Vasiṣṭha's Confession to Varuṇa
Rigveda VII.86 is a hymn of eight triṣṭubh verses from Maṇḍala 7, the family book of the Vasiṣṭhas, and one of the most personal poems in the Rigveda. The seer, afflicted and estranged, searches himself and questions the wise to learn what offense has angered Varuṇa, guardian of the moral order — and pleads that wrongdoing comes through drink, anger, dice, and heedlessness, and that even sleep does not keep a man from wrong. It is the closest thing the Rigveda has to a penitential psalm.
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. Wise by his greatness are the generations of him who propped apart even the two wide world-halves. He pushed the lofty vault on high, and the sun, and doubly spread out the earth.
2. And I converse with my own self: when shall I come to be within Varuṇa? What offering of mine would he accept, unangered? When shall I, glad of heart, behold his mercy?
3. I ask after that sin, Varuṇa, longing to see; I go to those who know, to inquire. Even the sages tell me one and the same thing: this Varuṇa is angry with you.
4. What was the great offense, Varuṇa, that you would slay your own praiser, your friend? Declare it to me, you who are hard to deceive, self-sustaining one — free of offense, I would hasten to appease you with homage.
5. Release us from the treacheries of our fathers, and from those we have done with our own bodies. Release Vasiṣṭha, O king, like a thief who has fed on cattle — like a calf released from its rope.
6. It was not my own doing, Varuṇa — it was seduction: liquor, anger, the dice, heedlessness. The elder has a share in the misstep of the younger; not even sleep wards a man from wrong.
7. Let me serve the bounteous, ardent god like a slave, and be free of offense. The noble god gave understanding to the uncomprehending; the wiser one speeds the willing man toward wealth.
8. May this praise, O self-sustaining Varuṇa, be laid close upon your very heart. May it be well with us in rest and well in labor. Protect us always with your blessings.
Translator's note: In verse 6, dhruti — "seduction," a leading-astray — is what the seer blames in place of his own will; the four named causes (surā, manyu, vibhīdaka, acitti) are literally liquor, anger, the vibhīdaka dice-nut, and heedlessness. The line "the elder has a share in the misstep of the younger" (asti jyāyān kanīyasa upāre) is compressed in the Sanskrit and disputed; the rendering keeps its surface sense. Verse 8's closing line is the refrain of the Vasiṣṭha family hymns.
Colophon
Rigveda VII.86 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.86
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.
dhīrā tv asya mahinā janūṁṣi vi yas tastambha rodasī cid urvī |
pra nākam ṛṣvaṁ nunude bṛhantaṁ dvitā nakṣatram paprathac ca bhūma || 1 ||
uta svayā tanvā3 saṁ vade tat kadā nv a1ntar varuṇe bhuvāni |
kim me havyam ahṛṇāno juṣeta kadā mṛḻīkaṁ sumanā abhi khyam || 2 ||
pṛcche tad eno varuṇa didṛkṣūpo emi cikituṣo vipṛccham |
samānam in me kavayaś cid āhur ayaṁ ha tubhyaṁ varuṇo hṛṇīte || 3 ||
kim āga āsa varuṇa jyeṣṭhaṁ yat stotāraṁ jighāṁsasi sakhāyam |
pra tan me voco dūḻabha svadhāvo 'va tvānenā namasā tura iyām || 4 ||
ava drugdhāni pitryā sṛjā no 'va yā vayaṁ cakṛmā tanūbhiḥ |
ava rājan paśutṛpaṁ na tāyuṁ sṛjā vatsaṁ na dāmno vasiṣṭham || 5 ||
na sa svo dakṣo varuṇa dhrutiḥ sā surā manyur vibhīdako acittiḥ |
asti jyāyān kanīyasa upāre svapnaś caned anṛtasya prayotā || 6 ||
araṁ dāso na mīḻhuṣe karāṇy ahaṁ devāya bhūrṇaye 'nāgāḥ |
acetayad acito devo aryo gṛtsaṁ rāye kavitaro junāti || 7 ||
ayaṁ su tubhyaṁ varuṇa svadhāvo hṛdi stoma upaśritaś cid astu |
śaṁ naḥ kṣeme śam u yoge no astu 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).