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Rig Veda · 921 of 1027
Mandala 10: HYMN LXXXIV. Manyu.
1.BORNE on with thee, O Manyu girt by Maruts, let our brave men, impetuous, bursting forward, March on, like flames of fire in form, exulting, with pointed arrows, sharpening their weapons.
2.Flashing like fire, be thou, O conquering Manyu, invoked, O Victor, as our army’s leader. Slay thou our foes, distribute their possessions: show forth thy vigour, scatter those who hate us.
3.O Manyu, overcome thou our assailant on! breaking, slaying, crushing down the foemen. They have not hindered thine impetuous vigour: Mighty, Sole born! thou makest them thy subjects.
4.Alone or many thou art worshipped, Manyu: sharpen the spirit of each clan for battle. With thee to aid, O thou of perfect splendour, we will uplift the glorious shout for conquest.
5.Unyielding bringing victory like Indra, O Manyu, be thou here our Sovran Ruler. To thy dear name, O Victor, we sing praises: we know the spring from which thou art come hither.
6.Twin-born with power, destructive bolt of thunder, the highest conquering might is thine, Subduer! Be friendly to its in thy spirit, Manyu, O Much-invoked, in shock of mighty battle.
7.For spoil let Varuṇa and Manyu give us the wealth of both sides gathered and collected; And let our enemies with stricken spirits, o’erwhelmed with terror, slink away defeated.
Asked of Guide
Why does this hymn call Manyu both a warrior and a ruler?
The hymn treats Manyu as the source of fighting energy and as the power that legitimizes victory: verses call him “conquering Manyu” who “Slay thou our foes” and also ask him to be “our Sovran Ruler,” showing war-making and sovereignty as two faces of the same divine force. The poem links martial fury to communal order by asking Manyu to “sharpen the spirit of each clan” and to distribute spoils, so victory creates rulership and social goods.
This reading echoes how other Rig Veda hymns personify a power that both fights and bestows kingship, similar to Mandala 1 hymns where Indra wins and then grants cattle and rule; here Manyu carries that same double role of destroyer and benefactor. The hymn’s repeated epithets—“Victor,” “Sole born,” “Much-invoked”—stress a single divine agency that makes war and then institutes its outcomes.
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