Hymn to Varuṇa
Rigveda IX.104 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) from Maṇḍala 9 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.
Comrades, sit ye down and lift your song while the radiant draught is strained; with holy gifts attend him, as a tender child is cherisht for his splendor.
Speed him, swift as a calf that runs to its dam, this house-prospering flood whose double rapture hunts the gods and rallies them to our side.
Cleanse the skill-bringer, that he may pursue the rushing host and stand full gracious to Mitra and to Varuṇa.
Our voices hail thee, treasure-finder; with the milk of our kine we shall robe thy hue.
O potent drop, lord of all delight, joy-giver to the immortals—be to us as true friend to friend, the surest guide upon the hidden way.
Cast far from us, with all their gear, whatever fiend would glut himself upon our store; thrust back the faithless, god-forsaking cheat, and bar the narrow pass against his tread.
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 IX.104
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.
sakhāya ā ni ṣīdata punānāya pra gāyata |
śiśuṁ na yajñaiḥ pari bhūṣata śriye || 1 ||
sam ī vatsaṁ na mātṛbhiḥ sṛjatā gayasādhanam |
devāvya1m madam abhi dviśavasam || 2 ||
punātā dakṣasādhanaṁ yathā śardhāya vītaye |
yathā mitrāya varuṇāya śaṁtamaḥ || 3 ||
asmabhyaṁ tvā vasuvidam abhi vāṇīr anūṣata |
gobhiṣ ṭe varṇam abhi vāsayāmasi || 4 ||
sa no madānām pata indo devapsarā asi |
sakheva sakhye gātuvittamo bhava || 5 ||
sanemi kṛdhy a1smad ā rakṣasaṁ kaṁ cid atriṇam |
apādevaṁ dvayum aṁho yuyodhi 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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