Hymn to Indra
Rigveda I.103 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. That supreme power of yours, Indra, the sages of old held fast from afar: one part of it is here on earth, another is in heaven; the two join together like a single banner.
2. He held up the earth and spread it wide; striking with his mace, he released the waters. He slew the serpent, split apart Rauhiṇa, and struck down Vyaṁsa — the bounteous one, by his own strength.
3. Ever sustaining, trusting in his own force, he went about splitting open the strongholds of the Dāsa women. Knowing one, wielder of the mace, hurl your weapon at the Dasyu; build up the Ārya's strength and splendor, Indra.
4. These human generations have told of that deed, of the bounteous one who bears a name worth praising — the mace-wielder advancing to strike down the Dasyu, when the son took up a name for glory.
5. Look at this abundant nourishment of his; place your trust in Indra's heroic power. He found the cows, he found the horses, he found the plants, the waters, the woods.
6. For him of many deeds, the bull, the powerful one, whose fury is real, let us press the soma — he who, like a bold highwayman lying in wait, seizes and divides up the wealth of the one who offers no sacrifice.
7. This heroic deed you truly did, Indra: you woke the sleeping serpent with your mace. The wives, exultant, followed after you, and his own vigor too; all the gods rejoiced, following you.
8. Śuṣṇa, Pipru, Kuyava, Vṛtra, Indra — when you struck them down, and split open the strongholds of Śambara — may Mitra and Varuṇa grant that to us richly, and Aditi, the river, the earth, and heaven.
Translator's note: verse 1's "kṣamedam anyad divy anyad asya" is a compressed contrast (earth / heaven) rendered here plainly rather than resolved into a single fixed image. "Jātūbharmā" (v.3) is a rare compound, translated conservatively as "ever sustaining." In v.7, "vayaś ca" alongside "patnīḥ" is ambiguous between "vigor" and "birds"; "vigor" is kept as the more conservative reading.
Colophon
Rigveda I.103 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.
🌲
Source Text: ṛgveda I.103
tat ta indriyam paramam parācair adhārayanta kavayaḥ puredam |
kṣamedam anyad divy a1nyad asya sam ī pṛcyate samaneva ketuḥ || 1 ||
sa dhārayat pṛthivīm paprathac ca vajreṇa hatvā nir apaḥ sasarja |
ahann ahim abhinad rauhiṇaṁ vy ahan vyaṁsam maghavā śacībhiḥ || 2 ||
sa jātūbharmā śraddadhāna ojaḥ puro vibhindann acarad vi dāsīḥ |
vidvān vajrin dasyave hetim asyāryaṁ saho vardhayā dyumnam indra || 3 ||
tad ūcuṣe mānuṣemā yugāni kīrtenyam maghavā nāma bibhrat |
upaprayan dasyuhatyāya vajrī yad dha sūnuḥ śravase nāma dadhe || 4 ||
tad asyedam paśyatā bhūri puṣṭaṁ śrad indrasya dhattana vīryāya |
sa gā avindat so avindad aśvān sa oṣadhīḥ so apaḥ sa vanāni || 5 ||
bhūrikarmaṇe vṛṣabhāya vṛṣṇe satyaśuṣmāya sunavāma somam |
ya ādṛtyā paripanthīva śūro 'yajvano vibhajann eti vedaḥ || 6 ||
tad indra preva vīryaṁ cakartha yat sasantaṁ vajreṇābodhayo 'him |
anu tvā patnīr hṛṣitaṁ vayaś ca viśve devāso amadann anu tvā || 7 ||
śuṣṇam pipruṁ kuyavaṁ vṛtram indra yadāvadhīr vi puraḥ śambarasya |
tan no mitro varuṇo māmahantām aditiḥ sindhuḥ pṛthivī uta dyauḥ || 8 ||
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).