Rig Veda

RIG VEDA – BOOK SEVEN
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HYMN C. Visnu.
1 NE'ER doth the man repent, who, seeking profit, bringeth his
gift to the far-striding Visnu.
He who adoreth him with all his spirit winneth himself so great
a benefactor.
2 Thou, Visnu, constant in thy courses, gavest good-will to all
men, and a hymn that lasteth,
That thou mightst move us to abundant comfort of very
splendid wealth with store of horses.
3 Three times strode forth this God in all his grandeur over this
earth bright with a hundred splendours.
Foremost be Visnu, stronger than the strongest: for glorious is
his name who lives for ever.
4 Over this earth with mighty step strode Visnu, ready to give
it for a home to Manu.
In him the humble people trust for safety: he, nobly born, hath
made them spacious dwellings.
5 To-day I laud this name, O gipivista, I, skilled in rules, the
name of thee the Noble.
Yea, I the poor and weak praise thee the Mighty who dwellest
in the realm beyond this region.
6 What was there to be blamed in thee, O Visnu, when thou
declaredst, I am Sipivista?
Hide not this form from us, nor keep it secret, since thou didst
wear another shape in battle.
7 O Visnu, unto thee my lips cry Vasat! Let this mine offering,
Sipivista, please thee.
May these my songs of eulogy exalt thee. Preserve us
evermore, ye Gods, with blessings.
HYMN CI. Parjanya.
1 SPEAK forth three words, the words which light precedeth,
which milk this udder that produceth nectar.
Quickly made manifest, the Bull hath bellowed, engendering
the germ of plants, the Infant.
2 Giver of growth to plants, the God who ruleth over the
waters and all moving creatures,
Vouchsafe us triple shelter for our refuge, and threefold light
to succour and befriend us.
3 Now he is sterile, now begetteth offspring, even as he willeth
doth he change his figure.
The Father's genial flow bedews the Mother; therewith the
Sire, therewith the son is nourished.
4 In him all living creatures have their being, and the three
heavens with triplyflowing waters.
Three reservoirs that sprinkle down their treasure shed their
sweet streams around him with a murmur.
5 May this my song to Sovran Lord Parjanya come near unto
his heart and give him pleasure.
May we obtain the showers that bring enjoyment, and Godprotected
plants with goodly fruitage.
6 He is the Bull of all, and their impregner lie holds the life of
all things fixed and moving.
May this rite save me till my hundredth autumn. Preserve us
evermore, ye Gods, with blessings.
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HYMN CII Parjanya.
1 SING forth and laud Parjanya, son of Heaven, who sends the
gift of rain
May he provide our pasturage.
2 Parjanya is the God who forms in kine, in mares, in plants of
earth,
And womankind, the germ of life.
3 Offer and pour into his mouth oblation rich in savoury juice:
May he for ever give us food.
HYMN CIII. Frogs.
1. THEY who lay quiet for a year, the Brahmans who fulfil
their vows,
The Frogs have lifted up their voice, the voice Parjanya hath
inspired.
2 What time on these, as on a dry skin lying in the pool's bed,
the floods of heaven descended,
The music of the Frogs comes forth in concert like the cows
lowing with their calves beside them.
3 When at the coming of the Rains the water has poured upon
them as they yearned and thirsted,
One seeks another as he talks and greets him with cries of
pleasure as a son his father.
4 Each of these twain receives the other kindly, while they are
revelling in the flow of waters,
When the Frog moistened by the rain springs forward, and
Green and Spotty both combine their voices.
5 When one of these repeats the other's language, as he who
learns the lesson of the teacher,
Your every limb seems to be growing larger as ye converse
with eloquence on the waters.
6 Onc is Cow-bellow and Goat-bleat the other, one Frog is
Green and one of them is Spotty.
They bear one common name, and yet they vary, and, talking,
modulate the voice diversely.
7 As Brahmans, sitting round the brimful vessel, talk at the
Soma-rite of Atiratra,
So, Frogs, ye gather round the pool to honour this day of all
the year, the first of Rain-time.
8 These Brahmans with the Soma juice, performing their yearlong
rite, have lifted up their voices;
And these Adhvaryus, sweating with their kettles, come forth
and show themselves, and none are hidden.
9 They keep the twelve month's God-appointed order, and
never do the men neglect the season.
Soon as the Rain-time in the year returneth, these who were
heated kettles gain their freedom.
10 Cow-bellow and Goat-bleat have granted riches, and Green
and Spotty have vouchsafed us treasure.
The Frogs who give us cows in hundreds lengthen our lives in
this most fertilizing season.
HYMN CIV. Indra-Soma.
1. INDRA and Soma, burn, destroy the demon foe, send
downward, O ye Bulls, those who add gloom to gloom.
Annihilate the fools, slay them and burn them up: chase them
away from us, pierce the voracious ones.