Hymn to Indra
Rigveda I.81 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. Indra has grown strong for exhilaration, for power — the Vṛtra-slayer, together with his men. Him we call on in the great contests, and in the small ones too. May he come forward to help us in the struggles for the prize.
2. You are indeed, hero, fit for the army; you are one who gives abundantly. You are the strengthener even of him who has little. You are eager to give to the one who offers sacrifice — abundant is your wealth for the one who presses the soma.
3. When the battles arise, the stake is laid down for the bold. Yoke your two bay steeds, roused by the exhilarating draught. Whom do you strike down? Whom do you set in wealth? Set us, Indra, in wealth.
4. Great in resolve, fearsome, he has grown in strength according to his own will. Lofty, broad-jawed, lord of the bay steeds, he has placed the iron thunderbolt in his two hands for his glory.
5. He has filled the earthly realm; he has set firm the shining spaces in heaven. No one like you, Indra, has been born, nor will be born — you have grown beyond all.
6. Whoever the lord gives the sustenance of mortals to the one who offers worship — may Indra be that one, eager to give to us. Distribute your abundant wealth; let me partake of your bounty.
7. In every exhilaration you are indeed our giver — of herds of cattle, straightforward in purpose. Gather together the many, the hundredfold wealth held in both hands. Rouse yourself; bring us riches.
8. Exult together with the pressed soma, hero, for strength, for bounty. For we know you as one rich in wealth; we have loosed our desires toward you — so be our helper.
9. These your creatures, Indra, foster every desirable thing. Look, then, among the peoples: the wealth of the lord who does not give, of those who withhold offerings — bring us the wealth of those.
Translator's note: verse 4's "upākayoḥ" and "śiprī" (describing Indra's jaws or helmet as "near" one another) is an obscure phrase rendered conservatively as "broad-jawed." Verse 7's "śiśīhi" (literally "sharpen") is rendered as "rouse yourself," following its common Vedic sense of urging a god to act.
Colophon
Rigveda I.81 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.81
indro madāya vāvṛdhe śavase vṛtrahā nṛbhiḥ |
tam in mahatsv ājiṣūtem arbhe havāmahe sa vājeṣu pra no 'viṣat || 1 ||
asi hi vīra senyo 'si bhūri parādadiḥ |
asi dabhrasya cid vṛdho yajamānāya śikṣasi sunvate bhūri te vasu || 2 ||
yad udīrata ājayo dhṛṣṇave dhīyate dhanā |
yukṣvā madacyutā harī kaṁ hanaḥ kaṁ vasau dadho 'smām̐ indra vasau dadhaḥ || 3 ||
kratvā mahām̐ anuṣvadham bhīma ā vāvṛdhe śavaḥ |
śriya ṛṣva upākayor ni śiprī harivān dadhe hastayor vajram āyasam || 4 ||
ā paprau pārthivaṁ rajo badbadhe rocanā divi |
na tvāvām̐ indra kaś cana na jāto na janiṣyate 'ti viśvaṁ vavakṣitha || 5 ||
yo aryo martabhojanam parādadāti dāśuṣe |
indro asmabhyaṁ śikṣatu vi bhajā bhūri te vasu bhakṣīya tava rādhasaḥ || 6 ||
made-made hi no dadir yūthā gavām ṛjukratuḥ |
saṁ gṛbhāya purū śatobhayāhastyā vasu śiśīhi rāya ā bhara || 7 ||
mādayasva sute sacā śavase śūra rādhase |
vidmā hi tvā purūvasum upa kāmān sasṛjmahe 'thā no 'vitā bhava || 8 ||
ete ta indra jantavo viśvam puṣyanti vāryam |
antar hi khyo janānām aryo vedo adāśuṣāṁ teṣāṁ no veda ā bhara || 9 ||
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).