Hymn to the Viśvedevas
Rigveda II.29 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 Viśvedevas, all-gods assembled! We call upon you in your collective might. You are the divine assembly, the gathering of all the deities in heaven. Each of you possesseth great power; together, your strength is immeasurable.
We invoke you now for protection. There are threats upon every side. Enemies gather at our borders. Demons lurk in the darkness, seeking to harm us. Sickness and misfortune threaten our families. We cannot stand alone against these forces. We need your help.
So we beseech you—all of you together—to come to our aid. Let your combined strength be as a shield around us. Let your collective vigilance watch over us day and night. Let your united will stand against all that would bring us harm.
Mitra, watch over the day. Varuṇa, guard us in the night. Indra, grant us courage and strength. Agni, purify us with thy cleansing flame. Vāyu, carry our prayers to the heavens. Sūrya, shine thy light upon our path. Soma, fill us with divine intoxication and joy.
All of you—from the greatest deities to the lesser ones—we call upon you. There is strength in unity, in the gathering of many voices raised as one. Your unity is our model. Your collective power is our hope.
We have made our offerings. We have poured the libation. We have chanted the sacred hymns. Now we ask for your protection. Guard us from harm. Guide us along the righteous path. Let your blessing rest upon us and upon all that we hold dear.
Accept our worship, O assembly of all-gods! Let us feel your presence. Let us know that we are not abandoned or forgotten. Stand with us, protect us, and grant us peace.
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.
🌲
Source Text: ṛgveda II.29
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.
dhṛtavratā ādityā iṣirā āre mat karta rahasūr ivāgaḥ |
śṛṇvato vo varuṇa mitra devā bhadrasya vidvām̐ avase huve vaḥ || 1 ||
yūyaṁ devāḥ pramatir yūyam ojo yūyaṁ dveṣāṁsi sanutar yuyota |
abhikṣattāro abhi ca kṣamadhvam adyā ca no mṛḻayatāparaṁ ca || 2 ||
kim ū nu vaḥ kṛṇavāmāpareṇa kiṁ sanena vasava āpyena |
yūyaṁ no mitrāvaruṇādite ca svastim indrāmaruto dadhāta || 3 ||
haye devā yūyam id āpayaḥ stha te mṛḻata nādhamānāya mahyam |
mā vo ratho madhyamavāḻ ṛte bhūn mā yuṣmāvatsv āpiṣu śramiṣma || 4 ||
pra va eko mimaya bhūry āgo yan mā piteva kitavaṁ śaśāsa |
āre pāśā āre aghāni devā mā mādhi putre vim iva grabhīṣṭa || 5 ||
arvāñco adyā bhavatā yajatrā ā vo hārdi bhayamāno vyayeyam |
trādhvaṁ no devā nijuro vṛkasya trādhvaṁ kartād avapado yajatrāḥ || 6 ||
māham maghono varuṇa priyasya bhūridāvna ā vidaṁ śūnam āpeḥ |
mā rāyo rājan suyamād ava sthām bṛhad vadema vidathe suvīrāḥ || 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).
🌲