A Hymn of Maṇḍala 7
Rigveda VII.103 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) from Maṇḍala 7 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.
When the monsoon rains come, the frogs do awaken from their long sleep! They emerge from the ponds and marshes, and they begin to sing! Croak! Croak! Croak! The sound of the frogs filleth the night air with their joyful chorus!
And lo, at the same time, the Brahmins do gather for the great monsoon sacrifice! They don their robes; they kindle the sacred fire; they begin to chant the sacred hymns! They lift up their voices in song, calling upon the gods to grant them blessings and prosperity!
The chanting of the Brahmins soundeth like the croaking of the frogs! Both are rising up together at the appointed time, both are answering the call of the season, both are giving voice to the joy and hope that filleth the world when the rains do come!
The frogs croak in the marshes; the Brahmins chant in the ceremonies. Each in their own place, each in their own way, both are doing what they were born to do!
Some do say that the frogs are mocking the Brahmins—that the croaking soundeth like a parody of the sacred chanting! And perhaps it is true! For the frogs, in their own simple way, do understand the mysteries of the universe just as the Brahmins do! The frogs wait all year long for the rain; they celebrate its coming with all their heart; they sing their joy to the heavens! And is this not as noble and as holy as the sacrifice of the Brahmins?
Perhaps the gods do smile at both the croaking of the frogs and the chanting of the Brahmins! Perhaps in the ears of the divine ones, both sounds are equally precious, equally worthy of honor!
We sing of the frogs, O great ones! We sing of the Brahmins! We sing of the monsoon rains! We sing of the joy and the wonder of a world that is renewed each year by the blessing of the water!
Croak! Croak! Croak! The frogs do sing their eternal song! And we mortals, in our humble way, do add our voices to theirs, joining in the great chorus of gratitude and celebration that riseth up from the earth to heaven!
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 VII.103
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.
saṁvatsaraṁ śaśayānā brāhmaṇā vratacāriṇaḥ |
vācam parjanyajinvitām pra maṇḍūkā avādiṣuḥ || 1 ||
divyā āpo abhi yad enam āyan dṛtiṁ na śuṣkaṁ sarasī śayānam |
gavām aha na māyur vatsinīnām maṇḍūkānāṁ vagnur atrā sam eti || 2 ||
yad īm enām̐ uśato abhy avarṣīt tṛṣyāvataḥ prāvṛṣy āgatāyām |
akhkhalīkṛtyā pitaraṁ na putro anyo anyam upa vadantam eti || 3 ||
anyo anyam anu gṛbhṇāty enor apām prasarge yad amandiṣātām |
maṇḍūko yad abhivṛṣṭaḥ kaniṣkan pṛśniḥ sampṛṅkte haritena vācam || 4 ||
yad eṣām anyo anyasya vācaṁ śāktasyeva vadati śikṣamāṇaḥ |
sarvaṁ tad eṣāṁ samṛdheva parva yat suvāco vadathanādhy apsu || 5 ||
gomāyur eko ajamāyur ekaḥ pṛśnir eko harita eka eṣām |
samānaṁ nāma bibhrato virūpāḥ purutrā vācam pipiśur vadantaḥ || 6 ||
brāhmaṇāso atirātre na some saro na pūrṇam abhito vadantaḥ |
saṁvatsarasya tad ahaḥ pari ṣṭha yan maṇḍūkāḥ prāvṛṣīṇam babhūva || 7 ||
brāhmaṇāsaḥ somino vācam akrata brahma kṛṇvantaḥ parivatsarīṇam |
adhvaryavo gharmiṇaḥ siṣvidānā āvir bhavanti guhyā na ke cit || 8 ||
devahitiṁ jugupur dvādaśasya ṛtuṁ naro na pra minanty ete |
saṁvatsare prāvṛṣy āgatāyāṁ taptā gharmā aśnuvate visargam || 9 ||
gomāyur adād ajamāyur adāt pṛśnir adād dharito no vasūni |
gavām maṇḍūkā dadataḥ śatāni sahasrasāve pra tiranta āyuḥ || 10 ||
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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