Hymn to Uṣas
Rigveda VII.78 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. Her first rays have been seen appearing; her upright gleams spread out. O Dawn, bring us good things with your great, luminous chariot as it draws near.
2. Kindled Agni sings out to greet her; the inspired poets praise her with their hymns. Dawn comes, driving back all darkness with her light — the goddess who wards off every evil.
3. These same shining Dawns have been seen in the east, giving forth light. They have brought forth the sun, the sacrifice, the fire; the unwelcome darkness has gone away to the west.
4. The bountiful daughter of heaven has been perceived; all see Dawn shining forth. She has mounted her chariot, harnessed by her own power, which well-yoked horses carry along.
5. Today, glad of heart, our bounteous patrons and we ourselves have awoken to greet you. Be bountiful, O shining Dawns; protect us always, every one of you, with your blessings.
Translator's note: the verb in verse 5, "tilvilāyadhvam," is built on a rare and otherwise poorly attested word ("tilvila," roughly "abundant" or "fertile") and its exact force is uncertain; it is rendered here conservatively as "be bountiful."
Colophon
Rigveda VII.78 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.78
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.
prati ketavaḥ prathamā adṛśrann ūrdhvā asyā añjayo vi śrayante |
uṣo arvācā bṛhatā rathena jyotiṣmatā vāmam asmabhyaṁ vakṣi || 1 ||
prati ṣīm agnir jarate samiddhaḥ prati viprāso matibhir gṛṇantaḥ |
uṣā yāti jyotiṣā bādhamānā viśvā tamāṁsi duritāpa devī || 2 ||
etā u tyāḥ praty adṛśran purastāj jyotir yacchantīr uṣaso vibhātīḥ |
ajījanan sūryaṁ yajñam agnim apācīnaṁ tamo agād ajuṣṭam || 3 ||
aceti divo duhitā maghonī viśve paśyanty uṣasaṁ vibhātīm |
āsthād rathaṁ svadhayā yujyamānam ā yam aśvāsaḥ suyujo vahanti || 4 ||
prati tvādya sumanaso budhantāsmākāso maghavāno vayaṁ ca |
tilvilāyadhvam uṣaso vibhātīr yūyam pāta svastibhiḥ sadā naḥ || 5 ||
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).