Hymn to Sarasvatī
Rigveda VII.95 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. This Sarasvatī has streamed forth with her nourishing flood, a firm rampart of metal. Pressing onward like a charioteer she goes; this river surpasses all other waters in might.
2. Sarasvatī alone has distinguished herself among the rivers, flowing pure from the mountains to the sea. Aware of the wealth of the many-peopled world, she has milked out ghee and milk for the descendants of Nahuṣa.
3. He, the manly one, has grown strong among the women — a vigorous young bull among the worship-worthy ones. He grants a prize-winning steed to the bounteous patrons; to win the contest he has groomed his own body.
4. And may this gracious Sarasvatī of ours, taking delight, listen at this sacrifice — approached with homage by those who bend the knee, superior to her companions, with wealth as her ally.
5. Invoking these offerings to you with acts of homage, accept, O Sarasvatī, this hymn of praise in return. Placing ourselves in your dearest shelter, may we stand close to you as to a sheltering tree.
6. This Vasiṣṭha is indeed yours, O Sarasvatī. Gracious one, you have thrown open the two doors of cosmic order. Grow strong, O bright one, and grant prizes to the one who praises you. Protect us always, all of you, with blessings.
Translator's note: Verse 3 shifts without warning to a masculine subject ("he," "a vigorous young bull") amid a hymn otherwise addressed to the goddess Sarasvatī — this is Sarasvat, her male counterpart in the Rigveda, invoked alongside her; the verse is translated literally rather than smoothed into agreement with the surrounding verses. The closing line of verse 6 ("Protect us always, all of you, with blessings") is a stock plural refrain used across many Rigvedic hymns regardless of the hymn's addressee, and is rendered here as it stands in the Sanskrit rather than reconciled with the singular "you" used toward Sarasvatī elsewhere in the hymn.
Colophon
Rigveda VII.95 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.95
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.
pra kṣodasā dhāyasā sasra eṣā sarasvatī dharuṇam āyasī pūḥ |
prabābadhānā rathyeva yāti viśvā apo mahinā sindhur anyāḥ || 1 ||
ekācetat sarasvatī nadīnāṁ śucir yatī giribhya ā samudrāt |
rāyaś cetantī bhuvanasya bhūrer ghṛtam payo duduhe nāhuṣāya || 2 ||
sa vāvṛdhe naryo yoṣaṇāsu vṛṣā śiśur vṛṣabho yajñiyāsu |
sa vājinam maghavadbhyo dadhāti vi sātaye tanvam māmṛjīta || 3 ||
uta syā naḥ sarasvatī juṣāṇopa śravat subhagā yajṇe asmin |
mitajñubhir namasyair iyānā rāyā yujā cid uttarā sakhibhyaḥ || 4 ||
imā juhvānā yuṣmad ā namobhiḥ prati stomaṁ sarasvati juṣasva |
tava śarman priyatame dadhānā upa stheyāma śaraṇaṁ na vṛkṣam || 5 ||
ayam u te sarasvati vasiṣṭho dvārāv ṛtasya subhage vy āvaḥ |
vardha śubhre stuvate rāsi vājān yūyam pāta svastibhiḥ sadā naḥ || 6 ||
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).