Hymn to Vāyu
Rigveda X.136 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) from Maṇḍala 10 of the Rigveda, one of the 1,028 hymns organized within the ten books of the oldest Veda. The Rigveda was composed approximately 1700–1100 BCE in Vedic Sanskrit and preserved through oral transmission across millennia.
This is a Good Works Translation produced by the New Tianmu Anglican Church from the Sanskrit of the Śākala recension.
The long-haired one beareth fire, the long-haired one poison, the long-haired one upholdeth the twain-fold world.
He beareth the sun for all eyes to behold; lo, this shining one is named the Light.
The wind-clad hermits are arrayed in russet rags; they move with the sweep of the wind, when the gods have taken them for their dwelling.
"Stirred to rapture by our holy fasts, we have taken flight upon the winds.
Ye mortals behold but our flesh."
He soareth through the mid-realm, beholding all forms from on high.
The hermit is set as the god-fellow of all that is done in rightness.
The steed of the wind, the friend of Vāyu—sped by that god, the hermit holdeth sway o’er the eastern sea and the western.
He wandereth midst the choirs of Apsarases and Gandharvas, and the wild-flying fowl.
He is their dear, soul-stirring mate, who knoweth their mind.
Vāyu stirred it for him; Kunannamā crushed it still, when the long-haired one drank the draught of bane from his cup, even with Rudra at his side.
Colophon
This hymn is drawn from the Śākala recension of the Rigveda, composed approximately 1700–1100 BCE. This is a Good Works Translation produced by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, translated independently from the Sanskrit. Reference translations consulted during original translation are to be documented during audit.
Compiled and formatted for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.
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Source Text: ṛgveda X.136
Sanskrit source text from the Aufrecht edition (1877) via GRETIL (Van Nooten & Holland input). Presented here for reference, study, and verification alongside the English translation above.
keśy a1gniṁ keśī viṣaṁ keśī bibharti rodasī |
keśī viśvaṁ svar dṛśe keśīdaṁ jyotir ucyate || 1 ||
munayo vātaraśanāḥ piśaṅgā vasate malā |
vātasyānu dhrājiṁ yanti yad devāso avikṣata || 2 ||
unmaditā mauneyena vātām̐ ā tasthimā vayam |
śarīred asmākaṁ yūyam martāso abhi paśyatha || 3 ||
antarikṣeṇa patati viśvā rūpāvacākaśat |
munir devasya-devasya saukṛtyāya sakhā hitaḥ || 4 ||
vātasyāśvo vāyoḥ sakhātho deveṣito muniḥ |
ubhau samudrāv ā kṣeti yaś ca pūrva utāparaḥ || 5 ||
apsarasāṁ gandharvāṇām mṛgāṇāṁ caraṇe caran |
keśī ketasya vidvān sakhā svādur madintamaḥ || 6 ||
vāyur asmā upāmanthat pinaṣṭi smā kunannamā |
keśī viṣasya pātreṇa yad rudreṇāpibat saha || 7 ||
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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