Hymn to the Maruts
Rigveda VI.66 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.
Hear us, O Maruts! Ye storm gods, children of Rudra, ye who ride forth upon the winds with terrible beauty! Your voices are as the thunder; your breath is as the whirlwind. Nothing can withstand your passage; nothing endureth before your might.
Ye are the liberators of the rain-clouds! Ye break apart the mountains of moisture that hang heavy in the sky, and release the waters that quench the parched earth. The farmers cry out in joy when they hear the rumbling of your approach. The fields drink deep and the grasses surge forth in verdant waves.
Ye are not cruel, O mighty Maruts, though your power be terrible. Ye act in service to the greater order. Through your violence the world is renewed. Through your destructive might, all things are refreshed and restored. Ye are as both physician and surgeon — ye cut away the old that the new may flourish.
We praise your fearless hearts! We honor your swift-moving forms! Yet we beseech you — let your fury fall not upon the righteous, but upon the wicked who dwell in darkness. Blast away the enemies who would threaten us. Strike down those who offer no worship, no sacrifice, no reverence.
Accept our hymn, O noble company! Let your favor rest upon those who sing your praise. Grant us rain in due season; grant us protection from your wrath. May we ever stand secure beneath the shelter of your awesome power.
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.66
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.
vapur nu tac cikituṣe cid astu samānaṁ nāma dhenu patyamānam |
marteṣv anyad dohase pīpāya sakṛc chukraṁ duduhe pṛśnir ūdhaḥ || 1 ||
ye agnayo na śośucann idhānā dvir yat trir maruto vāvṛdhanta |
areṇavo hiraṇyayāsa eṣāṁ sākaṁ nṛmṇaiḥ pauṁsyebhiś ca bhūvan || 2 ||
rudrasya ye mīḻhuṣaḥ santi putrā yām̐ś co nu dādhṛvir bharadhyai |
vide hi mātā maho mahī ṣā set pṛśniḥ subhve3 garbham ādhāt || 3 ||
na ya īṣante januṣo 'yā nv a1ntaḥ santo 'vadyāni punānāḥ |
nir yad duhre śucayo 'nu joṣam anu śriyā tanvam ukṣamāṇāḥ || 4 ||
makṣū na yeṣu dohase cid ayā ā nāma dhṛṣṇu mārutaṁ dadhānāḥ |
na ye staunā ayāso mahnā nū cit sudānur ava yāsad ugrān || 5 ||
ta id ugrāḥ śavasā dhṛṣṇuṣeṇā ubhe yujanta rodasī sumeke |
adha smaiṣu rodasī svaśocir āmavatsu tasthau na rokaḥ || 6 ||
aneno vo maruto yāmo astv anaśvaś cid yam ajaty arathīḥ |
anavaso anabhīśū rajastūr vi rodasī pathyā yāti sādhan || 7 ||
nāsya vartā na tarutā nv asti maruto yam avatha vājasātau |
toke vā goṣu tanaye yam apsu sa vrajaṁ dartā pārye adha dyoḥ || 8 ||
pra citram arkaṁ gṛṇate turāya mārutāya svatavase bharadhvam |
ye sahāṁsi sahasā sahante rejate agne pṛthivī makhebhyaḥ || 9 ||
tviṣīmanto adhvarasyeva didyut tṛṣucyavaso juhvo3 nāgneḥ |
arcatrayo dhunayo na vīrā bhrājajjanmāno maruto adhṛṣṭāḥ || 10 ||
taṁ vṛdhantam mārutam bhrājadṛṣṭiṁ rudrasya sūnuṁ havasā vivāse |
divaḥ śardhāya śucayo manīṣā girayo nāpa ugrā aspṛdhran || 11 ||
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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