Hymn to Mitra
Rigveda VII.50 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 Mitra! O keeper of oaths! O thou who dost guard the bonds of friendship and of trust! We do praise thee and do honor thee!
It is thou who dost watch over all agreements between men. When two men do make a pact, it is thou who dost hold them to their word. When a friend doth betray a friend, it is thy law that hath been broken.
Without thee, there would be no trust in the world. Every man would fear every other man. No commerce could exist; no friendship could flourish; no family could be secure. But because thou art vigilant, because thou dost punish those who break their oaths, the world remains stable and just.
O Mitra, thou art the friend of all who are true. Thou dost protect the righteous; thou dost honor those who keep their word. The man who is faithful to his oaths will find thy blessing following him all the days of his life.
But to those who are false, who do speak lies and do break their promises, thy wrath doth fall. They do suffer the consequences of their treachery. They do lose the respect of all men.
O Mitra, help us to be true! Help us to keep our promises! Help us to be worthy of the trust that others place in us! And may thy blessing rest upon all those who honor thee through their faithfulness and their integrity!
Accept our worship, O Mitra! Accept our respect! And grant unto us the virtue of truth and the strength to keep our oaths forever!
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.
🌲
Source Text: ṛgveda VII.50
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.
ā mām mitrāvaruṇeha rakṣataṁ kulāyayad viśvayan mā na ā gan |
ajakāvaṁ durdṛśīkaṁ tiro dadhe mā mām padyena rapasā vidat tsaruḥ || 1 ||
yad vijāman paruṣi vandanam bhuvad aṣṭhīvantau pari kulphau ca dehat |
agniṣ ṭac chocann apa bādhatām ito mā mām padyena rapasā vidat tsaruḥ || 2 ||
yac chalmalau bhavati yan nadīṣu yad oṣadhībhyaḥ pari jāyate viṣam |
viśve devā nir itas tat suvantu mā mām padyena rapasā vidat tsaruḥ || 3 ||
yāḥ pravato nivata udvata udanvatīr anudakāś ca yāḥ |
tā asmabhyam payasā pinvamānāḥ śivā devīr aśipadā bhavantu sarvā nadyo aśimidā bhavantu || 4 ||
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).
🌲