Rig Veda Sukta 48
Mandala 5Sukta 485 Mantras

Sukta 48

Sukta 5.48

Devata

Unclear in isolation; verse imagery suggests a cosmic formative power spreading waters in the cloud (often linked in RV diction to Parjanya/Indra’s rain-action or to a goddess-like māyā-power).

This brief hymn contemplates a “māyinī/māyin” formative power that gathers the waters in the cloud and spreads out the wide realm, while also evoking the thunderbolt-bearing force that orders day and night. It culminates by naming Varuṇa as the beautifully robed, four-faced power whose vastness cannot be measured, from whom the distributive and impelling deities (Bhaga and Savitṛ) grant desirable wealth.

Recitation with translationRig Veda 5.48

Mantras

Mantra 1

कदु प्रियाय धाम्ने मनामहे स्वक्षत्राय स्वयशसे महे वयम् । आमेन्यस्य रजसो यदभ्र आँ अपो वृणाना वितनोति मायिनी ॥

When indeed shall we turn our thought toward the dear seat of the Great One, who has his own sovereign power and his own splendour? When the mighty Weaver, taking up the waters in the cloud, spreads out the wide realm by her formative power.

Mantra 2

ता अत्नत वयुनं वीरवक्षणं समान्या वृतया विश्वमा रजः । अपो अपाचीरपरा अपेजते प्र पूर्वाभिस्तिरते देवयुर्जनः ॥

They extend the working knowledge that bears the hero-force; by one common law they widen all the mid-realm. The waters, some flowing forward, some backward, move and surge; and the god-seeking people press on beyond the earlier limits.

Mantra 3

आ ग्रावभिरहन्येभिरक्तुभिर्वरिष्ठं वज्रमा जिघर्ति मायिनि । शतं वा यस्य प्रचरन्त्स्वे दमे संवर्तयन्तो वि च वर्तयन्नहा ॥

With the pressing-stones—by days and by nights—the Shaper lifts up the most mighty thunderbolt. In whose own house the forces move in their courses, turning the days together and again turning them apart.

Mantra 4

तामस्य रीतिं परशोरिव प्रत्यनीकमख्यं भुजे अस्य वर्पसः । सचा यदि पितुमन्तमिव क्षयं रत्नं दधाति भरहूतये विशे ॥

That course of his I behold, like the stroke of an axe, set face to face—his front of luminous form. And when he sets the treasure in a dwelling rich with nourishment, then for the clan that calls for support he establishes the boon.

Mantra 5

स जिह्वया चतुरनीक ऋञ्जते चारु वसानो वरुणो यतन्नरिम् । न तस्य विद्म पुरुषत्वता वयं यतो भगः सविता दाति वार्यम् ॥

He, with the tongue, the four-fronted one, sets himself in motion—Varuṇa, beautifully robed, striving against the hostile divider. We do not measure his full manhood and vastness; for from him Bhaga, Savitṛ, gives the desirable riches.

Inside Sukta 48

How it unfolds

  1. Where it opens

    A questioning wonder: when will the mind turn fully toward the dear seat of the Great, endowed with innate sovereignty and glory?

  2. Development

    The hymn unfolds the image of a formative power gathering waters in the cloud and spreading the realm, then intensifies with vajra and pressing-stones imagery and the regulation of day/night cycles.

  3. Climax

    Recognition of the supreme, beautifully robed Varuṇa—four-faced and active in speech—striving against the hostile divider, whose magnitude cannot be measured.

  4. Where it settles

    A concluding theological linkage: from that source, Bhaga and Savitṛ distribute and impel desirable riches, reaffirming order and beneficence.

