Hymn to Sarasvatī
Rigveda VII.95 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 Sarasvatī! Most sacred of all rivers! Thou dost flow through the land like a stream of liquid light, carrying blessings to all who dwell upon thy banks.
Thou art mighty, yet thou art gentle. Thy waters do sweep away the impurities of the earth, yet they nourish the soil and make it fertile. Thy current is strong, yet it followeth the contours of the land with wisdom and grace.
In thy waters, all things are cleansed. The mortal who bathes in thee is purified of all his sins. The flower that drinketh of thy waters doth blossom with extraordinary beauty. The bird that drinketh from thy streams doth sing with a voice more lovely than any other.
Thou art the purifier, O river-goddess! Thou art the mother of all living things! Thou art the very embodiment of grace and power combined.
We sing thy praises, O Sarasvatī! We honor thy sacred waters! Let thy blessings flow through our lands! Let thy purifying power wash away all our sorrows! Let thy gentle strength sustain us forever!
In times to come, thy waters shall become a symbol of wisdom and learning. The scholars and the poets shall invoke thy name, for they shall know that thou art the source of all true knowledge. But even now, even in these ancient days, we perceive thy power. We know that thou art great, that thou art eternal, that thou art divine.
Accept our prayers, O mighty river! Let us be blessed by thy presence! Let us be strengthened by thy waters! Let us be guided forever by thy merciful flow!
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.95
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 kṣodasā dhāyasā sasra eṣā sarasvatī dharuṇam āyasī pūḥ |
prabābadhānā rathyeva yāti viśvā apo mahinā sindhur anyāḥ || 1 ||
ekācetat sarasvatī nadīnāṁ śucir yatī giribhya ā samudrāt |
rāyaś cetantī bhuvanasya bhūrer ghṛtam payo duduhe nāhuṣāya || 2 ||
sa vāvṛdhe naryo yoṣaṇāsu vṛṣā śiśur vṛṣabho yajñiyāsu |
sa vājinam maghavadbhyo dadhāti vi sātaye tanvam māmṛjīta || 3 ||
uta syā naḥ sarasvatī juṣāṇopa śravat subhagā yajṇe asmin |
mitajñubhir namasyair iyānā rāyā yujā cid uttarā sakhibhyaḥ || 4 ||
imā juhvānā yuṣmad ā namobhiḥ prati stomaṁ sarasvati juṣasva |
tava śarman priyatame dadhānā upa stheyāma śaraṇaṁ na vṛkṣam || 5 ||
ayam u te sarasvati vasiṣṭho dvārāv ṛtasya subhage vy āvaḥ |
vardha śubhre stuvate rāsi vājān yūyam pāta svastibhiḥ sadā naḥ || 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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