Hymn to the Maruts
Rigveda VIII.7 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. When the inspired poet poured forth for you, O Maruts, this triṣṭubh-hymn of praise, you shone forth far and wide among the mountains.
2. When you, seeking your strength, bright ones, made your course known, the mountains gave way beneath you.
3. The roaring sons of Pṛśni stirred themselves up together with the winds; they milked out the swelling stream of nourishment.
4. The Maruts scatter the mist and set the mountains trembling, when they go their way together with the winds.
5. For your course the mountain, and for your far-reaching power the rivers, have bowed down before your great force.
6. We call on you by night for help, we call on you by day, we call on you when the sacrifice goes forward.
7. Those ruddy-hued, brilliant, roaring ones rise up on their courses, over the ridge of heaven.
8. With might they loose the rein, clearing the path for the sun to travel; they have spread themselves out with their beams of light.
9. Accept this song of mine, O Maruts, this hymn of praise, O mighty ones; accept this call of mine.
10. The dappled ones have milked three lakes of sweetness for the thunderbolt-wielder, drawing from the gushing, water-filled fountain.
11. O Maruts, when we call on you from heaven, seeking your favor, come here to us.
12. You indeed are the generous ones, sons of Rudra, mighty lords, in the house — and wise ones in the exhilaration of the soma.
13. Send to us from heaven, O Maruts, wealth stirred by rapture, rich in sustenance, all-nourishing.
14. As you, bright ones, made known your course over the mountains, so be gladdened by the pressed soma-drops.
15. A mortal might beg for even so much of their favor — the favor of the unassailable ones — through his devout thoughts.
16. Who, like drops, blow through the two worlds with rains, milking the inexhaustible spring.
17. The sons of Pṛśni have risen up with their roaring sounds, with their chariots, with the winds, and with our songs of praise.
18. By that help through which you aided Turvaśa and Yadu, by which you aided Kaṇva who won riches — may we too well obtain that same help, for wealth.
19. O generous ones, may these your swelling streams of nourishment, rich as ghee, increase through the hymns of the Kaṇva poet.
20. Where now, O generous ones, do you revel, where the sacred grass is spread? What priest is honoring you there?
21. Not indeed did you ever fail, when in former times, with hymns of praise and the sacred grass laid out, you quickened the ranks of Truth.
22. Those Maruts joined together the great waters, joined the two worlds, joined the sun; joint by joint they set the thunderbolt in place.
23. They tore Vṛtra apart, joint by joint, and drove through the unmoving mountains, performing their bull-like, virile deed.
24. They aided the fury and the resolve of Trita as he fought, and aided Indra in the battle that conquered Vṛtra.
25. Lightning-handed, sky-aspiring, with golden helmets upon their heads, the bright ones adorned themselves for splendor.
26. When, like Uśanā, from afar you reached the vulnerable spot of the bull, heaven itself roared out in fear.
27. Come to us, O gods, with your golden-handed horses, to grant us the fruit of our offering.
28. When their dappled mare in the chariot, with the ruddy horse yoked beside her, draws them along, the bright ones go, releasing the waters.
29. To Suṣoma, to Śaryaṇāvat, to Ārjīka, to the land rich in waters, the heroes went with their swift chariot.
30. When will you come, O Maruts, to the inspired poet who calls thus, who implores you for your mercies?
31. What now, O you of uncertain favor — since you abandoned Indra, who can rely on your friendship?
32. We Kaṇvas seek strength with the thunderbolt-handed ones; I praise Agni together with the Maruts, who bear golden axes.
33. May I turn hither the virile ones, eager for worship, rich in brilliant rewards, for our renewed well-being.
34. Even the mountains bow down — the rugged ones, though thinking themselves immovable — even the mountains have submitted.
35. Moving on a slanting course, flying, they carry themselves through the mid-air, the bestowers granting vigor to the one who praises them.
36. For Agni indeed is the ancient one, like a song, radiant with his flame as the sun; they have spread themselves out with their beams.
Translator's note: several compounds resist certain rendering and are given conservatively — "uśanā" (v. 26, likely an allusion to the sage-poet Uśanas Kāvya, kept literal), "nicakrayā" (v. 29, "with a low/swift wheel," rendered as "swift chariot"), "ākṣṇayāvānaḥ" (v. 35, "moving crosswise/obliquely"), and "kadhapriyaḥ" (v. 31, "of uncertain/hard-to-please favor"). Verse 31 alludes to a myth, known elsewhere in the Rigveda, of the Maruts once forsaking Indra in battle; the hymn does not narrate it further.
