Sukta 25

Mantra 1

यच्चिद्धि ते विशो यथा प्र देव वरुण व्रतम् । मिनीमसि द्यविद्यवि ॥

Even if we, your peoples, day after day diminish your ordinance, O divine Varuṇa,

Mantra 2

मा नो वधाय हत्नवे जिहीळानस्य रीरधः । मा हृणानस्य मन्यवे ॥

Do not give us over to slaying, to the blow of the hostile one in his rage; do not (give us) to the wrath of the offended.

Mantra 3

वि मृळीकाय ते मनो रथीरश्वं न संदितम् । गीर्भिर्वरुण सीमहि ॥

For thy graciousness, O Varuṇa, we yoke our mind—like a charioteer yokes the horse well-joined—by our inspired words, that it may move in the right order of thy Truth.

Mantra 4

परा हि मे विमन्यवः पतन्ति वस्यइष्टये । वयो न वसतीरुप ॥

For indeed my divided angers fly away, seeking the better plenitude, like birds returning toward their resting-places; thus the being turns again to quietude under the law of Truth.

Mantra 5

कदा क्षत्रश्रियं नरमा वरुणं करामहे । मृळीकायोरुचक्षसम् ॥

When shall we bring near Varuṇa, the strong soul of sovereign splendour, for his graciousness—he of the wide seeing—so that our being may be established in kingly mastery of the Truth?

Mantra 6

तदित्समानमाशाते वेनन्ता न प्र युच्छतः । धृतव्रताय दाशुषे ॥

That same fulfilment they both seek, and they do not fail in their forward movement—like lovers of the desired—toward him of the firm law, to the giver who offers himself in sacrifice.

Mantra 7

वेदा यो वीनां पदमन्तरिक्षेण पतताम् । वेद नावः समुद्रियः ॥

He knows the track of the birds that fly through the mid-world; he knows the ships upon the ocean—Varuṇa, the knower, who holds all movements in his vast order.

Mantra 8

वेद मासो धृतव्रतो द्वादश प्रजावतः । वेदा य उपजायते ॥

The firm-in-law knows the months, the twelve that are rich with progeny; he knows also what is born thereafter—Varuṇa who measures time and unfolding within the order of Truth.

Mantra 9

वेद वातस्य वर्तनिमुरोॠष्वस्य बृहतः । वेदा ये अध्यासते ॥

He knows the course of the Wind, of the wide, the lofty, the vast; he knows those who are seated above—Varuṇa who comprehends the higher seats of consciousness and the movements of the breath of life.

Mantra 10

नि षसाद धृतव्रतो वरुणः पस्त्यास्वा । साम्राज्याय सुक्रतुः ॥

Varuṇa, firm in the law, has taken his seat in the dwelling-places, for universal sovereignty; he is the good-willed power of right discernment establishing kingship of the Truth in our habitations.

Mantra 11

अतो विश्वान्यद्भुता चिकित्वाँ अभि पश्यति । कृतानि या च कर्त्वा ॥

Therefore the discerning one looks upon all wonders—what has been done and what remains to be done; thus Varuṇa’s seeing becomes the light that compels our works into truth.

Mantra 12

स नो विश्वाहा सुक्रतुरादित्यः सुपथा करत् । प्र ण आयूंषि तारिषत् ॥

May he, the Āditya of right will, make for us always the good path; may he lead our life-forces forward across, so that our years pass into a greater plenitude of being.

Mantra 13

बिभ्रद्द्रापिं हिरण्ययं वरुणो वस्त निर्णिजम् । परि स्पशो नि षेदिरे ॥

Varuṇa, bearing the golden mantle of luminous purity, puts on the shining vesture; around him the watchers take their seat—powers of discernment that observe and guard the right order within us.

Mantra 14

न यं दिप्सन्ति दिप्सवो न द्रुह्वाणो जनानाम् । न देवमभिमातयः ॥

Him the hostile seekers cannot seize, nor the treacherous among men; nor can the assailing powers strike down the god—when the truth-law stands, falsehood finds no hold.

Mantra 15

उत यो मानुषेष्वा यशश्चक्रे असाम्या । अस्माकमुदरेष्वा ॥

And he who among mortals has fashioned a glory not to be equalled—may that power enter even into our depths, into the inner chambers of our being, to build the same wideness and rightness in us.

Mantra 16

परा मे यन्ति धीतयो गावो न गव्यूतीरनु । इच्छन्तीरुरुचक्षसम् ॥

My thoughts-streams go forth like cows along their pastures, seeking the Wide-Seeing—moving towards that vast vision where the right order becomes clear and the mind finds its true track.

Mantra 17

सं नु वोचावहै पुनर्यतो मे मध्वाभृतम् । होतेव क्षदसे प्रियम् ॥

Now let us speak again in harmony, from where the honeyed delight has been brought to me; as a priest of the offering you taste what is dear—so may the divine sweetness return to the word and the heart.

Mantra 18

दर्शं नु विश्वदर्शतं दर्शं रथमधि क्षमि । एता जुषत मे गिरः ॥

Visible now is the all-visible, visible the chariot set upon the earth: may these my utterances be accepted—so that the divine presence becomes manifest in the embodied life.

Mantra 19

इमं मे वरुण श्रुधी हवमद्या च मृळय । त्वामवस्युरा चके ॥

Hear this my call, O Varuṇa, and today be gracious: I, seeking your help, turn toward you—let the vast law become mercy in my struggling human nature.

Mantra 20

त्वं विश्वस्य मेधिर दिवश्च ग्मश्च राजसि । स यामनि प्रति श्रुधि ॥

You, O wise one, rule over all—over heaven and over earth: therefore, on this path of our movement, hear us in return; guide the journey by your truth-seeing governance.

Mantra 21

उदुत्तमं मुमुग्धि नो वि पाशं मध्यमं चृत । अवाधमानि जीवसे ॥

Release us from the highest bond; cut away the middle snare; loosen the lower fetters so that we may live—free the soul from the knots of ignorance and fear, and let life move again in the wideness of ṛta.