Hymn to Vāyu
Rigveda IV.48 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) from Maṇḍala 4 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 Vāyu! Thou mighty wind-god, thou who movest all! Behold: this soma hath been pressed. The cup is filled for thee alone. Come first, O wind! Thou shalt drink before the others. Thou art swift and thy thirst is great.
Invisible thou ridest through the heavens. No eye hath seen thy form, yet all things know thy presence. The leaves tremble before thee. The waters bend to thy will. The very air is thy substance. O Vāyu, thou art everywhere and nowhere. Thou art the breath of existence itself.
The birds obey thy command. The clouds scatter at thy passing. The earth itself bows before thy power. Yet gentle art thou also—thou bringest the rain when the fields are dry. Thou coolest us in the heat of summer. Thou carriest the pollen upon thy wings, and all life depends upon thy motion.
First thou dost drink the sacred soma! First thy lips touch the holy draught! The other gods wait upon thy pleasure. Thou art the eldest, O Vāyu. Thou art the mightiest. From thee all movement springs. In thee all things find their course.
Accept this offering, O wind-god! Accept the praise of mortal men! Swift thou art, and invisible, and everywhere at once. Let thy favor fall upon this land. Let thy breath carry blessings to every creature. O Vāyu, accept the soma! Thou art first among the gods!
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 IV.48
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.
vihi hotrā avītā vipo na rāyo aryaḥ |
vāyav ā candreṇa rathena yāhi sutasya pītaye || 1 ||
niryuvāṇo aśastīr niyutvām̐ indrasārathiḥ |
vāyav ā candreṇa rathena yāhi sutasya pītaye || 2 ||
anu kṛṣṇe vasudhitī yemāte viśvapeśasā |
vāyav ā candreṇa rathena yāhi sutasya pītaye || 3 ||
vahantu tvā manoyujo yuktāso navatir nava |
vāyav ā candreṇa rathena yāhi sutasya pītaye || 4 ||
vāyo śataṁ harīṇāṁ yuvasva poṣyāṇām |
uta vā te sahasriṇo ratha ā yātu pājasā || 5 ||
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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