Devi Sukta

From Sahaja Yoga Encyclopedia

This is hymn 125 of the tenth book of the Rigveda.


I move with Rudras and with Vasus, I move With Adityas and all Gods by My side, And both Mitra and Varuna I support. I support Indra, Agni and the Asvins.

I uphold Soma, the destroyer of the foe. I sustain Tvastri and Pushan and Bhaga. I reward with wealth the offerer of oblation and the devout worshipper pouring the Soma.

I am Queen, the Gatherer-up of treasures, the Knower, the First among the Holy Ones. The Devas have established in many places, Me who lives on many planes, in many a form.

The man who sees, who breathes, and who hears what is spoken through Me alone obtains his sustenance. There are those who dwell by My side but know not. Hear you who has hearing: I tell you the sacred truth.

Yes, I myself say this, - and these My words must needs be welcome to Devas and men - One whom I love I make mighty – make of him a Brahmana, a Rishi, a gifted man.

For Rudra I stretch out the strings of His bow to slay the fierce enemies of the Realised Souls. And for the people, I engage in battle; and through the earth and the heaven I spread.

And on the summit I bring forth the Father. My home is within waters, in the ocean, From where I extend to all existing worlds; and yonder heaven I touch with My forehead.

And it is I who, like the wind, breathe forth Chaitanya and set all existing worlds in motion. Beyond heavens and beyond the earth am I, and all this have I become in My splendour!


Bibliographical notes

Based on the translation in Abinah Chandra Bose, Hymns from the Vedas (London: Asia Publishing House, 1966):307-309. For other translations see Hymns of the Rigveda, translated by Ralph T.H.Griffiths (Varanasi: Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series Office, 4th ed., 1963):571-572; Thomas B.Coburn, Devi-Mahatmya: the crystallization of the Goddess tradition (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1984):255-256; George Thompson, ‘Ahamkara and Atmastuti: self-assertion and impersonation in the Rgveda’ History of Religions 37(2) 1997:140-171, esp.148-151.

For an overview of Devi worship in India see N.N.Bhattacharyya, The Indian Mother Goddess (New Delhi: Manohar, 3rd ed.,1999); Devi: Goddesses of India, edited by John Stratton Hawley and Donna M.Wulff (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996); Tracy Pintchman, The rise of the Goddess in the Hindu tradition (Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1994); Shashi Bhusan Das Gupta, ‘Evolution of Mother worship in India’ in Great women of India, edited by Swami Madhavananda and Ramesh Chandra Majumdar (Calcutta: Advaita Ashrama, 1954), chapter 3:60-61; P.C.Jain, ‘Conception and evolution of the Mother Goddess in India’ (2004) [1]

[from Visions and Prophecies of the Divine Feminine]

Cookies help us deliver our services. By using our services, you agree to our use of cookies.