Hymn to Vāc
Rigveda II.23 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) from Maṇḍala 2 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.
O Bṛhaspati, lord of sacred speech! Thy word is power. Thy utterance is creation. When thou speakest, worlds come into being. When thou art silent, chaos threatens to return.
Thou art the cosmic priest, the one who knoweth all the sacred formulas, all the invocations by which the gods are moved and the universe is sustained. Thy knowledge is infinite. Thy wisdom is unfathomable. Thou standest at the threshold between the mortal and divine realms, mediating between them through the power of thy word.
It was thy voice that did shatter the cave of the Paṇis. Those demons held the cattle captive, hoarding the wealth that belonged to the gods and mortals alike. But thou didst speak the word—the sacred syllable, the incantation of power—and the rocky cave crumbled before thy voice. The gates were broken. The imprisoned cattle were released and came forth into the light.
This is thy great deed: that thou art the Lord of Prayer, the Master of Mantra. Through thy teachings, the gods learned to speak with power. Through thy example, mortals learned the sacred formulae by which they might approach the divine throne. Without thee, there would be no bridge between heaven and earth.
We call upon thee now, O Bṛhaspati! We beseech thee to teach us thy wisdom. Let us learn from thee the sacred speech by which we might invoke the gods and accomplish our desires. Let thy word dwell within our hearts. Let thy wisdom guide our tongues.
Shatter the caves of our inner demons! Break the chains that bind us to ignorance and darkness. Through thy speech, liberate us. Through thy word, make us wise. Be unto us the lord of prayer, the teacher of sacred utterance, the guide to all knowledge both divine and human.
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 II.23
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.
gaṇānāṁ tvā gaṇapatiṁ havāmahe kaviṁ kavīnām upamaśravastamam |
jyeṣṭharājam brahmaṇām brahmaṇas pata ā naḥ śṛṇvann ūtibhiḥ sīda sādanam || 1 ||
devāś cit te asurya pracetaso bṛhaspate yajñiyam bhāgam ānaśuḥ |
usrā iva sūryo jyotiṣā maho viśveṣām ij janitā brahmaṇām asi || 2 ||
ā vibādhyā parirāpas tamāṁsi ca jyotiṣmantaṁ ratham ṛtasya tiṣṭhasi |
bṛhaspate bhīmam amitradambhanaṁ rakṣohaṇaṁ gotrabhidaṁ svarvidam || 3 ||
sunītibhir nayasi trāyase janaṁ yas tubhyaṁ dāśān na tam aṁho aśnavat |
brahmadviṣas tapano manyumīr asi bṛhaspate mahi tat te mahitvanam || 4 ||
na tam aṁho na duritaṁ kutaś cana nārātayas titirur na dvayāvinaḥ |
viśvā id asmād dhvaraso vi bādhase yaṁ sugopā rakṣasi brahmaṇas pate || 5 ||
tvaṁ no gopāḥ pathikṛd vicakṣaṇas tava vratāya matibhir jarāmahe |
bṛhaspate yo no abhi hvaro dadhe svā tam marmartu ducchunā harasvatī || 6 ||
uta vā yo no marcayād anāgaso 'rātīvā martaḥ sānuko vṛkaḥ |
bṛhaspate apa taṁ vartayā pathaḥ sugaṁ no asyai devavītaye kṛdhi || 7 ||
trātāraṁ tvā tanūnāṁ havāmahe 'vaspartar adhivaktāram asmayum |
bṛhaspate devanido ni barhaya mā durevā uttaraṁ sumnam un naśan || 8 ||
tvayā vayaṁ suvṛdhā brahmaṇas pate spārhā vasu manuṣyā dadīmahi |
yā no dūre taḻito yā arātayo 'bhi santi jambhayā tā anapnasaḥ || 9 ||
tvayā vayam uttamaṁ dhīmahe vayo bṛhaspate papriṇā sasninā yujā |
mā no duḥśaṁso abhidipsur īśata pra suśaṁsā matibhis tāriṣīmahi || 10 ||
anānudo vṛṣabho jagmir āhavaṁ niṣṭaptā śatrum pṛtanāsu sāsahiḥ |
asi satya ṛṇayā brahmaṇas pata ugrasya cid damitā vīḻuharṣiṇaḥ || 11 ||
adevena manasā yo riṣaṇyati śāsām ugro manyamāno jighāṁsati |
bṛhaspate mā praṇak tasya no vadho ni karma manyuṁ durevasya śardhataḥ || 12 ||
bhareṣu havyo namasopasadyo gantā vājeṣu sanitā dhanaṁ-dhanam |
viśvā id aryo abhidipsvo3 mṛdho bṛhaspatir vi vavarhā rathām̐ iva || 13 ||
tejiṣṭhayā tapanī rakṣasas tapa ye tvā nide dadhire dṛṣṭavīryam |
āvis tat kṛṣva yad asat ta ukthya1m bṛhaspate vi parirāpo ardaya || 14 ||
bṛhaspate ati yad aryo arhād dyumad vibhāti kratumaj janeṣu |
yad dīdayac chavasa ṛtaprajāta tad asmāsu draviṇaṁ dhehi citram || 15 ||
mā naḥ stenebhyo ye abhi druhas pade nirāmiṇo ripavo 'nneṣu jāgṛdhuḥ |
ā devānām ohate vi vrayo hṛdi bṛhaspate na paraḥ sāmno viduḥ || 16 ||
viśvebhyo hi tvā bhuvanebhyas pari tvaṣṭājanat sāmnaḥ-sāmnaḥ kaviḥ |
sa ṛṇacid ṛṇayā brahmaṇas patir druho hantā maha ṛtasya dhartari || 17 ||
tava śriye vy ajihīta parvato gavāṁ gotram udasṛjo yad aṅgiraḥ |
indreṇa yujā tamasā parīvṛtam bṛhaspate nir apām aubjo arṇavam || 18 ||
brahmaṇas pate tvam asya yantā sūktasya bodhi tanayaṁ ca jinva |
viśvaṁ tad bhadraṁ yad avanti devā bṛhad vadema vidathe suvīrāḥ || 19 ||
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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