Hymn to Uṣas
Rigveda VII.81 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 Uṣas, thou hast risen! Thou hast scattered the darkness like a mighty wind scattereth the clouds! The sun followeth close behind thee, as if drawn by an invisible cord. Together, thou and he, do illuminate the whole world.
Yet it is thou, the younger, who leadeth the way. He followeth in thy footsteps, gathering thy light and making it his own. And all the creatures of the world do look to thee first, do greet thee first, do give thanks to thee first.
Thou art gentle; thou art kind; thou art the friend of all living creatures. The little bird singeth thy praises; the great elephant doth bow before thee. The king upon his throne doth wait for thy coming; the slave in his hovel doth look upward and see thy light.
We ask of thee but one thing: that thou shalt continue to come, day after day, as thou hast come since the beginning of time. Let not the darkness overcome thee. Let not the forces of chaos drag thee down. Come forth, O radiant one! Come and save us from the night!
Rise, O Uṣas! Rise and spread thy light across all the lands! Let thy golden rays touch every mountain, every valley, every forest, every sea. Let no corner of the earth be left in darkness. Come, O beloved Dawn! Come with all thy beauty and all thy power!
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.81
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.
praty u adarśy āyaty u1cchantī duhitā divaḥ |
apo mahi vyayati cakṣase tamo jyotiṣ kṛṇoti sūnarī || 1 ||
ud usriyāḥ sṛjate sūryaḥ sacām̐ udyan nakṣatram arcivat |
taved uṣo vyuṣi sūryasya ca sam bhaktena gamemahi || 2 ||
prati tvā duhitar diva uṣo jīrā abhutsmahi |
yā vahasi puru spārhaṁ vananvati ratnaṁ na dāśuṣe mayaḥ || 3 ||
ucchantī yā kṛṇoṣi maṁhanā mahi prakhyai devi svar dṛśe |
tasyās te ratnabhāja īmahe vayaṁ syāma mātur na sūnavaḥ || 4 ||
tac citraṁ rādha ā bharoṣo yad dīrghaśruttamam |
yat te divo duhitar martabhojanaṁ tad rāsva bhunajāmahai || 5 ||
śravaḥ sūribhyo amṛtaṁ vasutvanaṁ vājām̐ asmabhyaṁ gomataḥ |
codayitrī maghonaḥ sūnṛtāvaty uṣā ucchad apa sridhaḥ || 6 ||
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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