Sukta 66

Mantra 1

देवान्हुवे बृहच्छ्रवसः स्वस्तये ज्योतिष्कृतो अध्वरस्य प्रचेतसः । ये वावृधुः प्रतरं विश्ववेदस इन्द्रज्येष्ठासो अमृता ऋतावृधः ॥

I call the Gods of vast hearing for our well-being—those who build the light of the sacrifice, the awakened in consciousness; those who have grown mightier in the forward march, knowers of all, with Indra as the foremost, immortals who increase the ṛta.

Mantra 2

इन्द्रप्रसूता वरुणप्रशिष्टा ये सूर्यस्य ज्योतिषो भागमानशुः । मरुद्गणे वृजने मन्म धीमहि माघोने यज्ञं जनयन्त सूरयः ॥

Impulsed by Indra, guided by Varuṇa—those who have won a share of the Sun’s light—we hold our inspired thought in the host of the Maruts, in the battle-press of life. The seers bring the sacrifice to birth for the bounteous one, shaping the inner offering into a growing power.

Mantra 3

इन्द्रो वसुभिः परि पातु नो गयमादित्यैर्नो अदितिः शर्म यच्छतु । रुद्रो रुद्रेभिर्देवो मृळयाति नस्त्वष्टा नो ग्नाभिः सुविताय जिन्वतु ॥

May Indra with the Vasus guard our vital being; may Aditi with the Ādityas grant us shelter. May Rudra with the Rudras show us mercy; may Tvaṣṭṛ with his shaping powers quicken us toward the right going and the good passage.

Mantra 4

अदितिर्द्यावापृथिवी ऋतं महदिन्द्राविष्णू मरुतः स्वर्बृहत् । देवाँ आदित्याँ अवसे हवामहे वसून्रुद्रान्त्सवितारं सुदंससम् ॥

Aditi, and Heaven-and-Earth; the vast Truth (ṛtam mahat); Indra-Vishnu; the Maruts; and the wide luminous world (svar bṛhat)—we call the Gods, the Adityas, for our fostering help: the Vasus, the Rudras, and Savitar of the good and faultless workings.

Mantra 5

सरस्वान्धीभिर्वरुणो धृतव्रतः पूषा विष्णुर्महिमा वायुरश्विना । ब्रह्मकृतो अमृता विश्ववेदसः शर्म नो यंसन्त्रिवरूथमंहसः ॥

May Sarasvan with our illumined thoughts, and Varuna firm in his law; Pushan, Vishnu of the mighty wideness; Vayu and the Ashvins—these immortals, fashioners of the soul’s word, all-knowers—grant us peace and a threefold shelter from the constricting wrong (aṃhas).

Mantra 6

वृषा यज्ञो वृषणः सन्तु यज्ञिया वृषणो देवा वृषणो हविष्कृतः । वृषणा द्यावापृथिवी ऋतावरी वृषा पर्जन्यो वृषणो वृषस्तुभः ॥

May the sacrifice be a bull-force; may the gods who are worthy of sacrifice be bull-forces; may the makers of the offering be bull-forces. Bull-forces are Heaven-and-Earth, the two that bear the Truth; bull-force is Parjanya, and bull-force is the strong upholder of the hymn.

Mantra 7

अग्नीषोमा वृषणा वाजसातये पुरुप्रशस्ता वृषणा उप ब्रुवे । यावीजिरे वृषणो देवयज्यया ता नः शर्म त्रिवरूथं वि यंसतः ॥

Agni and Soma, the two potent ones, for the winning of plenitude (vāja), widely praised, I call near. You who have laboured by the worship of the gods—extend to us peace, and spread out for us the threefold shelter.

Mantra 8

धृतव्रताः क्षत्रिया यज्ञनिष्कृतो बृहद्दिवा अध्वराणामभिश्रियः । अग्निहोतार ऋतसापो अद्रुहोऽपो असृजन्ननु वृत्रतूर्ये ॥

Firm in the law, kingly in power, perfecters of the sacrifice, they are the splendour set before the great heaven of the rites. The Agni-priests, companions of the Truth, without treachery, released the waters in the following of the Vritra-battle.

Mantra 9

द्यावापृथिवी जनयन्नभि व्रताप ओषधीर्वनिनानि यज्ञिया । अन्तरिक्षं स्वरा पप्रुरूतये वशं देवासस्तन्वी नि मामृजुः ॥

Heaven-and-Earth brought forth the waters by the law; the plants and the forest-growths worthy of sacrifice. They filled the mid-world and the luminous realm for our help; the gods, by their own embodied power, shaped and set in us the right mastery (vaśa).

Mantra 10

धर्तारो दिव ऋभवः सुहस्ता वातापर्जन्या महिषस्य तन्यतोः । आप ओषधीः प्र तिरन्तु नो गिरो भगो रातिर्वाजिनो यन्तु मे हवम् ॥

Sustainers of heaven, the Rbhus of skilful hands, and Wind-and-Parjanya of the thundering great one—may the waters and the plants carry forward our words. May Bhaga, the giver of the portion, and the bountiful bestowal of the strong ones come to my call.

Mantra 11

समुद्रः सिन्धू रजो अन्तरिक्षमज एकपात्तनयित्नुरर्णवः । अहिर्बुध्न्यः शृणवद्वचांसि मे विश्वे देवास उत सूरयो मम ॥

Ocean and River, the airy expanse and the mid-world; Aja Ekapad, the thunder-born, the flood—may Ahi Budhnya hear my words; may all the gods and my seers too hearken.

Mantra 12

स्याम वो मनवो देववीतये प्राञ्चं नो यज्ञं प्र णयत साधुया । आदित्या रुद्रा वसवः सुदानव इमा ब्रह्म शस्यमानानि जिन्वत ॥

May we be yours, O Manes (ancestral powers), for the winning of the gods; lead our sacrifice forward on the right path. O Adityas, Rudras, Vasus—givers of true bounty—strengthen these soul-words as they are being affirmed.

Mantra 13

दैव्या होतारा प्रथमा पुरोहित ऋतस्य पन्थामन्वेमि साधुया । क्षेत्रस्य पतिं प्रतिवेशमीमहे विश्वान्देवाँ अमृताँ अप्रयुच्छतः ॥

With the divine Hotars, the first and placed in front, I follow the path of the Truth by the right way. We seek the Lord of the field, the near-dwelling presence; all the immortal gods who do not fail or withdraw.

Mantra 14

वसिष्ठासः पितृवद्वाचमक्रत देवाँ ईळाना ऋषिवत्स्वस्तये । प्रीता इव ज्ञातयः काममेत्यास्मे देवासोऽव धूनुता वसु ॥

The Vasiṣṭhas fashioned the Word as a fatherly utterance, invoking the Gods in the manner of seers for our well-being. May the Gods, arriving to us as delighted kinsmen according to the soul’s true desire, shake down for us the riches—inner plenitudes of being.

Mantra 15

देवान्वसिष्ठो अमृतान्ववन्दे ये विश्वा भुवनाभि प्रतस्थुः । ते नो रासन्तामुरुगायमद्य यूयं पात स्वस्तिभिः सदा नः ॥

Vasiṣṭha bows to the immortal Gods who have stood forth over all the worlds. May they grant to us today the vast-moving, wide-ranging greatness; and may you guard us always with your harmonies of well-being.