Hymn to Indra
Rigveda I.100 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) addressed to Indra, the storm-king and champion of the gods, slayer of Vṛtra, lord of thunder and rain. It is one of the 1,028 hymns of the Rigveda organized within Maṇḍala 1, the first of ten books. The ṛṣi (seer) to whom this hymn is attributed and its precise liturgical context are recorded in the traditional Śākalya Anukramaṇī.
The Rigveda is the oldest of the four Vedas and one of the oldest surviving religious texts in the world, composed approximately 1700–1100 BCE in the Vedic Sanskrit of the Indus-Sarasvatī region. Its hymns were preserved through oral transmission across millennia before being committed to writing. This is a Good Works Translation produced for the Good Works Library from the Sanskrit of the Śākala recension.
1. He who is the bull, at home among the bull-like powers, the sovereign ruler of great heaven and earth, of true strength, to be called upon in battle after battle — may Indra, with the Maruts, come to our aid.
2. Whose course, like the sun's, is unmatched; whose Vṛtra-slaying fury is present in battle after battle; mightiest of bulls, with his own friends in their swift comings — may Indra, with the Maruts, come to our aid.
3. Like heaven's, the paths flow forth, milked from his stream, wrapped in might; overcoming every hostility, all-conquering through his manly powers — may Indra, with the Maruts, come to our aid.
4. With the Aṅgirases he became the foremost of the Aṅgirases, a bull among bull-friends, a friend to his friends; a singer among singers, foremost in the ways — may Indra, with the Maruts, come to our aid.
5. He, mighty, like one among the sons of Rudra, having overcome enemies in the contest of heroes, winning deeds of glory together with his kinsmen — may Indra, with the Maruts, come to our aid.
6. He who quells fury, the maker of the battle-clash — with our warriors may he win the sun. On this day, the true lord, much invoked — may Indra, with the Maruts, come to our aid.
7. In him the powers of help delight, in the winning of heroes; him the settled tribes have made their protector, for their security. He alone is lord of all that calls for pity — may Indra, with the Maruts, come to our aid.
8. Him they seek out of strength at the festivals, man seeking the man for help, him for wealth. He found light even in blind darkness — may Indra, with the Maruts, come to our aid.
9. With his left hand he restrains even the mighty; in his right hand are the deeds gathered and accomplished. Even with the humble singer he is a winner of riches — may Indra, with the Maruts, come to our aid.
10. He is a winner with troops of men, he a winner with chariots; he is known today by all the peoples. By his manly powers he overcomes curses — may Indra, with the Maruts, come to our aid.
11. When he drives into the contest, whether with kinsmen or with strangers, much-invoked one, in their comings, for the winning of waters, of children, of descendants — may Indra, with the Maruts, come to our aid.
12. He, the thunderbolt-bearer, slayer of the Dasyus, fearsome, mighty, of a thousand devices, leader in a hundred ways, skillful, mighty as a bull in strength, belonging to the five peoples — may Indra, with the Maruts, come to our aid.
13. His thunderbolt roars, winning the light, its roar brilliant like heaven's, powerful. To him cling long-held gains, to him riches — may Indra, with the Maruts, come to our aid.
14. Whose unceasing might, whose praise-hymn embraces the two world-halves on every side — may he, rejoicing, carry us through by his powers — may Indra, with the Maruts, come to our aid.
15. Whose might's limit neither the gods in their godhead nor mortals, nor even the waters, have ever reached; he surpasses, in vigor, both earth and heaven — may Indra, with the Maruts, come to our aid.
16. The reddish-brown mare, rich in the soma-shoot, marked with a blaze, bright as heaven — for the wealth of Ṛjrāśva, bearing on its shafts the stallion-yoked chariot, joyous, became renowned among the peoples descended from Nahuṣa.
17. This hymn of yours, O bull Indra, this bounty — the sons of Vṛṣāgir proclaim it: Ṛjrāśva with his companions, Ambarīṣa, Sahadeva, Bhayamāna, Surādhas.
18. Slaying the Dasyus and the Śimyus, much-invoked one, by your onward courses, you laid them low upon the earth. With his shining companions he won the land; he won the sun, he won the waters, the good wielder of the thunderbolt.
19. May Indra always be our advocate; unhindered, may we win the prize. This may Mitra and Varuṇa grant us bountifully — and Aditi, the River, Earth, and Heaven.
Translator's note: verse 12's "camrīṣo" is a rare, obscure word of uncertain sense; it is rendered conservatively here as a comparison of strength ("mighty as a bull"), following its likely connection to bull/strength imagery in context, but the precise image is not certain. Verses 1–15 close on the refrain "marutvān no bhavatv indra ūtī" ("may Indra, accompanied by the Maruts, come to us with help"), rendered consistently throughout; verses 16–19 shift to naming a historical/legendary episode — the mare and chariot of Ṛjrāśva and the sons of Vṛṣāgir — and drop the refrain, matching the Sanskrit.
