Hymn to Varuṇa
Rigveda V.65 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.
Have mercy upon us, O twin lords! We are but dust and weakness; our days are numbered like the stars that fade at dawn. Yet we have sinned—we have broken thy laws, we have forgotten thy covenant, we have turned our faces from thy light.
The burden of our transgressions weigheth heavy upon us. We carry the weight of broken oaths like stones in our breast. The liar's knot bindeth our tongue; the oath-breaker's curse followeth us as the shadow followeth the body. We cannot escape our own deeds.
Yet we know thee to be merciful as well as just. The storm passeth; the flood draineth away. Even the worst offender may find grace in thy eyes if he turneth from his wickedness. Teach us to walk straight; guide us back to the path of truth.
We confess our weakness before thee, O Mitra! We acknowledge our folly before thee, O Varuṇa! We cast ourselves upon thy mercy. Accept our hymn as a token of our repentance. Let us not fall into the pit we have dug for ourselves.
Loose the bonds that hold us! Free us from the chains of our own making. Teach us to speak truth though it cost us dearly. Teach us to keep our word though the world crumble. Let thy compassion descend upon us as the rain descendeth upon the thirsty earth. For we are thy creatures, made in the shadow of thy glory, and we yearn to return to the light of thy favour.
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.65
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.
yaś ciketa sa sukratur devatrā sa bravītu naḥ |
varuṇo yasya darśato mitro vā vanate giraḥ || 1 ||
tā hi śreṣṭhavarcasā rājānā dīrghaśruttamā |
tā satpatī ṛtāvṛdha ṛtāvānā jane-jane || 2 ||
tā vām iyāno 'vase pūrvā upa bruve sacā |
svaśvāsaḥ su cetunā vājām̐ abhi pra dāvane || 3 ||
mitro aṁhoś cid ād uru kṣayāya gātuṁ vanate |
mitrasya hi pratūrvataḥ sumatir asti vidhataḥ || 4 ||
vayam mitrasyāvasi syāma saprathastame |
anehasas tvotayaḥ satrā varuṇaśeṣasaḥ || 5 ||
yuvam mitremaṁ janaṁ yatathaḥ saṁ ca nayathaḥ |
mā maghonaḥ pari khyatam mo asmākam ṛṣīṇāṁ gopīthe na uruṣyatam || 6 ||
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).
🌲