Hymn to Rudra
Rigveda I.43 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.
O Rudra, the Howler! We sing thy dreadful name. Thou art the archer, the wild god of the mountains. Thy arrows fly like lightning; thy roar shaketh the earth. Fear seizeth all creatures when thou dost draw thy bow.
Yet hear us, O terrible one! We do not worship thee in hatred, but in awe. Thy arrows are barbed with death, yet we implore thee—turn aside thy wrath from us. Slay not our cattle, harm not our children. Direct thy fury upon our enemies, upon those who would do us ill.
O brown-necked god! Thy form is mighty and fearsome. Thy hair doth stream like fire. Thy eyes glow like coals. Thou wearest the serpent as ornament; the skulls of demons hang at thy breast. Yet in thee also liveth mercy—for those who revere thee, thou art a protector.
We offer unto thee the finest oblation. Accept our soma, accept our prayers. See how we bow before thee! See how we tremble at thy name! Not in defiance do we call upon thee, but in recognition of thy power supreme.
O Rudra, the fierce one, the wild one—grant us thy protection. Let thy terrible form turn toward our foes, not toward us. Let thy arrows strike the demon, the sorcerer, the man of evil will. But upon us, O howler, bestow thy gentleness.
We sing thy praise though fear doth grip our hearts. Thou art the mightiest of gods, the most to be feared. Yet fear itself is worship in thy sight. Accept our trembling adoration, O Rudra. Keep us beneath thy shadow, though thy shadow is terrible to behold.
Colophon
Rigveda I.43 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.43
kad rudrāya pracetase mīḻhuṣṭamāya tavyase |
vocema śaṁtamaṁ hṛde || 1 ||
yathā no aditiḥ karat paśve nṛbhyo yathā gave |
yathā tokāya rudriyam || 2 ||
yathā no mitro varuṇo yathā rudraś ciketati |
yathā viśve sajoṣasaḥ || 3 ||
gāthapatim medhapatiṁ rudraṁ jalāṣabheṣajam |
tac chaṁyoḥ sumnam īmahe || 4 ||
yaḥ śukra iva sūryo hiraṇyam iva rocate |
śreṣṭho devānāṁ vasuḥ || 5 ||
śaṁ naḥ karaty arvate sugam meṣāya meṣye |
nṛbhyo nāribhyo gave || 6 ||
asme soma śriyam adhi ni dhehi śatasya nṛṇām |
mahi śravas tuvinṛmṇam || 7 ||
mā naḥ somaparibādho mārātayo juhuranta |
ā na indo vāje bhaja || 8 ||
yās te prajā amṛtasya parasmin dhāmann ṛtasya |
mūrdhā nābhā soma vena ābhūṣantīḥ soma vedaḥ || 9 ||
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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