Library·Ṛgveda Saṃhitā·10·10.18
परम् मृत्यो अनु परेहि पन्थां यस् ते स्व इतरो देवयानात् । चक्षुष्मते शृण्वते ते ब्रवीमि मा नः प्रजां रीरिषो मोत वीरान् ॥
param mṛtyo anu parehi panthāṃ yas te sva itaro devayānāt | cakṣuṣmate śṛṇvate te bravīmi mā naḥ prajāṃ rīriṣo mota vīrān ||
Go hence, O Death, pursue thy special pathway apart from that which Gods are wont to travel. To thee I say it who hast eyes and hearest: Touch not our offspring, injure not our heroes.
Translated by Ralph T. H. Griffith (1896)
मृत्योः पदं योपयन्तो यद् ऐत द्राघीय आयुः प्रतरं दधानाः । आप्यायमानाः प्रजया धनेन शुद्धाः पूता भवत यज्ञियासः ॥
mṛtyoḥ padaṃ yopayanto yad aita drāghīya āyuḥ prataraṃ dadhānāḥ | āpyāyamānāḥ prajayā dhanena śuddhāḥ pūtā bhavata yajñiyāsaḥ ||
As ye have come effacing Mrtyu's footstep, to further times prolonging your existence, May ye be rich in children and possessions. cleansed, purified, and meet for sacrificing.
Translated by Ralph T. H. Griffith (1896)
इमे जीवा वि मृतैर् आववृत्रन्न् अभूद् भद्रा देवहूतिर् नो अद्य । प्राञ्चो अगाम नृतये हसाय द्राघीय आयुः प्रतरं दधानाः ॥
ime jīvā vi mṛtair āvavṛtrann abhūd bhadrā devahūtir no adya | prāñco agāma nṛtaye hasāya drāghīya āyuḥ prataraṃ dadhānāḥ ||
Divided from the dead are these, the living: now be our calling on the Gods successful. We have gone forth for dancing and for laughter, to further times prolonging our existence.
Translated by Ralph T. H. Griffith (1896)
इमं जीवेभ्यः परिधिं दधामि मैषां नु गाद् अपरो अर्थम् एतम् । शतं जीवन्तु शरदः पुरूचीर् अन्तर् मृत्युं दधताम् पर्वतेन ॥
imaṃ jīvebhyaḥ paridhiṃ dadhāmi maiṣāṃ nu gād aparo artham etam | śataṃ jīvantu śaradaḥ purūcīr antar mṛtyuṃ dadhatām parvatena ||
Here I erect this rampart for the living; let none of these, none other, reach this limit. May they survive a hundred lengthened autumns, and may they bury Death beneath this mountain.
Translated by Ralph T. H. Griffith (1896)
यथाहान्य् अनुपूर्वम् भवन्ति यथ ऋतव ऋतुभिर् यन्ति साधु । यथा न पूर्वम् अपरो जहात्य् एवा धातर् आयूंषि कल्पयैषाम् ॥
yathāhāny anupūrvam bhavanti yatha ṛtava ṛtubhir yanti sādhu | yathā na pūrvam aparo jahāty evā dhātar āyūṃṣi kalpayaiṣām ||
As the days follow days in close succession, as with the seasons duly come the seasons, As each successor fails not his foregoer, so form the lives of these, O great Ordainer.
Translated by Ralph T. H. Griffith (1896)
आ रोहतायुर् जरसं वृणाना अनुपूर्वं यतमाना यति ष्ठ । इह त्वष्टा सुजनिमा सजोषा दीर्घम् आयुः करति जीवसे वः ॥
ā rohatāyur jarasaṃ vṛṇānā anupūrvaṃ yatamānā yati ṣṭha | iha tvaṣṭā sujanimā sajoṣā dīrgham āyuḥ karati jīvase vaḥ ||
Live your full lives up! find old age delightful, all of you striving one behind the other. May Tvastar, maker of fair things, be gracious and lengthen out the days of your existence.
Translated by Ralph T. H. Griffith (1896)
इमा नारीर् अविधवाः सुपत्नीर् आञ्जनेन सर्पिषा सं विशन्तु । अनश्रवो ऽनमीवाः सुरत्ना आ रोहन्तु जनयो योनिम् अग्रे ॥
imā nārīr avidhavāḥ supatnīr āñjanena sarpiṣā saṃ viśantu | anaśravo 'namīvāḥ suratnā ā rohantu janayo yonim agre ||
Let these unwidowed dames with noble husbands adorn themselves with fragrant balm and unguent. Decked with fair jewels, tearless, free from sorrow, first let the dames go up to where he lieth.
