Sukta 82
Sukta 10.82
Viśvakarman (traditionally associated with RV 10.82)
Viśvakarman (the All-Former; cosmic artisan/intelligence)
Triṣṭubh (probable; standard for many cosmogonic and theistic hymns in Book 10)
RV 10.82 contemplates Viśvakarman as the hidden cosmic artisan who establishes the first boundaries and thereby lets Heaven and Earth widen into ordered space. The hymn moves between praise and inquiry: it honors the ancient seers’ offerings to the Maker, yet warns that mere recitation and speculation can miss the true Creator veiled behind appearances. Its purpose is to re-center ritual and thought on the single formative Intelligence that fashions multiplicity into a coherent whole.
Mantras
Mantra 1
चक्षुषः पिता मनसा हि धीरो घृतमेने अजनन्नन्नमाने । यदेदन्ता अददृहन्त पूर्व आदिद्द्यावापृथिवी अप्रथेताम् ॥
The Father of vision, the steadfast one, brought forth by the mind the clarified flow of luminous understanding, while the two bowed in adoration. When the first boundaries were firmly set, then Heaven and Earth expanded into their wide habitation.
Mantra 2
विश्वकर्मा विमना आद्विहाया धाता विधाता परमोत संदृक् । तेषामिष्टानि समिषा मदन्ति यत्रा सप्तऋषीन्पर एकमाहुः ॥
Viśvakarman, the wide-ranging thinker, from the highest heaven is the Ordainer and the Disposer, the supreme Seer. Their offerings and desired fulfillments rejoice together in the one sustaining force, where the Seven Seers declare the One beyond.
Mantra 3
यो नः पिता जनिता यो विधाता धामानि वेद भुवनानि विश्वा । यो देवानां नामधा एक एव तं सम्प्रश्नं भुवना यन्त्यन्या ॥
He who is our Father and begetter, the Disposer who knows all the stations and all the worlds; he who alone assigns the name-and-law of the gods—toward him the worlds move, questioning him as to the secret of their being.
Mantra 4
त आयजन्त द्रविणं समस्मा ऋषयः पूर्वे जरितारो न भूना । असूर्ते सूर्ते रजसि निषत्ते ये भूतानि समकृण्वन्निमानि ॥
The ancient seers, not scant in their giving, offered to him gathered riches of power. Seated in the realm that is unformed and formed, they who shaped these becomings made them into a single ordered whole.
Mantra 5
परो दिवा पर एना पृथिव्या परो देवेभिरसुरैर्यदस्ति । कं स्विद्गर्भं प्रथमं दध्र आपो यत्र देवाः समपश्यन्त विश्वे ॥
Beyond heaven, beyond even this earth, beyond what is among gods and titanic powers—what is that first womb which the Waters held, where all the gods came together to behold?
Mantra 6
तमिद्गर्भं प्रथमं दध्र आपो यत्र देवाः समगच्छन्त विश्वे । अजस्य नाभावध्येकमर्पितं यस्मिन्विश्वानि भुवनानि तस्थुः ॥
That first womb the Waters indeed held, where all the gods came together. On the navel of the Unborn, the One was set—upon which all the worlds have taken their stand.
Mantra 7
न तं विदाथ य इमा जजानान्यद्युष्माकमन्तरं बभूव । नीहारेण प्रावृता जल्प्या चासुतृप उक्थशासश्चरन्ति ॥
You do not know him who brought these into birth; another has come between you. Covered by mist and by idle talk, the unsatisfied reciters wander on, proclaiming hymns without the true drinking of the essence.
Frequently Asked Questions
Viśvakarman is the ‘All-Former’—the cosmic intelligence or artisan who measures and shapes the universe, setting its first limits and ordering all beings.
Creation is not just a physical event but an act of ordering and insight: the true Maker establishes measure and coherence, and we should seek real understanding, not only words.
It warns that people can chant hymns yet remain ‘unsatisfied’ if they do not grasp the essence—being covered by ‘mist’ (confusion) and ‘idle talk’ instead of direct insight.