A Hymn of Maṇḍala 10
Rigveda X.81 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.
The seer, who stood as Hotar at the hearth, poured forth all breathing kindreds in offering—our father.
With longing for wealth he passed unto the latter-born, veiling the forebears with hidden hand.
Where lay the resting-place? What bore it up?
How stood the world, when Viśvakarman, by his might, brought forth the earth, and by his greatness uncovered heaven?—He whose eye beholdeth all.
His eyes and face turn every way, his arms and feet go forth to every quarter.
He shaped both heaven and earth;
he joined them with his hands, with his winded bellows— He, the god alone.
What was the wood? What was the tree, of which they wrought the frame of sky and land?
O ye of kindled thought, inquire within your minds on what he leaned, who upholdeth all the living.
What art thou, Viśvakarman, in thy highest stead?
What in thy lowest? And what between these bounds?
Do well by these thy realms, for the sake of those who share with thee the holy gift.
Enlarging thine own self, by thine own hand, sacrifice unto thyself.
O Viśvakarman, seeing thou growest by the rite, win thou for thyself the earth and starry realm.
Let all the other folk round about fall to turmoil; but grant to us a lord of open hand.
This day we call upon the Lord of Speech— Viśvakarman, fleet as thought, to aid us in the strife.
He shall delight in each of our offerings— he, luck to all, whose crafts bear fruit— to lend his hand to our cause.
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.81
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.
ya imā viśvā bhuvanāni juhvad ṛṣir hotā ny asīdat pitā naḥ |
sa āśiṣā draviṇam icchamānaḥ prathamacchad avarām̐ ā viveśa || 1 ||
kiṁ svid āsīd adhiṣṭhānam ārambhaṇaṁ katamat svit kathāsīt |
yato bhūmiṁ janayan viśvakarmā vi dyām aurṇon mahinā viśvacakṣāḥ || 2 ||
viśvataścakṣur uta viśvatomukho viśvatobāhur uta viśvataspāt |
sam bāhubhyāṁ dhamati sam patatrair dyāvābhūmī janayan deva ekaḥ || 3 ||
kiṁ svid vanaṁ ka u sa vṛkṣa āsa yato dyāvāpṛthivī niṣṭatakṣuḥ |
manīṣiṇo manasā pṛcchated u tad yad adhyatiṣṭhad bhuvanāni dhārayan || 4 ||
yā te dhāmāni paramāṇi yāvamā yā madhyamā viśvakarmann utemā |
śikṣā sakhibhyo haviṣi svadhāvaḥ svayaṁ yajasva tanvaṁ vṛdhānaḥ || 5 ||
viśvakarman haviṣā vāvṛdhānaḥ svayaṁ yajasva pṛthivīm uta dyām |
muhyantv anye abhito janāsa ihāsmākam maghavā sūrir astu || 6 ||
vācas patiṁ viśvakarmāṇam ūtaye manojuvaṁ vāje adyā huvema |
sa no viśvāni havanāni joṣad viśvaśambhūr avase sādhukarmā || 7 ||
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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