Hymn to the Maruts
Rigveda V.61 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.
Come forth, ye Maruts, terrible and bright! The storm-lords, roaring through the vast and wind-swept sky. Your chariots thunder over earth and heaven, drawn by coursers swift as the hunter's arrow. The clouds break open at your coming—rain pours forth like milk from the breast of heaven.
Hear us, ye mighty ones! Your voices shake the mountains; your lightning splits the dark. Ye march as warriors in armour'd ranks, your weapons flashing gold and silver in the dawn. Each gust of wind beareth thy breath, each thunderhead thy chariot's shadow.
The fields cry out for thee, O Maruts! The cattle low, the birds flee before thy approach. Yet thou bringest life—the waters that make the earth green, the mist that nourishes the growing grain. Thy fury is justice; thy storm the mercy of the gods.
We praise thee, roaring ones! Accept our hymn as a warrior accepteth the wreath of victory. Let thy winds blow soft upon the good and terrible upon the wicked. Guard the flocks, bless the herds, make fertile the wombs of our cattle and our women.
Come swift, ye storm-lords! Come with thy lightnings and thy rains! We have prepared the sacred butter, we have chanted thy names. Be thou our guardians in the darkness; be thou our strength in the battle yet to come.
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.61
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.
ke ṣṭhā naraḥ śreṣṭhatamā ya eka-eka āyaya |
paramasyāḥ parāvataḥ || 1 ||
kva1 vo 'śvāḥ kvā3bhīśavaḥ kathaṁ śeka kathā yaya |
pṛṣṭhe sado nasor yamaḥ || 2 ||
jaghane coda eṣāṁ vi sakthāni naro yamuḥ |
putrakṛthe na janayaḥ || 3 ||
parā vīrāsa etana maryāso bhadrajānayaḥ |
agnitapo yathāsatha || 4 ||
sanat sāśvyam paśum uta gavyaṁ śatāvayam |
śyāvāśvastutāya yā dor vīrāyopabarbṛhat || 5 ||
uta tvā strī śaśīyasī puṁso bhavati vasyasī |
adevatrād arādhasaḥ || 6 ||
vi yā jānāti jasuriṁ vi tṛṣyantaṁ vi kāminam |
devatrā kṛṇute manaḥ || 7 ||
uta ghā nemo astutaḥ pumām̐ iti bruve paṇiḥ |
sa vairadeya it samaḥ || 8 ||
uta me 'rapad yuvatir mamanduṣī prati śyāvāya vartanim |
vi rohitā purumīḻhāya yematur viprāya dīrghayaśase || 9 ||
yo me dhenūnāṁ śataṁ vaidadaśvir yathā dadat |
taranta iva maṁhanā || 10 ||
ya īṁ vahanta āśubhiḥ pibanto madiram madhu |
atra śravāṁsi dadhire || 11 ||
yeṣāṁ śriyādhi rodasī vibhrājante ratheṣv ā |
divi rukma ivopari || 12 ||
yuvā sa māruto gaṇas tveṣaratho anedyaḥ |
śubhaṁyāvāpratiṣkutaḥ || 13 ||
ko veda nūnam eṣāṁ yatrā madanti dhūtayaḥ |
ṛtajātā arepasaḥ || 14 ||
yūyam martaṁ vipanyavaḥ praṇetāra itthā dhiyā |
śrotāro yāmahūtiṣu || 15 ||
te no vasūni kāmyā puruścandrā riśādasaḥ |
ā yajñiyāso vavṛttana || 16 ||
etam me stomam ūrmye dārbhyāya parā vaha |
giro devi rathīr iva || 17 ||
uta me vocatād iti sutasome rathavītau |
na kāmo apa veti me || 18 ||
eṣa kṣeti rathavītir maghavā gomatīr anu |
parvateṣv apaśritaḥ || 19 ||
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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