Hymn to the Ādityas
Rigveda VIII.18 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) from Maṇḍala 8 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. Now indeed a mortal should beg for this favor of theirs — the unmatched favor of the Ādityas, in their impelling.
2. Unassailable indeed is the path of these Ādityas; their guardians are undeceivable, prospering our homes well.
3. May Savitar, Bhaga, Varuṇa, Mitra, and Aryaman grant us that wide shelter which we ask for.
4. Come here, O goddess Aditi, with the gods, you who carry us unharmed, together with the patrons who grant good shelter, O you dear to many.
5. For the sons of Aditi know how to keep hostilities away, even from distress — they, wide-ranging and blameless.
6. May Aditi guard our cattle by day, Aditi by night, the undeceiving one; may Aditi, ever-strengthening, protect us from distress.
7. And may Aditi come with her help to our prayer by day; may she bring us happiness in peace, and drive mishap away.
8. And may those two divine healers, the Aśvins, bring us well-being; may they keep affliction away from here, and mishap.
9. May Agni with his fires bring us well-being; may the Sun warm us well; may the Wind blow well upon us, unafflicting, and mishap stay away.
10. Drive away sickness, drive away mishap, drive away ill will — O Ādityas, keep us away from distress.
11. Keep the enemy's weapon away from us, O Ādityas, and folly too; set hostility apart from us, O you who possess all things.
12. Grant us indeed that shelter, O Ādityas, which releases even the sinner from sin, O bountiful ones.
13. Whoever mortal seeks to harm us with a demon's intent — may that person injure himself by his own devices.
14. May calamity fully overtake that ill-speaking mortal enemy, who approaches us with harmful, deceitful intent.
15. You gods stand among the guileless; you know the mortal at heart, both the deceitful one and the undeceiving one, O bountiful ones.
16. We choose the shelter of the mountains and of the waters; O Heaven and Earth, keep affliction far from us.
17. With your blessed shelter, with your ship, O Vasus, carry us across all dangers.
18. For our children and their children, grant us indeed a longer life to live, O greatly mighty Ādityas.
19. If there is anger among you toward us at this sacrifice, O Ādityas, be gracious; for we belong to you, in kinship.
20. We implore the great shelter of the Maruts, the divine protector Aśvins, Mitra and Varuṇa, for our well-being.
21. Grant us, O Mitra, Aryaman, and Varuṇa, a blameless, manly, praiseworthy protection; O Maruts, grant us threefold shelter.
22. Even though we are mortals bound in kinship to death, O Ādityas, prolong our life-span that we may live.
Translator's note: verse 2's "sugevṛdhaḥ" (guardians "prospering well in the dwelling") and verse 13's compressed "svaiḥ ṣa evai ririṣīṣṭa yur janaḥ" (roughly, "may that restless one harm himself by his own doing") are compact and somewhat ambiguous in the source; both are rendered conservatively here rather than expanded. Verse 19's "hīḻo" (wrath/displeasure) is likewise kept close to its plain sense.
Colophon
Rigveda VIII.18 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 VIII.18
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.
idaṁ ha nūnam eṣāṁ sumnam bhikṣeta martyaḥ |
ādityānām apūrvyaṁ savīmani || 1 ||
anarvāṇo hy eṣām panthā ādityānām |
adabdhāḥ santi pāyavaḥ sugevṛdhaḥ || 2 ||
tat su naḥ savitā bhago varuṇo mitro aryamā |
śarma yacchantu sapratho yad īmahe || 3 ||
devebhir devy adite 'riṣṭabharmann ā gahi |
smat sūribhiḥ purupriye suśarmabhiḥ || 4 ||
te hi putrāso aditer vidur dveṣāṁsi yotave |
aṁhoś cid urucakrayo 'nehasaḥ || 5 ||
aditir no divā paśum aditir naktam advayāḥ |
aditiḥ pātv aṁhasaḥ sadāvṛdhā || 6 ||
uta syā no divā matir aditir ūtyā gamat |
sā śaṁtāti mayas karad apa sridhaḥ || 7 ||
uta tyā daivyā bhiṣajā śaṁ naḥ karato aśvinā |
yuyuyātām ito rapo apa sridhaḥ || 8 ||
śam agnir agnibhiḥ karac chaṁ nas tapatu sūryaḥ |
śaṁ vāto vātv arapā apa sridhaḥ || 9 ||
apāmīvām apa sridham apa sedhata durmatim |
ādityāso yuyotanā no aṁhasaḥ || 10 ||
yuyotā śarum asmad ām̐ ādityāsa utāmatim |
ṛdhag dveṣaḥ kṛṇuta viśvavedasaḥ || 11 ||
tat su naḥ śarma yacchatādityā yan mumocati |
enasvantaṁ cid enasaḥ sudānavaḥ || 12 ||
yo naḥ kaś cid ririkṣati rakṣastvena martyaḥ |
svaiḥ ṣa evai ririṣīṣṭa yur janaḥ || 13 ||
sam it tam agham aśnavad duḥśaṁsam martyaṁ ripum |
yo asmatrā durhaṇāvām̐ upa dvayuḥ || 14 ||
pākatrā sthana devā hṛtsu jānītha martyam |
upa dvayuṁ cādvayuṁ ca vasavaḥ || 15 ||
ā śarma parvatānām otāpāṁ vṛṇīmahe |
dyāvākṣāmāre asmad rapas kṛtam || 16 ||
te no bhadreṇa śarmaṇā yuṣmākaṁ nāvā vasavaḥ |
ati viśvāni duritā pipartana || 17 ||
tuce tanāya tat su no drāghīya āyur jīvase |
ādityāsaḥ sumahasaḥ kṛṇotana || 18 ||
yajño hīḻo vo antara ādityā asti mṛḻata |
yuṣme id vo api ṣmasi sajātye || 19 ||
bṛhad varūtham marutāṁ devaṁ trātāram aśvinā |
mitram īmahe varuṇaṁ svastaye || 20 ||
aneho mitrāryaman nṛvad varuṇa śaṁsyam |
trivarūtham maruto yanta naś chardiḥ || 21 ||
ye cid dhi mṛtyubandhava ādityā manavaḥ smasi |
pra sū na āyur jīvase tiretana || 22 ||
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).