Rig Veda 1.90.6

In its original context

This verse comes from a short hymn in the first book of the Rig Veda, credited to the same Gotama family of poets as hymn 1.89. Like its neighbour, it is a prayer to all the gods together, asking for safe paths, good guidance and a life that goes well.

Its last three verses are the most loved, and are usually recited as a set. The first says, quite literally: honey the winds blow, honey the rivers pour, and may the plants be full of honey for us. The next two carry the same word through night and dawn, the dust of the earth, the sky above like a father, the trees, the sun and the cattle, until the whole world is pictured as sweet.

One small phrase is easy to miss: the winds blow sweetness "for the one who keeps to what is right", meaning a person who lives in step with the natural order of things. The sweetness isn't a reward handed down; it is what the world feels like when you are living in harmony with it. The verses were so cherished that later texts borrowed them for their own ceremonies, and they are still spoken today as a blessing.