A Hymn of Maṇḍala 7
Rigveda VII.41 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 Bhaga, thou allotter of blessings! Thou who dost apportion fortune among men! Come unto us and grant us thy favor!
It is thou who dost decide who shall be rich and who shall be poor. It is thou who dost determine who shall have many children and who shall remain childless. It is thou who dost direct the course of each man's life.
Yet thou art just in thy dealings. Thou dost not favor the wicked merely because they are clever or strong. Thou dost look into the hearts of men and dost see their true nature.
Come unto us, O Bhaga! Look with favor upon those who have been faithful to the gods. Give unto them the good fortune that they deserve. Grant unto them prosperity and peace.
And unto those who have wandered from the path of righteousness, give them the opportunity to return. Soften their hearts; turn their faces toward the light. For even the wicked may yet become good, if they will but take the first step.
O Bhaga, thou art the lord of fortune! Thou art the protector of the righteous! Accept our prayer! Accept our worship! And grant unto us thy blessing this day and all the days to come!
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.41
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.
prātar agnim prātar indraṁ havāmahe prātar mitrāvaruṇā prātar aśvinā |
prātar bhagam pūṣaṇam brahmaṇas patim prātaḥ somam uta rudraṁ huvema || 1 ||
prātarjitam bhagam ugraṁ huvema vayam putram aditer yo vidhartā |
ādhraś cid yam manyamānas turaś cid rājā cid yam bhagam bhakṣīty āha || 2 ||
bhaga praṇetar bhaga satyarādho bhagemāṁ dhiyam ud avā dadan naḥ |
bhaga pra ṇo janaya gobhir aśvair bhaga pra nṛbhir nṛvantaḥ syāma || 3 ||
utedānīm bhagavantaḥ syāmota prapitva uta madhye ahnām |
utoditā maghavan sūryasya vayaṁ devānāṁ sumatau syāma || 4 ||
bhaga eva bhagavām̐ astu devās tena vayam bhagavantaḥ syāma |
taṁ tvā bhaga sarva ij johavīti sa no bhaga puraetā bhaveha || 5 ||
sam adhvarāyoṣaso namanta dadhikrāveva śucaye padāya |
arvācīnaṁ vasuvidam bhagaṁ no ratham ivāśvā vājina ā vahantu || 6 ||
aśvāvatīr gomatīr na uṣāso vīravatīḥ sadam ucchantu bhadrāḥ |
ghṛtaṁ duhānā viśvataḥ prapītā yūyam pāta svastibhiḥ sadā naḥ || 7 ||
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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