Translated by Ralph T. H. Griffith (1896)
उद् ईर्ष्व नार्य् अभि जीवलोकं गतासुम् एतम् उप शेष एहि । हस्तग्राभस्य दिधिषोस् तवेदम् पत्युर् जनित्वम् अभि सम् बभूथ ॥
ud īrṣva nāry abhi jīvalokaṃ gatāsum etam upa śeṣa ehi | hastagrābhasya didhiṣos tavedam patyur janitvam abhi sam babhūtha ||
Rise, come unto the world of life, O woman: come, he is lifeless by whose side thou liest. Wifehood with this thy husband was thy portion, who took thy hand and wooed thee as a lover.
Translated by Ralph T. H. Griffith (1896)
धनुर् हस्ताद् आददानो मृतस्यास्मे क्षत्राय वर्चसे बलाय । अत्रैव त्वम् इह वयं सुवीरा विश्वा स्पृधो अभिमातीर् जयेम ॥
dhanur hastād ādadāno mṛtasyāsme kṣatrāya varcase balāya | atraiva tvam iha vayaṃ suvīrā viśvā spṛdho abhimātīr jayema ||
From his dead hand I take the bow be carried, that it may be our power and might and glory. There art thou, there; and here with noble heroes may we o'ercome all hosts that fight against us.
Translated by Ralph T. H. Griffith (1896)
उप सर्प मातरम् भूमिम् एताम् उरुव्यचसम् पृथिवीं सुशेवाम् । ऊर्णम्रदा युवतिर् दक्षिणावत एषा त्वा पातु निरृतेर् उपस्थात् ॥
upa sarpa mātaram bhūmim etām uruvyacasam pṛthivīṃ suśevām | ūrṇamradā yuvatir dakṣiṇāvata eṣā tvā pātu nirṛter upasthāt ||
Betake thee to the lap of Earth the Mother, of Earth far-spreading, very kind and gracious. Young Dame, wool-soft unto the guerdon giver, may she preserve thee from Destruction's bosom.
Translated by Ralph T. H. Griffith (1896)
उच् छ्वञ्चस्व पृथिवि मा नि बाधथाः सूपायनास्मै भव सूपवञ्चना । माता पुत्रं यथा सिचाभ्य् एनम् भूम ऊर्णुहि ॥
uc chvañcasva pṛthivi mā ni bādhathāḥ sūpāyanāsmai bhava sūpavañcanā | mātā putraṃ yathā sicābhy enam bhūma ūrṇuhi ||
Heave thyself, Earth, nor press thee downward heavily: afford him easy access, gently tending him. Cover him, as a mother wraps her skirt about her child, O Earth.
Translated by Ralph T. H. Griffith (1896)
उच्छ्वञ्चमाना पृथिवी सु तिष्ठतु सहस्रम् मित उप हि श्रयन्ताम् । ते गृहासो घृतश्चुतो भवन्तु विश्वाहास्मै शरणाः सन्त्व् अत्र ॥
ucchvañcamānā pṛthivī su tiṣṭhatu sahasram mita upa hi śrayantām | te gṛhāso ghṛtaścuto bhavantu viśvāhāsmai śaraṇāḥ santv atra ||
Now let the heaving earth be free from motion: yea,- let a thousand clods remain above him. Be they to him a home distilling fatness, here let them ever be his place of refuge.
Translated by Ralph T. H. Griffith (1896)
उत् ते स्तभ्नामि पृथिवीं त्वत् परीमं लोगं निदधन् मो अहं रिषम् । एतां स्थूणाम् पितरो धारयन्तु ते ऽत्रा यमः सादना ते मिनोतु ॥
ut te stabhnāmi pṛthivīṃ tvat parīmaṃ logaṃ nidadhan mo ahaṃ riṣam | etāṃ sthūṇām pitaro dhārayantu te 'trā yamaḥ sādanā te minotu ||
I stay the earth from thee, while over thee I place this piece of earth. May I be free from injury. Here let the Fathers keep this pillar firm for thee, and there let Yama make thee an abiding-place.
Translated by Ralph T. H. Griffith (1896)
प्रतीचीने माम् अहनीष्वाः पर्णम् इवा दधुः । प्रतीचीं जग्रभा वाचम् अश्वं रशनया यथा ॥
pratīcīne mām ahanīṣvāḥ parṇam ivā dadhuḥ | pratīcīṃ jagrabhā vācam aśvaṃ raśanayā yathā ||
Even as an arrow's feathers, they have set me on a fitting day. The fit word have I caught and held as 'twere a courser with the rein.
Translated by Ralph T. H. Griffith (1896)