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Dhammapada · narration sample

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Rig Veda · 929 of 1027

Mandala 10: HYMN XCII. Viśvedevas.

1.I PRAISE your Charioteer of sacrifice, the Lord of men, Priest of the tribes, refulgent, Guest of night. Blazing amid dry plants, snatching amid the green, the Strong, the Holy Herald hath attained to heaven.

2.Him, Agni, Gods and men have made their chief support, who drinks the fatness and completes the sacrifice. With kisses they caress the Grandson of the Red, like the swift ray of light, the Household Priest of Dawn.

3.Yea, we discriminate his and the niggard’s ways: his branches evermore are sent forth to consume. When his terrific flames have reached the Immortal’s world, then men remember and extol the Heavenly Folk.

4.For then the net of Law, Dyaus, and the wide expanse, Earth, Worship, and Devotion meet for highest praise, Varuṇa, Indra, Mitra were of one accord, and Savitar and Bhaga, Lords of holy might.

5.Onward, with ever-roaming Rudra, speed the floods: over Aramati the Mighty have they run. With them Parijman, moving round his vast domain, loud bellowing, bedews all things that are within.

6.Straightway the Rudras, Maruts visiting all men, Falcons of Dyaus, home-dwellers with the Asura,— Varuṇa, Mitra, Aryaman look on with these, and the swift-moving Indra with swift-moving Gods.

7.With Indra have they found enjoyment, they who toil, in the light’s beauty, in the very Strong One’s strength; The singers who in men’s assemblies forged for him, according to his due, his friend the thunderbolt.

8.Even the Sun’s Bay Coursers hath lie held in check: each one fears Indra as the mightiest of all. Unhindered, from the air’s vault thunders day by day the loud triumphant breathing of the fearful Bull.

9.With humble adoration show this day your song of praise to mighty Rudra, Ruler of the brave: With whom, the Eager Ones, going their ordered course, he comes from heaven Self-bright, auspicious, strong to guard.

10.For these have spread abroad the fame of human kind, the Bull Bṛhaspati and Soma’s brotherhood. Atharvan first by sacrifices made men sure: through skill the Bhṛgus were esteemed of all as Gods.

11.For these, the Earth and Heaven with their abundant seed, four-bodied Narāśaṁsa, Yama, Aditi, God Tvaṣṭar Wealth-bestower, the Ṛbhukṣaṇas, Rodasī, Maruts, Viṣṇu, claim and merit praise.

12.And may he too give car, the Sage, from far away, the Dragon of the Deep, to this our yearning call. Ye Sun and Moon who dwell in heaven and move in turn, and with your thought, O Earth and Sky, observe this well.

13.Dear to all Gods, may Pūṣan guard the ways we go, the Waters’ child and Vāyu help us to success. Sing lauds for your great bliss to Wind, the breath of all: ye Aśvins prompt to hear, hear this upon your way.

14.With hymns of praise we sing him who is throned as Lord over these fearless tribes, the Self-resplendent One. We praise Night’s youthful Lord benevolent to men, the foeless One, the free, with all celestial Dames.

15.By reason of his birth here Aṅgiras first sang: the pressing-stones upraised beheld the sacrifice- The stones through which the Sage became exceeding vast, and the sharp axe obtains in fight the beauteous place.

Asked of Guide

Why does this hymn call Agni and Rudra together with many gods—what is the hymn doing by naming them all?

The hymn gathers Agni, Rudra, Indra, Varuṇa, Mitra, Pūṣan, the Aśvins and others to show the sacrifice as a single communal event that ties heaven, earth, and human order together. It names Agni as the “Charioteer of sacrifice” who “completes the sacrifice,” then invokes Rudra and the Maruts, floods, and celestial powers to witness and protect the ritual’s power.

By listing deities the rishi maps the network that sustains social and cosmic law: law, worship, devotion, and the “net of” Dyaus and Earth converge when the fire’s flame reaches the Immortal world. This technique appears across the Vedas; compare the roster-style invocations in other Rigveda hymns where enumeration makes the sacrifice visible as shared authority and efficacy.

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.