Hymn to Indra
Rigveda I.9 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, come here. Be exhilarated by the soma juice, with all its pressed portions — great, all-conquering through your strength.
2. Pour out this exulting drink, once pressed, for Indra who exults in it — the maker of all things, for the maker.
3. Be exhilarated, fair-jawed one, by the joyful hymns of praise, lord who watches over all peoples — join us at these pressings.
4. Your songs have been sent forth, Indra; they have risen up to you, unwearying, toward the bull, the lord.
5. Send that wondrous, choice bounty down to us, Indra — let it truly be yours, far-reaching and mighty.
6. Urge us on well there, Indra, toward wealth — vehement, glorious wealth, you of abundant splendor.
7. Bestow on us, Indra, wide and lofty fame, rich in cattle and in strength — imperishable, lasting our whole life.
8. Bestow on us lofty fame, Indra, and splendor that wins a thousandfold — those bounties of yours that ride on chariots.
9. We praise with songs Indra, lord of wealth, lord of good things, worthy of the hymn — we call him, the one who comes, to our aid.
10. At every pressing, to him who dwells close among us, the zealous worshipper sings the strengthening chant to great Indra.
Translator's note: verse 9's "homa" (from the verb "hū," to call/invoke) is rendered as "we call him" rather than as the later technical term "homa" (fire-offering), since here it functions as a finite verb of invocation, not a noun for a rite. Verse 10's "ariḥ" is rendered "the zealous worshipper," following its sense elsewhere in the Rigveda as a devout patron or pious man, rather than its later sense of "stranger/enemy."
Colophon
Rigveda I.9 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.9
indrehi matsy andhaso viśvebhiḥ somaparvabhiḥ |
mahām̐ abhiṣṭir ojasā || 1 ||
em enaṁ sṛjatā sute mandim indrāya mandine |
cakriṁ viśvāni cakraye || 2 ||
matsvā suśipra mandibhiḥ stomebhir viśvacarṣaṇe |
sacaiṣu savaneṣv ā || 3 ||
asṛgram indra te giraḥ prati tvām ud ahāsata |
ajoṣā vṛṣabham patim || 4 ||
saṁ codaya citram arvāg rādha indra vareṇyam |
asad it te vibhu prabhu || 5 ||
asmān su tatra codayendra rāye rabhasvataḥ |
tuvidyumna yaśasvataḥ || 6 ||
saṁ gomad indra vājavad asme pṛthu śravo bṛhat |
viśvāyur dhehy akṣitam || 7 ||
asme dhehi śravo bṛhad dyumnaṁ sahasrasātamam |
indra tā rathinīr iṣaḥ || 8 ||
vasor indraṁ vasupatiṁ gīrbhir gṛṇanta ṛgmiyam |
homa gantāram ūtaye || 9 ||
sute-sute nyokase bṛhad bṛhata ed ariḥ |
indrāya śūṣam arcati || 10 ||
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).