Hymn to the Viśvedevas
Rigveda VII.34 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) from Maṇḍala 7 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. Let bright, divine insight go forth from us, like a well-wrought chariot, like a swift racing steed.
2. They know the birthplace of earth and heaven; the flowing waters hear it too.
3. Even the broad waters swell up for him; let the fierce heroes be honored in their battles.
4. Harness the horses to his chariot-pole, like Indra the thunderbolt-wielder, golden-armed.
5. Step forward to the sacrifice as to a journey; as if going on your own course, hasten of your own will.
6. By your own power, drive the sacrifice onward through the conflicts; grant the people a heroic sign.
7. From his fury the light did not rise; the earth bears its burden as the ground bears soil.
8. I call the gods, free of deceit, O Agni; working by truth and order, I set my thought upon this.
9. Turn your divine thought toward us; send your speech onward to the gods.
10. Varuṇa, mighty, thousand-eyed, watches over the courses of these rivers.
11. King of the realms, adornment of the rivers — his is unsurpassed dominion, lasting through all life.
12. May he favor us among all peoples; may he silence the reproach of the one who would slander us.
13. Let the unkind weapon of our enemies pass us by; keep every harm to our bodies far off, on every side.
14. Agni has favored our offerings with acts of homage; to him, most dear, this hymn of praise has been given.
15. Together with the gods, make the Child of the Waters our friend; may he be gracious to us.
16. I praise with hymns the water-born serpent, seated in the depths of the rivers, in their realms.
17. May the Serpent of the Deep not give us over to harm; may the sacrifice of this truth-loving one not fail.
18. And may they grant fame to these men of ours; may our lord's bold ones go forth toward wealth.
19. Their great hosts, with their fury, scorch the enemy as the sun scorches the earth.
20. When our wives come forward to the rite, may Tvaṣṭṛ, skillful of hand, grant us sons.
21. May Tvaṣṭṛ take delight in our hymn of praise; may we hold right devotion, seeking after wealth.
22. May these gods, companions of the givers, grant us goods; may Varuṇānī and the two world-halves hear us. With the protecting goddesses, may he be a good shelter for us; may Tvaṣṭṛ, the bountiful giver, distribute riches.
23. May the mountains give us that wealth, may the waters give it, may the plants and Heaven, companions of the gift, give it; may Earth, joined with the forest lords, and both world-halves, guard us on every side.
24. May the wide world-halves yield to that; may heavenly Varuṇa, Indra's friend, grant it; and all the mighty Maruts too — may we be able to hold fast to riches, to keep them ever in mind.
25. May Indra, Varuṇa, Mitra, Agni, the waters, the plants, the forest trees, grant us this favor; may we find shelter in the Maruts' embrace. Protect us always with your blessings.
Translator's note: verses 5 and 7 contain compressed, elliptical Vedic phrasing (āheva yajñam; ud asya śuṣmād bhānur nārta) whose exact images are debated among Vedicists; the renderings above follow the words conservatively rather than smoothing them into a confident paraphrase.
Colophon
Rigveda VII.34 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 VII.34
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.
pra śukraitu devī manīṣā asmat sutaṣṭo ratho na vājī || 1 ||
viduḥ pṛthivyā divo janitraṁ śṛṇvanty āpo adha kṣarantīḥ || 2 ||
āpaś cid asmai pinvanta pṛthvīr vṛtreṣu śūrā maṁsanta ugrāḥ || 3 ||
ā dhūrṣv asmai dadhātāśvān indro na vajrī hiraṇyabāhuḥ || 4 ||
abhi pra sthātāheva yajñaṁ yāteva patman tmanā hinota || 5 ||
tmanā samatsu hinota yajñaṁ dadhāta ketuṁ janāya vīram || 6 ||
ud asya śuṣmād bhānur nārta bibharti bhāram pṛthivī na bhūma || 7 ||
hvayāmi devām̐ ayātur agne sādhann ṛtena dhiyaṁ dadhāmi || 8 ||
abhi vo devīṁ dhiyaṁ dadhidhvam pra vo devatrā vācaṁ kṛṇudhvam || 9 ||
ā caṣṭa āsām pātho nadīnāṁ varuṇa ugraḥ sahasracakṣāḥ || 10 ||
rājā rāṣṭrānām peśo nadīnām anuttam asmai kṣatraṁ viśvāyu || 11 ||
aviṣṭo asmān viśvāsu vikṣv adyuṁ kṛṇota śaṁsaṁ ninitsoḥ || 12 ||
vy etu didyud dviṣām aśevā yuyota viṣvag rapas tanūnām || 13 ||
avīn no agnir havyān namobhiḥ preṣṭho asmā adhāyi stomaḥ || 14 ||
sajūr devebhir apāṁ napātaṁ sakhāyaṁ kṛdhvaṁ śivo no astu || 15 ||
abjām ukthair ahiṁ gṛṇīṣe budhne nadīnāṁ rajaḥsu ṣīdan || 16 ||
mā no 'hir budhnyo riṣe dhān mā yajño asya sridhad ṛtāyoḥ || 17 ||
uta na eṣu nṛṣu śravo dhuḥ pra rāye yantu śardhanto aryaḥ || 18 ||
tapanti śatruṁ sva1r ṇa bhūmā mahāsenāso amebhir eṣām || 19 ||
ā yan naḥ patnīr gamanty acchā tvaṣṭā supāṇir dadhātu vīrān || 20 ||
prati naḥ stomaṁ tvaṣṭā juṣeta syād asme aramatir vasūyuḥ || 21 ||
tā no rāsan rātiṣāco vasūny ā rodasī varuṇānī śṛṇotu |
varūtrībhiḥ suśaraṇo no astu tvaṣṭā sudatro vi dadhātu rāyaḥ || 22 ||
tan no rāyaḥ parvatās tan na āpas tad rātiṣāca oṣadhīr uta dyauḥ |
vanaspatibhiḥ pṛthivī sajoṣā ubhe rodasī pari pāsato naḥ || 23 ||
anu tad urvī rodasī jihātām anu dyukṣo varuṇa indrasakhā |
anu viśve maruto ye sahaso rāyaḥ syāma dharuṇaṁ dhiyadhyai || 24 ||
tan na indro varuṇo mitro agnir āpa oṣadhīr vanino juṣanta |
śarman syāma marutām upasthe yūyam pāta svastibhiḥ sadā naḥ || 25 ||
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).