Hymn to Uṣas
Rigveda I.48 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) addressed to Uṣas, the goddess of dawn, bringer of light, daughter of heaven, mother of mornings. 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.
Glory unto Uṣas, the radiant goddess! She cometh forth clothed in robes of gold and crimson. Her chariot is drawn by ruddy steeds. She rideth high above the mountains, and the darkness fleeth before her countenance.
O dawn-goddess! How fair art thou! Thy fingers do paint the sky with light. The eastern vault bloometh beneath thy touch. The stars retreat; the night withdraweth to its hidden realm. And thou alone dost stand victorious, radiant, eternal—ever young, ever fair, ever renewing the world.
Each day thou comest anew. No weariness toucheth thee, no fatigue diminisheth thy brilliance. Our fathers saw thee; we see thee; our children's children shall see thee, and thou shalt appear to them unchanged, immortal, never ageing, never failing.
Thou art the awakener of all life. The birds do sing at thy approach. The cattle rise from their rest. The housewife kindles her fire and prepares the meal. The warriors arm themselves; the merchants open their stalls. All the world doth wake and labor because thou hast come.
What enemy art thou to the darkness? Thou dost slay it utterly! The night cannot resist thy advance. No matter how thick the darkness, how vast and impenetrable, thy coming endeth it. And we, who dwell in the light of day, owe our very existence to thy daily triumph.
O Uṣas! Thou art the gift-giver. With thy light cometh hope. The man who despaired in the darkness findeth courage when thou dost arrive. The woman who wept through the long night doth dry her tears. The child who feared the night-demons sleepeth peacefully again.
Thus do we praise thee, O dawn-goddess! Come again tomorrow, and the day after, and forever. Grant us thy light, thy hope, thy gentle awakening. Let us never take for granted the gift of thy coming. For in thee we see the promise renewed each day—that darkness endeth, that light returneth, that all the world shall be made whole.
Colophon
Rigveda I.48 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 Uṣas, the goddess of dawn, bringer of light, daughter of heaven, mother of mornings. 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.48
saha vāmena na uṣo vy ucchā duhitar divaḥ |
saha dyumnena bṛhatā vibhāvari rāyā devi dāsvatī || 1 ||
aśvāvatīr gomatīr viśvasuvido bhūri cyavanta vastave |
ud īraya prati mā sūnṛtā uṣaś coda rādho maghonām || 2 ||
uvāsoṣā ucchāc ca nu devī jīrā rathānām |
ye asyā ācaraṇeṣu dadhrire samudre na śravasyavaḥ || 3 ||
uṣo ye te pra yāmeṣu yuñjate mano dānāya sūrayaḥ |
atrāha tat kaṇva eṣāṁ kaṇvatamo nāma gṛṇāti nṛṇām || 4 ||
ā ghā yoṣeva sūnary uṣā yāti prabhuñjatī |
jarayantī vṛjanam padvad īyata ut pātayati pakṣiṇaḥ || 5 ||
vi yā sṛjati samanaṁ vy a1rthinaḥ padaṁ na vety odatī |
vayo nakiṣ ṭe paptivāṁsa āsate vyuṣṭau vājinīvati || 6 ||
eṣāyukta parāvataḥ sūryasyodayanād adhi |
śataṁ rathebhiḥ subhagoṣā iyaṁ vi yāty abhi mānuṣān || 7 ||
viśvam asyā nānāma cakṣase jagaj jyotiṣ kṛṇoti sūnarī |
apa dveṣo maghonī duhitā diva uṣā ucchad apa sridhaḥ || 8 ||
uṣa ā bhāhi bhānunā candreṇa duhitar divaḥ |
āvahantī bhūry asmabhyaṁ saubhagaṁ vyucchantī diviṣṭiṣu || 9 ||
viśvasya hi prāṇanaṁ jīvanaṁ tve vi yad ucchasi sūnari |
sā no rathena bṛhatā vibhāvari śrudhi citrāmaghe havam || 10 ||
uṣo vājaṁ hi vaṁsva yaś citro mānuṣe jane |
tenā vaha sukṛto adhvarām̐ upa ye tvā gṛṇanti vahnayaḥ || 11 ||
viśvān devām̐ ā vaha somapītaye 'ntarikṣād uṣas tvam |
sāsmāsu dhā gomad aśvāvad ukthya1m uṣo vājaṁ suvīryam || 12 ||
yasyā ruśanto arcayaḥ prati bhadrā adṛkṣata |
sā no rayiṁ viśvavāraṁ supeśasam uṣā dadātu sugmyam || 13 ||
ye cid dhi tvām ṛṣayaḥ pūrva ūtaye juhūre 'vase mahi |
sā naḥ stomām̐ abhi gṛṇīhi rādhasoṣaḥ śukreṇa śociṣā || 14 ||
uṣo yad adya bhānunā vi dvārāv ṛṇavo divaḥ |
pra no yacchatād avṛkam pṛthu cchardiḥ pra devi gomatīr iṣaḥ || 15 ||
saṁ no rāyā bṛhatā viśvapeśasā mimikṣvā sam iḻābhir ā |
saṁ dyumnena viśvaturoṣo mahi saṁ vājair vājinīvati || 16 ||
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).
🌲