Hymn to Indra
Rigveda I.132 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. On this nearest day, speak now for the one who presses the soma. In this sacrifice let us discern it — in the contest, the winning throw; striving for the prize, in the contest, the winning throw.
2. Indra struck, as is known — to be called on head by head. May your gifts come together toward us, the gracious gifts of the gracious one.
3. Declare that forth — then the Dvitas within see it by the reins. He indeed is known accordingly: Indra, the seeker of cattle, the seeker of cattle for his kinsmen.
4. Toward them, by that same quarter, conquer and fight for us. Subdue, for those who press the soma, whoever is lawless — even the raging lawless one.
5. For him, life with offspring indeed — in distress they praise him with strength. O Indra, our thoughts seek to win a dwelling near you, as prayers go toward the gods.
6. May it be fitting for the one cast down far off, when he reaches the impenetrable place. Around our enemies on every side, O hero — may the Render tear them apart on every side.
Translator's note: this is one of the more syntactically compressed and obscure hymns of Maṇḍala 1. Several terms are rendered conservatively: v.3's "Dvitas" (dvita) is left as a proper name (a minor mythic figure/group associated with seeing or judging, rather than translated as "the two" or "duality"); v.6's "Render" (darman, from the root dṛ, "to split") is kept as an agent-epithet rather than resolved to a specific noun. Where the Sanskrit's ellipsis leaves a verb or subject only implied, the English supplies the minimum needed for a readable clause, matching the imagery and addressee of the original at each point.
Colophon
Rigveda I.132 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.132
nediṣṭhe asminn ahany adhi vocā nu sunvate |
asmin yajñe vi cayemā bhare kṛtaṁ vājayanto bhare kṛtam || 1 ||
ahann indro yathā vide śīrṣṇā-śīrṣṇopavācyaḥ |
asmatrā te sadhryak santu rātayo bhadrā bhadrasya rātayaḥ || 2 ||
vi tad vocer adha dvitāntaḥ paśyanti raśmibhiḥ |
sa ghā vide anv indro gaveṣaṇo bandhukṣidbhyo gaveṣaṇaḥ || 3 ||
aibhyaḥ samānyā diśāsmabhyaṁ jeṣi yotsi ca |
sunvadbhyo randhayā kaṁ cid avrataṁ hṛṇāyantaṁ cid avratam || 4 ||
tasmā āyuḥ prajāvad id bādhe arcanty ojasā |
indra okyaṁ didhiṣanta dhītayo devām̐ acchā na dhītayaḥ || 5 ||
dūre cattāya cchantsad gahanaṁ yad inakṣat |
asmākaṁ śatrūn pari śūra viśvato darmā darṣīṣṭa viśvataḥ || 6 ||
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).