Hymn to Savitṛ
Rigveda V.82 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.
Savitṛ, the golden-handed! As the day descendeth and the sun droppeth below the western horizon, thou givest thy final command. Thy voice, though silent to mortal ears, soundeth throughout all creation: It is time to rest.
And all things obey. The herds cease their grazing and move toward the shelter of their folds. The birds return to their nests, their songs fading into the twilight. The workers in the fields lay down their tools and turn their faces toward home. The warriors sheath their weapons. Even the wind groweth gentler, growing quiet as if in reverence for thy word.
Thou art the master of rhythm, O Savitṛ! The day that thou hast impelled forward with unstoppable force must now yield to the night. Even thee, in thy golden power, must submit to the turning of the heavens. Nothing escapeth the cycle that thou hast ordained.
In the darkness, all creatures find their peace. The exhausted body rests. The troubled mind grows still. The soul receiveth healing in the profound silence of the night. This rest, too, is thy gift, O golden-handed one. Thou knowest that life requireth both motion and stillness, both the blazing effort of the day and the gentle surrender of the night.
We lie down at thy command, grateful for the day that thou hast granted us. As the darkness deepeneth and the stars emerge, we rest in the knowledge that thou watchest over the sleeping world. And when morning cometh, thou wilt impel the sun forward once again, and all shall awaken to begin anew.
We bow before thee in the gathering dusk, O Savitṛ. Thou art the breath and heartbeat of the world itself.
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.82
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.
tat savitur vṛṇīmahe vayaṁ devasya bhojanam |
śreṣṭhaṁ sarvadhātamaṁ turam bhagasya dhīmahi || 1 ||
asya hi svayaśastaraṁ savituḥ kac cana priyam |
na minanti svarājyam || 2 ||
sa hi ratnāni dāśuṣe suvāti savitā bhagaḥ |
tam bhāgaṁ citram īmahe || 3 ||
adyā no deva savitaḥ prajāvat sāvīḥ saubhagam |
parā duṣṣvapnyaṁ suva || 4 ||
viśvāni deva savitar duritāni parā suva |
yad bhadraṁ tan na ā suva || 5 ||
anāgaso aditaye devasya savituḥ save |
viśvā vāmāni dhīmahi || 6 ||
ā viśvadevaṁ satpatiṁ sūktair adyā vṛṇīmahe |
satyasavaṁ savitāram || 7 ||
ya ime ubhe ahanī pura ety aprayucchan |
svādhīr devaḥ savitā || 8 ||
ya imā viśvā jātāny āśrāvayati ślokena |
pra ca suvāti savitā || 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).
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