Hymn to Varuṇa
Rigveda VIII.41 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. Sing out well now to this one, to Varuṇa and to the Maruts, the more discerning ones — who guards the thoughts of men as one guards cattle and cows. Let all others crumble away alike.
2. Praise him indeed with a shared hymn, with the chants of the forefathers, with the praise-songs of Nābhāka — he who, at the rising of the rivers, stands with seven sisters, he the one in the middle. Let all others crumble away alike.
3. He has embraced the nights; by his power he has set the dawns in place; he looks out over the whole world, visible to all. Obedient to his ordinance, the loving ones — the three dawns — made him grow strong. Let all others crumble away alike.
4. Who holds fast the mountain-heights upon the earth, the visible one — he is like a mother; that is the ancient station, the kinship of Varuṇa; for he, like a herdsman, is the ruling one. Let all others crumble away alike.
5. Who is the sustainer of the worlds, who knows the hidden, secret names of the dawns — he, the seer, rich in poetic wisdom, flourishes in many forms like the sky itself. Let all others crumble away alike.
6. In whom all poetic powers rest, as the hub is set in the wheel — they served Trita with eager haste, as cows are gathered in the pen for the yoking, and they yoked the horses for the harnessing. Let all others crumble away alike.
7. He who lies like a garment among these waters, [watching over] all the creatures born of them — he surveys their dwelling-places; before Varuṇa's house all the gods follow his ordinance. Let all others crumble away alike.
8. He is the hidden ocean; swift, he mounts up like the sky, when he set the sacred rite into the waters. By his power, with a radiant step he spread the world out, ascending to the vault of heaven. Let all others crumble away alike.
9. Whose bright, far-seeing ones dwell over the three earths — three times they have filled the higher realms, Varuṇa's fixed seat; he rules over the seven. Let all others crumble away alike.
10. Who made the bright ones his outer garments, and the dark ones subject to his ordinances — he measured out the ancient domain, who with a pillar propped apart the two world-halves, holding up the sky like the unborn one. Let all others crumble away alike.
Translator's note: this hymn is among the most linguistically obscure in the Rigveda. Several terms admit no fully certain rendering and are translated conservatively: "kakubhaḥ" (v.4, rendered "mountain-heights," possibly "quarters/directions"); "saptyam" (v.4, rendered "kinship," an uncertain derivative of "seven"); "venīḥ" (v.3, rendered "the loving ones," possibly a name for a class of divine attendants); "apīcyāḥ" (vv.5, 8, "hidden/secret"); and "adhinirṇijaḥ" (v.10, "outer garments"). The refrain "nabhantām anyake same," repeated after every verse, is a fixed formula whose exact force is debated; it is rendered here as "let all others crumble away alike."
Colophon
Rigveda VIII.41 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.41
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.
asmā ū ṣu prabhūtaye varuṇāya marudbhyo 'rcā viduṣṭarebhyaḥ |
yo dhītā mānuṣāṇām paśvo gā iva rakṣati nabhantām anyake same || 1 ||
tam ū ṣu samanā girā pitṝṇāṁ ca manmabhiḥ |
nābhākasya praśastibhir yaḥ sindhūnām upodaye saptasvasā sa madhyamo nabhantām anyake same || 2 ||
sa kṣapaḥ pari ṣasvaje ny u1sro māyayā dadhe sa viśvam pari darśataḥ |
tasya venīr anu vratam uṣas tisro avardhayan nabhantām anyake same || 3 ||
yaḥ kakubho nidhārayaḥ pṛthivyām adhi darśataḥ |
sa mātā pūrvyam padaṁ tad varuṇasya saptyaṁ sa hi gopā iveryo nabhantām anyake same || 4 ||
yo dhartā bhuvanānāṁ ya usrāṇām apīcyā3 veda nāmāni guhyā |
sa kaviḥ kāvyā puru rūpaṁ dyaur iva puṣyati nabhantām anyake same || 5 ||
yasmin viśvāni kāvyā cakre nābhir iva śritā |
tritaṁ jūtī saparyata vraje gāvo na saṁyuje yuje aśvām̐ ayukṣata nabhantām anyake same || 6 ||
ya āsv atka āśaye viśvā jātāny eṣām |
pari dhāmāni marmṛśad varuṇasya puro gaye viśve devā anu vrataṁ nabhantām anyake same || 7 ||
sa samudro apīcyas turo dyām iva rohati ni yad āsu yajur dadhe |
sa māyā arcinā padāstṛṇān nākam āruhan nabhantām anyake same || 8 ||
yasya śvetā vicakṣaṇā tisro bhūmīr adhikṣitaḥ |
trir uttarāṇi papratur varuṇasya dhruvaṁ sadaḥ sa saptānām irajyati nabhantām anyake same || 9 ||
yaḥ śvetām̐ adhinirṇijaś cakre kṛṣṇām̐ anu vratā |
sa dhāma pūrvyam mame yaḥ skambhena vi rodasī ajo na dyām adhārayan nabhantām anyake same || 10 ||
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).