
The Rig Veda Book 5 - Verses 51 to 60

HYMN LI. Visvedevas.
1. WITH all assistants, Agni, come hither to drink the Soma-juice;
With Gods unto our sacred gifts.
2 Come to the sacrifice,
O ye whose ways are right, whose laws are true,
And drink
the draught with Agni's tongue.
3 O Singer, with the singers,
O Gracious, with those who move at dawn,
Come to the Soma-draught
with Gods.
4 To Indra and to Vayu dear, this Soma, by the
mortar pressed,
Is now poured forth to fill the jar.
5 Vayu, come hither to the feast, wellpleased unto our sacred
gifts:
Drink of the Soma juice effused come to the food.
6 Ye, Indra, Vayu, well deserve to drink the juices pressed
by us.
Gladly accept them, spotless Pair come to the food.
7 For Indra and for Vayu pressed are Soma juices blent with
curd,
As rivers to the lowland flow: come to the food.
8 Associate with all the Gods, come, with the Asvins and with
Dawn,
Agni, as erst with Atri, so enjoy the juice.
9 Associate
with Varuna, with Mitra, Soma, Visnu, come,
Agni, as erstwith
Atri, so enjoy the juice.
10 Associate with Vasus, with Adityas,
Indra, Viyu, come, Agni as erst with Atri, so enjoy the juice.
11 May Bhaga and the Asvins grant us health and wealth, and
Goddess Adid and he whom none resist.
The Asura Pusan grant
us all prosperity, and Heaven and Earth most wise vouchsafe
us happiness.
12 Let us solicit Vayu for prosperity, and
Soma who is Lord of all the world for weal;
For weal Brhaspati
with all his company. May the Adityas bring us health and happiness.
13 May all the Gods, may Agni the beneficent, God of all men,
this day be with us for our weal.
Help us the Rbhus, the
Divine Ones, for our good. May Rudra bless and keep us from
calamity.
14 Prosper us, Mitra, Varuna. O wealthy Pathya,
prosper us.
Indra and Agni, prosper us; prosper us thou,
O Aditi.
15 Like Sun and Moon may we pursue in full prosperity
our path,
And meet with one who gives again, -who knows us
well and slays us not.
HYMN LII Maruts.
1. SING boldly forth, Syavasva, with the Maruts who are loud
in song,
Who, holy, as their wont is, joy in glory that is
free from guile.
2 For in their boldness they are friends
of firm and sure heroic strength.
They in their course, bold-spirited,
guard all men of their own accord.
3 Like steers in rapid
motion they advance and overtake the nights;
And thus the
Maruts' power in heaven and on the earth we celebrate.
4
With boldness to your Maruts let us offer laud and sacrifice:
Who all, through ages of mankind, guard mortal man from injury.
5 Praiseworthy, givers of good gifts, Heroes with full and perfect
strength -
To Maruts, Holy Ones of heaven, will I extol the
sacrifice.
6 The lofty Heroes cast their spears and weapons
bright with gleaming gold.
After these Maruts followed close,
like laughing lightning from the sky, a splendour of its own
accord.
7 They who waxed mighty, of the earth, they who are
in the wide mid-air,
Or in the rivers' compass, or in the
abode of ample heaven.
8 Praise thou the Maruts' company,
the valorous and truly strong,
The Heroes, hasting, by themselves
have yoked their deer for victory.
9 Fair-gleaming, on Parusni
they have clothed themselves in robes of wool,
And with their
chariot tires they cleave the rock asunder in their might.
10 Whether as wanderers from the way or speeders on or to the
path,
Under these names the spreading band tend well the
sacrifice for me.
11 To this the Heroes well attend, well
do their teams attend to this.
Visible are their varied forms.
Behold, they are Paravatas.
12 Hymn-singing, seeking water,
they, praising, have danced about the spring.
What are they
unto me? No thieves, but helpers, splendid to behold.
13
Sublime, with lightnings for their spears, Sages and Orderers
are they.
Rsi, adore that Marut host, and make them happy
with thy song.
14 Rsi, invite the Marut band with offerings,
as a maid her friend.
From heaven, too, Bold Ones, in your
might haste hither glorified with songs.
15 Thinking of these
now let him come, as with the escort of the Gods,
And with
the splendid Princes, famed for rapid courses, to the gifts.
