Hymn to Indra
Rigveda X.113 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. Heaven and Earth, of one mind, together with all the gods, favored his fury. As he went forth making his Indra-power his own, having drunk of soma, the resolute one grew strong.
2. Viṣṇu, hastening with vigor to the honeyed plant, extols that greatness of his. Together with the gods, his companions, Indra the bounteous — having slain Vṛtra — became worthy of choice.
3. When, bearing his weapons, he took his stand against the serpent Vṛtra to fight, to win praise, all the Maruts there, with their own bodies, strengthened your Indra-greatness, O mighty one.
4. As soon as he was born he drove off the rivals; the hero looked forward to the manly contest. He cut the mountain rock, let the streams go flowing down, and propped up the wide vault of heaven by his skillful work.
5. Then Indra took to himself the whole of his powers; he pushed Heaven and Earth further apart. Bold, he brought down the iron mace, dear to Mitra and to worshipping Varuṇa.
6. There the raging ones hastened to Indra's abundant powers, to his fury, when the mighty one cut Vṛtra apart with his strength — Vṛtra, who held back the waters, wrapped in darkness.
7. The two who first strove in deeds of valor, contending in their greatness, came together. The murky darkness was scattered when the slain one fell; Indra by his might prevailed, called first upon.
8. Then all the gods increased your bullish powers with speech accompanied by soma. Vṛtra the serpent, subdued, was devoured by Indra's blow, as fire with its jaws quickly consumes food.
9. With abundant skillful words, in hymns, proclaim the bonds of friendship through friendship. Indra, having crushed Dhuni and Cumuri, listens with a trusting mind to the prayer offered for Dabhīti.
10. Bring to us many good horses, by which I may be esteemed, uttering wise sayings. May we cross all hardships by easy paths; find for us today, far and wide, a good ford.
Translator's note: verse 7's "pūrvahūtau" (literally "at the first invocation/calling") is rendered as "called first upon" — the precise ritual sense of this phrase is debated; the rendering here is conservative.
Colophon
Rigveda X.113 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.113
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.
tam asya dyāvāpṛthivī sacetasā viśvebhir devair anu śuṣmam āvatām |
yad ait kṛṇvāno mahimānam indriyam pītvī somasya kratumām̐ avardhata || 1 ||
tam asya viṣṇur mahimānam ojasāṁśuṁ dadhanvān madhuno vi rapśate |
devebhir indro maghavā sayāvabhir vṛtraṁ jaghanvām̐ abhavad vareṇyaḥ || 2 ||
vṛtreṇa yad ahinā bibhrad āyudhā samasthithā yudhaye śaṁsam āvide |
viśve te atra marutaḥ saha tmanāvardhann ugra mahimānam indriyam || 3 ||
jajñāna eva vy abādhata spṛdhaḥ prāpaśyad vīro abhi pauṁsyaṁ raṇam |
avṛścad adrim ava sasyadaḥ sṛjad astabhnān nākaṁ svapasyayā pṛthum || 4 ||
ād indraḥ satrā taviṣīr apatyata varīyo dyāvāpṛthivī abādhata |
avābharad dhṛṣito vajram āyasaṁ śevam mitrāya varuṇāya dāśuṣe || 5 ||
indrasyātra taviṣībhyo virapśina ṛghāyato araṁhayanta manyave |
vṛtraṁ yad ugro vy avṛścad ojasāpo bibhrataṁ tamasā parīvṛtam || 6 ||
yā vīryāṇi prathamāni kartvā mahitvebhir yatamānau samīyatuḥ |
dhvāntaṁ tamo 'va dadhvase hata indro mahnā pūrvahūtāv apatyata || 7 ||
viśve devāso adha vṛṣṇyāni te 'vardhayan somavatyā vacasyayā |
raddhaṁ vṛtram ahim indrasya hanmanāgnir na jambhais tṛṣv annam āvayat || 8 ||
bhūri dakṣebhir vacanebhir ṛkvabhiḥ sakhyebhiḥ sakhyāni pra vocata |
indro dhuniṁ ca cumuriṁ ca dambhayañ chraddhāmanasyā śṛṇute dabhītaye || 9 ||
tvam purūṇy ā bharā svaśvyā yebhir maṁsai nivacanāni śaṁsan |
sugebhir viśvā duritā tarema vido ṣu ṇa urviyā gādham adya || 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).