Hymn to Varuṇa
Rigveda VII.86 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.
I have sinned against thee, O Varuṇa. Yet I know not how I have sinned. I have transgressed thy law, yet the transgression was not done in malice or pride, but in ignorance—the worst of all transgressions, for the doer doth not even know that he hath erred.
What was the great sin, O Varuṇa, that thou wouldst slay thy friend who sings to thee? What was the trespass that hath incurred thy wrath? Is it a word that I spoke carelessly? Is it a deed that I did without thinking? Is it a thought that entered my mind unbidden? I know not! I know not!
My body is seized with fever; my limbs do shake as if I were an old withered leaf trembling before the wind. My skin doth itch and burn; my flesh seemeth to be aflame. It is thy bonds that hold me, O Varuṇa—thy terrible bonds, from which no mortal can escape.
I recall now the ancient sin—the sin of my father, or perhaps the sin of my father's father, stretching back through the generations. Perhaps I pay for their trespasses, their violations, their forgotten crimes. Perhaps thy justice reacheth backward through time, collecting the debts that are owed.
Or perhaps it was no great crime at all, but only the simple fact of being human—fallible, weak, prone to error. Perhaps it is not that I have done something wrong, but that I have failed to do something right. Perhaps I have neglected the offering; perhaps I have forgotten a prayer; perhaps I have not honored thee with sufficient devotion.
What shall I do, O mighty Varuṇa? How shall I expiate my sin? I have no great treasure to offer; I have no mighty sacrifice to bring. All that I possess is my own suffering, my own anguish, my own heart, broken and contrite.
Yet is this not enough? Is the grief of the sinner not payment enough for his transgression? I lie upon the earth in agony; I weep bitter tears; I call out thy name with a voice hoarse from crying. If this be not expiation, then what is?
O sovereign lord, O keeper of the eternal law! I beseech thee—release me from thy bonds! Not because I deserve release, but because thy mercy is greater than thy justice. Not because I am innocent, but because thou art wise enough to know that suffering owneth itself when it is true suffering.
Thou who makest the sun to shine and the rivers to flow! Thou who measurest out the cosmos with thy hand! Thou who keepest vigil over all that is! Let thy gaze fall upon me—not in anger, but in compassion. Let thy hand release me—not in weakness, but in strength.
For what is strength, O Varuṇa, if not the power to forgive? What is true sovereignty, if not the wisdom to show mercy? The thunderer, Indra, doth conquer through might; but thou, O keeper of the law, dost conquer through understanding.
I have been thy enemy through my ignorance. But I do not wish to be thy enemy. I wish to be thy friend, thy servant, thy worshipper. I wish to approach thee with a clean heart and an open hand. I wish to sing thy praises not out of fear, but out of love.
Release me, O Varuṇa. Not for my sake, but for thine own. That I may rise from this bed of pain and go forth to proclaim thy greatness. That I may tell all the world of thy justice and thy mercy, thy awesome power and thy gentle wisdom. That I may be forever bound to thee—not in chains of suffering, but in bonds of love.
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.86
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.
dhīrā tv asya mahinā janūṁṣi vi yas tastambha rodasī cid urvī |
pra nākam ṛṣvaṁ nunude bṛhantaṁ dvitā nakṣatram paprathac ca bhūma || 1 ||
uta svayā tanvā3 saṁ vade tat kadā nv a1ntar varuṇe bhuvāni |
kim me havyam ahṛṇāno juṣeta kadā mṛḻīkaṁ sumanā abhi khyam || 2 ||
pṛcche tad eno varuṇa didṛkṣūpo emi cikituṣo vipṛccham |
samānam in me kavayaś cid āhur ayaṁ ha tubhyaṁ varuṇo hṛṇīte || 3 ||
kim āga āsa varuṇa jyeṣṭhaṁ yat stotāraṁ jighāṁsasi sakhāyam |
pra tan me voco dūḻabha svadhāvo 'va tvānenā namasā tura iyām || 4 ||
ava drugdhāni pitryā sṛjā no 'va yā vayaṁ cakṛmā tanūbhiḥ |
ava rājan paśutṛpaṁ na tāyuṁ sṛjā vatsaṁ na dāmno vasiṣṭham || 5 ||
na sa svo dakṣo varuṇa dhrutiḥ sā surā manyur vibhīdako acittiḥ |
asti jyāyān kanīyasa upāre svapnaś caned anṛtasya prayotā || 6 ||
araṁ dāso na mīḻhuṣe karāṇy ahaṁ devāya bhūrṇaye 'nāgāḥ |
acetayad acito devo aryo gṛtsaṁ rāye kavitaro junāti || 7 ||
ayaṁ su tubhyaṁ varuṇa svadhāvo hṛdi stoma upaśritaś cid astu |
śaṁ naḥ kṣeme śam u yoge no astu yūyam pāta svastibhiḥ sadā naḥ || 8 ||
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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