54
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.
sam pūṣan viduṣā naya yo añjasānuśāsati |
ya evedam iti bravat || 1 ||
sam u pūṣṇā gamemahi yo gṛhām̐ abhiśāsati |
ima eveti ca bravat || 2 ||
pūṣṇaś cakraṁ na riṣyati na kośo 'va padyate |
no asya vyathate paviḥ || 3 ||
yo asmai haviṣāvidhan na tam pūṣāpi mṛṣyate |
prathamo vindate vasu || 4 ||
pūṣā gā anv etu naḥ pūṣā rakṣatv arvataḥ |
pūṣā vājaṁ sanotu naḥ || 5 ||
pūṣann anu pra gā ihi yajamānasya sunvataḥ |
asmākaṁ stuvatām uta || 6 ||
mākir neśan mākīṁ riṣan mākīṁ saṁ śāri kevaṭe |
athāriṣṭābhir ā gahi || 7 ||
śṛṇvantam pūṣaṇaṁ vayam iryam anaṣṭavedasam |
īśānaṁ rāya īmahe || 8 ||
pūṣan tava vrate vayaṁ na riṣyema kadā cana |
stotāras ta iha smasi || 9 ||
pari pūṣā parastād dhastaṁ dadhātu dakṣiṇam |
punar no naṣṭam ājatu || 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).