Hymn to the Maruts
Rigveda V.59 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.
Tremble! The Maruts take up their weapons! Each Marut draws forth a lightning-spear, each blade crackling with the fury of the storm. The weapons glow incandescent. The air around them shimmers with heat. The earth quakes at the sound of them being wielded.
Listen! The shouts of the Maruts rise up! A thousand voices crying out as one, a sound so mighty that heaven itself echoes with the reverberations. The mountains hear that cry and bow down. The oceans hear it and their waves grow vast. The very sky trembles at the sound.
The lightning-spears are hurled! They streak across the heavens, brilliant as meteors, swift as thought. Where they pass, the clouds are split asunder. Where they strike, the earth opens. The spears carry the power of the gods themselves—the power to destroy, to renew, to purify.
When the Maruts cry out, all the lesser powers take shelter. The demons flee into the deepest caverns. The enemies of the gods tremble with fear. The faithful take courage, knowing that their protectors have come. The sky rings with the war-cry of the divine, and all creation holds its breath.
O Maruts, ye terrible warriors! O ye masters of the lightning-spear! Your weapons are our shield. Your cries are our strength. Your terrible wrath falls upon our enemies. The demons flee before thee. The wicked are brought low. Cry out again, O Maruts! Let thy shout shake heaven and earth! Brandish thy lightning-spears! Make thy presence known! Defend us, O terrible ones, with thy weapons and thy strength!
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.59
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.
pra vaḥ spaḻ akran suvitāya dāvane 'rcā dive pra pṛthivyā ṛtam bhare |
ukṣante aśvān taruṣanta ā rajo 'nu svam bhānuṁ śrathayante arṇavaiḥ || 1 ||
amād eṣām bhiyasā bhūmir ejati naur na pūrṇā kṣarati vyathir yatī |
dūredṛśo ye citayanta emabhir antar mahe vidathe yetire naraḥ || 2 ||
gavām iva śriyase śṛṅgam uttamaṁ sūryo na cakṣū rajaso visarjane |
atyā iva subhva1ś cāravaḥ sthana maryā iva śriyase cetathā naraḥ || 3 ||
ko vo mahānti mahatām ud aśnavat kas kāvyā marutaḥ ko ha pauṁsyā |
yūyaṁ ha bhūmiṁ kiraṇaṁ na rejatha pra yad bharadhve suvitāya dāvane || 4 ||
aśvā ived aruṣāsaḥ sabandhavaḥ śūrā iva prayudhaḥ prota yuyudhuḥ |
maryā iva suvṛdho vāvṛdhur naraḥ sūryasya cakṣuḥ pra minanti vṛṣṭibhiḥ || 5 ||
te ajyeṣṭhā akaniṣṭhāsa udbhido 'madhyamāso mahasā vi vāvṛdhuḥ |
sujātāso januṣā pṛśnimātaro divo maryā ā no acchā jigātana || 6 ||
vayo na ye śreṇīḥ paptur ojasāntān divo bṛhataḥ sānunas pari |
aśvāsa eṣām ubhaye yathā viduḥ pra parvatasya nabhanūm̐r acucyavuḥ || 7 ||
mimātu dyaur aditir vītaye naḥ saṁ dānucitrā uṣaso yatantām |
ācucyavur divyaṁ kośam eta ṛṣe rudrasya maruto gṛṇānāḥ || 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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