Hymn to Savitṛ
Rigveda VII.38 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.
O Savitṛ, thou impeller! Thou who dost set all things in motion! At the dawn of each day, it is thou who dost awaken the world. The sun doth rise at thy command; the birds do begin to sing.
All creatures stir themselves and go about their tasks. The cattle do rise from their resting places. The merchants do prepare their goods for trade. The workers do take up their tools. All do this at thy urging, O Savitṛ!
Thou art the giver of motion and of energy. Without thee, all would remain still and lifeless. The world would be as stone; nothing would grow or change. But through thy power, all things do move and do live.
At the setting of the sun, it is thou who dost bring all things to rest. The birds do return to their nests. The cattle do settle down to sleep. The day's labor doth come to an end. And the world doth find peace in the darkness of the night.
Yet even in the darkness, thy work doth continue. Thou dost cause the planets to move in their courses. Thou dost guide the seasons in their turning. Thou art never still; thou never ceasest from thy labors.
We do thank thee, O Savitṛ, for the gift of motion. Without thee, we would not exist. Accept our worship! Accept our hymns! Be gracious unto us, O impeller of all things!
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.38
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 yayāma hiraṇyayīm amatiṁ yām aśiśret |
nūnam bhago havyo mānuṣebhir vi yo ratnā purūvasur dadhāti || 1 ||
ud u tiṣṭha savitaḥ śrudhy a1sya hiraṇyapāṇe prabhṛtāv ṛtasya |
vy u1rvīm pṛthvīm amatiṁ sṛjāna ā nṛbhyo martabhojanaṁ suvānaḥ || 2 ||
api ṣṭutaḥ savitā devo astu yam ā cid viśve vasavo gṛṇanti |
sa naḥ stomān namasya1ś cano dhād viśvebhiḥ pātu pāyubhir ni sūrīn || 3 ||
abhi yaṁ devy aditir gṛṇāti savaṁ devasya savitur juṣāṇā |
abhi samrājo varuṇo gṛṇanty abhi mitrāso aryamā sajoṣāḥ || 4 ||
abhi ye mitho vanuṣaḥ sapante rātiṁ divo rātiṣācaḥ pṛthivyāḥ |
ahir budhnya uta naḥ śṛṇotu varūtry ekadhenubhir ni pātu || 5 ||
anu tan no jāspatir maṁsīṣṭa ratnaṁ devasya savitur iyānaḥ |
bhagam ugro 'vase johavīti bhagam anugro adha yāti ratnam || 6 ||
śaṁ no bhavantu vājino haveṣu devatātā mitadravaḥ svarkāḥ |
jambhayanto 'hiṁ vṛkaṁ rakṣāṁsi sanemy asmad yuyavann amīvāḥ || 7 ||
vāje-vāje 'vata vājino no dhaneṣu viprā amṛtā ṛtajñāḥ |
asya madhvaḥ pibata mādayadhvaṁ tṛptā yāta pathibhir devayānaiḥ || 8 ||
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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