Hymn to Rudra
Rigveda I.166 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) addressed to Rudra, the fierce healer, lord of storms and mountains, father of the Maruts. 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.
By Agastya, the great sage, do we sing praise to the Maruts fierce and terrible,
Those storm-gods who do ride upon the wind with spears of lightning raised on high,
Whose chariots do rattle with the sound of thunder, whose battle-cry doth shake the earth.
Lo, behold the Maruts coming forth from the cosmic womb,
Born of Rudra's fury and the sky's compassionate embrace,
They emerge like young warriors from their secret dwelling-place,
And the world doth tremble at their coming, and the darkness flees before them.
What splendor they do manifest! What terrible beauty!
Their bodies glow with radiance like the sun at break of dawn,
Their eyes do flash with lightning-light, their breath doth roar like wind,
And where they tread, the mountains bow, and rivers change their course.
Hark! Dost thou hear their voices? They do sing the song of creation,
They do chant the hymn eternal that doth bind the worlds together,
They do dance the sacred dance that keepeth all in balance and in order.
The Maruts are the wind that driveth forth the clouds of blessing,
They are the storm that bringeth rain to nourish all the earth,
They are the breath of heaven that filleth all the spaces infinite.
With spear and shield they ride, with weapons bright and terrible,
They do engage in cosmic battle 'gainst the forces dark and chaotic,
They do defend the sacred order 'gainst the demons' fell designs.
Indra calleth them his brothers, the gods do greet them with respect,
For none can match their fury when they loose their might upon the world.
Yet hear this truth, O mortals: the Maruts are not cruel nor merciless,
Though they be fierce and terrible, their hearts do beat with noble purpose,
They do rage that all may live, they do strike that all may flourish,
They do tear down what is rotten, that the new may rise in glory.
So we do praise the Maruts with our voices raised on high,
We do honor their great strength and their sacred dedication,
We do ask them for protection 'gainst the evils that do threaten,
And we do give them thanks for all the blessings that they render.
May the Maruts ever ride upon the winds of heaven,
May they ever guard the cosmic order with their spears and shields,
May they ever dance their sacred dance while all the world doth watch in wonder.
Colophon
Rigveda I.166 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 Rudra, the fierce healer, lord of storms and mountains, father of the Maruts. 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.166
tan nu vocāma rabhasāya janmane pūrvam mahitvaṁ vṛṣabhasya ketave |
aidheva yāman marutas tuviṣvaṇo yudheva śakrās taviṣāṇi kartana || 1 ||
nityaṁ na sūnum madhu bibhrata upa krīḻanti krīḻā vidatheṣu ghṛṣvayaḥ |
nakṣanti rudrā avasā namasvinaṁ na mardhanti svatavaso haviṣkṛtam || 2 ||
yasmā ūmāso amṛtā arāsata rāyas poṣaṁ ca haviṣā dadāśuṣe |
ukṣanty asmai maruto hitā iva purū rajāṁsi payasā mayobhuvaḥ || 3 ||
ā ye rajāṁsi taviṣībhir avyata pra va evāsaḥ svayatāso adhrajan |
bhayante viśvā bhuvanāni harmyā citro vo yāmaḥ prayatāsv ṛṣṭiṣu || 4 ||
yat tveṣayāmā nadayanta parvatān divo vā pṛṣṭhaṁ naryā acucyavuḥ |
viśvo vo ajman bhayate vanaspatī rathīyantīva pra jihīta oṣadhiḥ || 5 ||
yūyaṁ na ugrā marutaḥ sucetunāriṣṭagrāmāḥ sumatim pipartana |
yatrā vo didyud radati krivirdatī riṇāti paśvaḥ sudhiteva barhaṇā || 6 ||
pra skambhadeṣṇā anavabhrarādhaso 'lātṛṇāso vidatheṣu suṣṭutāḥ |
arcanty arkam madirasya pītaye vidur vīrasya prathamāni pauṁsyā || 7 ||
śatabhujibhis tam abhihruter aghāt pūrbhī rakṣatā maruto yam āvata |
janaṁ yam ugrās tavaso virapśinaḥ pāthanā śaṁsāt tanayasya puṣṭiṣu || 8 ||
viśvāni bhadrā maruto ratheṣu vo mithaspṛdhyeva taviṣāṇy āhitā |
aṁseṣv ā vaḥ prapatheṣu khādayo 'kṣo vaś cakrā samayā vi vāvṛte || 9 ||
bhūrīṇi bhadrā naryeṣu bāhuṣu vakṣaḥsu rukmā rabhasāso añjayaḥ |
aṁseṣv etāḥ paviṣu kṣurā adhi vayo na pakṣān vy anu śriyo dhire || 10 ||
mahānto mahnā vibhvo3 vibhūtayo dūredṛśo ye divyā iva stṛbhiḥ |
mandrāḥ sujihvāḥ svaritāra āsabhiḥ sammiślā indre marutaḥ pariṣṭubhaḥ || 11 ||
tad vaḥ sujātā maruto mahitvanaṁ dīrghaṁ vo dātram aditer iva vratam |
indraś cana tyajasā vi hruṇāti taj janāya yasmai sukṛte arādhvam || 12 ||
tad vo jāmitvam marutaḥ pare yuge purū yac chaṁsam amṛtāsa āvata |
ayā dhiyā manave śruṣṭim āvyā sākaṁ naro daṁsanair ā cikitrire || 13 ||
yena dīrgham marutaḥ śūśavāma yuṣmākena parīṇasā turāsaḥ |
ā yat tatanan vṛjane janāsa ebhir yajñebhis tad abhīṣṭim aśyām || 14 ||
eṣa vaḥ stomo maruta iyaṁ gīr māndāryasya mānyasya kāroḥ |
eṣā yāsīṣṭa tanve vayāṁ vidyāmeṣaṁ vṛjanaṁ jīradānum || 15 ||
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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