Hymn to Mitra and Varuṇa
Rigveda VI.67 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. Mitra and Varuṇa, greatest of all beings that are — we would exalt you with our songs, you two who, like reins in the best hands, together guide the two unequal peoples with your own arms.
2. This thought of mine spreads out toward you, reaching the dear sacrificial grass with homage. Grant us, Mitra and Varuṇa, the shelter that cannot be shaken — the sheltering protection that is yours to give, generous ones.
3. Come, Mitra and Varuṇa, well praised, called upon with dear homage — you two who, like workers at their task, unite the peoples, and by your greatness guide even the one who listens for you.
4. You are like two prize horses of pure stock, true to order, whom Aditi bore as her offspring — great ones, born great, terrible ones, who shine down upon the deceitful mortal.
5. When all the gods, rejoicing together, in one accord bestowed dominion upon you two, you encompassed the two wide worlds — and there are your watchers, unbeguiled, unerring.
6. You two hold dominion day after day; you make firm the ridge of heaven as if from its very summit. Firm among the stars, and gods of all, you have stretched out earth and heaven for your sustaining power.
7. You two have shaped your frame to be filled, when the gathered waters fill your dwelling. The unwearied maidens do not fail, when they, quickening all things, pour out their milk.
8. With your tongue, wise ones, you speak this continually, since the true envoy was born to you two in keeping with order. Let that be your greatness, you whose food is ghee — may you drive distress away from the one who brings offerings.
9. When rivals contend against you, Mitra and Varuṇa, and violate the dear laws that you two have set in place — they who are neither gods by descent nor mortals, companions of those who do not sacrifice, no true kin, as if born of the waters.
10. When the singers put forth their speech, and some, deep in thought, recite their invocations, then we speak true hymns to you two — no one among the gods matches you in greatness.
11. So, under your protecting shelter, Mitra and Varuṇa, unfailingly — as when the cows spring up in support of the swift-flying one, when in the contest they yoke the bold and mighty one.
Translator's note: Verses 6, 7, 9, and 11 contain compressed, elliptical Vedic syntax whose precise referents (the "sustaining power" of verse 6, the "maidens" and their "milk" in verse 7, the identity of the rivals in verse 9, and the closing image of cows and a yoked contender in verse 11) are debated among Vedic scholars. The renderings above follow the Sanskrit words conservatively rather than resolving these ambiguities with invented specificity.
Colophon
Rigveda VI.67 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.67
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.
viśveṣāṁ vaḥ satāṁ jyeṣṭhatamā gīrbhir mitrāvaruṇā vāvṛdhadhyai |
saṁ yā raśmeva yamatur yamiṣṭhā dvā janām̐ asamā bāhubhiḥ svaiḥ || 1 ||
iyam mad vām pra stṛṇīte manīṣopa priyā namasā barhir accha |
yantaṁ no mitrāvaruṇāv adhṛṣṭaṁ chardir yad vāṁ varūthyaṁ sudānū || 2 ||
ā yātam mitrāvaruṇā suśasty upa priyā namasā hūyamānā |
saṁ yāv apnaḥstho apaseva janāñ chrudhīyataś cid yatatho mahitvā || 3 ||
aśvā na yā vājinā pūtabandhū ṛtā yad garbham aditir bharadhyai |
pra yā mahi mahāntā jāyamānā ghorā martāya ripave ni dīdhaḥ || 4 ||
viśve yad vām maṁhanā mandamānāḥ kṣatraṁ devāso adadhuḥ sajoṣāḥ |
pari yad bhūtho rodasī cid urvī santi spaśo adabdhāso amūrāḥ || 5 ||
tā hi kṣatraṁ dhārayethe anu dyūn dṛṁhethe sānum upamād iva dyoḥ |
dṛḻho nakṣatra uta viśvadevo bhūmim ātān dyāṁ dhāsināyoḥ || 6 ||
tā vigraṁ dhaithe jaṭharam pṛṇadhyā ā yat sadma sabhṛtayaḥ pṛṇanti |
na mṛṣyante yuvatayo 'vātā vi yat payo viśvajinvā bharante || 7 ||
tā jihvayā sadam edaṁ sumedhā ā yad vāṁ satyo aratir ṛte bhūt |
tad vām mahitvaṁ ghṛtānnāv astu yuvaṁ dāśuṣe vi cayiṣṭam aṁhaḥ || 8 ||
pra yad vām mitrāvaruṇā spūrdhan priyā dhāma yuvadhitā minanti |
na ye devāsa ohasā na martā ayajñasāco apyo na putrāḥ || 9 ||
vi yad vācaṁ kīstāso bharante śaṁsanti ke cin nivido manānāḥ |
ād vām bravāma satyāny ukthā nakir devebhir yatatho mahitvā || 10 ||
avor itthā vāṁ chardiṣo abhiṣṭau yuvor mitrāvaruṇāv askṛdhoyu |
anu yad gāvaḥ sphurān ṛjipyaṁ dhṛṣṇuṁ yad raṇe vṛṣaṇaṁ yunajan || 11 ||
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).