The Seer of the Hymns

The third book of the Ṛgveda came to the world through Viśvāmitra and his house. In one of its hymns he speaks with two rivers. He has come down with the Bharatas, a people on the move with their wagons, seeking cattle, to the place where the Vipāś and the Śutudrī rush out of the mountains together, and he cannot cross. He calls to them as the Sindhu, the river.

Out from the lap of the mountains, eager, like two mares let loose and racing, like two bright mother cows licking their calves, the Vipāś and the Śutudrī rush on with their waters. Pause for my word, offered with the soma, you who keep the truth; hold back your courses for a moment. With a great prayer, seeking help, I, the son of Kuśika, have called out to the Sindhu.

The rivers answer him. Indra with the thunderbolt in his arm dug out our beds. He struck down Vṛtra, who held the rivers in. Savitṛ, the god with the fair hands, led us. At his urging we flow on in all our breadth.

He asks again. Listen well, sisters, to the poet. He has come to you from far away with wagon and chariot. Bow down low. Be easy to cross. Rivers, keep your currents below the axles. And the rivers give way to him. We will listen to your words, poet. You have come from far away with wagon and chariot. I will bend low for you like a mother full with milk, like a girl giving herself to her young man. And the Bharatas crossed.

In another of his hymns is the Gāyatrī, the verse addressed to Savitṛ, the god who rouses the world: We meditate on that most adorable radiance of the god Savitṛ. May That awaken our intellects.