Hymn to the Viśvedevas
Rigveda VIII.30 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) from Maṇḍala 8 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.
Come ye, O gods, we call you all unto this rite, ye dwellers in the heaven and ye who dwell on earth. Approach the offering made with care, the soma pressed with hands of faith.
Grant us protection from all harm and from the evil deeds of foes. Defend us from the curse and from the witches' spell. Ye Viśvedevas, shield us well and keep us safe.
The sin and stain of every wrong—O gods, remove it far from us. Make clean our hearts and minds and souls that we may stand before you pure and spotless as the morning light.
Ye holy ones, ye mighty ones, ye gods both great and small, send down your blessings on us all, and grant us wealth and peace. Let not our enemies prevail, let not the wicked ones gain ground.
O Viśvedevas, manifest your power and your grace, that all the world may know how great ye are, how just, how full of mercy and of love. For you do sit upon the throne of truth eternal.
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 VIII.30
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.
nahi vo asty arbhako devāso na kumārakaḥ |
viśve satomahānta it || 1 ||
iti stutāso asathā riśādaso ye stha trayaś ca triṁśac ca |
manor devā yajñiyāsaḥ || 2 ||
te nas trādhvaṁ te 'vata ta u no adhi vocata |
mā naḥ pathaḥ pitryān mānavād adhi dūraṁ naiṣṭa parāvataḥ || 3 ||
ye devāsa iha sthana viśve vaiśvānarā uta |
asmabhyaṁ śarma sapratho gave 'śvāya yacchata || 4 ||
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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