Hymn to Heaven and Earth (Dyāvāpṛthivī)
Rigveda VII.53 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. I press forward with sacrifices and with homage, eagerly invoking the two great ones worthy of worship, Heaven and Earth. Indeed the ancient sages, singing, set the two great ones foremost — the pair whose sons are the gods.
2. With newest songs, prepare praise for the two firstborn parents at the seat of Ṛta. Come to us, Heaven and Earth, together with the divine people — great is your protection.
3. And indeed your treasures are many, Heaven and Earth, for Sudās. Grant to us what shall be unfailing. Protect us always, all of you, with blessings.
Translator's note: "Sudās" (verse 3) is a proper name — a Ṛgvedic patron-king of the Bharata line, elsewhere praised in Vasiṣṭha's hymns; it is kept untranslated as a name. "askṛdhoyu" (verse 3) is a rare compound rendered conservatively as "unfailing"; its exact sense is uncertain. The closing line "yūyam pāta svastibhiḥ sadā naḥ" is a recurring Rigvedic refrain formula (plural address, likely widening to the gods generally) and is rendered accordingly.
Colophon
Rigveda VII.53 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.53
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 dyāvā yajñaiḥ pṛthivī namobhiḥ sabādha īḻe bṛhatī yajatre |
te cid dhi pūrve kavayo gṛṇantaḥ puro mahī dadhire devaputre || 1 ||
pra pūrvaje pitarā navyasībhir gīrbhiḥ kṛṇudhvaṁ sadane ṛtasya |
ā no dyāvāpṛthivī daivyena janena yātam mahi vāṁ varūtham || 2 ||
uto hi vāṁ ratnadheyāni santi purūṇi dyāvāpṛthivī sudāse |
asme dhattaṁ yad asad askṛdhoyu 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).