Hymn to the Viśvedevas
Rigveda V.41 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) from Maṇḍala 5 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 ye Viśvedevas, all-gods, the divine assembly of the heavens! We call upon you together, united in this sacred hour. Come forth from the realm of light! Come ye from the waters and the air! Come from the earth beneath our feet and from the fires that warm our homes!
Thou mighty deities, each holding dominion over thy particular realm, yet all bound together in cosmic harmony! Indra, lord of the storm; Agni, master of fire; Varuṇa, keeper of ṛta; Mitra, guardian of contracts and oaths; Rudra, the wild dancer; Maruts, the wind hosts—all ye gather together at our invocation!
And thou lesser deities, the Ribhus who fashion divine things, the Aśvins who ride the dawn—thou too art part of this assembly! Nothing is excluded from the circle of the all-gods. Each holdeth a place, each serveth a purpose in the great tapestry of creation.
We have kindled the sacred fire! The smoke riseth as an offering to all of you. We have poured the soma; the butter floweth on the stone. The ancient mantras are chanted; the old ways are honored. We acknowledge your presence in all things and your influence upon all that cometh to pass.
O Viśvedevas, accept our invocation! Come ye together to this rite, to this sacred enclosure where mortals and gods meet. We stand before you with sincere hearts. We seek not dominion over you, but blessing, protection, and guidance. Grant unto us health, prosperity, and the strength to live righteously. Let your combined power shield us from all harm and lead us toward wisdom and truth eternal.
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 V.41
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.
ko nu vām mitrāvaruṇāv ṛtāyan divo vā mahaḥ pārthivasya vā de |
ṛtasya vā sadasi trāsīthāṁ no yajñāyate vā paśuṣo na vājān || 1 ||
te no mitro varuṇo aryamāyur indra ṛbhukṣā maruto juṣanta |
namobhir vā ye dadhate suvṛktiṁ stomaṁ rudrāya mīḻhuṣe sajoṣāḥ || 2 ||
ā vāṁ yeṣṭhāśvinā huvadhyai vātasya patman rathyasya puṣṭau |
uta vā divo asurāya manma prāndhāṁsīva yajyave bharadhvam || 3 ||
pra sakṣaṇo divyaḥ kaṇvahotā trito divaḥ sajoṣā vāto agniḥ |
pūṣā bhagaḥ prabhṛthe viśvabhojā ājiṁ na jagmur āśvaśvatamāḥ || 4 ||
pra vo rayiṁ yuktāśvam bharadhvaṁ rāya eṣe 'vase dadhīta dhīḥ |
suśeva evair auśijasya hotā ye va evā marutas turāṇām || 5 ||
pra vo vāyuṁ rathayujaṁ kṛṇudhvam pra devaṁ vipram panitāram arkaiḥ |
iṣudhyava ṛtasāpaḥ puraṁdhīr vasvīr no atra patnīr ā dhiye dhuḥ || 6 ||
upa va eṣe vandyebhiḥ śūṣaiḥ pra yahvī divaś citayadbhir arkaiḥ |
uṣāsānaktā viduṣīva viśvam ā hā vahato martyāya yajñam || 7 ||
abhi vo arce poṣyāvato nṝn vāstoṣ patiṁ tvaṣṭāraṁ rarāṇaḥ |
dhanyā sajoṣā dhiṣaṇā namobhir vanaspatīm̐r oṣadhī rāya eṣe || 8 ||
tuje nas tane parvatāḥ santu svaitavo ye vasavo na vīrāḥ |
panita āptyo yajataḥ sadā no vardhān naḥ śaṁsaṁ naryo abhiṣṭau || 9 ||
vṛṣṇo astoṣi bhūmyasya garbhaṁ trito napātam apāṁ suvṛkti |
gṛṇīte agnir etarī na śūṣaiḥ śociṣkeśo ni riṇāti vanā || 10 ||
kathā mahe rudriyāya bravāma kad rāye cikituṣe bhagāya |
āpa oṣadhīr uta no 'vantu dyaur vanā girayo vṛkṣakeśāḥ || 11 ||
śṛṇotu na ūrjām patir giraḥ sa nabhas tarīyām̐ iṣiraḥ parijmā |
śṛṇvantv āpaḥ puro na śubhrāḥ pari sruco babṛhāṇasyādreḥ || 12 ||
vidā cin nu mahānto ye va evā bravāma dasmā vāryaṁ dadhānāḥ |
vayaś cana subhva1 āva yanti kṣubhā martam anuyataṁ vadhasnaiḥ || 13 ||
ā daivyāni pārthivāni janmāpaś cācchā sumakhāya vocam |
vardhantāṁ dyāvo giraś candrāgrā udā vardhantām abhiṣātā arṇāḥ || 14 ||
pade-pade me jarimā ni dhāyi varūtrī vā śakrā yā pāyubhiś ca |
siṣaktu mātā mahī rasā naḥ smat sūribhir ṛjuhasta ṛjuvaniḥ || 15 ||
kathā dāśema namasā sudānūn evayā maruto acchoktau praśravaso maruto acchoktau |
mā no 'hir budhnyo riṣe dhād asmākam bhūd upamātivaniḥ || 16 ||
iti cin nu prajāyai paśumatyai devāso vanate martyo va ā devāso vanate martyo vaḥ |
atrā śivāṁ tanvo dhāsim asyā jarāṁ cin me nirṛtir jagrasīta || 17 ||
tāṁ vo devāḥ sumatim ūrjayantīm iṣam aśyāma vasavaḥ śasā goḥ |
sā naḥ sudānur mṛḻayantī devī prati dravantī suvitāya gamyāḥ || 18 ||
abhi na iḻā yūthasya mātā sman nadībhir urvaśī vā gṛṇātu |
urvaśī vā bṛhaddivā gṛṇānābhyūrṇvānā prabhṛthasyāyoḥ || 19 ||
siṣaktu na ūrjavyasya puṣṭeḥ || 20 ||
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).
🌲