Hymn to the Maruts
Rigveda I.172 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) addressed to the Maruts, the storm-troop of heaven, sons of Rudra, who ride the winds and shake the earth. 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 Maruts, the splendid ones, the glorious storm-gods fierce and swift,
We do sing of thy magnificence, thy beauty terrible and grand,
Thy glory shineth forth like the sun emerging from the darkness,
And the worlds do tremble at the sight of thy appearance majestic.
What splendor dwelleth in thy forms! What radiance doth emanate!
Thy bodies are adorned with ornaments of gold most precious,
Thy chariots do gleam like burnished bronze in the morning light,
Thy weapons do flash with fire that no mortal eye could bear to gaze upon.
The Maruts are arrayed in armor bright and terrible,
Each warrior standeth tall and strong, with bearing proud and noble,
Their numbers are as manifold as the stars that fill the heaven,
Yet each one is distinct, each one is glorious and unique.
What excellence of form! What power manifest in every limb!
The Maruts do possess the strength of mountains and the agility of eagles,
They move with grace and purpose, with rhythm smooth and perfect,
And when they march in formation, the very earth doth quake beneath their feet.
Their voices are as thunder rolling o'er the cosmic reaches,
Their laughter is as lightning that doth split the darkened sky,
Their songs are hymns of power that echo through all being,
And the gods do cease their labors to attend unto their music.
The Maruts do wear crowns of wind upon their noble brows,
They do bear shields that bear the mark of heaven's sacred symbol,
They do wield the spears of lightning and the bows of storm and fury,
And none can stand 'gainst them when they do loose their might.
What glory hath the Maruts! What majesty! What splendor!
They are the beauteous ones, the radiant powers manifest,
They are the guardians of the cosmic balance and the sacred order,
They are the ones who ride upon the winds of transformation.
We mortals gaze upon them from afar with hearts that beat with wonder,
We do praise their splendor with our voices raised on high,
We do give them thanks for their protection and their constant vigilance,
And we do ask them for their blessings and their favor.
May the Maruts ever maintain their splendor bright and terrible,
May they ever ride with purpose noble through the cosmic spaces,
May their glory shine forever as a beacon unto all,
And may we mortals be forever worthy of their favor and their grace.
Colophon
Rigveda I.172 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 the Maruts, the storm-troop of heaven, sons of Rudra, who ride the winds and shake the earth. 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.
🌲
Source Text: ṛgveda I.172
citro vo 'stu yāmaś citra ūtī sudānavaḥ |
maruto ahibhānavaḥ || 1 ||
āre sā vaḥ sudānavo maruta ṛñjatī śaruḥ |
āre aśmā yam asyatha || 2 ||
tṛṇaskandasya nu viśaḥ pari vṛṅkta sudānavaḥ |
ūrdhvān naḥ karta jīvase || 3 ||
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).
🌲