Hymn to Indra
Rigveda I.101 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. Sing forth to the joyous one a nourishing hymn — he who, with Ṛjiśvan, struck down the dark broods. Seeking his help, we call for friendship the bull, the one whose right hand wields the vajra, him who comes with the Maruts.
2. He who with bristling fury struck down Vyaṁsa, who slew Śambara, who slew Pipru the lawless one — Indra, who laid low Śuṣṇa the unyielding — him who comes with the Maruts we call for friendship.
3. He whose great manly power heaven and earth declare, in whose ordinance stand Varuṇa and the sun, whose ordinance — Indra's — the rivers follow: him who comes with the Maruts we call for friendship.
4. He who is lord of horses, lord of cattle, the ruler, who once roused stands firm in every task, who breaks even what stands firmly fixed — Indra, who is death to the one who presses no soma: him who comes with the Maruts we call for friendship.
5. He who is lord of all the moving world, who first found the cows for the sacred word — Indra, who cast the Dasyus down below: him who comes with the Maruts we call for friendship.
6. He who is to be called upon by the brave and by the fearful, who is invoked by those who flee and by those who conquer — Indra, whom all the worlds have set over them: him who comes with the Maruts we call for friendship.
7. The far-seeing one goes forth at the bidding of the Rudras; with the Rudras the maiden spreads the wide expanse. With wisdom of mind we praise Indra the renowned: him who comes with the Maruts we call for friendship.
8. Whether, O you who come with the Maruts, you take your delight in the highest gathering-place, or in the nearest enclosure — from there come to our rite. For you we have made the offering, O you of true bounty.
9. For you, Indra, truly skilled one, we have pressed the soma; for you, bearing our sacred word, we have made the offering. Now, drawn by your team, together with your troop of Maruts, take your delight at this sacrifice, upon the sacred grass.
10. Take your delight with the tawny steeds that are yours, Indra; loosen your jaws, let flow the two streams. May your tawny steeds, fair-jawed one, carry you here eagerly; accept our offerings.
11. We, guardians of the hymn of praise to the Maruts, of the sacrificial ground, may we win strength together with Indra. May Mitra and Varuṇa grant us this; may Aditi, the River, the Earth, and Heaven grant it too.
Translator's note: verse 2's "aśuṣam" (an epithet of Śuṣṇa) is obscure and rendered conservatively as "unyielding." Verse 7's "yoṣā" ("the maiden") is left unglossed rather than identified with a specific figure, since the text itself does not name her.
Colophon
Rigveda I.101 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.101
pra mandine pitumad arcatā vaco yaḥ kṛṣṇagarbhā nirahann ṛjiśvanā |
avasyavo vṛṣaṇaṁ vajradakṣiṇam marutvantaṁ sakhyāya havāmahe || 1 ||
yo vyaṁsaṁ jāhṛṣāṇena manyunā yaḥ śambaraṁ yo ahan piprum avratam |
indro yaḥ śuṣṇam aśuṣaṁ ny āvṛṇaṅ marutvantaṁ sakhyāya havāmahe || 2 ||
yasya dyāvāpṛthivī pauṁsyam mahad yasya vrate varuṇo yasya sūryaḥ |
yasyendrasya sindhavaḥ saścati vratam marutvantaṁ sakhyāya havāmahe || 3 ||
yo aśvānāṁ yo gavāṁ gopatir vaśī ya āritaḥ karmaṇi-karmaṇi sthiraḥ |
vīḻoś cid indro yo asunvato vadho marutvantaṁ sakhyāya havāmahe || 4 ||
yo viśvasya jagataḥ prāṇatas patir yo brahmaṇe prathamo gā avindat |
indro yo dasyūm̐r adharām̐ avātiran marutvantaṁ sakhyāya havāmahe || 5 ||
yaḥ śūrebhir havyo yaś ca bhīrubhir yo dhāvadbhir hūyate yaś ca jigyubhiḥ |
indraṁ yaṁ viśvā bhuvanābhi saṁdadhur marutvantaṁ sakhyāya havāmahe || 6 ||
rudrāṇām eti pradiśā vicakṣaṇo rudrebhir yoṣā tanute pṛthu jrayaḥ |
indram manīṣā abhy arcati śrutam marutvantaṁ sakhyāya havāmahe || 7 ||
yad vā marutvaḥ parame sadhasthe yad vāvame vṛjane mādayāse |
ata ā yāhy adhvaraṁ no acchā tvāyā haviś cakṛmā satyarādhaḥ || 8 ||
tvāyendra somaṁ suṣumā sudakṣa tvāyā haviś cakṛmā brahmavāhaḥ |
adhā niyutvaḥ sagaṇo marudbhir asmin yajñe barhiṣi mādayasva || 9 ||
mādayasva haribhir ye ta indra vi ṣyasva śipre vi sṛjasva dhene |
ā tvā suśipra harayo vahantūśan havyāni prati no juṣasva || 10 ||
marutstotrasya vṛjanasya gopā vayam indreṇa sanuyāma vājam |
tan no mitro varuṇo māmahantām aditiḥ sindhuḥ pṛthivī uta dyauḥ || 11 ||
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).