Colophon
Rigveda VIII.7 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.7
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 yad vas triṣṭubham iṣam maruto vipro akṣarat |
vi parvateṣu rājatha || 1 ||
yad aṅga taviṣīyavo yāmaṁ śubhrā acidhvam |
ni parvatā ahāsata || 2 ||
ud īrayanta vāyubhir vāśrāsaḥ pṛśnimātaraḥ |
dhukṣanta pipyuṣīm iṣam || 3 ||
vapanti maruto miham pra vepayanti parvatān |
yad yāmaṁ yānti vāyubhiḥ || 4 ||
ni yad yāmāya vo girir ni sindhavo vidharmaṇe |
mahe śuṣmāya yemire || 5 ||
yuṣmām̐ u naktam ūtaye yuṣmān divā havāmahe |
yuṣmān prayaty adhvare || 6 ||
ud u tye aruṇapsavaś citrā yāmebhir īrate |
vāśrā adhi ṣṇunā divaḥ || 7 ||
sṛjanti raśmim ojasā panthāṁ sūryāya yātave |
te bhānubhir vi tasthire || 8 ||
imām me maruto giram imaṁ stomam ṛbhukṣaṇaḥ |
imam me vanatā havam || 9 ||
trīṇi sarāṁsi pṛśnayo duduhre vajriṇe madhu |
utsaṁ kavandham udriṇam || 10 ||
maruto yad dha vo divaḥ sumnāyanto havāmahe |
ā tū na upa gantana || 11 ||
yūyaṁ hi ṣṭhā sudānavo rudrā ṛbhukṣaṇo dame |
uta pracetaso made || 12 ||
ā no rayim madacyutam purukṣuṁ viśvadhāyasam |
iyartā maruto divaḥ || 13 ||
adhīva yad girīṇāṁ yāmaṁ śubhrā acidhvam |
suvānair mandadhva indubhiḥ || 14 ||
etāvataś cid eṣāṁ sumnam bhikṣeta martyaḥ |
adābhyasya manmabhiḥ || 15 ||
ye drapsā iva rodasī dhamanty anu vṛṣṭibhiḥ |
utsaṁ duhanto akṣitam || 16 ||
ud u svānebhir īrata ud rathair ud u vāyubhiḥ |
ut stomaiḥ pṛśnimātaraḥ || 17 ||
yenāva turvaśaṁ yaduṁ yena kaṇvaṁ dhanaspṛtam |
rāye su tasya dhīmahi || 18 ||
imā u vaḥ sudānavo ghṛtaṁ na pipyuṣīr iṣaḥ |
vardhān kāṇvasya manmabhiḥ || 19 ||
kva nūnaṁ sudānavo madathā vṛktabarhiṣaḥ |
brahmā ko vaḥ saparyati || 20 ||
nahi ṣma yad dha vaḥ purā stomebhir vṛktabarhiṣaḥ |
śardhām̐ ṛtasya jinvatha || 21 ||
sam u tye mahatīr apaḥ saṁ kṣoṇī sam u sūryam |
saṁ vajram parvaśo dadhuḥ || 22 ||
vi vṛtram parvaśo yayur vi parvatām̐ arājinaḥ |
cakrāṇā vṛṣṇi pauṁsyam || 23 ||
anu tritasya yudhyataḥ śuṣmam āvann uta kratum |
anv indraṁ vṛtratūrye || 24 ||
vidyuddhastā abhidyavaḥ śiprāḥ śīrṣan hiraṇyayīḥ |
śubhrā vy añjata śriye || 25 ||
uśanā yat parāvata ukṣṇo randhram ayātana |
dyaur na cakradad bhiyā || 26 ||
ā no makhasya dāvane 'śvair hiraṇyapāṇibhiḥ |
devāsa upa gantana || 27 ||
yad eṣām pṛṣatī rathe praṣṭir vahati rohitaḥ |
yānti śubhrā riṇann apaḥ || 28 ||
suṣome śaryaṇāvaty ārjīke pastyāvati |
yayur nicakrayā naraḥ || 29 ||
kadā gacchātha maruta itthā vipraṁ havamānam |
mārḍīkebhir nādhamānam || 30 ||
kad dha nūnaṁ kadhapriyo yad indram ajahātana |
ko vaḥ sakhitva ohate || 31 ||
saho ṣu ṇo vajrahastaiḥ kaṇvāso agnim marudbhiḥ |
stuṣe hiraṇyavāśībhiḥ || 32 ||
o ṣu vṛṣṇaḥ prayajyūn ā navyase suvitāya |
vavṛtyāṁ citravājān || 33 ||
girayaś cin ni jihate parśānāso manyamānāḥ |
parvatāś cin ni yemire || 34 ||
ākṣṇayāvāno vahanty antarikṣeṇa patataḥ |
dhātāraḥ stuvate vayaḥ || 35 ||
agnir hi jāni pūrvyaś chando na sūro arciṣā |
te bhānubhir vi tasthire || 36 ||
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).