Hymn to the Maruts
Rigveda I.38 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 mighty Maruts, sons of the wind, your armor is of gold most bright!
Your weapons shine like burning fire; your spears are tipped with lightning.
Come forth, ye storm gods mighty and supreme, and hear the prayer we raise.
We call to you with voices loud; accept our praise and sacrifice.
The Maruts are the youth of heaven; immortal are they, eternal, strong.
Their chariots are fashioned from the clouds; their horses are the winds themselves.
They gallop swiftly through the sky, leaving trails of lightning in their wake.
The sound of their hooves doth shake the earth; their roar doth echo through the world.
Each Marut beareth in his hand a spear of lightning, bright and keen.
His armor is forged in the fire of the sun; his helm is studded with the stars.
They move as one, in perfect unison, a mighty host beyond all counting.
When Indra summoneth them forth, they come in clouds across the sky.
The rain that falleth from their presence is the blessing of the gods.
The fields do grow more fertile when the Maruts have passed over.
The cattle prosper; the crops grow tall; the harvests are abundant.
Without the Maruts' gift of water, there would be no life upon the earth.
Yet are they fearful in their wrath when angered by the wicked deeds of men.
The forests fall before their storm; the rivers overflow their banks.
The hail-stones that they hurl are large as stones that warriors throw in war.
We pray that we may never know the fullness of the Maruts' terrible rage.
O Maruts, we do offer you the finest bulls and sweetest Soma wine.
Accept our praise; grant us the blessing of thy storm and water.
Make our fields forever fertile; keep our cattle strong and full of vigor.
O sons of Rudra, mighty winds, we honor thee and hold thee dear.
Colophon
Rigveda I.38 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.
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Source Text: ṛgveda I.38
kad dha nūnaṁ kadhapriyaḥ pitā putraṁ na hastayoḥ |
dadhidhve vṛktabarhiṣaḥ || 1 ||
kva nūnaṁ kad vo arthaṁ gantā divo na pṛthivyāḥ |
kva vo gāvo na raṇyanti || 2 ||
kva vaḥ sumnā navyāṁsi marutaḥ kva suvitā |
kvo3 viśvāni saubhagā || 3 ||
yad yūyam pṛśnimātaro martāsaḥ syātana |
stotā vo amṛtaḥ syāt || 4 ||
mā vo mṛgo na yavase jaritā bhūd ajoṣyaḥ |
pathā yamasya gād upa || 5 ||
mo ṣu ṇaḥ parā-parā nirṛtir durhaṇā vadhīt |
padīṣṭa tṛṣṇayā saha || 6 ||
satyaṁ tveṣā amavanto dhanvañ cid ā rudriyāsaḥ |
mihaṁ kṛṇvanty avātām || 7 ||
vāśreva vidyun mimāti vatsaṁ na mātā siṣakti |
yad eṣāṁ vṛṣṭir asarji || 8 ||
divā cit tamaḥ kṛṇvanti parjanyenodavāhena |
yat pṛthivīṁ vyundanti || 9 ||
adha svanān marutāṁ viśvam ā sadma pārthivam |
arejanta pra mānuṣāḥ || 10 ||
maruto vīḻupāṇibhiś citrā rodhasvatīr anu |
yātem akhidrayāmabhiḥ || 11 ||
sthirā vaḥ santu nemayo rathā aśvāsa eṣām |
susaṁskṛtā abhīśavaḥ || 12 ||
acchā vadā tanā girā jarāyai brahmaṇas patim |
agnim mitraṁ na darśatam || 13 ||
mimīhi ślokam āsye parjanya iva tatanaḥ |
gāya gāyatram ukthyam || 14 ||
vandasva mārutaṁ gaṇaṁ tveṣam panasyum arkiṇam |
asme vṛddhā asann iha || 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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