Hymn to Sūrya, Mitra, and Varuṇa
Rigveda VII.62 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. Sūrya has sent his great rays upward, over the many births of men. Equally he is seen shining across the sky, day by day — made by design, well made, brought into being through his makers.
2. O Sūrya, rise up to meet us as toward a stronghold, with these hymns of praise, with your swift courses. Declare us blameless before Mitra and Varuṇa, and before Aryaman and Agni.
3. May they open a thousand bounties for us — Varuṇa, Mitra, Agni, who hold to the true order. May the bright ones grant us the highest hymn of praise; being praised, may they fill our desire.
4. O Heaven and Earth, O Aditi — protect us, we who were born of you two, well-born, O lofty ones. May we not fall into the anger of Varuṇa, or of Vāyu, or of Mitra, dearest of men.
5. Stretch out your arms for our living; sprinkle our pastureland with ghee. Make us renowned among the people, you two young gods. Hear my call, Mitra and Varuṇa — hear these invocations.
6. Now may Mitra, Varuṇa, and Aryaman grant us, for ourselves and for our offspring, open room to live. May all our paths be easy going, good roads. Protect us always, all of you, with blessings.
Translator's note: "etaśebhiḥ" (v.2) names the mythic etaśa-horses associated with Sūrya's chariot; rendered here simply as "swift courses." "Śurudhaḥ" (v.3) and "varivaḥ" (v.6) denote bounty and open freedom/room respectively — both translated conservatively for their broad sense rather than a narrow technical gloss.
Colophon
Rigveda VII.62 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.62
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.
ut sūryo bṛhad arcīṁṣy aśret puru viśvā janima mānuṣāṇām |
samo divā dadṛśe rocamānaḥ kratvā kṛtaḥ sukṛtaḥ kartṛbhir bhūt || 1 ||
sa sūrya prati puro na ud gā ebhiḥ stomebhir etaśebhir evaiḥ |
pra no mitrāya varuṇāya voco 'nāgaso aryamṇe agnaye ca || 2 ||
vi naḥ sahasraṁ śurudho radantv ṛtāvāno varuṇo mitro agniḥ |
yacchantu candrā upamaṁ no arkam ā naḥ kāmam pūpurantu stavānāḥ || 3 ||
dyāvābhūmī adite trāsīthāṁ no ye vāṁ jajñuḥ sujanimāna ṛṣve |
mā heḻe bhūma varuṇasya vāyor mā mitrasya priyatamasya nṛṇām || 4 ||
pra bāhavā sisṛtaṁ jīvase na ā no gavyūtim ukṣataṁ ghṛtena |
ā no jane śravayataṁ yuvānā śrutam me mitrāvaruṇā havemā || 5 ||
nū mitro varuṇo aryamā nas tmane tokāya varivo dadhantu |
sugā no viśvā supathāni santu yūyam pāta svastibhiḥ sadā naḥ || 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).