Hymn to Uṣas
Rigveda VII.80 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. With their praise-songs the Vasiṣṭhas, the inspired ones, were the first to awaken to Uṣas with their hymns — to her who turns the two realms about, close together, who lays bare all the worlds.
2. This same Uṣas, bringing a new lifespan, having covered the darkness over with light, has awakened. The young woman goes out in front, unashamed, and rouses the sun, the sacrifice, and Agni.
3. May the dawns, rich in horses, rich in cattle, rich in heroes, ever shine for us, blessed ones — milking out ghee, swollen full on every side. Protect us always with your blessings.
Translator's note: the closing line of verse 3, "protect us always with your blessings" (yūyam pāta svastibhiḥ sadā naḥ), is a stock refrain that recurs across many Rigvedic hymns; its plural "you" addresses the dawns collectively rather than Uṣas as a single goddess, following the formula as it stands in the Sanskrit.
Colophon
Rigveda VII.80 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.
🌲
Source Text: ṛgveda VII.80
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 stomebhir uṣasaṁ vasiṣṭhā gīrbhir viprāsaḥ prathamā abudhran |
vivartayantīṁ rajasī samante āviṣkṛṇvatīm bhuvanāni viśvā || 1 ||
eṣā syā navyam āyur dadhānā gūḍhvī tamo jyotiṣoṣā abodhi |
agra eti yuvatir ahrayāṇā prācikitat sūryaṁ yajñam agnim || 2 ||
aśvāvatīr gomatīr na uṣāso vīravatīḥ sadam ucchantu bhadrāḥ |
ghṛtaṁ duhānā viśvataḥ prapītā yūyam pāta svastibhiḥ sadā naḥ || 3 ||
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).