Hymn to Mitra and Varuṇa
Rigveda VII.66 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 our vigorous, reverent hymn of praise go forth to Mitra and Varuṇa, the two who were born mighty.
2. Whom the gods upheld — the two skillful ones, the fathers of skill, greatly powerful for sovereign rule.
3. O Varuṇa, O Mitra, protectors of our dwelling, protectors of the bodies of us who sing — bring our prayers to fulfillment.
4. Today, at sunrise, may sinless Mitra, Aryaman, Savitṛ, and Bhaga send us forward.
5. May that dwelling be well guarded. Go forth now on your journey, you generous ones, who carry us safely past distress.
6. And the self-ruling ones, and Aditi, who as great kings rule over the ordinance that cannot be broken.
7. At sunrise I sing out to you both — to Mitra, to Varuṇa, to Aryaman who consumes his enemies.
8. This thought goes forth with golden wealth, for unassailable strength; this, O inspired ones, for the winning of the sacrifice.
9. May we be yours, O god Varuṇa; yours, O Mitra — together with our patrons — may we obtain nourishment and the light of heaven.
10. Many are they, sun-eyed, fire-tongued, increasers of ṛta, who by their thoughts have held together the three sacrificial gatherings that encompass all things, overpowering all things.
11. Who set apart the autumn, the month, and then the day, the sacrifice, the night, and the verse — Varuṇa, Mitra, and Aryaman, the kings, have attained a sovereign power that none can reach.
12. This we consider for you today, with well-made hymns, at sunrise — what Varuṇa, Mitra, and Aryaman intend, you who are the charioteers of ṛta.
13. Possessors of ṛta, born of ṛta, increasers of ṛta, terrible ones, haters of untruth — in your favor, under your best shelter, may we stand, we men, and those who are our patrons.
14. That visible marvel rises up from heaven at the turning of its path, which the swift divine horse Etaśa carries, fit to be seen by all.
15. The lord of every head, of what moves and what stands still, across the whole reach of the sky — the seven sister mares, the tawny ones, carry the Sun in his chariot for his prosperous journey.
16. That eye, set in place by the gods, bright, rising up — may we see a hundred autumns, may we live a hundred autumns.
17. By your wise powers, undeceivable ones, come, O Varuṇa in your splendor, and Mitra, to drink the soma.
18. By the realms of heaven, O Varuṇa and Mitra, come without deceit; drink the soma eagerly.
19. Come, O Mitra and Varuṇa, delighting in the offering, you two leaders of men; drink the soma, you increasers of ṛta.
Translator's note: verse 14's "visible marvel" (darśataṁ vapuḥ) and its horse Etaśa are conventional Rigvedic imagery for the rising sun; "vidathāni" in verse 10 (rendered "sacrificial gatherings") and "svarājaḥ" in verse 6 ("self-ruling ones," likely referring to the Ādityas) are terms without settled single-word English equivalents and are rendered conservatively.
Colophon
Rigveda VII.66 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.66
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 mitrayor varuṇayoḥ stomo na etu śūṣyaḥ |
namasvān tuvijātayoḥ || 1 ||
yā dhārayanta devāḥ sudakṣā dakṣapitarā |
asuryāya pramahasā || 2 ||
tā naḥ stipā tanūpā varuṇa jaritṝṇām |
mitra sādhayataṁ dhiyaḥ || 3 ||
yad adya sūra udite 'nāgā mitro aryamā |
suvāti savitā bhagaḥ || 4 ||
suprāvīr astu sa kṣayaḥ pra nu yāman sudānavaḥ |
ye no aṁho 'tipiprati || 5 ||
uta svarājo aditir adabdhasya vratasya ye |
maho rājāna īśate || 6 ||
prati vāṁ sūra udite mitraṁ gṛṇīṣe varuṇam |
aryamaṇaṁ riśādasam || 7 ||
rāyā hiraṇyayā matir iyam avṛkāya śavase |
iyaṁ viprā medhasātaye || 8 ||
te syāma deva varuṇa te mitra sūribhiḥ saha |
iṣaṁ svaś ca dhīmahi || 9 ||
bahavaḥ sūracakṣaso 'gnijihvā ṛtāvṛdhaḥ |
trīṇi ye yemur vidathāni dhītibhir viśvāni paribhūtibhiḥ || 10 ||
vi ye dadhuḥ śaradam māsam ād ahar yajñam aktuṁ cād ṛcam |
anāpyaṁ varuṇo mitro aryamā kṣatraṁ rājāna āśata || 11 ||
tad vo adya manāmahe sūktaiḥ sūra udite |
yad ohate varuṇo mitro aryamā yūyam ṛtasya rathyaḥ || 12 ||
ṛtāvāna ṛtajātā ṛtāvṛdho ghorāso anṛtadviṣaḥ |
teṣāṁ vaḥ sumne succhardiṣṭame naraḥ syāma ye ca sūrayaḥ || 13 ||
ud u tyad darśataṁ vapur diva eti pratihvare |
yad īm āśur vahati deva etaśo viśvasmai cakṣase aram || 14 ||
śīrṣṇaḥ-śīrṣṇo jagatas tasthuṣas patiṁ samayā viśvam ā rajaḥ |
sapta svasāraḥ suvitāya sūryaṁ vahanti harito rathe || 15 ||
tac cakṣur devahitaṁ śukram uccarat |
paśyema śaradaḥ śataṁ jīvema śaradaḥ śatam || 16 ||
kāvyebhir adābhyā yātaṁ varuṇa dyumat |
mitraś ca somapītaye || 17 ||
divo dhāmabhir varuṇa mitraś cā yātam adruhā |
pibataṁ somam ātujī || 18 ||
ā yātam mitrāvaruṇā juṣāṇāv āhutiṁ narā |
pātaṁ somam ṛtāvṛdhā || 19 ||
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).