Hymn to the Ādityas

Rigveda VII.51 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. May we come to share in the fresh help of the Ādityas, in their most soothing shelter; free of guilt, held within Aditi's own being, may these swift gods hear us and uphold this sacrifice.

2. May the Ādityas rejoice, and Aditi; Mitra, Aryaman, Varuṇa the most upright — may they be the guardians of our world; may they drink the soma today for our protection.

3. The Ādityas, all of them; the Maruts, all of them; the gods, all of them; the Ṛbhus, all of them; Indra, Agni, the Aśvins — praised here — may all of you protect us always, with blessings.

Translator's note: "bhuvanasya gopāḥ" in verse 2 (literally "guardians of the world/of what exists") is rendered here as "guardians of our world"; "svastibhiḥ" in verse 3 (instrumental plural, "with well-being/blessings") is rendered as "with blessings."

Colophon

Rigveda VII.51 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.51

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.

ādityānām avasā nūtanena sakṣīmahi śarmaṇā śaṁtamena |
anāgāstve adititve turāsa imaṁ yajñaṁ dadhatu śroṣamāṇāḥ || 1 ||

ādityāso aditir mādayantām mitro aryamā varuṇo rajiṣṭhāḥ |
asmākaṁ santu bhuvanasya gopāḥ pibantu somam avase no adya || 2 ||

ādityā viśve marutaś ca viśve devāś ca viśva ṛbhavaś ca viśve |
indro agnir aśvinā tuṣṭuvānā yūyam pāta svastibhiḥ sadā naḥ || 3 ||

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).