The Hymns of the Rigveda

Jazzybee Verlag (Hrsg.), Ralph T. H. Griffith

• Publisher: Jazzybee Verlag
• Year: 2014
• eBook ISBN: 9783849644512
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Eastern Philosophy

In the dim twilight preceding the dawn of Indian literature the historical imagination can perceive the forms of Aryan warriors, the first Western conquerors of Hindustan, issuing from those passes in the north-west through which the tide of invasion has in successive ages rolled to sweep over the plains of India. The earliest poetry of this invading race, whose language and culture ultimately overspread the whole continent, was composed while its tribes still occupied the territories on both sides of the Indus now known as Eastern Kabulistan and the Panjab. That ancient poetry has come down to us in the form of a collection of hymns called the Rigveda. The cause which gathered the poems it contains into a single book was scientific and historical. The number of hymns comprised in the Rigveda, in the only recension which has been preserved, that of the Çakala school, is 1017, or, if the eleven supplementary hymns (called Valakhilya) which are inserted in the middle of the eighth book are added, 1028. These hymns are grouped in ten books, called mandalas, or "cycles, " which vary in length, except that the tenth contains the same number of hymns as the first. In bulk the hymns of the Rigveda equal, it has been calculated, the surviving poems of Homer.

1. O VARUNA and Mitra, Surya spreading the beauteous light of you Twain Gods ariseth. He who beholdetb all existing creatures observetb well the zeal that is in mortals.

2 The holy sage, renowned afar, directeth his hymns to you, O Varuna and Mitra,-

He whose devotions, sapient Gods, ye favour so that ye fill, as 'twere, with power his autumns.

3 From the wide earth, O Varuna and Mitra from the great lofty heaven, ye, Bounteous Givers, - Have in the fields and houses set your warder-, who visit every spot and watch unceasing.

4 I praise the strength of Varuna and Mitra that strength, by mightiness, keeps both worlds asunder. Heroless pass the months of the ungodly he who loves sacrifice makes his home enduring.

5 Steers, all infallible are these your people in whom no wondrous thing is seen, no worship. Guile follows close the men who are untruthful: no secrets may be hidden from your knowledge.

6 I will exalt your sacrifice with homage: as priest, I, Mitra-Varuna, invoke you.

May these new hymns and prayers that I have fashioned delight you to the profit of the singer.

7 This priestly task, Gods! Varuna and Mitra! hath been performed for you at sacrifices. Convey us safely over every peril. Preserve us evermore, ye Gods, with blessings.

Hymn LXII. Mitra-Varuna.

1. SURYA hath sent aloft his beams of splendour o'er all the tribes of men in countless places. Together with the heaven he shines apparent, formed by his Makers well with power and wisdom.

2 So hast thou mounted up before us, Surya, through these our praises, with fleet dappled horses. Declare us free from all offence to Mitra, and Varuna, and Aryaman, and Agni.

3 May holy Agni, Varuna, and Mitra send down their riches upon us in thousands.

May they, the Bright Ones, make our praise-song perfect, and, when we laud them, grant us all our wishes.

4 O undivided Heaven and Earth, preserve us, us, Lofty Ones! your nobIy-born descendants. Let us not anger Varuna, nor Vayu, nor him, the dearest Friend of mortals, Mitra.

5 Stretch forth your arms and let our lives be lengthened: with fatness dew the pastures of our cattle. Ye Youthful, make us famed among the people: hear, Mitra-Varuna, these mine invocations.

6 Now Mitra, Varuna, Aryaman vouchsafe us freedom and room, for us and for our children. May we find paths all fair and good to travel. Preserve us evermore, ye Gods, with blessings.

Hymn LXIII. Mitra-Varuna.

1. COMMON to all mankind, auspicious Surya, he who beholdeth all, is mounting upward; The God, the eye of Varuna and Mitra, who rolled up darkness like a piece of leather.

2 Surya's great ensign, restless as the billow, that urgeth men to action, is advancing:

Onward he still would roll the wheel well-rounded, which Etasa, harnessed to the car-pole, moveth.

3 Refulgent from the bosom of the Mornings, he in Whom singers take delight ascendeth. This Savitar, God, is my chief joy and pleasure, who breaketh not the universal statute.

4 Golden, far-seeing, from the heaven he riseth: far is his goal, he hasteth on resplendent. Men, verily, inspirited by Surya speed to their aims and do the work assigned them.

5 Where the irrunortals have prepared his pathway he flieth through the region like a falcon. With homage and oblations will we serve you, O Mitra-Varuna, when the Sun hath risen.

6 Now Mitra, Varuna, Aryaman vouchsafe us freedom and room, for us and for our children. May we find paths all fair and good to travel. Preserve us evermore, ye Gods, with blessings.

Hymn LXIV. Mitra-Varuna.

1. YE Twain who rule, in heaven and earth, the region, clothed be your clouds in robes of oil and fatness.

May the imperial Varuna, and Mitra, and high-born Aryaman accept our presents.

2 Kings, guards of rrtighty everlasting Order, come hitherward, ye Princes, Lords of Rivers.

Send us from heaven, O Varuna and Mitra, rain and sweet food, ye who pour down your bounties.

3 May the dear God, and Varuna and Mitra conduct us by the most effective pathways,

That foes may say unto Sudas our chieftain, May, we, too, joy in food with Gods to guard us.

4 Him who hath wrought for you this car in spirit, who makes the song rise upward and sustains it, Bedew with fatness, Varuna nd...

Table of contents

• The Hymns of the Rigveda
• Rig Veda - Book The First
• Rig Veda - Book The Second
• Rig Veda - Book The Third
• Rig Veda - Book The Fourth
• Rig Veda - Book The Fifth
• Rig Veda - Book The Sixth
• Rig Veda - Book The Seventh
• Rig Veda - Book The Eighth
• Rig Veda - Book The Ninth
• Rig Veda - Book The Tenth