Hymn to the Viśvedevas
Rigveda V.50 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.
Hear us, O Viśvedevas! We bring before thee the welfare of our tribe, the prosperity of our people, the harmony of our settlements. Bless our assembly when we gather to speak and decide. Grant wisdom to our elders, courage to our young men, gentleness to our women.
Let there be no enmity among the kinfolk. Let there be no jealousy in the household. Let all dealings be fair and all words truthful. Grant that the rich man share with the poor, that the strong protect the weak, that the healthy tend the sick. Bind us together in bonds of fellowship that cannot be broken.
Make fertile the fields that feed us. Let the soil drink deeply of the rain and yield grain in abundance. Let the herds prosper and multiply. Let the wells run deep and the rivers flow clear. Let honey flow from the comb and milk overflow from the udder. Make us rich in substance and rich in days.
Grant health to this people! Ward off plague and pestilence. Heal the sick and the wounded. Let our women bear their children safely. Let our infants grow strong and our children reach manhood and womanhood in vigor. Let our aged live in honor and die in peace.
Guard the roads where we travel. Guard the waters where we cross. Guard the forests where we hunt. Guard the houses where we dwell. Be as sentries at every gate, every threshold, every boundary. O Viśvedevas, bless this community! Let our days be long and our joy endless. Accept this offering, spoken from the heart of thy people.
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.50
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.
viśvo devasya netur marto vurīta sakhyam |
viśvo rāya iṣudhyati dyumnaṁ vṛṇīta puṣyase || 1 ||
te te deva netar ye cemām̐ anuśase |
te rāyā te hy ā3pṛce sacemahi sacathyaiḥ || 2 ||
ato na ā nṝn atithīn ataḥ patnīr daśasyata |
āre viśvam patheṣṭhāṁ dviṣo yuyotu yūyuviḥ || 3 ||
yatra vahnir abhihito dudravad droṇyaḥ paśuḥ |
nṛmaṇā vīrapastyo 'rṇā dhīreva sanitā || 4 ||
eṣa te deva netā rathaspatiḥ śaṁ rayiḥ |
śaṁ rāye śaṁ svastaya iṣaḥstuto manāmahe devastuto manāmahe || 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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