Hymn to Viṣṇu
Rigveda X.181 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.
Whose name is Spread and Broadly Spread, the gift of gifts, measured in the verse of anuṣṭubh:
From the shining Founder, and from Savitar, and from Viṣṇu, Vasiṣṭha hath borne hither the Rathaṃtara.
They beheld that which was set afar—
that highest, hidden realm of the holy work; From the shining Founder, from Savitar, from Viṣṇu, and from Agni,
Bharadvāja hath brought forth the Br̥hat.
With mind turned inward, they sought and found— the yajus, first-born, that followed the gods’ own path; From the shining Founder, and from Savitar, and from Viṣṇu, and from the sun, they bore hither the warm draught of milk, gharma.
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.181
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.
prathaś ca yasya saprathaś ca nāmānuṣṭubhasya haviṣo havir yat |
dhātur dyutānāt savituś ca viṣṇo rathaṁtaram ā jabhārā vasiṣṭhaḥ || 1 ||
avindan te atihitaṁ yad āsīd yajñasya dhāma paramaṁ guhā yat |
dhātur dyutānāt savituś ca viṣṇor bharadvājo bṛhad ā cakre agneḥ || 2 ||
te 'vindan manasā dīdhyānā yajuḥ ṣkannam prathamaṁ devayānam |
dhātur dyutānāt savituś ca viṣṇor ā sūryād abharan gharmam ete || 3 ||
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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