Hymn to Savitṛ
Rigveda X.149 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.
Savitar hath stilled the earth with cords of binding; in the place where naught upholdeth, there did he set fast the heaven.
He hath milked the loud mid-realm as a stallion doth his strength, yea, he hath drawn forth the sea, shut within the deep unmeasured.
Where the sea did rise with flood and swell— that doth Savitar know, O Child of the Waters.
Thence came forth the world, thence the breath of the air; thence did heaven and earth stretch forth their limbs.
After this world came the other, worthy of the rite, full of the birthless works of deathless kind.
Surely was the sun-bird, feathered fair, of Savitar begotten before, and his birth was by Savitar's own hand upheld.
As kine come home to stead, as a warrior to his steeds, as the gentle cow loweth for her calf, as a man draweth nigh unto his wife—
so let him descend to us, the bearer of heaven, Savitar, bringer of all goodly things.
As did Hiraṇyastūpa, son of Angiras, call upon thee, when the prize was sought and fate hung in balance— so now I cry unto thee, waking and singing, my face turned toward thee, as one to the soma plant.
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.149
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.
savitā yantraiḥ pṛthivīm aramṇād askambhane savitā dyām adṛṁhat |
aśvam ivādhukṣad dhunim antarikṣam atūrte baddhaṁ savitā samudram || 1 ||
yatrā samudraḥ skabhito vy aunad apāṁ napāt savitā tasya veda |
ato bhūr ata ā utthitaṁ rajo 'to dyāvāpṛthivī aprathetām || 2 ||
paścedam anyad abhavad yajatram amartyasya bhuvanasya bhūnā |
suparṇo aṅga savitur garutmān pūrvo jātaḥ sa u asyānu dharma || 3 ||
gāva iva grāmaṁ yūyudhir ivāśvān vāśreva vatsaṁ sumanā duhānā |
patir iva jāyām abhi no ny etu dhartā divaḥ savitā viśvavāraḥ || 4 ||
hiraṇyastūpaḥ savitar yathā tvāṅgiraso juhve vāje asmin |
evā tvārcann avase vandamānaḥ somasyevāṁśum prati jāgarāham || 5 ||
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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