A Hymn of Maṇḍala 4
Rigveda IV.57 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 Kṣetrapati! Lord of the field! Master of the plough and the furrow! We invoke thee with uplifted hands. Bless this earth that we shall break with our tools. Bless the seed that we shall plant.
The plough descendeth into the soil. The oxen strain against their yoke. The earth is turned and broken. New soil riseth to the surface, dark and rich and teeming with potential. This is sacred work. This is the labor that feedeth the people. Thou art present in every furrow.
O lord of the field! Grant that the seed shall fall into fertile ground. Grant that the roots shall spread deep. Grant that the shoots shall break through the earth and reach toward the sun. Grant that the grain shall grow tall and strong. Grant that the harvest shall be abundant.
We bless the plough. We bless the oxen who labor faithfully. We bless the hands of the ploughman, calloused and strong. We bless the earth that openeth herself to receive the seed. We bless the rain that shall fall upon the growing grain. We bless the sun that shall warm it. We bless the wind that shall winnow it.
O Kṣetrapati! Guardian of the fields! Accept the soma. Accept our praise. Watch over our crops. Drive away the pests that would devour them. Bring neither too much rain nor too little. Ripen the grain in its season. Grant us a harvest so abundant that we and our children shall never hunger. Bless the ploughman! Bless the field!
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.57
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.
kṣetrasya patinā vayaṁ hiteneva jayāmasi |
gām aśvam poṣayitnv ā sa no mṛḻātīdṛśe || 1 ||
kṣetrasya pate madhumantam ūrmiṁ dhenur iva payo asmāsu dhukṣva |
madhuścutaṁ ghṛtam iva supūtam ṛtasya naḥ patayo mṛḻayantu || 2 ||
madhumatīr oṣadhīr dyāva āpo madhuman no bhavatv antarikṣam |
kṣetrasya patir madhumān no astv ariṣyanto anv enaṁ carema || 3 ||
śunaṁ vāhāḥ śunaṁ naraḥ śunaṁ kṛṣatu lāṅgalam |
śunaṁ varatrā badhyantāṁ śunam aṣṭrām ud iṅgaya || 4 ||
śunāsīrāv imāṁ vācaṁ juṣethāṁ yad divi cakrathuḥ payaḥ |
tenemām upa siñcatam || 5 ||
arvācī subhage bhava sīte vandāmahe tvā |
yathā naḥ subhagāsasi yathā naḥ suphalāsasi || 6 ||
indraḥ sītāṁ ni gṛhṇātu tām pūṣānu yacchatu |
sā naḥ payasvatī duhām uttarām-uttarāṁ samām || 7 ||
śunaṁ naḥ phālā vi kṛṣantu bhūmiṁ śunaṁ kīnāśā abhi yantu vāhaiḥ |
śunam parjanyo madhunā payobhiḥ śunāsīrā śunam asmāsu dhattam || 8 ||
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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