Hymn to Mitra
Rigveda X.37 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.
Homage be to the eye of Mitra and of Varuna.
Let this true song be rightly sung in the god’s great honor.
To Him who is seen from afar, the sign set by the gods, Heaven’s own son—to the Sun—lift up thy voice.
Let this word of truth be my safeguard on all sides, where’er Heaven and Earth stretch forth, and the days unfold.
For all else that stirreth cometh to rest— but the waters flow ever on, and the Sun riseth ever anew.
No godless soul would dare contend with thee at morning, when thou guidest thy car drawn by wingèd steeds.
Thy one wheel rolleth through the shadowed sky eastward; with the other—of light—thou mountest, O Sun, ever upward.
The beam by which thou drivest off the dark, O Sun, the gleam by which thou wakest all that moveth— with that same light cast off from us all hunger, all want of offering, all sickness, all ill dreams.
For when thou art sent forth, thou guardest the law for all, and in peace thou risest, unvexed, in thy wonted course.
And now, when we lift our call to thee, O Sun, may the gods incline their hearts toward our plea.
Let Heaven and Earth give ear unto this call of ours, let Waters hear, and Indra, and the Maruts in their strength.
Let us not be denied the sight of thy face.
Long in joy may we live, and reach to hoary age.
Ever may we, with sound minds, with seeing eyes, abundant in children, free of ache and shame, behold thee rising each day anew,
O Sun, whose strength is as Mitra’s own.
Upon thee, wide-seer, light-bringer, joy of every gaze, who ascendest from the heights of heaven— may we, still living, lift our eyes.
May we behold thee, O Sun, and rejoice.
At thy sign, all creatures stir and rest; by night they sleep, by day they go forth again.
For our righteousness’ sake, O golden-haired Sun, arise upon us with ever brighter grace.
Bring us thy blessing with thy gaze; by day be our luck, and with thy shining bring us good fortune.
In the chill and the heat, be our blessing.
Let there be luck abroad, and luck at hearth.
Establish for us this wealth of brightness, O Sun.
To our kin, O ye gods—both two-footed and four— stretch forth your sheltering hand.
Let us eat and drink, draw life and be full— grant us good fate and faultless days.
And whate’er we have done amiss, O gods, by word or wandering mind, whatever grave wrong hath stirred your wrath— let it fall not upon us, but upon the stingy bringer of ill.
Lay ye that weight on him, O ye good and mighty ones.
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.37
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.
namo mitrasya varuṇasya cakṣase maho devāya tad ṛtaṁ saparyata |
dūredṛśe devajātāya ketave divas putrāya sūryāya śaṁsata || 1 ||
sā mā satyoktiḥ pari pātu viśvato dyāvā ca yatra tatanann ahāni ca |
viśvam anyan ni viśate yad ejati viśvāhāpo viśvāhod eti sūryaḥ || 2 ||
na te adevaḥ pradivo ni vāsate yad etaśebhiḥ patarai ratharyasi |
prācīnam anyad anu vartate raja ud anyena jyotiṣā yāsi sūrya || 3 ||
yena sūrya jyotiṣā bādhase tamo jagac ca viśvam udiyarṣi bhānunā |
tenāsmad viśvām anirām anāhutim apāmīvām apa duṣṣvapnyaṁ suva || 4 ||
viśvasya hi preṣito rakṣasi vratam aheḻayann uccarasi svadhā anu |
yad adya tvā sūryopabravāmahai taṁ no devā anu maṁsīrata kratum || 5 ||
taṁ no dyāvāpṛthivī tan na āpa indraḥ śṛṇvantu maruto havaṁ vacaḥ |
mā śūne bhūma sūryasya saṁdṛśi bhadraṁ jīvanto jaraṇām aśīmahi || 6 ||
viśvāhā tvā sumanasaḥ sucakṣasaḥ prajāvanto anamīvā anāgasaḥ |
udyantaṁ tvā mitramaho dive-dive jyog jīvāḥ prati paśyema sūrya || 7 ||
mahi jyotir bibhrataṁ tvā vicakṣaṇa bhāsvantaṁ cakṣuṣe-cakṣuṣe mayaḥ |
ārohantam bṛhataḥ pājasas pari vayaṁ jīvāḥ prati paśyema sūrya || 8 ||
yasya te viśvā bhuvanāni ketunā pra cerate ni ca viśante aktubhiḥ |
anāgāstvena harikeśa sūryāhnāhnā no vasyasā-vasyasod ihi || 9 ||
śaṁ no bhava cakṣasā śaṁ no ahnā śam bhānunā śaṁ himā śaṁ ghṛṇena |
yathā śam adhvañ cham asad duroṇe tat sūrya draviṇaṁ dhehi citram || 10 ||
asmākaṁ devā ubhayāya janmane śarma yacchata dvipade catuṣpade |
adat pibad ūrjayamānam āśitaṁ tad asme śaṁ yor arapo dadhātana || 11 ||
yad vo devāś cakṛma jihvayā guru manaso vā prayutī devaheḻanam |
arāvā yo no abhi ducchunāyate tasmin tad eno vasavo ni dhetana || 12 ||
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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