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Dhammapada · narration sample

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Rig Veda · 218 of 1027

Mandala 2: HYMN XXVII. Ādityas.

1.THESE hymns that drop down fatness, with the ladle I ever offer to the Kings Ādityas. May Mitra, Aryaman, and Bhaga hear us, the mighty Varuṇa Dakṣa, and Aṁśa.

2.With one accord may Aryaman and Mitra and Varuṇa this day accept this praise-song— Ādityas bright and pure as streams of water, free from all guile and falsehood, blameless, perfect.

3.These Gods, Ādityas, vast, profound, and faithful, with many eyes, fain to deceive the wicked, Looking within behold the good and evil near to the Kings is even the thing most distant.

4.Upholding that which moves and that which moves not, Ādityas, Gods, protectors of all being, Provident, guarding well the world of spirits, true to eternal Law, the debt-exactors.

5.May I, Ādityas, share m this your favour which, Aryaman, brings profit e’en in danger. Under your guidance, Varuṇa and Mitra, round troubles may I pass, like rugged places.

6.Smooth is your path, O Aryaman and Mitra; excellent is it, Varuṇa, and thornless. Thereon, Ādityas, send us down your blessing: grant us a shelter hard to be demolished.

7.Mother of Kings, may Aditi transport us, by fair paths Aryaman, beyond all hatred. May we uninjured, girt by many heroes, win Varuṇa’s and Mitra’s high protection.

8.With their support they stay three earths, three heavens; three are their functions in the Gods’ assembly. Mighty through Law, Ādityas, is your greatness; fair is it, Aryaman, Varuṇa, and Mitra.

9.Golden and splendid, pure like streams of water, they hold aloft the three bright heavenly regions. Ne’er do they slumber, never close their eyelids, faithful, far-ruling for the righteous mortal.

10.Thou over all, O Varuṇa, art Sovran, be they Gods, Asura! or be they mortals. Grant unto us to see a hundred autumns ours be the blest long lives of our forefathers.

11.Neither the right nor left do I distinguish, neither the cast nor yet the west, Ādityas. Simple and guided by your wisdom, Vasus! may I attain the light that brings no danger.

12.He who bears gifts unto the Kings, true Leaders, he whom their everlasting blessings prosper, Moves with his chariot first in rank and wealthy, munificent and lauded in assemblies.

13.Pure, faithful, very strong, with heroes round him, he dwells beside the waters rich with pasture. None slays, from near at hand or from a distance, him who is under the Ādityas’ guidance.

14.Aditi, Mitra, Varuṇa, forgive us however we have erred and sinned against you. May I obtain the broad light free from peril: O Indra, let not during darkness seize us.

15.For him the Twain united pour their fulness, the rain from heaven: he thrives most highly favoured. He goes to war mastering both the mansions: to him both portions of the world are gracious.

16.Your guiles, ye Holy Ones, to quell oppressors, your snares spread out against the foe, Ādityas, May I car-borne pass like a skilful horseman: uninjured may we dwell in spacious shelter.

17.May I not live, O Varuṇa, to witness my wealthy, liberal, dear friend’s destitution. King, may O never lack well-ordered riches. Loud may we speak, with heroes, in assembly.

Asked of Guide

Why do the Ādityas get praised as guardians of law and light in this hymn?

The hymn calls the Ādityas “upholding that which moves and that which moves not” and presents them as “true to eternal Law,” so the rishis praise them because they order the cosmos and police moral and cosmic balance. Varuṇa, Mitra, and Aryaman appear as administrators of law, protection, and safe passage—qualities the worshipper seeks for long life, shelter, and freedom from danger.

Praising them as guardians of light follows from those same functions: the Ādityas are “golden and splendid, pure like streams of water,” never slumbering, who “hold aloft the three bright heavenly regions.” The hymn links their radiant, wakeful presence with social prosperity and personal security, a theme close to the emphasis on cosmic order in the Bhagavad Gita where duty and right action sustain the world.

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