Hymn to the Maruts
Rigveda I.88 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.
Swift are thy chariots, O Maruts! Like the wind itself they race across the heavens. No chariot of mortal make can match their speed. They do not touch the ground yet travel from place to place in the blink of an eye. Their wheels are wrought of storm-clouds. Their axles are forged from the essence of the gale.
The steeds that draw these wondrous vehicles are no earthly horses! They are creatures of pure air and divine energy. With each bound they cover vast distances. With each breath they inhale the scattered clouds and exhale the rolling thunder. Their manes stream behind them like ribbons of wind.
The Maruts arrive wherever they are needed. Do the crops need water? They bring the rain in abundance. Do the demons threaten the realm? They arrive to do battle. Do the righteous cry out in their distress? In an instant the Maruts draw near. Time and space hold no dominion over them.
And what gifts do they bring? The waters of heaven! The sweet rain that drinketh the dusty earth and maketh green things grow! Upon the parched plains they pour forth their bounty. The grass springeth up. The flowers bloom. The trees bear fruit. The animals do frolic and the people do rejoice.
O chariots of wind! O swift-moving Maruts! Thou dost travel all the pathways of heaven and earth. Thou dost see all that transpireth. We pray thee, bring thy gifts to our homes. Let thy rain fall upon our fields. Carry our prayers to the realm of the gods. Speed thy course toward those who honor thee, and tarry long in the lands that love thee.
Colophon
Rigveda I.88 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.88
ā vidyunmadbhir marutaḥ svarkai rathebhir yāta ṛṣṭimadbhir aśvaparṇaiḥ |
ā varṣiṣṭhayā na iṣā vayo na paptatā sumāyāḥ || 1 ||
te 'ruṇebhir varam ā piśaṅgaiḥ śubhe kaṁ yānti rathatūrbhir aśvaiḥ |
rukmo na citraḥ svadhitīvān pavyā rathasya jaṅghananta bhūma || 2 ||
śriye kaṁ vo adhi tanūṣu vāśīr medhā vanā na kṛṇavanta ūrdhvā |
yuṣmabhyaṁ kam marutaḥ sujātās tuvidyumnāso dhanayante adrim || 3 ||
ahāni gṛdhrāḥ pary ā va āgur imāṁ dhiyaṁ vārkāryāṁ ca devīm |
brahma kṛṇvanto gotamāso arkair ūrdhvaṁ nunudra utsadhim pibadhyai || 4 ||
etat tyan na yojanam aceti sasvar ha yan maruto gotamo vaḥ |
paśyan hiraṇyacakrān ayodaṁṣṭrān vidhāvato varāhūn || 5 ||
eṣā syā vo maruto 'nubhartrī prati ṣṭobhati vāghato na vāṇī |
astobhayad vṛthāsām anu svadhāṁ gabhastyoḥ || 6 ||
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).
🌲