Hymn to Varuṇa
Rigveda X.75 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.
At the seat of Vivasvant shall the bard declare thy highest worth, O waters, for ye strode forth in threefold march, seven at each step;
Sindhu strode forth with might beyond the other streaming ones.
Varuna hewed thy paths with his own hand, that thou, O Sindhu, might seek thy prize.
Thou goest along a slope upon earth’s broad back, guiding the foremost band of all that moveth.
Thy sound is set in heaven, high above the earth; unendingly thou sendest forth thy snorting breath with blaze of light.
Thy rains do thunder like the stormcloud’s tears, when thou goest roaring like a bull that never ceaseth.
To thee, O Sindhu, as mothers unto their babes, as kine hastening to give milk, they rush with cry and bellow.
Thou leadest them as a war-lord leads the wings of his host, when thou seekest the front of these sloping streams.
Here stand Gaṅgā, Yamunā, Sarasvatī—
give ear to this my song, O Śutudrī, Paruṣṇī, and thou, Asiknī; with Marudvr̥dhā, and Vitastā,
O Ārjīkīyā, hearken thou with Suṣomā.
Thou beginnest thy way with Tr̥ṣṭāmā, then with Susartū and Rasā, and this fair Śvetyā; thou, O Sindhu, comest joined with Kubhā to Gomatī, with Mehatnū to Krumu, all on one chariot borne, hastening swift.
Straight is thy course, and mottled thy hue; in thy greatness thou holdest in thy arms the far-flung fields and shadowed bounds— thou art the unbeguiled Sindhu, most bustling of the bustling, spotted and shining like a mare, fair as a lovely maid to behold.
Sindhu hath fair steeds, fair cars, fair raiment; she is golden, well-shaped, and full of prize-winning mares; the maiden is rich in fleece, and in sīlamā; and the well-measured one putteth on her growth of sweetness.
Sindhu hath yoked her own fair-wheeled, horse-drawn chariot; with it shall she take the prize in this great strife.
So vast her greatness, it draweth all eyes— unbeguiled, self-born in glory, and giver of wealth.
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.75
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.
pra su va āpo mahimānam uttamaṁ kārur vocāti sadane vivasvataḥ |
pra sapta-sapta tredhā hi cakramuḥ pra sṛtvarīṇām ati sindhur ojasā || 1 ||
pra te 'radad varuṇo yātave pathaḥ sindho yad vājām̐ abhy adravas tvam |
bhūmyā adhi pravatā yāsi sānunā yad eṣām agraṁ jagatām irajyasi || 2 ||
divi svano yatate bhūmyopary anantaṁ śuṣmam ud iyarti bhānunā |
abhrād iva pra stanayanti vṛṣṭayaḥ sindhur yad eti vṛṣabho na roruvat || 3 ||
abhi tvā sindho śiśum in na mātaro vāśrā arṣanti payaseva dhenavaḥ |
rājeva yudhvā nayasi tvam it sicau yad āsām agram pravatām inakṣasi || 4 ||
imam me gaṅge yamune sarasvati śutudri stomaṁ sacatā paruṣṇy ā |
asiknyā marudvṛdhe vitastayārjīkīye śṛṇuhy ā suṣomayā || 5 ||
tṛṣṭāmayā prathamaṁ yātave sajūḥ susartvā rasayā śvetyā tyā |
tvaṁ sindho kubhayā gomatīṁ krumum mehatnvā sarathaṁ yābhir īyase || 6 ||
ṛjīty enī ruśatī mahitvā pari jrayāṁsi bharate rajāṁsi |
adabdhā sindhur apasām apastamāśvā na citrā vapuṣīva darśatā || 7 ||
svaśvā sindhuḥ surathā suvāsā hiraṇyayī sukṛtā vājinīvatī |
ūrṇāvatī yuvatiḥ sīlamāvaty utādhi vaste subhagā madhuvṛdham || 8 ||
sukhaṁ rathaṁ yuyuje sindhur aśvinaṁ tena vājaṁ saniṣad asminn ājau |
mahān hy asya mahimā panasyate 'dabdhasya svayaśaso virapśinaḥ || 9 ||
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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