Hymn to Varuṇa
Rigveda V.62 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.
Twin lords of order! Twin masters of the cosmic law—Mitra and Varuṇa, ye who hold the world in righteousness. By your will the sun riseth, by your will the stars do hold their courses. All creatures tremble before thy majesty; all hearts bend before thy law.
Mitra, god of contracts! Varuṇa, god of oaths! Together ye weave the rope of ṛta that bindeth all things in place. No deceiver escapeth thy sight; no liar hideth from thy knowledge. Thy decrees are written in stone and storm; thy judgments echo through the aeons.
We mortals, frail and stumbling, cry out to thee for mercy. We have broken oaths, we have spoken lies, we have forgotten the covenant. Yet still we raise our voices in supplication. Forgive us, twin lords! Teach us the way of righteousness.
Vast and terrible is thy dominion! The earth obeyeth thee, the waters flow at thy command. Kings rule by thy favour; priests sacrifice by thy grace. All that is true springeth from thee; all that endureth beareth thy mark.
Accept our prayer, O Mitra! Accept our hymn, O Varuṇa! Let thy justice fall upon the wicked like the hammer of the smith; let thy mercy descend upon the faithful like dew upon parched earth. Guard us from the liar's snare, from the oath-breaker's curse. Hold us in the light of truth until the end of days.
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.62
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.
ṛtena ṛtam apihitaṁ dhruvaṁ vāṁ sūryasya yatra vimucanty aśvān |
daśa śatā saha tasthus tad ekaṁ devānāṁ śreṣṭhaṁ vapuṣām apaśyam || 1 ||
tat su vām mitrāvaruṇā mahitvam īrmā tasthuṣīr ahabhir duduhre |
viśvāḥ pinvathaḥ svasarasya dhenā anu vām ekaḥ pavir ā vavarta || 2 ||
adhārayatam pṛthivīm uta dyām mitrarājānā varuṇā mahobhiḥ |
vardhayatam oṣadhīḥ pinvataṁ gā ava vṛṣṭiṁ sṛjataṁ jīradānū || 3 ||
ā vām aśvāsaḥ suyujo vahantu yataraśmaya upa yantv arvāk |
ghṛtasya nirṇig anu vartate vām upa sindhavaḥ pradivi kṣaranti || 4 ||
anu śrutām amatiṁ vardhad urvīm barhir iva yajuṣā rakṣamāṇā |
namasvantā dhṛtadakṣādhi garte mitrāsāthe varuṇeḻāsv antaḥ || 5 ||
akravihastā sukṛte paraspā yaṁ trāsāthe varuṇeḻāsv antaḥ |
rājānā kṣatram ahṛṇīyamānā sahasrasthūṇam bibhṛthaḥ saha dvau || 6 ||
hiraṇyanirṇig ayo asya sthūṇā vi bhrājate divy a1śvājanīva |
bhadre kṣetre nimitā tilvile vā sanema madhvo adhigartyasya || 7 ||
hiraṇyarūpam uṣaso vyuṣṭāv ayaḥsthūṇam uditā sūryasya |
ā rohatho varuṇa mitra gartam ataś cakṣāthe aditiṁ ditiṁ ca || 8 ||
yad baṁhiṣṭhaṁ nātividhe sudānū acchidraṁ śarma bhuvanasya gopā |
tena no mitrāvaruṇāv aviṣṭaṁ siṣāsanto jigīvāṁsaḥ syāma || 9 ||
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).
🌲