16 Princes, who, when I asked their kin, named Prsni as their
Mother-cow,
And the impetuous Rudra they, the Mighty Ones,
declared their Sire.
17 The mighty ones, the seven times
seven, have singly given me hundred gifts.
I have obtained
on Yamuna famed wealth in kine and wealth in steeds.
HYMN LIII. Maruts.
1. Who knows the birth of these, or who lived in the Maruts'
favour in the days of old
What time their spotted deer were
yoked?
2 Who, when they stood upon their cars, hath heard
them tell the way they went?
Who was the bounteous man to
whom their kindred rains flowed down with food of sacrifice?
3 To me they told it, and they came with winged steeds radiant
to the draught,
Youths, Heroes free from spot or stain: Behold
us here and praise thou us;
4 Who shine self-luminous with
ornaments and swords, with breastplates, armlets, and with wreaths,
Arrayed on chariots and with bows.
5 O swift to pour your
bounties down, ye Maruts, with delight I look upon your cars,
Like splendours coming through the rain.
6 Munificent Heroes,
they have cast heaven's treasury down for the worshipper's behoof:
They set the storm-cloud free tostream through both the worlds,
and rainfloods flow o'er desert spots.
7 The bursting streams
m billowy flood have spread abroad, like milch-kine, o'er the
firmament.
Like swift steeds hasting to their journey's resting-place,
to every side run glittering brooks.
8 Hither, O Maruts,
come from heaven, from mid-air, or from near at hand
Tarry
not far away from us.
9 So let not Rasa, Krumu, or Anitabha,
Kubha, or Sindhu hold you back.
Let not the watery Sarayti
obstruct your way. With us be all the bliss ye give.
10 That
brilliant gathering of your cars, the company of Maruts, of
the Youthful Ones,
The rain-showers, speeding on, attend.
11 With eulogies and hymns may we follow your army, troop by
troop, and band by band,
And company by company.
12 To
what oblation-giver, sprung of noble ancestry, have sped
The Maruts on this course to-day?
13 Vouchsafe to us the
bounty, that which we implore, through which, for child and
progeny,
Ye give the seed of corn that wasteth not away,
and bliss that reacheth to all life.
14 May we in safety
pass by those who slander us, leaving behind disgrace and hate.
Maruts, may we be there when ye, at dawn, in rest and toil,
rain waters down and balm.
15 Favoured by Gods shall he the
man, O Heroes, Marutr! and possessed of noble sons,
Whom
ye protect. Such may we be.
16 Praise the Free-givers. At
this liberal patron's rite they joy like cattle in the mead.
So call thou unto them who come as ancient Friends: hymn those
who love thee with a song.
HYMN LIV. Maruts.
1. THIS hymn will I make for the Marut host who bright in
native splendour cast the mountains down.
Sing the great
strength of those illustrious in renown, who stay the heat,
who sacrifice on heights of heaven.
2 O Maruts, rich in water,
strengtheners of life are your strong bands with harnessed steeds,
that wander far.
Trita roars out at him who aims the lightning-flash.
The waters sweeping round are thundering on their way.
3
They gleam with lightning, Heroes, Casters of the Stone, wind-rapid
Maruts, overthrowers of the bills,
Oft through desire to
rain coming with storm of hail, roaring in onset, violent and
exceeding strong.
4 When, mighty Rudras, through the nights
and through the days, when through the sky and realms of air,
shakers of all,
When over the broad fields ye drive along
like ships, e'en to strongholds ye come, Maruts, but are not
harmed.
5 Maruts, this hero strength and majesty of yours
hath, like the Sun, extended o'er a lengthened way,
When
in your course like deer with splendour unsubdued ye bowed the
hill that gives imperishable rain.
6 Bright shone your host,
ye Sages, Maruts, when ye smote the waving tree as when the
worm consumeth it.
Accordant, as the eye guides him who walks,
have ye led our devotion onward by an easy path.
7 Never
is he, O Maruts, slain or overcome, never doth he decay ne'er
is distressed or harmed;
His treasures, his resources, never
waste away, whom. whether he be prince or Rsi, ye direct.
8 With harnessed team like heroes overcoming troops, the friendly
Maruts, laden with their water-casks,
Let the spring flow,
and when impetuous' they roar they inundate the earth with floods
of pleasant meath.
