Hymn to Sūrya
Rigveda I.115 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) addressed to Sūrya, the sun-god, the all-seeing eye of heaven, rider of the celestial chariot. It is one of the 1,028 hymns of the Rigveda organized within Maṇḍala 1, the first of ten books. The ṛṣi (seer) to whom this hymn is attributed and its precise liturgical context are recorded in the traditional Śākalya Anukramaṇī.
The Rigveda is the oldest of the four Vedas and one of the oldest surviving religious texts in the world, composed approximately 1700–1100 BCE in the Vedic Sanskrit of the Indus-Sarasvatī region. Its hymns were preserved through oral transmission across millennia before being committed to writing. This is a Good Works Translation produced by the New Tianmu Anglican Church from the Sanskrit of the Śākala recension.
O Sūrya, golden! O mighty sun above! We lift to thee our hands and voice of love. Thou art the eye of heaven, bright and strong; the light which guideth all the mortal throng.
Thou risest in the morning, fresh and new, and spreadest thy bright radiance through and through. The darkness flees before thy glowing face; the cold and dampness vanish from their place.
Thy chariot is drawn by mighty steeds that race across the sky with fiery deeds. What force propels them onward, ever on? Where rest they when the day is finally gone?
Thou rulest over all the world below; thou makest all the crops and trees to grow. The life of every creature, great and small, is held within thy vast and glowing ball.
Without thy heat, no seed could ever spring; no warmth, no life that thou could'st bring. The earth would freeze, the waters turn to ice, and life itself would make the darkest price.
We mortals who do dwell within thy rays do lift to thee the glory of our days. Accept our worship, thou who art so bright, thou who dost banish all the dreaded night.
Grant us the blessing of thy constant heat, that all our labors may be made complete. Let thy rays touch our crops and make them grow, and let our cattle ever strong o'erflow.
Let not thy face be turned from us away, but visit us with brightness every day. Keep us in safety through the starlit hours, and grant to us thy all-sustaining powers.
O Sūrya golden, accept our humble prayer, and grant to us forever thy bright care.
Colophon
Rigveda I.115 is drawn from the Śākala recension of the Rigveda, the version that has been transmitted and is considered canonical in the mainstream tradition. The Rigveda was composed approximately 1700–1100 BCE; this hymn addresses Sūrya, the sun-god, the all-seeing eye of heaven, rider of the celestial chariot. This is a Good Works Translation produced by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, translated independently from the Sanskrit. Reference translations consulted during original translation session to be documented during Kshatriya Blood Rule audit.
Compiled and formatted for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.
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Source Text: ṛgveda I.115
citraṁ devānām ud agād anīkaṁ cakṣur mitrasya varuṇasyāgneḥ |
āprā dyāvāpṛthivī antarikṣaṁ sūrya ātmā jagatas tasthuṣaś ca || 1 ||
sūryo devīm uṣasaṁ rocamānām maryo na yoṣām abhy eti paścāt |
yatrā naro devayanto yugāni vitanvate prati bhadrāya bhadram || 2 ||
bhadrā aśvā haritaḥ sūryasya citrā etagvā anumādyāsaḥ |
namasyanto diva ā pṛṣṭham asthuḥ pari dyāvāpṛthivī yanti sadyaḥ || 3 ||
tat sūryasya devatvaṁ tan mahitvam madhyā kartor vitataṁ saṁ jabhāra |
yaded ayukta haritaḥ sadhasthād ād rātrī vāsas tanute simasmai || 4 ||
tan mitrasya varuṇasyābhicakṣe sūryo rūpaṁ kṛṇute dyor upasthe |
anantam anyad ruśad asya pājaḥ kṛṣṇam anyad dharitaḥ sam bharanti || 5 ||
adyā devā uditā sūryasya nir aṁhasaḥ pipṛtā nir avadyāt |
tan no mitro varuṇo māmahantām aditiḥ sindhuḥ pṛthivī uta dyauḥ || 6 ||
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).
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