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Dhammapada · narration sample

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Rig Veda · 159 of 1027

Mandala 1: HYMN CLIX. Heaven and Earth.

1.I PRAISE with sacrifices mighty Heaven and Earth at festivals, the wise, the Strengtheners of Law. Who, having Gods for progeny, conjoined with Gods, through wonder-working wisdom bring forth choicest boons.

2.With invocations, on the gracious Father’s mind, and on the Mother’s great inherent power I muse. Prolific Parents, they have made the world of life, and for their brood all round wide immortality.

3.These Sons of yours well skilled in work, of wondrous power, brought forth to life the two great Mothers first of all. To keep the truth of all that stands and all that moves, ye guard the station of your Son who knows no guile.

4.They with surpassing skill, most wise, have measured out the Twins united in their birth and in their home. They, the refulgent Sages, weave within the sky, yea, in the depths of sea, a web for ever new.

5.This is to-day the goodliest gift of Savitar: this thought we have when now the God is furthering us. On us with loving-kindness Heaven and Earth bestow riches and various wealth and treasure hundredfold!

Asked of Guide

Why does the hymn call Heaven and Earth 'Parents' and speak of 'Sons' who make the world?

The hymn names Heaven and Earth as Prolific Parents because it portrays creation as a familial, cooperative act: “With invocations, on the gracious Father’s mind, and on the Mother’s great inherent power I muse.” Heaven and Earth provide the fertile, abiding ground while their ‘Sons’—divine, wise craftsmen—execute the world’s ordering and upkeep.

Those Sons are inventive seers who “weave within the sky, yea, in the depths of sea, a web for ever new,” which explains how the cosmos is kept true and renewed. This mirrors themes in Hesiod’s Theogony where divine offspring shape order from primal parents, though the Rigveda emphasizes ritual invocation and the sustaining law (Rta) maintained by these divine workers.

Guide is the guide inside the Gnosis app, where every book on these shelves is free to read. Guide is the part you pay for — your guide has read all of them, and answers about the passage you’re actually on. Ask your guide your own question.