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Dhammapada · narration sample

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Rig Veda · 226 of 1027

Mandala 2: HYMN XXXV. Son of Waters.

1.EAGER for spoil my flow of speech I utter: may the Floods’ Child accept my songs with favour. Will not the rapid Son of Waters make them lovely, for he it is who shall enjoy them?

2.To him let us address the song well-fashioned, forth from the heart. Shall he not understand it’ The friendly Son of Waters by the greatness of Godhead hath produced all things existing.

3.Some floods unite themselves and others join them: die sounding rivers fill one common storehouse. On every side the bright Floods have encompassed the bright resplendent Offspring of the Waters.

4.The never-sullen waters, youthful Maidens, carefully decking, wait on him the youthful. He with bright rays shines forth in splendid beauty, unfed with wood, in waters, oil-enveloped.

5.To him three Dames are offering food to feed him, Goddesses to the God whom none may injure. Within the waters hath he pressed, as hollows, and drinks their milk who now are first made mothers.

6.Here was the horse’s birth; his was the sunlight. Save thou our princes from the oppressor’s onslaught. Him, indestructible, dwelling at a distance in forts unwrought lies and ill spirits reach not.

7.He, in whose mansion is the teeming Milch-cow, swells the Gods’ nectar and cats noble viands. The Son of Waters, gathering strength in waters, shines for his worshipper to give him treasures.

8.He who in waters with his own pure Godhead shines widely, law-abiding, everlasting— The other worlds are verily his branches, and plants are born of him with all their offspring.

9.The Waters’ Son hath risen, and clothed in lightning ascended up unto the curled cloud’s bosom; And bearing with them his supremest glory the Youthful Ones, gold-coloured, move around him.

10.Golden in form is he, like gold to look on, his colour is like gold, the Son of Waters. When he is seated fresh from golden birthplace those who present their gold give food to feed him.

11.This the fair name and this the lovely aspect of him the Waters’ Son increase in secret. Whom here the youthful Maids together kindle, his food is sacred oil of golden colour.

12.Him, nearest Friend of many, will we worship with sacrifice. and reverence and oblation. I make his back to shine, with chips provide him; I offer food and with my songs exalt him.

13.The Bull hath laid his own life-germ Within them. He sucks them as an infant, and they kiss him. He, Son of Waters, of unfading colour, hath entered here as in another’s body.

14.While here he dwelleth in sublimest station, resplendent with the rays that never perish, The Waters, bearing oil to feed their offspring, flow, Youthful Ones, in wanderings about him.

15.Agni, I gave good shelter to the people, and to the princes goodly preparation. Blessed is all that Gods regard with favour. Loud may we speak, with heroes, in assembly.

Asked of Guide

Who is the 'Son of Waters' and why do the waters nurture him?

The Son of Waters is a divine youthful figure born from the Floods, described as golden, radiant, and life-giving: “golden in form… his colour is like gold.” He is portrayed as the offspring of the Floods whose emergence brings plants, treasures, and nourishment, so the rivers and Maidens attend him with oil and milk.

The hymn treats him as a sustaining creative presence whose birth and ascent into the clouds renew the world: “plants are born of him with all their offspring.” This chapter connects to other Rigveda hymns that personify rivers and their offspring as fertility-giving deities and to later Vedic imagery of cosmic bovine and milk metaphors found in the same corpus.

Guide is the guide inside the Gnosis app, where every book on these shelves is free to read. Guide is the part you pay for — your guide has read all of them, and answers about the passage you’re actually on. Ask your guide your own question.