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Dhammapada · narration sample

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Rig Veda · 410 of 1027

Mandala 5: HYMN LVI. Maruts.

1.AGNI, that valorous company adorned with ornaments of gold, The people of the Maruts, I call down to-day even from the luminous realm of heaven.

2.Even as thou thinkest in thy heart, thither my wishes also tend. Those who have come most near to thine invoking calls, strengthen them fearful to behold.

3.Earth, like a bounteous lady, liberal of her gifts, struck down and shaken, yet exultant, comes to us. Impetuous as a bear, O Maruts, is youi rush terrible as a dreadful bull..

4.They who with mighty strength o’erthrow like oxen difficult to yoke, Cause e’en the heavenly stone to shake ‘ yea, shake the rocky mountain as they race along.

5.Rise up! even now with lauds I call the very numerous company, Unequalled, of these Maruts, like a herd of kine, grown up together in their strength.

6.Bind to your car the bright red mares, yoke the red coursers to your car. Bind to the pole, to draw, the fleet-foot tawny steeds, the best at drawing, to the pole.

7.Yea, and this loudly-neighing bright red vigorous horse who hath been sutioned, fair to see, Let him not cause delay, O Maruts,, in your course, urge ye him onward in your cars.

8.The Maruts’ chariot, ever fain to gather glory, we invoke, Which Rodasī hath mounted, bringing pleasant gifts, with Maruts in her company.

9.I call that brilliant band of yours, adorable, rapid on the car Whereon the bounteous Dame, auspicious, nobly born, shows glorious with the Marut host.

Asked of Guide

Why are the Maruts compared to herds of kine and yoked horses in this hymn?

The hymn pictures the Maruts as a powerful, collective force: “very numerous company” and “like a herd of kine, grown up together in their strength,” which stresses their unity, abundance, and coordinated vigor. The repeated harnessing and chariot imagery — “Bind to your car the bright red mares” — makes their energy tangible, as if the storm-gods are steeds yoked to drive a divine, forward motion.

This poetic frame ties the Maruts’ martial brightness to domestic, agrarian symbols familiar to the Vedic listener: cattle and horses indicate wealth, mobility, and potency. For a parallel, read Book I of the Rig Veda where Indra’s chariot and the repeated animal metaphors likewise turn cosmic force into social, kinship, and economic terms.

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