Hymn to Indra and Varuṇa
Rigveda VII.84 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. I would turn you two kings hither to the rite, Indra and Varuṇa, with oblations, with gestures of homage. The ghee-laden ladle, held between the two arms, moves around by itself, taking on different forms.
2. The vast sky furthers your dominion — you two who bind fast without ropes, using binders. May Varuṇa's anger pass by us; may Indra make for us a wide space.
3. Make our sacrifice, offered at the gatherings, pleasing; make our sacred words praised among the wise patrons. Let wealth set in motion by the gods come near to us; carry us forward with desirable help.
4. Give to us, Indra and Varuṇa, wealth containing every good thing, rich in possessions, abundant in cattle — wealth such as the Āditya diminishes for the untrue, and such as the hero distributes without measure.
5. This song of mine has reached Indra and Varuṇa; speeding onward, may it protect us in child and offspring. Rich in fine treasures, may we come to the feast of the gods. Protect us always, all of you, with blessings.
Translator's note: verse 1's "ghee-laden [one]... moving by itself" (ghṛtācī... pari tmanā viṣurūpā jigāti) likely personifies the sacrificial ladle or oblation-stream itself circling the offering in various guises; the Sanskrit leaves the referent implicit and it is rendered conservatively here. Verse 5's closing line (yūyam pāta svastibhiḥ sadā naḥ) is a common Rigvedic refrain addressed to the gods in the plural, kept as such even though only two gods are named in this hymn.
Colophon
Rigveda VII.84 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.84
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.
ā vāṁ rājānāv adhvare vavṛtyāṁ havyebhir indrāvaruṇā namobhiḥ |
pra vāṁ ghṛtācī bāhvor dadhānā pari tmanā viṣurūpā jigāti || 1 ||
yuvo rāṣṭram bṛhad invati dyaur yau setṛbhir arajjubhiḥ sinīthaḥ |
pari no heḻo varuṇasya vṛjyā uruṁ na indraḥ kṛṇavad u lokam || 2 ||
kṛtaṁ no yajñaṁ vidatheṣu cāruṁ kṛtam brahmāṇi sūriṣu praśastā |
upo rayir devajūto na etu pra ṇaḥ spārhābhir ūtibhis tiretam || 3 ||
asme indrāvaruṇā viśvavāraṁ rayiṁ dhattaṁ vasumantam purukṣum |
pra ya ādityo anṛtā mināty amitā śūro dayate vasūni || 4 ||
iyam indraṁ varuṇam aṣṭa me gīḥ prāvat toke tanaye tūtujānā |
suratnāso devavītiṁ gamema 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).