Hymn to Indra
Rigveda I.131 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. All the gods, of one accord, have set Indra foremost. For Indra let all the human soma-pressings be, the human offerings be.
2. We set you, like a boat that carries across, at the yoke-pole of onrushing strength. The Āyus, our people, make Indra known through their sacrifices, make Indra known through their hymns of praise.
3. When two peoples, both longing for cattle, both racing toward the open sky, are driven together — you, Indra, make manifest, roaring, your bull-strong companion, the mace, your ever-present companion.
4. Chastising that mortal who withholds sacrifice, O lord of strength — you seized the great earth, and these waters, rejoicing, these waters.
5. You performed the deed for them in their battles, to carry them forward. They, seeking glory, have won river after river, have won them.
6. When you, mighty bull, O mace-bearer, are minded to slay the scorners, Indra — hear this newest thought of me, your ordaining poet, this newest thought.
7. Slay whoever wishes us harm — listen, most gloriously renowned one! Let ill-will be driven off our path like a thing struck aside; let every ill-will be driven off entirely.
Translator's note: verse 3's "gavyantā dvā janā svar yantā" (two cattle-seeking parties racing toward svar, the open sky/light) describes rival clans contending for cattle and daylight; the syntax is compressed and the image is rendered here as plainly as the Sanskrit allows. In verse 2, "āyavaḥ" (the Āyus, a name for early Vedic humankind) is kept as "the Āyus, our people" rather than left untranslated.
Colophon
Rigveda I.131 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.131
indraṁ viśve sajoṣaso devāso dadhire puraḥ |
indrāya viśvā savanāni mānuṣā rātāni santu mānuṣā || 1 ||
taṁ tvā nāvaṁ na parṣaṇiṁ śūṣasya dhuri dhīmahi |
indraṁ na yajñaiś citayanta āyavaḥ stomebhir indram āyavaḥ || 2 ||
yad gavyantā dvā janā sva1r yantā samūhasi |
āviṣ karikrad vṛṣaṇaṁ sacābhuvaṁ vajram indra sacābhuvam || 3 ||
śāsas tam indra martyam ayajyuṁ śavasas pate |
mahīm amuṣṇāḥ pṛthivīm imā apo mandasāna imā apaḥ || 4 ||
cakartha kāram ebhyaḥ pṛtanāsu pravantave |
te anyām-anyāṁ nadyaṁ saniṣṇata śravasyantaḥ saniṣṇata || 5 ||
yad indra hantave mṛdho vṛṣā vajriñ ciketasi |
ā me asya vedhaso navīyaso manma śrudhi navīyasaḥ || 6 ||
jahi yo no aghāyati śṛṇuṣva suśravastamaḥ |
riṣṭaṁ na yāmann apa bhūtu durmatir viśvāpa bhūtu durmatiḥ || 7 ||
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).