Hymn to Indra
Rigveda X.131 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. O Indra, drive away our enemies to the east; drive away those to the west, O overpowering one. Drive away those to the north, and — O hero — those to the south as well, so that we may rejoice within your wide shelter.
2. Surely, just as barley-growers give out their barley in due order, having winnowed it — so, here and there, make portions of the goods of those who did not come to bow before the sacred grass.
3. A single ox does not travel well in its season, nor is glory found alone in the clash of contest. Desiring cattle, the wise ones seek Indra's friendship; desiring horses, they spur on the bull, seeking the prize.
4. You two, O Aśvins, drinking up the surā together at the demon Namuci's side — O lords of splendor — helped Indra in his deeds.
5. Like two parents aiding a son, the two Aśvins helped Indra with their wise and wondrous powers. When you drank off the surā by your own strength, Sarasvatī healed you, O bounteous one.
6. May Indra, the good protector, strong in himself, be gracious to us with his help — he who knows all things. May he drive off hatred; may he grant us freedom from fear. May we become masters of great vigor.
7. May we stand in the favor of him who is worthy of worship, indeed in his auspicious goodwill. May that good-protecting, self-strong Indra keep hatred entirely away from us, even from afar.
Translator's note: verse 2's "namovṛktim" (rendered here as "bow before the sacred grass") and verse 3's "sthūri" (rendered "a single ox") are terse, disputed terms; the renderings above are conservative readings of the Sanskrit rather than settled equivalents.
Colophon
Rigveda X.131 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.131
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.
apa prāca indra viśvām̐ amitrān apāpāco abhibhūte nudasva |
apodīco apa śūrādharāca urau yathā tava śarman madema || 1 ||
kuvid aṅga yavamanto yavaṁ cid yathā dānty anupūrvaṁ viyūya |
ihehaiṣāṁ kṛṇuhi bhojanāni ye barhiṣo namovṛktiṁ na jagmuḥ || 2 ||
nahi sthūry ṛtuthā yātam asti nota śravo vivide saṁgameṣu |
gavyanta indraṁ sakhyāya viprā aśvāyanto vṛṣaṇaṁ vājayantaḥ || 3 ||
yuvaṁ surāmam aśvinā namucāv āsure sacā |
vipipānā śubhas patī indraṁ karmasv āvatam || 4 ||
putram iva pitarāv aśvinobhendrāvathuḥ kāvyair daṁsanābhiḥ |
yat surāmaṁ vy apibaḥ śacībhiḥ sarasvatī tvā maghavann abhiṣṇak || 5 ||
indraḥ sutrāmā svavām̐ avobhiḥ sumṛḻīko bhavatu viśvavedāḥ |
bādhatāṁ dveṣo abhayaṁ kṛṇotu suvīryasya patayaḥ syāma || 6 ||
tasya vayaṁ sumatau yajñiyasyāpi bhadre saumanase syāma |
sa sutrāmā svavām̐ indro asme ārāc cid dveṣaḥ sanutar yuyotu || 7 ||
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).