Hymn to the Maruts
Rigveda X.64 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.
How shall we muse? Which god shall we lift up in name—whose name is meet for musing—as they hearken unto my cry?
Who shall show mercy? Who shall grant us joy? Who shall turn this way with help in hand?
Our thoughts lean wholly unto them—the stirrings of our hearts. Our seekers tread their path and fly to all bounds.
No bestower of grace is found beyond them. My longing is fast-bound unto the gods.
Shall it be Narashamsa, or Pusan, or Agohya who may not be hid, or Agni kindled by the hand of the gods?
Shall it be Sun and Moon, the newborn and the full-bright moon, Yama on high, or Trita, Wind, Dawn, Night, the twin Ashvins?
By what lay, with what well-twined word, shall the mighty-voiced Br̥haspati wax strong?
Let Aja Ekapad, and the singers who are ready at call, let Ahi Budhnya incline their ear unto me.
Or thou, O Aditi, at the birthing of the cunning fire beneath thy rule—wilt thou draw hither the twin kings, Mitra and Varuna?
Or Aryaman, who passeth not from the path, lord of many chariots, holder of the seven Hotars, he who cometh in many shapes?
Let the steeds who know the call answer our cry—all who win the prize with their measured step, they who win thousands even as one might win wisdom, they who have mightily borne away spoil from the strife.
Bring forth with thy praise Vayu, who yokes the wain, and Plenitude, and Pusan for fellowship; for at the bidding of Savitar they go—one in will with him who is of one will with them.
We call upon the three times seven rivers, the great waters, the trees, the mountains, and Agni— and the bowmen at their post—Kr̥śanu, Tiṣya the Star-Hound, and Rudra, fiercest of the Rudras.
Sarasvati, Sarayu, Sindhu with wave on wave—may the mighty strengtheners come hither in strength; the holy waters, the sweet-flowing mothers. Let them pour out their milk, rich in ghee and honey, for us.
And let the mother Br̥haddiva hearken unto our words, and Tvashtar with his heavenly kin—the God-Wives, the Father, R̥bhukshan, Vaja the Chariot-Lord, and Bhaga. Let the fair song of the toiler shield us—
Fair as a home in peace, full of meat and cheer.
Blessèd is the worshipful song of the Rudras, the Maruts.
May we shine among the folk for our kine; may refreshment walk with us always, ye gods.
The insight ye granted me—ye Maruts, Indra, Varuna, Mitra— let it grow fat like a cow full of milk. Surely ye will bear our hymns upon thy wains?
Surely in some wise ye will regard our common birth, O Maruts?
At the navel-place where first we joined, there let Aditi fix our kin-bond fast.
For Heaven and Earth, those two great mothers, goddesses meet for the rite, walk by right of their godly kin.
They uphold both broods—of god and man—and with the Fathers they pour forth abundant seed.
Hotra, the pouring, reacheth all things of worth—as doth Br̥haspati and Aramati, wondrous fair in will.
Where the honey-press sings high its voice, the seers cry out with thundering thought.
Even so the loud-souled poet, knowing the right, seeking good, yearning for bounty, the rapt Gaya, with his hymns and songs, hath swelled the race of the gods.
Even so the son of Plati, wise in soul, hath made you mighty—ye Adityas, and Aditi as well.
The high-born, the heaven-wise, the godly race, hath been uplifted by Gaya the Deathless.
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.64
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.
kathā devānāṁ katamasya yāmani sumantu nāma śṛṇvatām manāmahe |
ko mṛḻāti katamo no mayas karat katama ūtī abhy ā vavartati || 1 ||
kratūyanti kratavo hṛtsu dhītayo venanti venāḥ patayanty ā diśaḥ |
na marḍitā vidyate anya ebhyo deveṣu me adhi kāmā ayaṁsata || 2 ||
narā vā śaṁsam pūṣaṇam agohyam agniṁ deveddham abhy arcase girā |
sūryāmāsā candramasā yamaṁ divi tritaṁ vātam uṣasam aktum aśvinā || 3 ||
kathā kavis tuvīravān kayā girā bṛhaspatir vāvṛdhate suvṛktibhiḥ |
aja ekapāt suhavebhir ṛkvabhir ahiḥ śṛṇotu budhnyo3 havīmani || 4 ||
dakṣasya vādite janmani vrate rājānā mitrāvaruṇā vivāsasi |
atūrtapanthāḥ pururatho aryamā saptahotā viṣurūpeṣu janmasu || 5 ||
te no arvanto havanaśruto havaṁ viśve śṛṇvantu vājino mitadravaḥ |
sahasrasā medhasātāv iva tmanā maho ye dhanaṁ samitheṣu jabhrire || 6 ||
pra vo vāyuṁ rathayujam puraṁdhiṁ stomaiḥ kṛṇudhvaṁ sakhyāya pūṣaṇam |
te hi devasya savituḥ savīmani kratuṁ sacante sacitaḥ sacetasaḥ || 7 ||
triḥ sapta sasrā nadyo mahīr apo vanaspatīn parvatām̐ agnim ūtaye |
kṛśānum astṝn tiṣyaṁ sadhastha ā rudraṁ rudreṣu rudriyaṁ havāmahe || 8 ||
sarasvatī sarayuḥ sindhur ūrmibhir maho mahīr avasā yantu vakṣaṇīḥ |
devīr āpo mātaraḥ sūdayitnvo ghṛtavat payo madhuman no arcata || 9 ||
uta mātā bṛhaddivā śṛṇotu nas tvaṣṭā devebhir janibhiḥ pitā vacaḥ |
ṛbhukṣā vājo rathaspatir bhago raṇvaḥ śaṁsaḥ śaśamānasya pātu naḥ || 10 ||
raṇvaḥ saṁdṛṣṭau pitumām̐ iva kṣayo bhadrā rudrāṇām marutām upastutiḥ |
gobhiḥ ṣyāma yaśaso janeṣv ā sadā devāsa iḻayā sacemahi || 11 ||
yām me dhiyam maruta indra devā adadāta varuṇa mitra yūyam |
tām pīpayata payaseva dhenuṁ kuvid giro adhi rathe vahātha || 12 ||
kuvid aṅga prati yathā cid asya naḥ sajātyasya maruto bubodhatha |
nābhā yatra prathamaṁ saṁnasāmahe tatra jāmitvam aditir dadhātu naḥ || 13 ||
te hi dyāvāpṛthivī mātarā mahī devī devāñ janmanā yajñiye itaḥ |
ubhe bibhṛta ubhayam bharīmabhiḥ purū retāṁsi pitṛbhiś ca siñcataḥ || 14 ||
vi ṣā hotrā viśvam aśnoti vāryam bṛhaspatir aramatiḥ panīyasī |
grāvā yatra madhuṣud ucyate bṛhad avīvaśanta matibhir manīṣiṇaḥ || 15 ||
evā kavis tuvīravām̐ ṛtajñā draviṇasyur draviṇasaś cakānaḥ |
ukthebhir atra matibhiś ca vipro 'pīpayad gayo divyāni janma || 16 ||
evā plateḥ sūnur avīvṛdhad vo viśva ādityā adite manīṣī |
īśānāso naro amartyenāstāvi jano divyo gayena || 17 ||
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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