Hymn to Indra
Rigveda I.84 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. The soma has been pressed for you, Indra, most mighty one — come here, bold one. Let the power of Indra fill you, as the sun fills the air with its rays.
2. The two bay horses carry Indra alone, whose might no one can withstand, to the praises of the seers and to the sacrifice of men.
3. Mount your chariot, slayer of Vṛtra — your two bay horses are yoked by the sacred word. Let the pressing-stone, with its sound, turn your mind favorably toward us.
4. Drink this pressed soma, Indra, the highest, immortal, exhilarating drink. Streams of the bright soma have flowed to you in the seat of ṛta, the cosmic order.
5. Sing now to Indra, and speak out your hymns of praise. The pressed drops of soma have gladdened him — pay homage to his supreme strength.
6. No one is a better charioteer than you, Indra, when you hold the reins of your two bay horses. No one has reached your greatness; no one with fine horses has overtaken you.
7. He who alone allots wealth to the mortal who makes offering, ruling unopposed — he indeed is Indra.
8. When will he spurn the ungenerous mortal underfoot, like a weed? When will Indra hear our songs of praise?
9. Whoever, with soma pressed, works to win you more eagerly than others — that fierce strength, Indra makes his own.
10. So the tawny ones drink of the sweet honey-sap that flows on every side — those that move with Indra the bull, rejoicing in their splendor, the good ones, each by its own rule.
11. Those dappled cows of his, eager for the mingled draught, prepare the soma; the dear milk-cows of Indra speed on his hurled thunderbolt, the good ones, each by its own rule.
12. Those wise ones honor his strength with homage; they follow his many ordinances for the sake of ancient understanding, the good ones, each by its own rule.
13. Indra, unopposed, with the bones of Dadhīci, slew ninety-nine obstructers.
14. Seeking the horse's head that lay hidden in the mountains, he found it at Śaryaṇāvat.
15. There indeed they came to know the secret name of the cow belonging to Tvaṣṭṛ — thus, in the house of the moon.
16. Who today yokes to the pole of order these powerful, fierce, ill-tempered ones — arrows close at hand, heart-quickening, delight-bringing? Whoever provides for their keep — may he live.
17. Who draws back? Who is driven on? Who is afraid? Who reckons Indra near, who thinks him present? Who will speak up for his offspring, who for wealth and possessions, who for riches, who for his own body, who for his people?
18. Who honors Agni with oblation, with ghee, with the ladle, who sacrifices by the fixed seasons? For whom will the gods swiftly bring the offering home? Who, generous with his offerings, counts himself favored by the gods?
19. You indeed, mightiest god, may commend the mortal you choose — there is no other than you, bounteous one, who grants mercy. Indra, this word I speak to you.
20. Let your gifts, let your aids, O good one, never fail us. Grant us, kind one to men, all good things drawn from among the peoples.
Translator's note: Verses 13–16 preserve fragments of an old riddle-and-myth cluster around Indra's battles — the sage Dadhīci's bones used as a weapon, a hidden horse's head found at Śaryaṇāvat, and a "secret name" of a cow linked to the craftsman-god Tvaṣṭṛ and "the house of the moon." The mythic background behind these images is not spelled out in the verses themselves and is rendered here conservatively, without supplying the missing narrative. Verse 16's description of animals "yoked to the pole of order" with "arrows close at hand" is similarly compressed and admits more than one reading; the rendering here stays close to the Sanskrit word order rather than resolving the riddle.
Colophon
Rigveda I.84 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.84
asāvi soma indra te śaviṣṭha dhṛṣṇav ā gahi |
ā tvā pṛṇaktv indriyaṁ rajaḥ sūryo na raśmibhiḥ || 1 ||
indram id dharī vahato 'pratidhṛṣṭaśavasam |
ṛṣīṇāṁ ca stutīr upa yajñaṁ ca mānuṣāṇām || 2 ||
ā tiṣṭha vṛtrahan rathaṁ yuktā te brahmaṇā harī |
arvācīnaṁ su te mano grāvā kṛṇotu vagnunā || 3 ||
imam indra sutam piba jyeṣṭham amartyam madam |
śukrasya tvābhy akṣaran dhārā ṛtasya sādane || 4 ||
indrāya nūnam arcatokthāni ca bravītana |
sutā amatsur indavo jyeṣṭhaṁ namasyatā sahaḥ || 5 ||
nakiṣ ṭvad rathītaro harī yad indra yacchase |
nakiṣ ṭvānu majmanā nakiḥ svaśva ānaśe || 6 ||
ya eka id vidayate vasu martāya dāśuṣe |
īśāno apratiṣkuta indro aṅga || 7 ||
kadā martam arādhasam padā kṣumpam iva sphurat |
kadā naḥ śuśravad gira indro aṅga || 8 ||
yaś cid dhi tvā bahubhya ā sutāvām̐ āvivāsati |
ugraṁ tat patyate śava indro aṅga || 9 ||
svādor itthā viṣūvato madhvaḥ pibanti gauryaḥ |
yā indreṇa sayāvarīr vṛṣṇā madanti śobhase vasvīr anu svarājyam || 10 ||
tā asya pṛśanāyuvaḥ somaṁ śrīṇanti pṛśnayaḥ |
priyā indrasya dhenavo vajraṁ hinvanti sāyakaṁ vasvīr anu svarājyam || 11 ||
tā asya namasā sahaḥ saparyanti pracetasaḥ |
vratāny asya saścire purūṇi pūrvacittaye vasvīr anu svarājyam || 12 ||
indro dadhīco asthabhir vṛtrāṇy apratiṣkutaḥ |
jaghāna navatīr nava || 13 ||
icchann aśvasya yac chiraḥ parvateṣv apaśritam |
tad vidac charyaṇāvati || 14 ||
atrāha gor amanvata nāma tvaṣṭur apīcyam |
itthā candramaso gṛhe || 15 ||
ko adya yuṅkte dhuri gā ṛtasya śimīvato bhāmino durhṛṇāyūn |
āsanniṣūn hṛtsvaso mayobhūn ya eṣām bhṛtyām ṛṇadhat sa jīvāt || 16 ||
ka īṣate tujyate ko bibhāya ko maṁsate santam indraṁ ko anti |
kas tokāya ka ibhāyota rāye 'dhi bravat tanve3 ko janāya || 17 ||
ko agnim īṭṭe haviṣā ghṛtena srucā yajātā ṛtubhir dhruvebhiḥ |
kasmai devā ā vahān āśu homa ko maṁsate vītihotraḥ sudevaḥ || 18 ||
tvam aṅga pra śaṁsiṣo devaḥ śaviṣṭha martyam |
na tvad anyo maghavann asti marḍitendra bravīmi te vacaḥ || 19 ||
mā te rādhāṁsi mā ta ūtayo vaso 'smān kadā canā dabhan |
viśvā ca na upamimīhi mānuṣa vasūni carṣaṇibhya ā || 20 ||
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).