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Rig Veda · 115 of 1027
Mandala 1: HYMN CXV. Sūrya.
1.THE brilliant presence of the Gods hath risen, the eye of Mitra, Varuṇa and Agni. The soul of all that moveth not or moveth, the Sun hath filled the air and earth and heaven.
2.Like as a young man followeth a maiden, so doth the Sun the Dawn, refulgent Goddess: Where pious men extend their generations, before the Auspicious One for happy fortune.
3.Auspicious are the Sun’s Bay-coloured Horses, bright, changing hues, meet for our shouts of triumph. Bearing our prayers, the sky’s ridge have they mounted, and in a moment speed round earth and heaven.
4.This is the Godhead, this might of Sūrya: he hath withdrawn what spread o’er work unfinished. When he hath loosed his Horses from their station, straight over all Night spreadeth out her garment.
5.In the sky’s lap the Sun this form assumeth that Varuṇa and Mitra may behold it. His Bay Steeds well maintain his power eternal, at one time bright and darksome at another.
6.This day, O Gods, while Sūrya is ascending, deliver us from trouble and dishonour. This prayer of ours may Varuṇa grant, and Mitra, and Aditi and Sindhu, Earth and Heaven.
Asked of Guide
Why is Sūrya compared to a young man following the Dawn?
The hymn likens Sūrya to a young man following the Dawn to make the Sun’s daily union with the Dawn palpable and intimate: “Like as a young man followeth a maiden, so doth the Sun the Dawn, refulgent Goddess.” That image explains the sunrise as a recurring, eager meeting that renews life and order each morning.
This comparison also ties the cosmic act to human fertility and continuity—“Where pious men extend their generations”—so the solar rise becomes assurance of prosperity and lineage. The hymn’s personification of Sun, Dawn, and their steeds echoes later Vedic texts that read heavenly motions as relationships sustaining world and ritual, as in other hymns of the Rig Veda.
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