Hymn to Varuṇa
Rigveda II.37 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, O ye gods! We gather as one people, united in purpose, joined in the sacred ritual. We are the priests, we are the warriors, we are the farmers and the mothers and the children. We are all of us gathered here to seek thy favor and thy protection.
Grant us unity, O divine powers! Let no quarrel tear apart what we have built together. Let no pride make us strike at our own brethren. Let no hunger drive us to desperation. Grant us the wisdom to live together as a true community, where each supports the other, where the strong shelter the weak, where the wise guide the foolish with patience and love.
O Mitra and Varuṇa, ye who bind all things in fellowship and in law — strengthen the bonds that hold us together. Let our oaths be true. Let our promises be kept. Let our word be our bond, and our bond be our strength.
Grant us abundance so that none among us hungers. Grant us safety so that we may rest without fear in our dwellings. Grant us children who will continue our line and our ways. Grant us the blessing of community, which is more precious than gold, more valuable than cattle, more necessary than life itself.
Protect our young from sickness and from harm. Guide our old toward wisdom and peace. Teach our warriors the valor of the righteous cause. Teach our mothers the strength needed to nurture and to raise. Teach our priests the knowledge of the sacred mysteries.
Let our fields flourish. Let our cattle multiply. Let our families be blessed with health and with happiness. O ye gods, we ask not for ease or for luxury, but for the strength to endure, for the courage to face what must be faced, and for the joy of being bound together as one people, one family, one community under thy watchful care. Grant us this, O divine ones, and we shall praise thee without ceasing.
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.37
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.
mandasva hotrād anu joṣam andhaso 'dhvaryavaḥ sa pūrṇāṁ vaṣṭy āsicam |
tasmā etam bharata tadvaśo dadir hotrāt somaṁ draviṇodaḥ piba ṛtubhiḥ || 1 ||
yam u pūrvam ahuve tam idaṁ huve sed u havyo dadir yo nāma patyate |
adhvaryubhiḥ prasthitaṁ somyam madhu potrāt somaṁ draviṇodaḥ piba ṛtubhiḥ || 2 ||
medyantu te vahnayo yebhir īyase 'riṣaṇyan vīḻayasvā vanaspate |
āyūyā dhṛṣṇo abhigūryā tvaṁ neṣṭrāt somaṁ draviṇodaḥ piba ṛtubhiḥ || 3 ||
apād dhotrād uta potrād amattota neṣṭrād ajuṣata prayo hitam |
turīyam pātram amṛktam amartyaṁ draviṇodāḥ pibatu drāviṇodasaḥ || 4 ||
arvāñcam adya yayyaṁ nṛvāhaṇaṁ rathaṁ yuñjāthām iha vāṁ vimocanam |
pṛṅktaṁ havīṁṣi madhunā hi kaṁ gatam athā somam pibataṁ vājinīvasū || 5 ||
joṣy agne samidhaṁ joṣy āhutiṁ joṣi brahma janyaṁ joṣi suṣṭutim |
viśvebhir viśvām̐ ṛtunā vaso maha uśan devām̐ uśataḥ pāyayā haviḥ || 6 ||
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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