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Dhammapada · narration sample

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Rig Veda · 873 of 1027

Mandala 10: HYMN XXXVI. Viśvedevas.

1.THERE are the Dawn and Night, the grand and beauteous Pair, Earth, Heaven, and Varuṇa, Mitra, and Aryaman. Indra I call, the Maruts, Mountains, and the Floods, Ādityas, Heaven and Earth, the Waters, and the Sky.

2.May Dyaus and Prthivi, wise, true to Holy Law, keep us in safety from distress and injury. Let not malignant Nirrti rule over us. We crave to-day this gracious favour of the Gods.

3.Mother of Mitra and of opulent Varuṇa, may Aditi preserve us safe from all distress. May we obtain the light of heaven without a foe. We crave this gracious favour of the Gods to-day.

4.May ringing press-stones keep the Rākṣasas afar, ill dream, and Nirrti, and each voracious fiend. May the Ādityas and the Maruts shelter us. We crave this gracious favour of the Gods to-day.

5.Full flow libations; on our grass let Indra sit; Bṛhaspati the singer laud with Sāma hymns! Wise be our hearts’ imaginings that we may live. We crave this gracious favour of the Gods to-day.

6.Ye Aśvins, make our sacrifice ascend to heaven, and animate the rite that it may send us bliss, Offered with holy oil, with forward-speeding rein. We crave the gracious favour of the Gods to-day.

7.Hither I call the band of Maruts, swift to hear, great, purifying, bringing bliss, to he our Friends. May we increase our wealth to glorify our name. We crave this graciousfavour of the Gods to-day.

8.We bring the Stay of Life, who makes the waters swell, swift-hearing, Friend of Gods, who waits on sacrifice. May we control that Power, Soma whose rays are bright. We crave this gracious favour of the Gods to-day.

9.Alive ourselves, with living sons, devoid of guilt, may we win this with winners by fair means to win. Let the prayer-haters bear our sin to every side. We crave this gracious favour of the Gods to-day.

10.Hear us, O ye who claim the worship of mankind, and give us, O ye Gods, the gift for which we pray, Victorious wisdom, fame with heroes and with wealth. We crave to-day this gracious favour of the Gods.

11.We crave the gracious favour of the Gods to-day, great favour of great Gods, sublime and free from foes, That we may gain rich treasure sprung from hero sons. We crave this gracious favour of the Gods to-day.

12.In great enkindled Agni’s keeping, and, for bliss, free from all sin before Mitra and Varuṇa. May we share Savitar’s best animating help. We crave this gracious favour of the Gods to-day.

13.All ye, the Gods whom Savitar the Father of truth, and Varuṇa and Mitra govern, Give us prosperity with hero children, and opulence in kine and various treasure.

14.Savitar, Savitar from cast and westward, Savitar, Savitar from north and southward, Savitar send us perfect health and comfort, Savitar let our days of life be lengthened!

Asked of Guide

Why does each verse end with “We crave this gracious favour of the Gods to-day”?

The repeated line frames the hymn as a communal petition: the rishi names many deities and then returns the wish to a single plea for divine favor. That refrain makes the whole poem into a single sustained request rather than a list of independent praises.

This pattern ties specific powers—Agni, Aśvins, Ādityas, Savitar—to one practical goal: prosperity, protection, offspring, and long life. The same technique appears in other Rigveda hymns where repetition seals a ritual intention, as in many hymns of Mandala 10 that use refrains to bind invocation to outcome.

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