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Dhammapada · narration sample

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Rig Veda · 413 of 1027

Mandala 5: 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 Pṛśni, 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 Ṛṣi, have sent down the heavenly treasure.

Asked of Guide

Why do the Maruts get compared to bridegrooms and steeds so often in this hymn?

The hymn likens the Maruts to bridegrooms and to swift steeds to emphasize their vitality, beauty, and energized arrival: they “bathe their steeds and hasten through the firmament” and are “beauteous to behold.” Those images signal a vigorous, public appearance that brings prosperity and stirring power—storm gods arriving like a celebratory procession.

The comparisons also stress their collective, ordered force: they come “in lengthened lines” and have “no eldest and no youngest,” a uniform fellowship whose movement shakes earth and dims the sun’s eye. This hymn situates the Maruts as a youthful martial ensemble whose ceremonial splendor and storming motion deliver boons, echoing other Rigvedic portrayals of storm-deities as both beautiful and terrifying forces (see earlier Mandala hymns to Rudra and Indra).

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