A Hymn of Maṇḍala 7
Rigveda VII.44 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.
Praise be unto Dadhikrāvan, the divine stallion! Swift as the lightning he doth run! Swift as the very wind itself!
His hooves do touch the earth, and behold—he is already gone, moving at a speed that no mortal steed can match. His mane doth flow behind him like a river of fire. His tail doth brush the clouds as he gallops through the sky.
In battle, he is the mount of the mightiest warriors. Upon his back they do ride forth to victory. No enemy can stand against the man who rides upon Dadhikrāvan, the celestial horse.
Yet he is not merely a beast of burden. He is a god, dwelling in the heavens. He does possess wisdom and power beyond measure. The very stars do bow to his passage.
O Dadhikrāvan, thou swift one! Grant us thy blessing! May we be swift like thee in doing the will of the gods! May we be strong like thee in facing our enemies! May we be noble like thee in our dealings with all creatures!
O Dadhikrāvan, thou divine stallion! We sing thy praise! We honor thee! We do give ourselves unto thee!
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.44
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.
dadhikrāṁ vaḥ prathamam aśvinoṣasam agniṁ samiddham bhagam ūtaye huve |
indraṁ viṣṇum pūṣaṇam brahmaṇas patim ādityān dyāvāpṛthivī apaḥ svaḥ || 1 ||
dadhikrām u namasā bodhayanta udīrāṇā yajñam upaprayantaḥ |
iḻāṁ devīm barhiṣi sādayanto 'śvinā viprā suhavā huvema || 2 ||
dadhikrāvāṇam bubudhāno agnim upa bruva uṣasaṁ sūryaṁ gām |
bradhnam mam̐ścator varuṇasya babhruṁ te viśvāsmad duritā yāvayantu || 3 ||
dadhikrāvā prathamo vājy arvāgre rathānām bhavati prajānan |
saṁvidāna uṣasā sūryeṇādityebhir vasubhir aṅgirobhiḥ || 4 ||
ā no dadhikrāḥ pathyām anaktv ṛtasya panthām anvetavā u |
śṛṇotu no daivyaṁ śardho agniḥ śṛṇvantu viśve mahiṣā amūrāḥ || 5 ||
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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