Hymn to the Maruts
Rigveda VII.57 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. Sweet is your Marutian name, O worshipful ones; in the sacrifices they exult with their strength — they who make the two wide worlds tremble, who swell the springs when the fierce ones surge forth.
2. For, O Maruts, you take note of the one who sings your praise; you guide the sacrificer's thought. Sit down today at our rites, on our sacred grass, gratified, for the offering.
3. No other gods are as great as these Maruts, who shine with their golden ornaments, their weapons, their bodies. Adorning the two worlds with every kind of adornment, they anoint themselves alike with the same paint for splendor.
4. Let that dart of yours, O Maruts, be turned aside from us — whatever offense we commit through human weakness, may we not fall into its grip, O worshipful ones; may your most welcome favor be ours.
5. Rejoice here, even in the rite as it stands, O Maruts, blameless, bright, purifying ones. Help us forward with your good will, O worshipful ones; carry us onward with your strength, that we may thrive.
6. And may the Maruts, once praised, accept our offerings under all their names, O heroes. Give us, for our offspring, a share of the immortal; grant us riches, true and bounteous gifts.
7. Praised, O Maruts, with all your protections, come to our patrons in full completeness — you who by yourselves strengthen us with hundredfold gifts. Protect us always with your blessings.
Translator's note: Verse 1's opening (madhvo vo nāma mārutam) is a compressed genitive construction — literally "of honey/sweetness [is] your Marutian name" — rendered here as "Sweet is your Marutian name." Verse 4's didyut ("dart," "missile," or "lightning-bolt") is the Maruts' weapon of punishment; "let it be turned aside" reflects ṛdhak (apart, aside). Verse 7's śatinaḥ ("hundredfold," from śata) qualifies an implied gift or bounty rather than the Maruts themselves.
Colophon
Rigveda VII.57 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.57
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.
madhvo vo nāma mārutaṁ yajatrāḥ pra yajñeṣu śavasā madanti |
ye rejayanti rodasī cid urvī pinvanty utsaṁ yad ayāsur ugrāḥ || 1 ||
nicetāro hi maruto gṛṇantam praṇetāro yajamānasya manma |
asmākam adya vidatheṣu barhir ā vītaye sadata pipriyāṇāḥ || 2 ||
naitāvad anye maruto yatheme bhrājante rukmair āyudhais tanūbhiḥ |
ā rodasī viśvapiśaḥ piśānāḥ samānam añjy añjate śubhe kam || 3 ||
ṛdhak sā vo maruto didyud astu yad va āgaḥ puruṣatā karāma |
mā vas tasyām api bhūmā yajatrā asme vo astu sumatiś caniṣṭhā || 4 ||
kṛte cid atra maruto raṇantānavadyāsaḥ śucayaḥ pāvakāḥ |
pra ṇo 'vata sumatibhir yajatrāḥ pra vājebhis tirata puṣyase naḥ || 5 ||
uta stutāso maruto vyantu viśvebhir nāmabhir naro havīṁṣi |
dadāta no amṛtasya prajāyai jigṛta rāyaḥ sūnṛtā maghāni || 6 ||
ā stutāso maruta viśva ūtī acchā sūrīn sarvatātā jigāta |
ye nas tmanā śatino vardhayanti yūyam pāta svastibhiḥ sadā naḥ || 7 ||
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).