Hymn to Heaven and Earth (Dyāvāpṛthivī)
Rigveda VI.70 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. Rich in ghee, gracing the worlds, wide and broad, yielding honey, well-adorned — Heaven and Earth, held apart by Varuṇa's ordinance, ageless, abundant in seed.
2. Unfailing, streaming abundantly, full of milk, the two of them milk out ghee for the one who acts rightly, whose rites are pure. Ruling over this world, O two world-halves, pour into us the seed that is set for man's good.
3. The mortal who has offered to you two, O Heaven and Earth, O wise and bountiful ones, for a straight path — he prospers. He is born forth with offspring, according to the ordinance: beings of many forms, poured out by you two, obedient to your law.
4. Heaven and Earth, wrapped in ghee, gleaming with ghee, mingled with ghee, strengthened by ghee, wide, broad, chosen by the Hotar, set foremost as priests — these very ones the inspired poets praise, seeking favor for the offering.
5. Let Heaven and Earth mix sweetness for us — dripping with honey, milking honey, whose ordinance is honeyed — the two divine ones who hold sacrifice and wealth: grant us great fame, strength, and heroic vigor.
6. Let Heaven and Earth pour nourishment to us — father and mother, all-knowing, of wondrous power. Bounteous, beneficial to all, O two world-halves, send us together gain, strength, and wealth.
Translator's note: several adjectives here are dual forms describing Heaven and Earth as a single conjoined pair (e.g. "ghee-wrapped," "honey-yielding," "all-knowing"); English cannot mark this duality on the adjective, so it is carried by context and by naming both members together.
Colophon
Rigveda VI.70 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.70
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.
ghṛtavatī bhuvanānām abhiśriyorvī pṛthvī madhudughe supeśasā |
dyāvāpṛthivī varuṇasya dharmaṇā viṣkabhite ajare bhūriretasā || 1 ||
asaścantī bhūridhāre payasvatī ghṛtaṁ duhāte sukṛte śucivrate |
rājantī asya bhuvanasya rodasī asme retaḥ siñcataṁ yan manurhitam || 2 ||
yo vām ṛjave kramaṇāya rodasī marto dadāśa dhiṣaṇe sa sādhati |
pra prajābhir jāyate dharmaṇas pari yuvoḥ siktā viṣurūpāṇi savratā || 3 ||
ghṛtena dyāvāpṛthivī abhīvṛte ghṛtaśriyā ghṛtapṛcā ghṛtāvṛdhā |
urvī pṛthvī hotṛvūrye purohite te id viprā īḻate sumnam iṣṭaye || 4 ||
madhu no dyāvāpṛthivī mimikṣatām madhuścutā madhudughe madhuvrate |
dadhāne yajñaṁ draviṇaṁ ca devatā mahi śravo vājam asme suvīryam || 5 ||
ūrjaṁ no dyauś ca pṛthivī ca pinvatām pitā mātā viśvavidā sudaṁsasā |
saṁrarāṇe rodasī viśvaśambhuvā saniṁ vājaṁ rayim asme sam invatām || 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).