Hymn to Pūṣan
Rigveda VI.56 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) from Maṇḍala 6 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.
O Pūṣan, thou art the herdsman of the sky. The stars do follow where thou leadest them. The moon obeyeth thy command; the sun doth mark thy path.
Thou art the keeper of the herds of immortality. The celestial cattle graze upon the fields of heaven, and thou dost guard them with unwavering care.
The Ādityas follow at thy heel. The waters flow at thy behest. The winds obey thy whispered word, and all the divinities do bow before thy might.
Thou art the oldest of the gods, the wisest and the most renowned. Thy beard is golden as the grain; thy form is radiant as the sun.
But though thou art so great and wise, so mighty in the eyes of gods, yet art thou gentle with the humble and the small.
The ant crawleth upon the ground, and thou dost care for it. The sparrow chirpeth in the thicket, and thou hearest its small voice. The mortal breathes thy air; the creature feedeth from thy care.
So all the beasts do know thee, and they graze in peace within thy sight. The shepherd sleepeth sound, knowing thou watchest while he dreams.
Come now, O Pūṣan golden-haired, and bless this assembly of thy servants. Accept the soma that we pour; accept the hymn that we do sing.
Grant to our herds increase and health. Give to our children courage true. Let our women bear strong sons; let our daughters wed with honor.
So shall we prosper evermore, and all shall honor thy great name. O Pūṣan, nourisher of all, accept our worship now and aye.
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 VI.56
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.
ya enam ādideśati karambhād iti pūṣaṇam |
na tena deva ādiśe || 1 ||
uta ghā sa rathītamaḥ sakhyā satpatir yujā |
indro vṛtrāṇi jighnate || 2 ||
utādaḥ paruṣe gavi sūraś cakraṁ hiraṇyayam |
ny airayad rathītamaḥ || 3 ||
yad adya tvā puruṣṭuta bravāma dasra mantumaḥ |
tat su no manma sādhaya || 4 ||
imaṁ ca no gaveṣaṇaṁ sātaye sīṣadho gaṇam |
ārāt pūṣann asi śrutaḥ || 5 ||
ā te svastim īmaha āreaghām upāvasum |
adyā ca sarvatātaye śvaś ca sarvatātaye || 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).
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