Hymn to Uṣas
Rigveda VI.64 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 shining dawns have risen up in splendor, like bright waves of water. She makes all paths easy and good to travel; the good, bounteous gift has come to be.
2. You are seen as gracious; you shine wide. Your blaze, your rays, have flown up into the sky. You bare your breast, adorning yourself, O goddess Uṣas, shining with your greatness.
3. Ruddy, bright cows carry her, the fortunate one, spreading wide. Like a hero driving off enemies with his bow, she chases the darkness away — she repels it, swift as a racing steed.
4. Good are your paths, good your roads even among the mountains; windless, self-luminous one, you cross the waters swiftly. Bring us wealth, O wide-traveling, lofty one, daughter of heaven, that we may thrive.
5. Bring it with your yoked team, swift Uṣas; you bring the best, according to our desire. You, daughter of heaven, who are truly a goddess — at the first call you became visible, lovely through your bounty.
6. Even the birds have flown up from their nests at your coming, and the men who share the morning meal, at daybreak. To the one who stays at home you bring abundant good things, O goddess Uṣas, to the mortal who makes offering.
Translator's note: "avāte" (verses 4–5), literally "windless," is here understood as describing Uṣas's swift, unhindered motion rather than a literal absence of wind — a conventional epithet of speed. "amā sate" (verse 6), "to the one staying at home," is rendered plainly rather than expanded, as the phrase is terse in the Sanskrit.
Colophon
Rigveda VI.64 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.64
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.
ud u śriya uṣaso rocamānā asthur apāṁ normayo ruśantaḥ |
kṛṇoti viśvā supathā sugāny abhūd u vasvī dakṣiṇā maghonī || 1 ||
bhadrā dadṛkṣa urviyā vi bhāsy ut te śocir bhānavo dyām apaptan |
āvir vakṣaḥ kṛṇuṣe śumbhamānoṣo devi rocamānā mahobhiḥ || 2 ||
vahanti sīm aruṇāso ruśanto gāvaḥ subhagām urviyā prathānām |
apejate śūro asteva śatrūn bādhate tamo ajiro na voḻhā || 3 ||
sugota te supathā parvateṣv avāte apas tarasi svabhāno |
sā na ā vaha pṛthuyāmann ṛṣve rayiṁ divo duhitar iṣayadhyai || 4 ||
sā vaha yokṣabhir avātoṣo varaṁ vahasi joṣam anu |
tvaṁ divo duhitar yā ha devī pūrvahūtau maṁhanā darśatā bhūḥ || 5 ||
ut te vayaś cid vasater apaptan naraś ca ye pitubhājo vyuṣṭau |
amā sate vahasi bhūri vāmam uṣo devi dāśuṣe martyāya || 6 ||
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).