Hymn to the Maruts
Rigveda VIII.94 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. The cow drinks, eager for glory — mother of the bounteous Maruts, yoked as the one who draws their chariots.
2. In her lap all the gods uphold their ordinances — the sun and the moon, for all to see.
3. That is what the singers always proclaim to us here, you noble ones — the Maruts — for the drinking of soma.
4. Here is this soma, pressed. The Maruts drink of it, and the self-ruling Aśvins.
5. Mitra drinks, and Aryaman, and Varuṇa, continually, of the purified soma with its three resting-places, swift-flowing.
6. And now let Indra, as he pleases, grow joyful over this pressed soma mixed with milk, like the Hotar priest at dawn.
7. How the patrons blazed forth, streaming past hindrances like waters — pure in strength, they flow on.
8. What help of yours do I choose today, you great gods — and, in your own person, you of wondrous splendor?
9. Those who have spread out all the earthly regions and the shining realms of heaven — the Maruts — for the drinking of soma.
10. Now I call on you, pure in strength, down from heaven, O Maruts, for the drinking of this soma.
11. Now I call on those Maruts who have propped apart the two world-halves, for the drinking of this soma.
12. Now I call on that troop of Maruts, dwelling on the mountain, the bull, for the drinking of this soma.
Translator's note: Verse 1's "cow" (gauḥ) is the mother-figure of the Maruts, elsewhere named Pṛśni; the verse does not name her directly. Verse 7's "sridhaḥ" (hindrances/failures) and verse 8's "tmanā" (in one's own person/by oneself) are compact, somewhat opaque terms rendered here conservatively rather than expanded.
Colophon
Rigveda VIII.94 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.94
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.
gaur dhayati marutāṁ śravasyur mātā maghonām |
yuktā vahnī rathānām || 1 ||
yasyā devā upasthe vratā viśve dhārayante |
sūryāmāsā dṛśe kam || 2 ||
tat su no viśve arya ā sadā gṛṇanti kāravaḥ |
marutaḥ somapītaye || 3 ||
asti somo ayaṁ sutaḥ pibanty asya marutaḥ |
uta svarājo aśvinā || 4 ||
pibanti mitro aryamā tanā pūtasya varuṇaḥ |
triṣadhasthasya jāvataḥ || 5 ||
uto nv asya joṣam ām̐ indraḥ sutasya gomataḥ |
prātar hoteva matsati || 6 ||
kad atviṣanta sūrayas tira āpa iva sridhaḥ |
arṣanti pūtadakṣasaḥ || 7 ||
kad vo adya mahānāṁ devānām avo vṛṇe |
tmanā ca dasmavarcasām || 8 ||
ā ye viśvā pārthivāni paprathan rocanā divaḥ |
marutaḥ somapītaye || 9 ||
tyān nu pūtadakṣaso divo vo maruto huve |
asya somasya pītaye || 10 ||
tyān nu ye vi rodasī tastabhur maruto huve |
asya somasya pītaye || 11 ||
tyaṁ nu mārutaṁ gaṇaṁ giriṣṭhāṁ vṛṣaṇaṁ huve |
asya somasya pītaye || 12 ||
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).