Hymn to Indra

Rigveda I.173 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. Let him sing the cloud-song as a bird sings; let us chant that swelling hymn full of heaven's light. The undeceived milch-cows, on the sacred grass, seek out the divine seat when they come to honor it.

2. May the bull sing out, with the bulls who bring their offerings won in toil, like a wild creature that outruns the one devouring it as it grows old. The exhilarating one, the welcomed priest, brings forth the mated pair — the young hero, worthy of worship.

3. The priest approaches, moving around the appointed seat, bearing the germ of life through the earth's passing years. The horse neighs as it is led, the cow bellows; like a messenger between the two world-halves, the sacred word goes forth.

4. These works, these mighty deeds, the god-seeking worshippers bring for him. May Indra, of wondrous splendor, take delight in them — he who, like the Nāsatyas, stands well-poised upon his chariot.

5. Praise him — Indra, who indeed is a warrior, who is a hero, the bounteous one, who stands upon his chariot; more battle-eager than any who face him, full of manly strength, the destroyer even of enveloping darkness.

6. When thus, by his greatness, it becomes fitting for the men, the two world-halves are enough for him, like a girth about him. Indra has wrapped them around himself like a vast enclosure; the self-powerful one bears heaven as one bears a braided crest.

7. In battles, O hero, we call on you, the chooser of the true, foremost on the path, to draw victory around us. The two hosts, of one mind, share in Indra's exhilaration — as does the generous patron who rejoices along with him through his gifts.

8. Thus indeed the soma-pressings are good for you, like the waters gathered in the sea, when the divine waters rejoice in you among them. May every offering, in turn, be pleasing to you, if with your wisdom you seek out the patrons and the people.

9. So may we be his good companions, sharing his protection, as men are praised by the praises of other men. So may Indra stand firm in our praise, like a swift one who carries our works and our hymns forward to success.

10. Rivaling one another, as men rival one another in praise, may Indra the thunderbolt-handed be ours. As those who seek friendship approach the lord of the stronghold with good guidance, those who seek alliance strive to win him over with sacrifices.

11. For the sacrifice indeed is what brings anyone to Indra — even one who wanders astray, going about with an unsteady mind — as one comes, thirsting, to a dwelling at a river-ford; the long road, as it were, is brought to its accomplishment.

12. Do not forsake us here, Indra, in the battles fought alongside the gods, for you, impetuous one, truly have the power to protect. Even the great, bounteous one — the voice of the oblation-bearing Maruts pays him homage.

13. This hymn of praise, Indra, is ours, offered to you; by it find a path for us, lord of the bay horses. Turn toward us for our well-being, god; may we find nourishment, and a strength that gives swiftly and freely.

Translator's note: this hymn is among the syntactically most compressed in Maṇḍala 1, with several words (e.g. nabhanya, juguryāt, āṣatarā, paritaṁsayadhyai, yavyā) that are rare or unique in the Rigveda and whose precise sense is uncertain even in the scholarly tradition. Verses 1, 2, 6, 7, and 12 in particular contain phrases rendered here conservatively, following the most literal reading of the Sanskrit rather than any confident reconstruction of obscure terms.

Colophon

Rigveda I.173 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.173

gāyat sāma nabhanya1ṁ yathā ver arcāma tad vāvṛdhānaṁ svarvat |
gāvo dhenavo barhiṣy adabdhā ā yat sadmānaṁ divyaṁ vivāsān || 1 ||

arcad vṛṣā vṛṣabhiḥ sveduhavyair mṛgo nāśno ati yaj juguryāt |
pra mandayur manāṁ gūrta hotā bharate maryo mithunā yajatraḥ || 2 ||

nakṣad dhotā pari sadma mitā yan bharad garbham ā śaradaḥ pṛthivyāḥ |
krandad aśvo nayamāno ruvad gaur antar dūto na rodasī carad vāk || 3 ||

tā karmāṣatarāsmai pra cyautnāni devayanto bharante |
jujoṣad indro dasmavarcā nāsatyeva sugmyo ratheṣṭhāḥ || 4 ||

tam u ṣṭuhīndraṁ yo ha satvā yaḥ śūro maghavā yo ratheṣṭhāḥ |
pratīcaś cid yodhīyān vṛṣaṇvān vavavruṣaś cit tamaso vihantā || 5 ||

pra yad itthā mahinā nṛbhyo asty araṁ rodasī kakṣye3 nāsmai |
saṁ vivya indro vṛjanaṁ na bhūmā bharti svadhāvām̐ opaśam iva dyām || 6 ||

samatsu tvā śūra satām urāṇam prapathintamam paritaṁsayadhyai |
sajoṣasa indram made kṣoṇīḥ sūriṁ cid ye anumadanti vājaiḥ || 7 ||

evā hi te śaṁ savanā samudra āpo yat ta āsu madanti devīḥ |
viśvā te anu joṣyā bhūd gauḥ sūrīm̐ś cid yadi dhiṣā veṣi janān || 8 ||

asāma yathā suṣakhāya ena svabhiṣṭayo narāṁ na śaṁsaiḥ |
asad yathā na indro vandaneṣṭhās turo na karma nayamāna ukthā || 9 ||

viṣpardhaso narāṁ na śaṁsair asmākāsad indro vajrahastaḥ |
mitrāyuvo na pūrpatiṁ suśiṣṭau madhyāyuva upa śikṣanti yajñaiḥ || 10 ||

yajño hi ṣmendraṁ kaś cid ṛndhañ juhurāṇaś cin manasā pariyan |
tīrthe nācchā tātṛṣāṇam oko dīrgho na sidhram ā kṛṇoty adhvā || 11 ||

mo ṣū ṇa indrātra pṛtsu devair asti hi ṣmā te śuṣminn avayāḥ |
mahaś cid yasya mīḻhuṣo yavyā haviṣmato maruto vandate gīḥ || 12 ||

eṣa stoma indra tubhyam asme etena gātuṁ harivo vido naḥ |
ā no vavṛtyāḥ suvitāya deva vidyāmeṣaṁ vṛjanaṁ jīradānum || 13 ||

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).