Hymn to Indra
Rigveda I.51 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. Gladden with songs that ram, the much-invoked one, worthy of the hymn — Indra, the flood of wealth — whose like the heavens do not wander far from men's enjoyment. Sing praise to the most bounteous, the inspired one.
2. The helps of good aid favored him — Indra, who fills the mid-air, wrapped about with mighty strengths. The skillful Ṛbhus praised Indra, shaken with rapture, of a hundred powers; swift, joyous speech rose up to him.
3. You opened the cattle-pen for the Aṅgirases, a path-finder amid a hundred gates. With the grain-offering you brought wealth to Vimada in the contest, making the pressing-stone dance for the one who longed for it.
4. You opened the covering of the waters; you released the dew-rich wealth held fast in the mountain. When you, Indra, slew the serpent Vṛtra by your might, then indeed you raised the sun into the sky, for all to see.
5. By your own powers you drove away the cunning ones, who with their own rites made offerings upon [uncertain]. You broke open the strongholds of Pipru the malicious, and you helped Ṛjiśvan in the slaying of the Dasyus.
6. You helped Kutsa in the killings of Śuṣṇa; you delivered Śambara over to Atithigva. You trampled the mighty Arbuda underfoot; from of old you were born for the slaying of Dasyus.
7. In you all strength is gathered together; your bounty rejoices at the drinking of soma. Your thunderbolt is seen, set in your two arms — hew away all the might of the enemy.
8. Discern the Āryas from those who are Dasyus; chastising the lawless, deliver them to the one who spreads the sacred grass. Be strong, the rouser of the sacrificer — I delight in all these deeds of yours at the shared feasts.
9. Subduing the lawless for the one who keeps the vow, Indra, with his helpers, struck down the helpless. Though grown great and still growing, reaching toward heaven, praised, even the ant destroyed the coiling ones.
10. When Uśanā fashioned your power by force, your might presses apart the two world-halves with its greatness. The mind-yoked steeds of the man-minded Wind carried you, filled full, toward glory.
11. When he rejoiced together with Uśanas Kāvya, Indra stands upon the crooked pair, the more crooked one. The fierce one released the moving waters in a stream, and shattered the fortified strongholds of Śuṣṇa.
12. You mount the chariot amid the strong drink-offerings brought forth by Śāryāta, in which you take delight. Indra, as you delight among those who have pressed the soma, you rise to unrivalled renown in heaven.
13. You gave the young woman Vṛcayā to the great, eloquent Kakṣīvant, the soma-presser, O Indra. You became a woman for Vṛṣaṇaśva, O wise one — all these deeds of yours are to be proclaimed at the soma-offerings.
14. Indra is turned to by the well-minded, alone; among the Pajras the hymn of praise stands like a post at the house-door. Desiring horses, cattle, chariots, wealth — Indra alone rules over riches as their giver.
15. This homage is spoken to the bull, the self-ruling one, to the truly powerful, the mighty one. In this domain, O Indra, may we, with all our men, together with the wise patrons, dwell in your shelter.
Translator's note: Several phrases in this hymn refer to obscure Vedic myths and proper names whose precise sense is debated — the word rendered "[uncertain]" in verse 5 (Sanskrit śuptau), the "crooked pair" of verse 11, and the "ant" of verse 9 (Sanskrit vamra, apparently a mythological reference now lost to us) are translated conservatively, following the literal sense of the Sanskrit rather than any interpretive gloss. Verse 13 alludes to a legend, attested elsewhere in Vedic literature, of Indra taking the form of a woman for King Vṛṣaṇaśva; the verse is translated literally.
Colophon
Rigveda I.51 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.51
abhi tyam meṣam puruhūtam ṛgmiyam indraṁ gīrbhir madatā vasvo arṇavam |
yasya dyāvo na vicaranti mānuṣā bhuje maṁhiṣṭham abhi vipram arcata || 1 ||
abhīm avanvan svabhiṣṭim ūtayo 'ntarikṣaprāṁ taviṣībhir āvṛtam |
indraṁ dakṣāsa ṛbhavo madacyutaṁ śatakratuṁ javanī sūnṛtāruhat || 2 ||
tvaṁ gotram aṅgirobhyo 'vṛṇor apotātraye śatadureṣu gātuvit |
sasena cid vimadāyāvaho vasv ājāv adriṁ vāvasānasya nartayan || 3 ||
tvam apām apidhānāvṛṇor apādhārayaḥ parvate dānumad vasu |
vṛtraṁ yad indra śavasāvadhīr ahim ād it sūryaṁ divy ārohayo dṛśe || 4 ||
tvam māyābhir apa māyino 'dhamaḥ svadhābhir ye adhi śuptāv ajuhvata |
tvam pipror nṛmaṇaḥ prārujaḥ puraḥ pra ṛjiśvānaṁ dasyuhatyeṣv āvitha || 5 ||
tvaṁ kutsaṁ śuṣṇahatyeṣv āvithārandhayo 'tithigvāya śambaram |
mahāntaṁ cid arbudaṁ ni kramīḥ padā sanād eva dasyuhatyāya jajñiṣe || 6 ||
tve viśvā taviṣī sadhryag ghitā tava rādhaḥ somapīthāya harṣate |
tava vajraś cikite bāhvor hito vṛścā śatror ava viśvāni vṛṣṇyā || 7 ||
vi jānīhy āryān ye ca dasyavo barhiṣmate randhayā śāsad avratān |
śākī bhava yajamānasya coditā viśvet tā te sadhamādeṣu cākana || 8 ||
anuvratāya randhayann apavratān ābhūbhir indraḥ śnathayann anābhuvaḥ |
vṛddhasya cid vardhato dyām inakṣataḥ stavāno vamro vi jaghāna saṁdihaḥ || 9 ||
takṣad yat ta uśanā sahasā saho vi rodasī majmanā bādhate śavaḥ |
ā tvā vātasya nṛmaṇo manoyuja ā pūryamāṇam avahann abhi śravaḥ || 10 ||
mandiṣṭa yad uśane kāvye sacām̐ indro vaṅkū vaṅkutarādhi tiṣṭhati |
ugro yayiṁ nir apaḥ srotasāsṛjad vi śuṣṇasya dṛṁhitā airayat puraḥ || 11 ||
ā smā rathaṁ vṛṣapāṇeṣu tiṣṭhasi śāryātasya prabhṛtā yeṣu mandase |
indra yathā sutasomeṣu cākano 'narvāṇaṁ ślokam ā rohase divi || 12 ||
adadā arbhām mahate vacasyave kakṣīvate vṛcayām indra sunvate |
menābhavo vṛṣaṇaśvasya sukrato viśvet tā te savaneṣu pravācyā || 13 ||
indro aśrāyi sudhyo nireke pajreṣu stomo duryo na yūpaḥ |
aśvayur gavyū rathayur vasūyur indra id rāyaḥ kṣayati prayantā || 14 ||
idaṁ namo vṛṣabhāya svarāje satyaśuṣmāya tavase 'vāci |
asminn indra vṛjane sarvavīrāḥ smat sūribhis tava śarman syāma || 15 ||
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).