9 Free for the Maruts is the earth with
sloping ways, free for the rushing Ones is heaven with steep
descents.
The paths of air's mid-region are precipitous,
precipitous the mountains with their running streams.
10
When, as the Sun hath risen up, ye take delight, O bounteous
radiant Maruts, Heroes of the sky,
Your coursers weary not
when speeding on.their way, and rapidly ye reach the end of
this your path.
11 Lances are on your shoulders, anklets
on your feet, gold chains are on your breasts, gems, Maruts,
on your car.
Lightnings aglow with flame are flashing in
your hands, and visors wroughtof gold are laid upon your heads.
12 Maruts, in eager stir ye shake the vault of heaven, splendid
beyond conception, for its shining fruit.
They gathered when
they let their deeds of might flash forth. The Pious Ones send
forth a far-resounding shout.
13 Sage Maruts, may we be the
drivers of the car of riches ful I of life that have been given
by you.
O Maruts, let that wealth in thousands dwell with
us which never vanishes like Tisya from the sky.
14 Maruts,
ye further wealth with longedfor heroes, further the Rsi skilled
in chanted verses.
Ye give the Bharata as his strength, a
charger, and ye bestow a king who quickly listens.
15 Of
you, most swift to succour! I solicit wealth wherewith we may
spread forth mid men like as the Sun.
Accept, O Maruts, graciously
this hymn of mine that we may live a hundred winters through
its power.
HYMN LV. Maruts.
1. WITH gleaming lances, with their breasts adorned with
gold, the Maruts, rushing onward, hold high power of life.
They hasten with swift steeds easy to be controlled. Their cars
moved onward as they went to victory.
2 Ye, as ye wist, have
gained of your own selves your power: high, O ye Mighty Ones,
and wide ye shine abroad.
They with their strength have even
measured out the sky.
Their cars moved onward as they went
to victory.
3 Strong, born together, they together have waxed
great: the Heroes more and more have grown to majesty
Resplendent
as the Sun's beams in their light are they. Their cars moved
onward as they went to victory.
4 Maruts, your mightiness
deserves to be adored, sight to be longed for like the shining
of the Sun.
So lead us with your aid to immortality.
Their
cars moved onward as they went to victory.
5 O Maruts, from
the Ocean ye uplift the rain, and fraught with vaporous moisture
pour the torrents down.
Never, ye Wonder-Workers, are your
Milch-kine dry. Their cars moved onward as they went to victory.
6 When to your car-poles ye have yoked your spotted deer to
be your steeds, and put your golden mantles on,
O Maruts,
ye disperse all enemies abroad. Their cars moved onward as they
went to victory.
7 Neither the mountains nor the rivers keep
you back: whither ye have resolved thither ye, Maruts, go.
Ye compass round about even the heaven and earth. Their cars
moved onward as they went to victory.
Whate'er is ancient,
Maruts, what of recent time, whate'er is spoken, Vasus, what
is chanted forth,
They who take cognizance of all of this
are ye. Their cars moved onward as they went to victory.
9 Be gracious unto us, ye Maruts, slay us not extend ye unto
us shelter of many a sort.
Pay due regard unto our friendship
and our praise. Their cars moved onward as they went to victory.
10 O Maruts, lead us on to higher fortune deliver us, when lauded,
from afflictions.
Accept, ye Holy Ones, the gifts we bring
you. May we be masters of abundant riches.
HYMN LVI. Maruts.
1. Agni, that valorous company adorned with ornaments of
gold,
The people of the Maruts, I call down to-day even from
the luminous realm of heaven.
2 Even as thou thinkest in
thy heart, thither my wishes also tend.
Those who have come
most near to thine invoking calls, strengthen them fearful to
behold.
3 Earth, like a bounteous lady, liberal of her gifts,
struck down and shaken, yet exultant, comes to us.
Impetuous
as a bear, O Maruts, is youi rush terrible as a dreadful bull..
4 They who with mighty strength o'erthrow like oxen difficult
to yoke,
Cause e'en the heavenly stone to shake ' yea, shake
the rocky mountain as they race along.
5 Rise up! even now
with lauds I call the very numerous company,
Unequalled,
of these Maruts, like a herd of kine, grown up together in their
strength.
6 Bind to your car the bright red mares, yoke the
red coursers to your car.