The deity: Varuṇa

  • In the VedaVaruṇa is portrayed as a majestic upholder of ṛta, beautifully robed, opposing the hostile divider, and too vast in “manhood” to be fully measured. Alongside him appear the motifs of cloud-waters, spreading of space, and the vajra-bearing shaper—imagery commonly shared across rain-sovereignty diction in the Rig Veda.
  • Cosmic functionTo sustain cosmic order, bind and regulate the world’s courses (including the alternation and joining/separating of days), and ensure the right distribution of gifts through allied functions represented by Bhaga (apportioner) and Savitṛ (impeller).
  • Inner significanceThe hymn can be read as a movement from wonder at the mind’s inability to grasp the ‘seat’ of the Great, toward recognition of an ordering intelligence that shapes inner ‘waters’ (energies, inspirations) and disciplines time, speech, and ethical coherence.

Famous verses

कदु प्रियाय धाम्ने मनामहे स्वक्षत्राय स्वयशसे महे वयम् । आमेन्यस्य रजसो यदभ्र आँ अपो वृणाना वितनोति मायिनी ॥
Verse 5.48.1Sets the hymn’s keynote: yearning to contemplate the Great One’s ‘dear seat’ and the striking image of a māyinī spreading the realm by gathering waters in the cloud—core to the sukta’s cosmology.Read verse 5.48.1 →
आ ग्रावभिरहन्येभिरक्तुभिर्वरिष्ठं वज्रमा जिघर्ति मायिनि । शतं वा यस्य प्रचरन्त्स्वे दमे संवर्तयन्तो वि च वर्तयन्नहा ॥
Verse 5.48.3Bridges ritual and cosmos: pressing-stones, day/night, and the lifting of the mightiest vajra; it expresses the hymn’s theme of formative power that orders time and force.Read verse 5.48.3 →
स जिह्वया चतुरनीक ऋञ्जते चारु वसानो वरुणो यतन्नरिम् । न तस्य विद्म पुरुषत्वता वयं यतो भगः सविता दाति वार्यम् ॥
Verse 5.48.5Names Varuṇa explicitly and provides the theological conclusion: immeasurable greatness, opposition to divisive hostility, and the derivation of Bhaga/Savitṛ’s gift-giving from that source.Read verse 5.48.5 →

Attributes of the deity

  • Upholder of ṛta (cosmic-moral order)
  • Sovereign power (svakṣatra) and inherent splendor (svayaśas)
  • Cloud-and-waters symbolism (rain-formative potency)
  • Time-ordering (day/night courses)
  • Vast, immeasurable greatness
  • Source-context for Bhaga and Savitṛ’s bestowal of wealth

Also by this seer

  • If Atris: numerous hymns in Rig Veda Mandala 5 (general Atri corpus), though this specific sukta’s seer-name is not established from the supplied excerpt

The rite, step by step

  • Āvāhana: Invite the sovereign upholder of order and the formative rain-power to attend the rite.
  • Stuti: Praise the deity’s self-sustaining sovereignty and splendor; recall the spreading of waters in the cloud.
  • Soma/pressing association: Link the hymn’s ‘pressing-stones’ imagery to the ritual act of pressing and energizing the offering.
  • Prārthanā: Ask for the right ordering of time, protection from divisive hostility, and bestowal of vārya (desirable wealth).
  • Śānti/niyama: Conclude with acknowledgment of the deity’s immeasurable greatness and submit to ṛta.

Offerings

  • Soma (where applicable to the rite)
  • Ghee (ājya) into the fire
  • Water libation (ācamana/āpo-related offering) as a symbolic complement to the cloud-waters theme

Frequently Asked Questions

The hymn’s final verse explicitly names Varuṇa, so Varuṇa is the clearest devatā. Earlier verses use ‘māyinī/māyin’ and rain-thunder imagery that can overlap with Indra/Parjanya language, but the culmination points to Varuṇa’s sovereignty and order.

In this context māyinī is a ‘shaper’ or ‘formative power’—the capacity that skillfully arranges and manifests, pictured as gathering the waters in the cloud and spreading out the wide realm.

Bhaga represents the apportioning of shares and good fortune, and Savitṛ represents the impelling power that sets things in motion. The verse presents their gift-giving as operating from, or grounded in, Varuṇa’s larger sovereignty and order.

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