Hymn to Sarasvatī and Sarasvant
Rigveda VII.96 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 will sing a lofty hymn — she who is divine among rivers. Honor Sarasvatī, O Vasiṣṭha, with well-wrought praise-songs, and honor heaven and earth.
2. Since by your greatness the Pūrus dwell upon your two bright streams, be our protectress, friend of the Maruts, and urge forth the bounty of the generous patrons.
3. Sarasvatī, the auspicious one, will surely do what is auspicious; ungrudging, rich in prizes, she takes notice — praised as Jamadagni praised her, lauded as Vasiṣṭha lauded her.
4. Desiring wives, the unwed men; desiring sons, the generous ones — we call upon Sarasvant.
5. O Sarasvant, with those waves of yours, sweet with honey and dripping with ghee, be our helper.
6. May we partake of the swollen breast of Sarasvant, the one visible to all — offspring and nourishment.
Translator's note: verses 1–3 address the goddess Sarasvatī (feminine); verses 4–6 shift to Sarasvant, a masculine deity closely paired with her in this hymn. "asuryā" in verse 1 (rendered "divine") carries the sense of possessing asura-power, i.e. numinous or god-like force. "Breast" (stana) in verse 6 is a genuine Vedic image for a life-giving source of abundance, not an added embellishment.
Colophon
Rigveda VII.96 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.96
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.
bṛhad u gāyiṣe vaco 'suryā nadīnām |
sarasvatīm in mahayā suvṛktibhiḥ stomair vasiṣṭha rodasī || 1 ||
ubhe yat te mahinā śubhre andhasī adhikṣiyanti pūravaḥ |
sā no bodhy avitrī marutsakhā coda rādho maghonām || 2 ||
bhadram id bhadrā kṛṇavat sarasvaty akavārī cetati vājinīvatī |
gṛṇānā jamadagnivat stuvānā ca vasiṣṭhavat || 3 ||
janīyanto nv agravaḥ putrīyantaḥ sudānavaḥ |
sarasvantaṁ havāmahe || 4 ||
ye te sarasva ūrmayo madhumanto ghṛtaścutaḥ |
tebhir no 'vitā bhava || 5 ||
pīpivāṁsaṁ sarasvataḥ stanaṁ yo viśvadarśataḥ |
bhakṣīmahi prajām iṣam || 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).