Hymn to Indra
Rigveda I.62 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. We devise, for the powerful one, an impetuous hymn — a loud song of praise, in the manner of the Aṅgirases, for the lover of song. With pure, well-twisted verses, for the one worthy of praise, let us chant our chant to the hero, the far-famed.
2. Bring forth, all of you, great homage to the great one, the chant worthy of loud praise, to the powerful one — by which our forefathers of old, knowing the track, the singing Aṅgirases, found the cows.
3. In the quest of Indra and the Aṅgirases, Saramā found sustenance for her young. Bṛhaspati split the rock and found the cows; the heroes bellowed together with the ruddy cows.
4. He, with the good praise-cry, with the cry, with the seven sages, with sound — the resonant one — together with the Navagvas; with the swift companions, O Indra, O mighty one, you tore open Phaliga, you tore open Vala with a roar, together with the Daśagvas.
5. Praised by the Aṅgirases, O wondrous one, you laid open the darkness with the dawn, with the sun, with the cows. O Indra, you spread wide the ridge of heaven out from the earth; you propped up the lower realm.
6. That indeed is his most worshipful deed; it is the most beautiful feat of the wondrous one — that in the hidden recess the lower streams swelled, four rivers flowing with a flood of sweetness.
7. Doubly did Ayāsya, ancient-born, lay open the old lair, with songs being chanted. Like Bhaga, in the highest heaven, the one of wondrous power held the two world-halves apart.
8. From of old, around heaven and earth, the two of different form, ever renewed, the young women — Night and Dawn — go about by their own courses, one after the other, one with dark, one with bright and wondrous shapes.
9. Performing good deeds, the son, of wondrous power, has by his might upheld the lasting bond of friendship. Even in the raw, unripe cows you have placed the ripe milk within — the shining milk inside the dark, ruddy cows.
10. From of old, the kindred streams, unimpelled by wind, immortal, guard their ordinances with their strength. Many thousand, like wives, the sisters wait upon the one without shame.
11. Seeking of old, with homage, with new songs, desiring wealth, our thoughts have hastened to you, O wondrous one. Like eager wives to an eager husband, our prayers touch you, O possessor of might.
12. From of old indeed, your riches in your hand do not diminish, do not waste away, O wondrous one. You are brilliant, full of resolve, O wise Indra — grant to us, O mighty one, with your powers.
13. For Indra, long-standing of old, Gotama has fashioned a new hymn, for the yoker of the bay steeds. For our good guidance, O mighty one, may the singer come swiftly at dawn, rich in devotion.
Translator's note: verse 4 names "Phaliga" alongside Vala as a place or thing broken open; its exact referent is uncertain, and the verse's chain of instrumentals (praise-cry, sages, sound, the Navagvas, the Daśagvas) is rendered as a list of accompaniments to Indra's act rather than resolved into a single clean clause. Verse 7's "Ayāsya" is a proper name (an ancient sage); "mene" in the same verse is a difficult form rendered here loosely as "like Bhaga." Verse 8's "aktoṣā" (Night-and-Dawn) is translated by naming the pair directly. Verse 13's "nodhāḥ" can be read either as a proper name (Nodhas) or as a common noun for "singer, praiser"; it is rendered here as "the singer" to avoid asserting an identification the Sanskrit does not make certain.
Colophon
Rigveda I.62 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.62
pra manmahe śavasānāya śūṣam āṅgūṣaṁ girvaṇase aṅgirasvat |
suvṛktibhiḥ stuvata ṛgmiyāyārcāmārkaṁ nare viśrutāya || 1 ||
pra vo mahe mahi namo bharadhvam āṅgūṣyaṁ śavasānāya sāma |
yenā naḥ pūrve pitaraḥ padajñā arcanto aṅgiraso gā avindan || 2 ||
indrasyāṅgirasāṁ ceṣṭau vidat saramā tanayāya dhāsim |
bṛhaspatir bhinad adriṁ vidad gāḥ sam usriyābhir vāvaśanta naraḥ || 3 ||
sa suṣṭubhā sa stubhā sapta vipraiḥ svareṇādriṁ svaryo3 navagvaiḥ |
saraṇyubhiḥ phaligam indra śakra valaṁ raveṇa darayo daśagvaiḥ || 4 ||
gṛṇāno aṅgirobhir dasma vi var uṣasā sūryeṇa gobhir andhaḥ |
vi bhūmyā aprathaya indra sānu divo raja uparam astabhāyaḥ || 5 ||
tad u prayakṣatamam asya karma dasmasya cārutamam asti daṁsaḥ |
upahvare yad uparā apinvan madhvarṇaso nadya1ś catasraḥ || 6 ||
dvitā vi vavre sanajā sanīḻe ayāsyaḥ stavamānebhir arkaiḥ |
bhago na mene parame vyomann adhārayad rodasī sudaṁsāḥ || 7 ||
sanād divam pari bhūmā virūpe punarbhuvā yuvatī svebhir evaiḥ |
kṛṣṇebhir aktoṣā ruśadbhir vapurbhir ā carato anyānyā || 8 ||
sanemi sakhyaṁ svapasyamānaḥ sūnur dādhāra śavasā sudaṁsāḥ |
āmāsu cid dadhiṣe pakvam antaḥ payaḥ kṛṣṇāsu ruśad rohiṇīṣu || 9 ||
sanāt sanīḻā avanīr avātā vratā rakṣante amṛtāḥ sahobhiḥ |
purū sahasrā janayo na patnīr duvasyanti svasāro ahrayāṇam || 10 ||
sanāyuvo namasā navyo arkair vasūyavo matayo dasma dadruḥ |
patiṁ na patnīr uśatīr uśantaṁ spṛśanti tvā śavasāvan manīṣāḥ || 11 ||
sanād eva tava rāyo gabhastau na kṣīyante nopa dasyanti dasma |
dyumām̐ asi kratumām̐ indra dhīraḥ śikṣā śacīvas tava naḥ śacībhiḥ || 12 ||
sanāyate gotama indra navyam atakṣad brahma hariyojanāya |
sunīthāya naḥ śavasāna nodhāḥ prātar makṣū dhiyāvasur jagamyāt || 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).