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Dhammapada · narration sample

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Rig Veda · 399 of 1027

Mandala 5: HYMN XLV. Viśvedevas.

1.BARDS of approaching Dawn who know the heavens are come with hymns to throw the mountain open. The Sun hath risen and oped the stable portals: the doors of men, too, hath the God thrown open.

2.Sūrya hath spread his light as splendour: hither came the Cows’ Mother, conscious, from the stable, To streams that flow with biting waves to deserts; and heaven is stablished like a firm-set pillar.

3.This laud hath won the burden of the mountain. To aid the ancient birth of mighty waters The mountain parted, Heaven performed his office. The worshippers were worn with constant serving.

4.With hymns and God-loved words will I invoke you, Indra and Agni, to obtain your favour, For verily sages, skilled in sacrificing, worship the Maruts and with lauds invite them.

5.This day approach us: may our thoughts be holy, far from us let us cast away misfortune. Let us keep those who hate us at a distance, and haste to meet the man who sacrifices.

6.Come, let us carry out, O friends, the purpose wherewith the Mother threw the Cow’s stall open, That wherewith Manu conquered Visisipra, wherewith the wandering merchant gained heaven’s water.

7.Here, urged by hands, loudly hath rung the press-stone wherewith Navagvas through ten months sang praises. Saramā went aright and found the cattle. Aṅgiras gave effect to all their labours.

8.When at the dawning of this mighty Goddess, Aṅgirases all sang forth with the cattle,— Their spring is in the loftiest place of meeting,—Saramā found the kine by Order’s pathway.

9.Borne by his Coursers Seven may Sūrya visit the field that spreadeth wide for his long journey. Down on the Soma swooped the rapid Falcon. Bright was the young Sage moving mid his cattle.

10.Sūrya hath mounted to the shining ocean when he hath yoked his fair-backed Tawny Horses. The wise have drawn him like a ship through water: the floods obedient have descended hither.

11.I lay upon the Floods your hymn, lightwinning, wherewith Navagvas their ten months completed. Through this our hymn may we have Gods to guard us: through this our hymn pass safe beyond affliction.

Asked of Guide

Why does the hymn call Sūrya the Cow's Mother and mention opening the stall at dawn?

The hymn uses the image of Sūrya as the Cow’s Mother to link sunrise with abundance and release: when “the Cow’s stall” is opened, cattle (wealth, life, waters) are free to go to the sacred streams. Verse 2 names the Cow’s Mother coming “conscious, from the stable,” tying the sun’s rising to a birth or renewal that sets vital resources moving.

Those images also serve a ritual logic: singers and priests aim hymns to make the mountain and the waters yield, as in verse 3 where “the mountain parted” and the worshippers’ labours take effect. This resembles themes in the Atharva Veda where hymns and ritual actions are described as coaxing prosperity and cosmic order into being.

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.