Hymn to Indra
Rigveda X.111 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) from Maṇḍala 10 of the Rigveda, one of the 1,028 hymns organized within the ten books of the oldest Veda. The Rigveda was composed approximately 1700–1100 BCE in Vedic Sanskrit and preserved through oral transmission across millennia.
This is a Good Works Translation produced for the Good Works Library from the Sanskrit of the Śākala recension.
1. Wise ones, bring forth your thought — however the thoughts of men may run. Let us rouse Indra with deeds made true, for he, the hero, longs for praise, and he knows it.
2. From the seat of truth the vision shone forth; the bull, offspring of Gṛṣṭi, joined with the cows. He rose up with a mighty roar; he encompassed even the vast realms.
3. Indra indeed knows this by his renown — for he is the victorious one, the path-maker for the sun. Then, making her his mate, the unshaken one became lord of the cow and of heaven, born of old, unmatched.
4. Indra, by his greatness, broke the laws of the great flood, praised by the Aṅgirases. He spread out the many realms and upheld the foundation in truth.
5. Indra is the measure of heaven and earth; he knows all the pressings; he slays Śuṣṇa. He stretched the great heaven with the sun, and propped it with a prop, himself a mightier support than any support.
6. With the mace, the Vṛtra-slayer struck down Vṛtra and the tricks of the godless one who had swollen with strength. Bold one, there you struck him down boldly; then, O bounteous one, you became strong of arm.
7. When the dawns joined with the sun, his rays found her bright treasure. When the star-like light was seen coming from heaven, no one truly knows now whence it comes again.
8. Far indeed the first of them went — the waters that flowed at Indra's bidding. Where is their source, where their depth? O waters, where is your middle, and where now your end?
9. You released the rivers the serpent had swallowed; then indeed they rushed forth with speed — those wanting release and those already released. Once loosed, they do not rest.
10. Together, like eager maidens, they went to the river-meeting; their ancient lover, the fort-breaker, was roused of old for them. To your home, O Indra, have come earth's treasures; to us have come your many generous gifts.
Translator's note: verse 7 is genuinely obscure in the Sanskrit — the referents of "her bright treasure" and the star-like light are not made explicit in the text, and this rendering keeps close to the words rather than resolving the ambiguity. Verse 3's "menā" (rendered "mate") and verse 10's "jāra" ("lover") are terms from the myth of Indra winning back the cows/waters and are kept literal rather than smoothed into abstraction.
Colophon
Rigveda X.111 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 X.111
Sanskrit source text from the Aufrecht edition (1877) via GRETIL (Van Nooten & Holland input). Presented here for reference, study, and verification alongside the English translation above.
manīṣiṇaḥ pra bharadhvam manīṣāṁ yathā-yathā matayaḥ santi nṛṇām |
indraṁ satyair erayāmā kṛtebhiḥ sa hi vīro girvaṇasyur vidānaḥ || 1 ||
ṛtasya hi sadaso dhītir adyaut saṁ gārṣṭeyo vṛṣabho gobhir ānaṭ |
ud atiṣṭhat taviṣeṇā raveṇa mahānti cit saṁ vivyācā rajāṁsi || 2 ||
indraḥ kila śrutyā asya veda sa hi jiṣṇuḥ pathikṛt sūryāya |
ān menāṁ kṛṇvann acyuto bhuvad goḥ patir divaḥ sanajā apratītaḥ || 3 ||
indro mahnā mahato arṇavasya vratāminād aṅgirobhir gṛṇānaḥ |
purūṇi cin ni tatānā rajāṁsi dādhāra yo dharuṇaṁ satyatātā || 4 ||
indro divaḥ pratimānam pṛthivyā viśvā veda savanā hanti śuṣṇam |
mahīṁ cid dyām ātanot sūryeṇa cāskambha cit kambhanena skabhīyān || 5 ||
vajreṇa hi vṛtrahā vṛtram astar adevasya śūśuvānasya māyāḥ |
vi dhṛṣṇo atra dhṛṣatā jaghanthāthābhavo maghavan bāhvojāḥ || 6 ||
sacanta yad uṣasaḥ sūryeṇa citrām asya ketavo rām avindan |
ā yan nakṣatraṁ dadṛśe divo na punar yato nakir addhā nu veda || 7 ||
dūraṁ kila prathamā jagmur āsām indrasya yāḥ prasave sasrur āpaḥ |
kva svid agraṁ kva budhna āsām āpo madhyaṁ kva vo nūnam antaḥ || 8 ||
sṛjaḥ sindhūm̐r ahinā jagrasānām̐ ād id etāḥ pra vivijre javena |
mumukṣamāṇā uta yā mumucre 'dhed etā na ramante nitiktāḥ || 9 ||
sadhrīcīḥ sindhum uśatīr ivāyan sanāj jāra āritaḥ pūrbhid āsām |
astam ā te pārthivā vasūny asme jagmuḥ sūnṛtā indra pūrvīḥ || 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).