Hymn to Indra
Rigveda X.134 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. When you, Indra, filled both world-halves, as dawn fills them with her light — the divine mother bore you, great and sovereign ruler of the mighty peoples; the gracious mother bore you.
2. Unstring the firm bow of the ill-willed mortal. Put him underfoot — the one who threatens us. The divine mother bore you; the gracious mother bore you.
3. Shake down those lofty, all-gleaming draughts, O slayer of enemies, by your powers, O mighty one; shake them down, Indra, with all your help. The divine mother bore you; the gracious mother bore you.
4. When you, Indra of a hundred powers, shake down all things — like wealth falling to the presser of soma, together with your thousandfold help — the divine mother bore you; the gracious mother bore you.
5. Let the arrows fall away on every side like drops of sweat, scattering in all directions; like the spreading shoots of dūrvā grass, let ill will depart from us. The divine mother bore you; the gracious mother bore you.
6. For you carry, O wise one, a long power like a goad; with your forefoot, O bounteous one, you hold it fast, as a goat holds a branch. The divine mother bore you; the gracious mother bore you.
7. O gods, we do not diminish you, we do not neglect you; we keep close heed to the sacred word. Here, with sides and flanks, we grasp and hold fast together.
Translator's note: Verse 6's "power" (śakti) can also mean "spear"; the simile of the goat's forefoot holding a branch is kept literal since its exact ritual sense is uncertain. Verse 7 is notoriously obscure — "pakṣebhir apikakṣebhir" (literally "with wings/sides, with the parts near the armpit/flanks") most likely describes a physical gesture of mutual grasping or embrace performed during the rite; it has been rendered conservatively rather than resolved into a confident image.
Colophon
Rigveda X.134 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.134
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.
ubhe yad indra rodasī āpaprāthoṣā iva |
mahāntaṁ tvā mahīnāṁ samrājaṁ carṣaṇīnāṁ devī janitry ajījanad bhadrā janitry ajījanat || 1 ||
ava sma durhaṇāyato martasya tanuhi sthiram |
adhaspadaṁ tam īṁ kṛdhi yo asmām̐ ādideśati devī janitry ajījanad bhadrā janitry ajījanat || 2 ||
ava tyā bṛhatīr iṣo viśvaścandrā amitrahan |
śacībhiḥ śakra dhūnuhīndra viśvābhir ūtibhir devī janitry ajījanad bhadrā janitry ajījanat || 3 ||
ava yat tvaṁ śatakratav indra viśvāni dhūnuṣe |
rayiṁ na sunvate sacā sahasriṇībhir ūtibhir devī janitry ajījanad bhadrā janitry ajījanat || 4 ||
ava svedā ivābhito viṣvak patantu didyavaḥ |
dūrvāyā iva tantavo vy a1smad etu durmatir devī janitry ajījanad bhadrā janitry ajījanat || 5 ||
dīrghaṁ hy aṅkuśaṁ yathā śaktim bibharṣi mantumaḥ |
pūrveṇa maghavan padājo vayāṁ yathā yamo devī janitry ajījanad bhadrā janitry ajījanat || 6 ||
nakir devā minīmasi nakir ā yopayāmasi mantraśrutyaṁ carāmasi |
pakṣebhir apikakṣebhir atrābhi saṁ rabhāmahe || 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).