Hymn to Varuṇa
Rigveda V.85 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.
Varuṇa! The all-seeing sovereign, lord of cosmic law and order! Thou who rulest the heavens and the earth, the seen and the unseen realms. Before thee, nothing remaineth hidden. Thy thousand eyes see all things, and no creature can escape thy gaze.
Thou art the guardian of ṛta—the eternal order that holdeth the cosmos in balance. The sun riseth and seteth according to thy decree. The winds blow at thy command. The waters flow in their appointed courses. Every star hangeth in the heavens by thy will. The fabric of existence itself is woven from thy law.
Thou art the most terrible of gods, O Varuṇa, and yet the most just. When a man speaketh falsehood, thou knowest it. When he breaketh his oath, thy nets entangle him. When he stealeth or killeth or committest any transgression, thy eye followeth him even into the darkest places. Thou art the keeper of cosmic justice, and from thy judgment there is no escape.
Yet thou art also merciful, O sovereign lord. Those who acknowledge their sins and cry out for forgiveness may find that thy anger is tempered with compassion. Thou understandest the weakness of mortal flesh. Thou knowest that we struggle to maintain ṛta in a world full of chaos and temptation.
We sing thy praise, O Varuṇa! We acknowledge thy supremacy. We confess our transgressions and beg thy forgiveness. Grant us the wisdom to live in harmony with thy cosmic law. Help us to speak truth, to keep our oaths, to act with justice toward all creatures.
O guardian of order, accept our devotion. Let us walk beneath thy thousand eyes unafraid, knowing that we strive to honor thy law.
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.85
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 samrāje bṛhad arcā gabhīram brahma priyaṁ varuṇāya śrutāya |
vi yo jaghāna śamiteva carmopastire pṛthivīṁ sūryāya || 1 ||
vaneṣu vy a1ntarikṣaṁ tatāna vājam arvatsu paya usriyāsu |
hṛtsu kratuṁ varuṇo apsv a1gniṁ divi sūryam adadhāt somam adrau || 2 ||
nīcīnabāraṁ varuṇaḥ kavandham pra sasarja rodasī antarikṣam |
tena viśvasya bhuvanasya rājā yavaṁ na vṛṣṭir vy unatti bhūma || 3 ||
unatti bhūmim pṛthivīm uta dyāṁ yadā dugdhaṁ varuṇo vaṣṭy ād it |
sam abhreṇa vasata parvatāsas taviṣīyantaḥ śrathayanta vīrāḥ || 4 ||
imām ū ṣv āsurasya śrutasya mahīm māyāṁ varuṇasya pra vocam |
māneneva tasthivām̐ antarikṣe vi yo mame pṛthivīṁ sūryeṇa || 5 ||
imām ū nu kavitamasya māyām mahīṁ devasya nakir ā dadharṣa |
ekaṁ yad udnā na pṛṇanty enīr āsiñcantīr avanayaḥ samudram || 6 ||
aryamyaṁ varuṇa mitryaṁ vā sakhāyaṁ vā sadam id bhrātaraṁ vā |
veśaṁ vā nityaṁ varuṇāraṇaṁ vā yat sīm āgaś cakṛmā śiśrathas tat || 7 ||
kitavāso yad riripur na dīvi yad vā ghā satyam uta yan na vidma |
sarvā tā vi ṣya śithireva devādhā te syāma varuṇa priyāsaḥ || 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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