Hymn to Indra
Rigveda X.116 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. Drink the soma, Indra, for your great power. Drink, most mighty one, to slay Vṛtra. Drink for wealth, drink for strength, as you are called upon. Drink of the sweet draught until you are full, and swell with it.
2. Drink of this soma, rich in offerings, set out for you, Indra — the best of what has been pressed. Giver of well-being, rejoice in your mind; turn toward us, rich one, for our good fortune.
3. Let the heavenly soma gladden you, Indra; let what is pressed here on earth gladden you. Let that which has won you room and freedom gladden you; let that by which you drive out enemies gladden you.
4. Let Indra, doubly mighty and unassailable, the bull, come here with his two fallow steeds to the poured-out draught. To the sweetness mixed with milk, pressed and offered, pour yourself out fully, slayer of the ruddy foes.
5. Beat down their sharpened, flashing weapons; loosen the taut bowstrings of those driven by sorcery. To you, the fierce one, I give strength and might — go against the enemies and cut them down amid the clash.
6. Loosen, Indra, the fame and forces of the stranger, his strength, like bowstrings drawn hard against us. Growing toward us in your powers, unshaken, grow strong in your own body.
7. This oblation, bounteous one, is offered to you; take it, sovereign, without anger. For you it is pressed, bounteous one, for you it is cooked — eat, Indra, and drink of what is set before you.
8. Eat, Indra, these oblations set out for you; take pleasure in them, and in the soma that is cooked as well. Bringing our offerings, we long for you in return; let the wishes of the one who sacrifices come true.
9. I send forth fair-spoken praise to Indra and Agni, as one sends a boat out on a river with songs. So the gods move about among us — they who give us wealth and open springs for us.
Translator's note: verse 4's "khedām" (rendered here loosely as part of "pour yourself out fully") and verse 9's "udbhidaḥ" (rendered "open springs") are terse, uncommon forms whose precise sense is uncertain; the renderings above are conservative approximations of the root meanings.
Colophon
Rigveda X.116 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.116
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.
pibā somam mahata indriyāya pibā vṛtrāya hantave śaviṣṭha |
piba rāye śavase hūyamānaḥ piba madhvas tṛpad indrā vṛṣasva || 1 ||
asya piba kṣumataḥ prasthitasyendra somasya varam ā sutasya |
svastidā manasā mādayasvārvācīno revate saubhagāya || 2 ||
mamattu tvā divyaḥ soma indra mamattu yaḥ sūyate pārthiveṣu |
mamattu yena varivaś cakartha mamattu yena niriṇāsi śatrūn || 3 ||
ā dvibarhā amino yātv indro vṛṣā haribhyām pariṣiktam andhaḥ |
gavy ā sutasya prabhṛtasya madhvaḥ satrā khedām aruśahā vṛṣasva || 4 ||
ni tigmāni bhrāśayan bhrāśyāny ava sthirā tanuhi yātujūnām |
ugrāya te saho balaṁ dadāmi pratītyā śatrūn vigadeṣu vṛśca || 5 ||
vy a1rya indra tanuhi śravāṁsy ojaḥ sthireva dhanvano 'bhimātīḥ |
asmadryag vāvṛdhānaḥ sahobhir anibhṛṣṭas tanvaṁ vāvṛdhasva || 6 ||
idaṁ havir maghavan tubhyaṁ rātam prati samrāḻ ahṛṇāno gṛbhāya |
tubhyaṁ suto maghavan tubhyam pakvo3 'ddhīndra piba ca prasthitasya || 7 ||
addhīd indra prasthitemā havīṁṣi cano dadhiṣva pacatota somam |
prayasvantaḥ prati haryāmasi tvā satyāḥ santu yajamānasya kāmāḥ || 8 ||
prendrāgnibhyāṁ suvacasyām iyarmi sindhāv iva prerayaṁ nāvam arkaiḥ |
ayā iva pari caranti devā ye asmabhyaṁ dhanadā udbhidaś ca || 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).