Bind to the pole, to draw, the
fleet-foot tawny steeds, the best at drawing, to the pole.
7 Yea, and this loudly-neighing bright red vigorous horse who
hath been sutioned, fair to see,
Let him not cause delay,
O Maruts,, in your course, urge ye him onward in your cars.
8 The Maruts' chariot, ever fain to gather glory, we invoke,
Which Rodasi hath mounted, bringing pleasant gifts, with Maruts
in her company.
9 I call that brilliant band of yours, adorable,
rapid on the car
Whereon the bounteous Dame, auspicious,
nobly born, shows glorious with the Marut host.
HYMN LVII. Maruts.
1. OF one accord, with Indra, O ye Rudras, come borne on
your golden car for our prosperity.
An offering from us,
this hymn is brought to you, as, unto one who th irsts for water,
heavenly springs.
2 Armed with your daggers, full of wisdom,
armed with spears, armed with your quivers, armed with arrows,
with good bows,
Good horses and good cars have ye, O Prsni's
Sons: ye, Maruts, with good weapons go to victory.
3 From
hills and heaven ye shake wealth for the worshipper: in terror
at your coming low the woods bow down.
Ye make the earth
to tremble, Sons of Prsni, when for victory ye have yoked, fierce
Ones! your spotted deer.
4 Bright with the blasts of wind,
wrapped in their robes of rain, like twins of noble aspect and
of lovely form,
The Maruts, spotless, with steeds tawnyhued
and red, strong in their mightiness and spreading wide like
heaven.
5 Rich in adornment, rich in drops, munificent, bright
in their aspect, yielding bounties that endure,
Noble by
birth, adorned with gold upon their breasts, the Singers of
the sky have won immortal fame.
6 Borne on both shoulders,
O ye Maruts, are your spears: within your arms is laid your
energy and 3trength.
Bold thoughts are in your heads, your
weapons in your cars, all glorious majesty is moulded on your
forms.
7 Vouchsafe to us, O Maruts, splendid bounty in cattle
and in steeds, in cars and heroes.
Children of Rudra, give
us high distinction: may I enjoy your Godlike help and favour.
8 Ho! Maruts, Heroes, skilled in Law, immortal, be gracious
unto us, ye rich in treasures,
Ye hearers of the truth, ye
sage and youthful, grown mighty, dwelling on the lofty mountains.
HYMN LVIII. Maruts.
1. Now do I glorify their mighty cohort, the company of these
the youthful Maruts,
Who ride impetuous on with rapid horses,
and radiant in themselves, are Lords of Amrta.
2 The mighty
glittering band, arm-bound with bracelets, givers of bliss,
unmeasured in their greatness,
With magical powers, bountiful,
ever-roaring,-these, liberal Heroes, venerate thou singer.
3 This day may all your water-bringers, Maruts, they who impel
the falling rain, approach us.
This fire, O Maruts, hath
been duly kindled; let it find favour with you, youthful Sages.
4 Ye raise up for the folk an active ruler whom, Holy Ones!
a Master's hand hath fashioned.
Ye send the fighter hand
to hand, armmighty, and the brave hero, Maruts with good horses.
5 They spring forth more and more, strong in their glories,
like days, like spokes where none are last in order.
Highest
and mightiest are the Sons of Prsni. Firm to their own intention
cling the Maruts.
6 When ye have hastened on with spotted
coursers, O Maruts, on your cars with strong-wrought fellies,
The waters are disturbed, the woods are shattered. Let Dyaus
the Red Steer send his thunder downward.
7 Even Earth hath
spread herself wide at their coming, and they as husbands have
with power impregned her.
They to the pole have yoked the
winds for coursers: their sweat have they made rain, these Sons
of Rudra.
8 Ho! Maruts, Heroes, skilled in Law, immortal,
be gracious unto us, ye rich in treasures,
Ye hearers of
the truth, ye sage and youthful, grown mighty, dwelling on the
lofty mountains.
HYMN LIX. Maruts.
1. YOUR spy hath called to you to give prosperity. I sing
to Heaven and Earth and offer sacrifice.
They bathe their
steeds and hasten through the firmament: they spread abroad
their radiance through the sea of cloud.
2 Earth shakes and
reels in terror at their onward rush, like a full ship which,
quivering, lets the water in.
