Hymn to the Ādityas
Rigveda VIII.67 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. We now beg those princely Ādityas for help — the merciful ones — for protection.
2. May Mitra carry us safely across distress, Varuṇa, Aryaman — as the Ādityas know how.
3. For theirs is a wondrous, praiseworthy shelter for the worshipper — of the Ādityas, for the one who has made the offering ready.
4. Great is your help, O Varuṇa, Mitra, Aryaman, help of the mighty ones — we choose these helps for ourselves.
5. Keep us among the living, O Ādityas, before we are struck down. Where indeed are you, hearers of our call?
6. The shelter that is yours for the weary one who presses soma, the refuge that is yours — declare that to us.
7. There is, O gods, broad room out of distress; there is treasure for the sinless one, O Ādityas — for one free even of hidden wrongdoing.
8. Let not this snare bind us; let it release us fully for our wellbeing — for Indra indeed is the renowned, mighty one.
9. Let not the violence of deceivers, of the crooked ones, touch us, O gods who wish us well — do not let it strike us.
10. And you, great Aditi, O goddess, I call upon — the merciful one — for protection.
11. Deliver us, in distress, in the deep, O mother of mighty sons, from one who seeks to kill; let none harm our offspring.
12. Make for us, O wide-ranging one, a broad and open path free from harm to go forth upon, for our offspring, for our life.
13. Those who are the heads of the peoples, unassailable, glorious in themselves — guileless, they guard the sacred ordinances.
14. Free us, O Ādityas, from the jaws of wolves, as one frees a bound thief, O Aditi.
15. Let this arrow depart from us, O Ādityas, and let ill will depart too — let it go from us without striking.
16. For always, O bountiful Ādityas, we have enjoyed your help — in the past and now.
17. Even the habitual sinner, O wise ones, when he turns back from wrongdoing — him too, O gods, you grant to live.
18. Grant us that new gain, O Ādityas, which frees, like one bound, from bondage, O Aditi.
19. We have no power of our own to cross this danger, O Ādityas — be gracious to us.
20. Let not the weapon of Vivasvant, O Ādityas, nor any man-made arrow, slay us before old age.
21. Drive away hostility, drive away distress, O Ādityas — drive away the conspiracy against us. Root out harm in every direction.
Translator's note: verse 7's "adbhutainasaḥ" (roughly "free of even uncanny/hidden wrongdoing") and verse 18's "sanyasa" (rendered here as "that gain," from the sense of winning or acquiring) are compact, ambiguous forms; the renderings above are conservative.
Colophon
Rigveda VIII.67 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.67
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.
tyān nu kṣatriyām̐ ava ādityān yāciṣāmahe |
sumṛḻīkām̐ abhiṣṭaye || 1 ||
mitro no aty aṁhatiṁ varuṇaḥ parṣad aryamā |
ādityāso yathā viduḥ || 2 ||
teṣāṁ hi citram ukthya1ṁ varūtham asti dāśuṣe |
ādityānām araṁkṛte || 3 ||
mahi vo mahatām avo varuṇa mitrāryaman |
avāṁsy ā vṛṇīmahe || 4 ||
jīvān no abhi dhetanādityāsaḥ purā hathāt |
kad dha stha havanaśrutaḥ || 5 ||
yad vaḥ śrāntāya sunvate varūtham asti yac chardiḥ |
tenā no adhi vocata || 6 ||
asti devā aṁhor urv asti ratnam anāgasaḥ |
ādityā adbhutainasaḥ || 7 ||
mā naḥ setuḥ siṣed ayam mahe vṛṇaktu nas pari |
indra id dhi śruto vaśī || 8 ||
mā no mṛcā ripūṇāṁ vṛjinānām aviṣyavaḥ |
devā abhi pra mṛkṣata || 9 ||
uta tvām adite mahy ahaṁ devy upa bruve |
sumṛḻīkām abhiṣṭaye || 10 ||
parṣi dīne gabhīra ām̐ ugraputre jighāṁsataḥ |
mākis tokasya no riṣat || 11 ||
aneho na uruvraja urūci vi prasartave |
kṛdhi tokāya jīvase || 12 ||
ye mūrdhānaḥ kṣitīnām adabdhāsaḥ svayaśasaḥ |
vratā rakṣante adruhaḥ || 13 ||
te na āsno vṛkāṇām ādityāso mumocata |
stenam baddham ivādite || 14 ||
apo ṣu ṇa iyaṁ śarur ādityā apa durmatiḥ |
asmad etv ajaghnuṣī || 15 ||
śaśvad dhi vaḥ sudānava ādityā ūtibhir vayam |
purā nūnam bubhujmahe || 16 ||
śaśvantaṁ hi pracetasaḥ pratiyantaṁ cid enasaḥ |
devāḥ kṛṇutha jīvase || 17 ||
tat su no navyaṁ sanyasa ādityā yan mumocati |
bandhād baddham ivādite || 18 ||
nāsmākam asti tat tara ādityāso atiṣkade |
yūyam asmabhyam mṛḻata || 19 ||
mā no hetir vivasvata ādityāḥ kṛtrimā śaruḥ |
purā nu jaraso vadhīt || 20 ||
vi ṣu dveṣo vy aṁhatim ādityāso vi saṁhitam |
viṣvag vi vṛhatā rapaḥ || 21 ||
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).