Hymn to Vāyu
Rigveda VII.90 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 Vāyu, thou wind-god, swiftest of all the divine ones! None can keep pace with thee; none can match thy speed. Thou rushest through the heavens like an eagle in pursuit of its prey. Thou dost reach the ends of the earth before any other god hath even begun his journey.
We offer thee the soma, O mighty Vāyu! Thou art the first to taste it; thou art the first to drink of its sweetness. When the pressing-stones do ring out, when the sacred juice doth flow into the vessel, it is thou who comest first to partake.
Thou art the breath of all living things. The creatures of the field breathe thy essence; the birds of the air fly upon thy currents; the fish of the water swim in the currents that thou dost create. Even we mortals cannot live without thee, O swift one!
Thou art the messenger of the gods. Thou carriest their words from place to place; thou beareth their blessings upon thy wings. When Indra hath need to send word of his victories, it is thou who spreadeth the news across all the lands. When Agni wisheth to scatter the sparks of his fire, it is thou who carriést them.
Thou art powerful, yet thou art invisible. We cannot see thee, yet we see the effects of thy passing. The tree bendeth before thee; the dust riseth in a cloud at thy coming; the waters do ripple and dance. Thou art mightier than any mountain, mightier than any king, yet we cannot capture thee in our hands.
Come, O wind-god! Accept our offering! Let thy blessings descend upon us! Make us swift like thee; make us strong like thee; make us mighty like thee! And carry our prayers upward to the heaven where the gods do dwell!
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.90
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.
pra vīrayā śucayo dadrire vām adhvaryubhir madhumantaḥ sutāsaḥ |
vaha vāyo niyuto yāhy acchā pibā sutasyāndhaso madāya || 1 ||
īśānāya prahutiṁ yas ta ānaṭ chuciṁ somaṁ śucipās tubhyaṁ vāyo |
kṛṇoṣi tam martyeṣu praśastaṁ jāto-jāto jāyate vājy asya || 2 ||
rāye nu yaṁ jajñatū rodasīme rāye devī dhiṣaṇā dhāti devam |
adha vāyuṁ niyutaḥ saścata svā uta śvetaṁ vasudhitiṁ nireke || 3 ||
ucchann uṣasaḥ sudinā ariprā uru jyotir vividur dīdhyānāḥ |
gavyaṁ cid ūrvam uśijo vi vavrus teṣām anu pradivaḥ sasrur āpaḥ || 4 ||
te satyena manasā dīdhyānāḥ svena yuktāsaḥ kratunā vahanti |
indravāyū vīravāhaṁ rathaṁ vām īśānayor abhi pṛkṣaḥ sacante || 5 ||
īśānāso ye dadhate svar ṇo gobhir aśvebhir vasubhir hiraṇyaiḥ |
indravāyū sūrayo viśvam āyur arvadbhir vīraiḥ pṛtanāsu sahyuḥ || 6 ||
arvanto na śravaso bhikṣamāṇā indravāyū suṣṭutibhir vasiṣṭhāḥ |
vājayantaḥ sv avase huvema yūyam pāta svastibhiḥ sadā naḥ || 7 ||
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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