Hymn to the Viśvedevas
Rigveda V.46 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.
We call upon you, Viśvedevas, All-Gods who dwell in heaven's compass. Attend this dawn-sacrifice, O divine host! Ye who feed upon the oblation, ye who drink of the soma-wine—come forth to our altar, drawn by the fragrance of the fire.
Indra with his golden armor! Agni, tongue of the flames! Yama, lord of the law! Varuṇa, keeper of ṛta! Mitra, friend to mortals! Pūṣan, guide of the wayfarers! Be present, be praised, be satisfied.
Come ye in your ten thousand forms, O gods assembled. Come from the height of heaven, from the wide and boundless realm, where ye ride the winds and measure the earth. Hear us, O Viśvedevas! We pour the soma, we kindle the fire, we raise our voices in hymn. Make straight our paths. Grant us cattle and sons. Bless the king and the people.
Ye are the keepers of truth, the guardians of the sacred order. None transgress your will. Ye uphold the sun in his course, ye hold back the storm when it rages, ye bind the waters to their beds. Nothing dwells beyond your sight.
Accept this oblation, O All-Gods! Draw near to the offering, thine nourishment and thy honor. May we who sing thy praises gain wealth and wisdom. May our days be lengthened. May our children flourish. May the rains come gentle, may the sun warm, may the wind blow fair. In thy care we place ourselves, O divine assembly.
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 V.46
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.
hayo na vidvām̐ ayuji svayaṁ dhuri tāṁ vahāmi prataraṇīm avasyuvam |
nāsyā vaśmi vimucaṁ nāvṛtam punar vidvān pathaḥ puraeta ṛju neṣati || 1 ||
agna indra varuṇa mitra devāḥ śardhaḥ pra yanta mārutota viṣṇo |
ubhā nāsatyā rudro adha gnāḥ pūṣā bhagaḥ sarasvatī juṣanta || 2 ||
indrāgnī mitrāvaruṇāditiṁ svaḥ pṛthivīṁ dyām marutaḥ parvatām̐ apaḥ |
huve viṣṇum pūṣaṇam brahmaṇas patim bhagaṁ nu śaṁsaṁ savitāram ūtaye || 3 ||
uta no viṣṇur uta vāto asridho draviṇodā uta somo mayas karat |
uta ṛbhava uta rāye no aśvinota tvaṣṭota vibhvānu maṁsate || 4 ||
uta tyan no mārutaṁ śardha ā gamad divikṣayaṁ yajatam barhir āsade |
bṛhaspatiḥ śarma pūṣota no yamad varūthya1ṁ varuṇo mitro aryamā || 5 ||
uta tye naḥ parvatāsaḥ suśastayaḥ sudītayo nadya1s trāmaṇe bhuvan |
bhago vibhaktā śavasāvasā gamad uruvyacā aditiḥ śrotu me havam || 6 ||
devānām patnīr uśatīr avantu naḥ prāvantu nas tujaye vājasātaye |
yāḥ pārthivāso yā apām api vrate tā no devīḥ suhavāḥ śarma yacchata || 7 ||
uta gnā vyantu devapatnīr indrāṇy a1gnāyy aśvinī rāṭ |
ā rodasī varuṇānī śṛṇotu vyantu devīr ya ṛtur janīnām || 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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