Hymn to the Viśvedevas
Rigveda II.30 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.
Hear us now, O Viśvedevas! We make a comprehensive invocation unto all of you. In this hymn, we name you, we honour you, we seek your collective favour.
Thou art the divine assembly itself—the complete gathering of all divine power and wisdom. When all the gods come together, there is nothing that cannot be accomplished. There is no evil that cannot be overcome. There is no good that cannot be achieved.
We see in you the model of perfect cooperation. Each of you hath your own domain, your own responsibility, your own unique power. Yet you do not quarrel or compete for supremacy. You work together in harmony, each contributing your own gifts to the maintenance of the cosmic order.
Grant us the wisdom to live as you live. Help us to understand that our individual strengths are meant to be combined with the strengths of others. Teach us that there is no shame in asking for help, that unity is not weakness but the truest form of strength.
We honour you as the complete divine assembly. We thank you for all the gifts that you have bestowed upon us. We thank you for the sun that warms the earth and ripens the crops. We thank you for the rain that falls from the sky and gives life to all growing things. We thank you for the air that we breathe, the fire that we kindle, the water that we drink.
Accept our gratitude and our worship. Accept our comprehensive invocation of all your names and all your powers. Let your divine assembly turn its gaze upon us with favour. Let your combined blessings rest upon us. Guide us, protect us, and lead us toward all that is good and true.
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.30
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.
ṛtaṁ devāya kṛṇvate savitra indrāyāhighne na ramanta āpaḥ |
ahar-ahar yāty aktur apāṁ kiyāty ā prathamaḥ sarga āsām || 1 ||
yo vṛtrāya sinam atrābhariṣyat pra taṁ janitrī viduṣa uvāca |
patho radantīr anu joṣam asmai dive-dive dhunayo yanty artham || 2 ||
ūrdhvo hy asthād adhy antarikṣe 'dhā vṛtrāya pra vadhaṁ jabhāra |
mihaṁ vasāna upa hīm adudrot tigmāyudho ajayac chatrum indraḥ || 3 ||
bṛhaspate tapuṣāśneva vidhya vṛkadvaraso asurasya vīrān |
yathā jaghantha dhṛṣatā purā cid evā jahi śatrum asmākam indra || 4 ||
ava kṣipa divo aśmānam uccā yena śatrum mandasāno nijūrvāḥ |
tokasya sātau tanayasya bhūrer asmām̐ ardhaṁ kṛṇutād indra gonām || 5 ||
pra hi kratuṁ vṛhatho yaṁ vanutho radhrasya stho yajamānasya codau |
indrāsomā yuvam asmām̐ aviṣṭam asmin bhayasthe kṛṇutam u lokam || 6 ||
na mā taman na śraman nota tandran na vocāma mā sunoteti somam |
yo me pṛṇād yo dadad yo nibodhād yo mā sunvantam upa gobhir āyat || 7 ||
sarasvati tvam asmām̐ aviḍḍhi marutvatī dhṛṣatī jeṣi śatrūn |
tyaṁ cic chardhantaṁ taviṣīyamāṇam indro hanti vṛṣabhaṁ śaṇḍikānām || 8 ||
yo naḥ sanutya uta vā jighatnur abhikhyāya taṁ tigitena vidhya |
bṛhaspata āyudhair jeṣi śatrūn druhe rīṣantam pari dhehi rājan || 9 ||
asmākebhiḥ satvabhiḥ śūra śūrair vīryā kṛdhi yāni te kartvāni |
jyog abhūvann anudhūpitāso hatvī teṣām ā bharā no vasūni || 10 ||
taṁ vaḥ śardham mārutaṁ sumnayur giropa bruve namasā daivyaṁ janam |
yathā rayiṁ sarvavīraṁ naśāmahā apatyasācaṁ śrutyaṁ dive-dive || 11 ||
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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