Hymn to Vāyu
Rigveda IX.25 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.
Purify thyself, thou who bringest craft to its fullness, that the gods may drink, O tawny one— the gladdening draught for the Storm-lords and for Vāyu.
Self-cleansing art thou, borne on the wings of insight, ever roaring toward thy hidden place— enter Vāyu as the rite declareth.
The bull is made fair in the sight of the gods, the beloved bard within his secret hold, breaker of bars, swiftest in the gods’ chase.
Clad in all forms, becoming pure, the sweet one fareth onward
where the deathless take their thrones.
Ruddy Soma, begetter of song, maketh himself clean, with the Āyus at his side, setting forth to Indra with a poet’s aim.
Cleanse thyself in the stream, in the sieve, thou most rousing singer, to rest within the womb of holy song.
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.25
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.
pavasva dakṣasādhano devebhyaḥ pītaye hare |
marudbhyo vāyave madaḥ || 1 ||
pavamāna dhiyā hito3 'bhi yoniṁ kanikradat |
dharmaṇā vāyum ā viśa || 2 ||
saṁ devaiḥ śobhate vṛṣā kavir yonāv adhi priyaḥ |
vṛtrahā devavītamaḥ || 3 ||
viśvā rūpāṇy āviśan punāno yāti haryataḥ |
yatrāmṛtāsa āsate || 4 ||
aruṣo janayan giraḥ somaḥ pavata āyuṣak |
indraṁ gacchan kavikratuḥ || 5 ||
ā pavasva madintama pavitraṁ dhārayā kave |
arkasya yonim āsadam || 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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