Hymn to Varuṇa
Rigveda VII.60 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 and Varuṇa, ye mighty sovereigns! Ye who rule together over all creation! Ye who are just and righteous in all your judgments!
Mitra, thou friend of all creatures, thou who dost watch over us by day! Varuṇa, thou lord of the night sky, thou who dost bind all things with thy cosmic rope! Together ye uphold the laws that govern the universe!
The cosmic order dependeth upon you, O great ones! If ye were to relax your vigilance for even a moment, chaos would overcome all things. The mountains would crumble; the stars would fall from the heavens; the waters would overwhelm the earth.
Yet ye remain steadfast! Ye never sleep; ye never grow weary! Ye watch over all creatures, great and small, and ye judge them according to their deeds!
The man who keepeth the law shall be blessed! The man who speaketh truth shall prosper! The man who dealeth justly with his neighbors shall find favor in your sight! But the liar, the thief, the one who breaketh his oath—him shall ye punish with terrible retribution!
We come before you with clean hands and pure hearts! We have kept the law; we have spoken truth; we have dealt justly with all! Accept our offering, O mighty lords! Grant us your favor! Let your justice be our shield and our protection 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.60
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.
yad adya sūrya bravo 'nāgā udyan mitrāya varuṇāya satyam |
vayaṁ devatrādite syāma tava priyāso aryaman gṛṇantaḥ || 1 ||
eṣa sya mitrāvaruṇā nṛcakṣā ubhe ud eti sūryo abhi jman |
viśvasya sthātur jagataś ca gopā ṛju marteṣu vṛjinā ca paśyan || 2 ||
ayukta sapta haritaḥ sadhasthād yā īṁ vahanti sūryaṁ ghṛtācīḥ |
dhāmāni mitrāvaruṇā yuvākuḥ saṁ yo yūtheva janimāni caṣṭe || 3 ||
ud vām pṛkṣāso madhumanto asthur ā sūryo aruhac chukram arṇaḥ |
yasmā ādityā adhvano radanti mitro aryamā varuṇaḥ sajoṣāḥ || 4 ||
ime cetāro anṛtasya bhūrer mitro aryamā varuṇo hi santi |
ima ṛtasya vāvṛdhur duroṇe śagmāsaḥ putrā aditer adabdhāḥ || 5 ||
ime mitro varuṇo dūḻabhāso 'cetasaṁ cic citayanti dakṣaiḥ |
api kratuṁ sucetasaṁ vatantas tiraś cid aṁhaḥ supathā nayanti || 6 ||
ime divo animiṣā pṛthivyāś cikitvāṁso acetasaṁ nayanti |
pravrāje cin nadyo gādham asti pāraṁ no asya viṣpitasya parṣan || 7 ||
yad gopāvad aditiḥ śarma bhadram mitro yacchanti varuṇaḥ sudāse |
tasminn ā tokaṁ tanayaṁ dadhānā mā karma devaheḻanaṁ turāsaḥ || 8 ||
ava vediṁ hotrābhir yajeta ripaḥ kāś cid varuṇadhrutaḥ saḥ |
pari dveṣobhir aryamā vṛṇaktūruṁ sudāse vṛṣaṇā u lokam || 9 ||
sasvaś cid dhi samṛtis tveṣy eṣām apīcyena sahasā sahante |
yuṣmad bhiyā vṛṣaṇo rejamānā dakṣasya cin mahinā mṛḻatā naḥ || 10 ||
yo brahmaṇe sumatim āyajāte vājasya sātau paramasya rāyaḥ |
sīkṣanta manyum maghavāno arya uru kṣayāya cakrire sudhātu || 11 ||
iyaṁ deva purohitir yuvabhyāṁ yajñeṣu mitrāvaruṇāv akāri |
viśvāni durgā pipṛtaṁ tiro no yūyam pāta svastibhiḥ sadā naḥ || 12 ||
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).
🌲