Why this inspired us
This verse quietly places us in a very long line: people before us watched the dawn, we watch it now, and people after us will watch it too. Our moment is one link in a long, shared chain.
Explore a verse
Rig Veda 1.113.11
The reference printed on your card, and the idea behind it.
In its original context
This verse comes from the same hymn to Dawn as 1.113.8, credited to the poet Kutsa in the first book of the Rig Veda. Having marvelled that the dawn is both ancient and new, the poet turns the thought toward people.
Gone, he says, are those mortals who saw the earlier dawn shining. Now she has become visible to us. And coming are those who will see her in days ahead. In three short lines it holds the past, the present and the future, all looking at the same morning sky.
It's a quiet, humbling verse. The dawn doesn't belong to any one generation; each takes its turn to stand under it. The verses around it ask Dawn to bring long life, good fortune and good company to those watching now, as if our turn is worth making the most of precisely because it is a turn.
Something to think about
What do we share with people who saw the same sky long before us?
Our cards carry original, contemporary words inspired by ancient passages. They are not translations.
The Letterbox
Little letters, occasionally.
New cards, first looks and the odd kind word. Never more than we'd want to receive ourselves.