The Forgotten God Who Still Brings the Rain

Every year, when the first monsoon clouds gather over the Indian sky, something remarkable happens. The scent of wet earth rises, peacocks begin to dance, frogs welcome the rains with their chorus, and farmers look heavenward with hope. For thousands of years, this annual miracle inspired awe in the people of the Indian subcontinent. They even gave the rains a divine personality — Parjanya, the Vedic God of Rain and Thunder.

Today, the Rain-God Parjanya is almost forgotten. Unlike Indra, the king of gods; Agni, the god of fire; or Krishna, the god of cowherds, Parjanya rarely appears in our temples or festivals, even in our conversations. Yet one of the beautiful hymns of the Rig Veda (Mandala 5, Hymn 83) is dedicated to him. Known as the Parjanya Sukta, it is a magnificent poetic celebration of rain, thunder and the life-giving power of Mother Nature.

The hymn begins with an invitation:

Sing the praise of the mighty Parjanya Deva… He generously sends showers of rain. May Parjanya make the plants fertile so that they germinate.

These are not merely words of worship. They reveal how deeply the Vedic people understood their dependence on rain. A failed monsoon meant hunger and misery. Timely rains meant abundance and happiness. Rain was not simply one of the seasons—it was life-giver itself.

Parjanya's great thunder is compared to the roar of a lion. His clouds race across the sky like horses urged on by a charioteer. Lightning flashes, winds burst forth, and the heavens darken before torrents of rain descend upon the earth.

Then comes the transformation. The dry land softens. Seeds awaken. Plants spring up. Rivers flow again. Food becomes plentiful for all living beings. The hymn sees rain not as an isolated event but as the beginning of an entire cycle of renewal that sustains humans, animals and plants alike.

What is particularly striking is the hymn's ecological vision. It prays not only for human prosperity but also for the well-being of animals. One verse asks that abundant water be available for every creature to drink. Another verse speaks of life being deposited in plants through the rains. Nature is presented as one interconnected family, nourished by the same divine waters.

The Parjanya Sukta also captures another truth about nature—its immense power. Thunderstorms are beautiful, but they are also fearsome. The hymn describes Parjanya as capable of crushing evil and destroying destructive forces. The Vedic Poet recognises that nature commands both reverence and humility.

One delightful aspect of this ancient hymn is how alive everything feels when it rains. Clouds become chariots. Thunder becomes a divine voice. Rain becomes healing water poured from a celestial vessel. This poetic imagination reminds us that long before the language of meteorology existed, people understood weather through stories and wonder.

Perhaps the most touching moment comes at the end. After praying for abundant rain, the Vedic Poet gently asks Parjanya Deva to stop. The land has been refreshed, herbs are growing, and life has returned. Now the rain has done its work. It is a beautiful reminder that in nature, balance matters as much as abundance.

Although Parjanya Deva himself may have faded from popular memory, his hymn has not entirely disappeared. The Great Poet Rabindranath Tagore once set the Parjanya Sukta to music to be sung during the monsoon festival at his school in Santiniketan. In doing so, he gave this ancient Vedic prayer a new voice centuries after it was first composed.

As the monsoon arrives each year, perhaps it is worth remembering Parjanya once again—not merely as an ancient deity, but as a timeless symbol of humanity's gratitude for rain. In an age of climate change and uncertain weather, this hymn reminds us of something our ancestors never forgot — every drop of rain is a gift, and every monsoon is a miracle. Hence, preserve the nature, preserve its resources.

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Hymn source: Parjanya Sukta I www.siddhayoga.org
Picture source: Gemini (Parjanya) and Pixabay (Thunder)

The photograph of rain-clad Uttarayan, Tagore's house in Santiniketan, was taken by the author in June 2025

This ancient hymn is written in the Rig Veda (5.83). English translation is based on: Stephanie W. Jamison and Joel P. Brereton (trans.), The Rigveda, The Earliest Religious Poetry of India (New York: Oxford University Press, 2014), pp. 765–66.

Acknowledgements: The tune of the Parjanya Sukta, set to music by Rabindranath Tagore, was recently rediscovered and performed by Shri Dipanjan Paul and his team in Kolkata. Their rendition was uploaded to Facebook, and it was through this beautiful performance that I first became interested in the hymn.