Colophon
Rigveda I.100 is drawn from the Śākala recension of the Rigveda, composed approximately 1700–1100 BCE. This is a Good Works Translation rendered verse by verse from the Sanskrit text printed below. Prepared for the Good Work Library by the Tianmu Anglican Church with AI-assisted translation.
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Source Text: ṛgveda I.100
sa yo vṛṣā vṛṣṇyebhiḥ samokā maho divaḥ pṛthivyāś ca samrāṭ |
satīnasatvā havyo bhareṣu marutvān no bhavatv indra ūtī || 1 ||
yasyānāptaḥ sūryasyeva yāmo bhare-bhare vṛtrahā śuṣmo asti |
vṛṣantamaḥ sakhibhiḥ svebhir evair marutvān no bhavatv indra ūtī || 2 ||
divo na yasya retaso dughānāḥ panthāso yanti śavasāparītāḥ |
taraddveṣāḥ sāsahiḥ pauṁsyebhir marutvān no bhavatv indra ūtī || 3 ||
so aṅgirobhir aṅgirastamo bhūd vṛṣā vṛṣabhiḥ sakhibhiḥ sakhā san |
ṛgmibhir ṛgmī gātubhir jyeṣṭho marutvān no bhavatv indra ūtī || 4 ||
sa sūnubhir na rudrebhir ṛbhvā nṛṣāhye sāsahvām̐ amitrān |
sanīḻebhiḥ śravasyāni tūrvan marutvān no bhavatv indra ūtī || 5 ||
sa manyumīḥ samadanasya kartāsmākebhir nṛbhiḥ sūryaṁ sanat |
asminn ahan satpatiḥ puruhūto marutvān no bhavatv indra ūtī || 6 ||
tam ūtayo raṇayañ chūrasātau taṁ kṣemasya kṣitayaḥ kṛṇvata trām |
sa viśvasya karuṇasyeśa eko marutvān no bhavatv indra ūtī || 7 ||
tam apsanta śavasa utsaveṣu naro naram avase taṁ dhanāya |
so andhe cit tamasi jyotir vidan marutvān no bhavatv indra ūtī || 8 ||
sa savyena yamati vrādhataś cit sa dakṣiṇe saṁgṛbhītā kṛtāni |
sa kīriṇā cit sanitā dhanāni marutvān no bhavatv indra ūtī || 9 ||
sa grāmebhiḥ sanitā sa rathebhir vide viśvābhiḥ kṛṣṭibhir nv a1dya |
sa pauṁsyebhir abhibhūr aśastīr marutvān no bhavatv indra ūtī || 10 ||
sa jāmibhir yat samajāti mīḻhe 'jāmibhir vā puruhūta evaiḥ |
apāṁ tokasya tanayasya jeṣe marutvān no bhavatv indra ūtī || 11 ||
sa vajrabhṛd dasyuhā bhīma ugraḥ sahasracetāḥ śatanītha ṛbhvā |
camrīṣo na śavasā pāñcajanyo marutvān no bhavatv indra ūtī || 12 ||
tasya vajraḥ krandati smat svarṣā divo na tveṣo ravathaḥ śimīvān |
taṁ sacante sanayas taṁ dhanāni marutvān no bhavatv indra ūtī || 13 ||
yasyājasraṁ śavasā mānam uktham paribhujad rodasī viśvataḥ sīm |
sa pāriṣat kratubhir mandasāno marutvān no bhavatv indra ūtī || 14 ||
na yasya devā devatā na martā āpaś cana śavaso antam āpuḥ |
sa prarikvā tvakṣasā kṣmo divaś ca marutvān no bhavatv indra ūtī || 15 ||
rohic chyāvā sumadaṁśur lalāmīr dyukṣā rāya ṛjrāśvasya |
vṛṣaṇvantam bibhratī dhūrṣu ratham mandrā ciketa nāhuṣīṣu vikṣu || 16 ||
etat tyat ta indra vṛṣṇa ukthaṁ vārṣāgirā abhi gṛṇanti rādhaḥ |
ṛjrāśvaḥ praṣṭibhir ambarīṣaḥ sahadevo bhayamānaḥ surādhāḥ || 17 ||
dasyūñ chimyūm̐ś ca puruhūta evair hatvā pṛthivyāṁ śarvā ni barhīt |
sanat kṣetraṁ sakhibhiḥ śvitnyebhiḥ sanat sūryaṁ sanad apaḥ suvajraḥ || 18 ||
viśvāhendro adhivaktā no astv aparihvṛtāḥ sanuyāma vājam |
tan no mitro varuṇo māmahantām aditiḥ sindhuḥ pṛthivī uta dyauḥ || 19 ||
Source Colophon
Sanskrit text of the Rigveda, Śākala recension. The standard scholarly edition is the Bombay Oriental (Vishva Bandhu, 5 vols., 1963–66). IAST transliteration available from GRETIL (Göttingen Register of Electronic Texts in Indian Languages) and Vedaweb (University of Cologne). Both sources are open access. IAST transliteration from the Aufrecht edition (1877) via GRETIL (Van Nooten & Holland input, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).