Hymn to Pṛthivī
Rigveda VI.70 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 Heaven and Earth, Dyāva-Pṛthivī, eternal parents of all that is! We sing your praise with reverent hearts. Ye are the first-born among the deities; ye are the givers of all blessings; ye are the foundations upon which all creation resteth.
O Father Heaven! Thou art the vault above, the shelter that doth protect all beings beneath thy vast expanse. From thy realm come forth the rains and the winds, the sun and the stars. Thou art strong and enduring, unchanging through all the ages. Upon thee rests the burden of holding all things in their proper places. Yet thou carriest this burden with ease and grace, as one for whom such work is the very nature of thy being.
O Mother Earth! Thou art wide and generous, bearing all upon thy bosom. Thou givest forth the grains and the fruits, the herbs and the flowers. Thou art the home of all living creatures, from the mightiest to the smallest. Thy waters nourish us; thy soil feedeth us. Every breath we draw is sustained by thy bounty.
Together, O infinite pair, ye do embrace all creation between you. In the space between thy forms dwells all life, all joy, all sorrow, all becoming. Ye are the encompassing mystery that gives meaning to existence itself.
We make our offerings unto you both. Accept our hymn and our reverence. Grant us long life and prosperity upon the Earth. Grant us blessing from the Heaven above. May we ever dwell in harmony with your natures, respectful of your sacred functions, grateful for your endless generosity.
O Father and Mother of all things, hear us and bless us.
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 VI.70
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.
ghṛtavatī bhuvanānām abhiśriyorvī pṛthvī madhudughe supeśasā |
dyāvāpṛthivī varuṇasya dharmaṇā viṣkabhite ajare bhūriretasā || 1 ||
asaścantī bhūridhāre payasvatī ghṛtaṁ duhāte sukṛte śucivrate |
rājantī asya bhuvanasya rodasī asme retaḥ siñcataṁ yan manurhitam || 2 ||
yo vām ṛjave kramaṇāya rodasī marto dadāśa dhiṣaṇe sa sādhati |
pra prajābhir jāyate dharmaṇas pari yuvoḥ siktā viṣurūpāṇi savratā || 3 ||
ghṛtena dyāvāpṛthivī abhīvṛte ghṛtaśriyā ghṛtapṛcā ghṛtāvṛdhā |
urvī pṛthvī hotṛvūrye purohite te id viprā īḻate sumnam iṣṭaye || 4 ||
madhu no dyāvāpṛthivī mimikṣatām madhuścutā madhudughe madhuvrate |
dadhāne yajñaṁ draviṇaṁ ca devatā mahi śravo vājam asme suvīryam || 5 ||
ūrjaṁ no dyauś ca pṛthivī ca pinvatām pitā mātā viśvavidā sudaṁsasā |
saṁrarāṇe rodasī viśvaśambhuvā saniṁ vājaṁ rayim asme sam invatām || 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).
🌲