Marked on their ways are they,
visible from afar: the Heroes press between in mighty armament.
3 As the exalted horn of bulls for splendid might, as the Sun's
eye set in the firmament's expanse,
Like vigorous horses
ye are beauteous to behold, and for your glory show like bridegrooms,
O ye Men.
4 Who, O ye Maruts, may attain the mighty lore
of you the mighty, who may reach your manly deeds?
Ye, verily,
make earth tremble like a ray of light what time ye bring your
boons to give prosperity,
5 Like steeds of ruddy colour,
scions of one race, as foremost champions they have battled
in the van.
The Heroes have waxed strong like we.1grown manly
youths; with floods of rain they make the Sun's eye fade away,
6 Having no eldest and no youngest in their band, no middlomost,
preeminent they have waxed in might,
These Sons of Prsni,
sprung of noble ancestry: come hitberward to us, ye bridegrooms
of the sky.
7 Like birds of air they flew with might in lengthened
lines from heaven's high ridges to the borders of the sky.
The steeds who carry them, as Gods and mortals know, have caused
the waters of the mounuains to desGend.
8 May Dyaus, the
Infinite, roar for our banquet: may Dawns toil for us, glittering
with moisture.
Lauded by thee, these Maruts, Sons o Rudra,
O Rsi, have sent down the heavenly treasure.
HYMN LX. Maruts.
1. I LAUD with reverence the gracious Agni: here may he sit
and part our meed among us.
As with spoil-seeking cars I
bring oblation: turned rightward I will swell the Marut's, praise-song.
2 The Maruts, yea, the Rudras, who have mounted their famous
spotted deer and cars swift-moving,-
Before you, fierce Ones!
woods bow down in terror: Earth, even the mountain, trembles
at your coming.
3 Though vast and tall, the mountain is affrighted,
the height of heaven is shaken at your roaring
When, armed
with lances, ye are sporting, Maruts, and rush along together
like the waters.
4 They, like young suitors, sons of wealthy
houses, have with their golden natures decked their bodies.
Strong on their cars, the lordly Ones, for glory, have set their
splendours on their forms for ever.
5 None being eldest,
none among them youngest, as brothers they have grown to happy
fortune.
May their Sire Rudra, young and deft, and Prsni
pouring much milk, bring fair days to the Maruts.
6 Whether,
O blessed Maruts, ye be dwelling in highest, midmost, or in
lowest heaven,
Thence, O ye Rudras, and thou also, Agni,
notice the sacrificial food we offer.
7 O Maruts, Lords of
all, when Agni and when ye drive downward from sublimest heaven
along the heights,
Shakers of all, rejoicing, slayers of
the foe, give riches to the Soma-pressing worshipper.
8 O
Agni, with the Maruts as they gleam and sing, gathered in troop,
rejoicing drink the Soma juice;
With these the living ones
who cleanse and further all, joined with thy banner, O Vaisvanara,
from of old.
Suggestions for Further Reading
- The Rig Veda translation by Griffith, Introduction
- Hymns of the Sama veda translated by Ralph T.H. Griffith
- Yajur Veda: The Veda Of The Black Yajus School
- Hymns Of The Atharva-Veda
- Anugita English Translation
- THE Sanatsugâtîya, A Spiritual Dialogue
- Dharmashastras, the Sacred Law Books of Hindus
- The Hindu Dharmashastras, Subject Index
- The Grihya Sutras, The Vedic Domestic Ritual Texts
- The Sankhya Sutras of Kapila, Index page
- Translation of Upanishads by Swami Paramananda, Index
- A History Of Indian Philosophy - Chapter Index
- The Upanishads translated by Max Muller
- Vedic Reader for Students
- The Bhagavad-gita in a nutshell
- Essays On Dharma
- Esoteric Mystic Hinduism
- Introduction to Hinduism
- Hindu Way of Life
- Essays On Karma
- Hindu Rites and Rituals
- The Origin of The Sanskrit Language
- Symbolism in Hinduism
- Essays on The Upanishads
- Concepts of Hinduism
- Essays on Atman
- Hindu Festivals
- Spiritual Practice
- Right Living
- Yoga of Sorrow
- Happiness
- Mental Health
- Concepts of Buddhism
- General Essays
Source: An English translation of the Vedas by Ralph T.H. Griffith, 1896.