Hymn to Savitṛ
Rigveda VI.71 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 Savitṛ, impeller divine, golden one who bringeth all things into motion! We sing thy praise at dawn and at dusk. Thou art the force that drivesth forth the sun across the heavens; thou art the power that maketh all things act according to their nature.
From thy impulse doth come all action, all becoming, all manifestation. Without thee, nothing would move; nothing would change; nothing would grow. Thou art the animator of the world, the vivifier of all existence. The gods themselves do honor thee and follow thy guidance.
We praise thy wisdom, O Savitṛ, for thou dost guide all beings toward their proper fulfillment. The cow doth follow her nature through thy inspiration. The ṛṣi speaketh wisdom through thy grace. The warrior doth perform his dharma through thy empowering touch. Each creature doeth that which is proper to its kind because thou dost ever impel all things toward their true nature.
Yet thou art not arbitrary in thy working. Thou followest the eternal law, the ṛta that governeth all things. Thy impulses are harmonious with the cosmic order. Through thee doth the order of the universe maintain its perfect balance.
Grant us, O Savitṛ, that we may be impelled toward righteous action and noble deeds. Grant us the wisdom to understand our nature and our duty. Give us strength to fulfill our dharma with perfect dedication. May thy golden light ever illuminate the path of our becoming.
O impeller of all things, accept our hymn and guide us forward into fullness of life.
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.71
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.
ud u ṣya devaḥ savitā hiraṇyayā bāhū ayaṁsta savanāya sukratuḥ |
ghṛtena pāṇī abhi pruṣṇute makho yuvā sudakṣo rajaso vidharmaṇi || 1 ||
devasya vayaṁ savituḥ savīmani śreṣṭhe syāma vasunaś ca dāvane |
yo viśvasya dvipado yaś catuṣpado niveśane prasave cāsi bhūmanaḥ || 2 ||
adabdhebhiḥ savitaḥ pāyubhiṣ ṭvaṁ śivebhir adya pari pāhi no gayam |
hiraṇyajihvaḥ suvitāya navyase rakṣā mākir no aghaśaṁsa īśata || 3 ||
ud u ṣya devaḥ savitā damūnā hiraṇyapāṇiḥ pratidoṣam asthāt |
ayohanur yajato mandrajihva ā dāśuṣe suvati bhūri vāmam || 4 ||
ud ū ayām̐ upavakteva bāhū hiraṇyayā savitā supratīkā |
divo rohāṁsy aruhat pṛthivyā arīramat patayat kac cid abhvam || 5 ||
vāmam adya savitar vāmam u śvo dive-dive vāmam asmabhyaṁ sāvīḥ |
vāmasya hi kṣayasya deva bhūrer ayā dhiyā vāmabhājaḥ syāma || 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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