Hymn to Uṣas
Rigveda VII.75 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. Uṣas, born of heaven, has opened wide, making her greatness manifest through order. She has driven off the unwelcome darkness of malice; most Aṅgiras-like, she has roused the pathways.
2. Awake for us today toward great well-being, O Uṣas; grant us toward great good fortune. Bestow on us brilliant, glorious wealth, O goddess, you who among mortals, O human one, seek fame.
3. These bright rays of the beautiful, immortal Dawns have come, brilliant; generating the divine ordinances, filling the spaces of the mid-air, they have spread themselves out.
4. This very one, yoking her team from afar, goes at once around the five settlements — the daughter of heaven, mistress of the world, looking down upon the marks and ways of the peoples.
5. Rich in prize-mares, the bride of the sun, of brilliant bounty, she rules over riches and goods. Praised by the seers, bountiful, rousing all things, Uṣas shines out, hymned by those who bring the offering.
6. The ruddy horses of the shining one have been seen, brilliant, carrying Uṣas onward. Radiant, adorned with every color, she goes by her chariot; she bestows a treasure on the man who worships.
7. True with the true, great with the great, a goddess with the gods, worthy of worship with the worshipful — she breaks open the firm strongholds and gives up the cows; the cows have lowed out in answer to Uṣas.
8. Now grant us, Uṣas, a treasure rich in cattle, rich in heroes, rich in horses, abundant in enjoyment. Let not human failing bring our sacred grass into reproach. Protect us always with your blessings.
Translator's note: verse 5's "vājinīvatī" (rich in vājin-, prize-winning steeds/mares) and verse 7's "usriyāṇām" (of the ruddy cows/rays of light, released from the cave in the Vala myth) carry a double sense in Vedic imagery — cattle and dawn-light are treated as the same released brightness. Both are rendered here in their more concrete, literal sense.
Colophon
Rigveda VII.75 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.75
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.
vy u1ṣā āvo divijā ṛtenāviṣkṛṇvānā mahimānam āgāt |
apa druhas tama āvar ajuṣṭam aṅgirastamā pathyā ajīgaḥ || 1 ||
mahe no adya suvitāya bodhy uṣo mahe saubhagāya pra yandhi |
citraṁ rayiṁ yaśasaṁ dhehy asme devi marteṣu mānuṣi śravasyum || 2 ||
ete tye bhānavo darśatāyāś citrā uṣaso amṛtāsa āguḥ |
janayanto daivyāni vratāny āpṛṇanto antarikṣā vy asthuḥ || 3 ||
eṣā syā yujānā parākāt pañca kṣitīḥ pari sadyo jigāti |
abhipaśyantī vayunā janānāṁ divo duhitā bhuvanasya patnī || 4 ||
vājinīvatī sūryasya yoṣā citrāmaghā rāya īśe vasūnām |
ṛṣiṣṭutā jarayantī maghony uṣā ucchati vahnibhir gṛṇānā || 5 ||
prati dyutānām aruṣāso aśvāś citrā adṛśrann uṣasaṁ vahantaḥ |
yāti śubhrā viśvapiśā rathena dadhāti ratnaṁ vidhate janāya || 6 ||
satyā satyebhir mahatī mahadbhir devī devebhir yajatā yajatraiḥ |
rujad dṛḻhāni dadad usriyāṇām prati gāva uṣasaṁ vāvaśanta || 7 ||
nū no gomad vīravad dhehi ratnam uṣo aśvāvat purubhojo asme |
mā no barhiḥ puruṣatā nide kar yūyam pāta svastibhiḥ sadā naḥ || 8 ||
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).