Hymn to Indra and the Aśvins
Rigveda X.24 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. The hymn is addressed first to Indra (verses 1–3) and then to the Aśvins, the twin Nāsatyas (verses 4–6), recalling how they churned apart and later restored a joined pair at the call of the sage Vimada.
1. Indra, drink this honey-sweet soma, pressed for you in the two bowls. Lay down wealth for us, in the thousands, O lord of abundance, in your exultation, as you grow mighty.
2. We come to you with sacrifices, with hymns, with offerings. O lord of powers, in your exultation, grant us the best, the most desirable, as you grow mighty.
3. You who are the lord of all that is desirable, the rouser of the poor man, Indra, protector of your praisers — in your exultation, guard us from hatred and from distress, as you grow mighty.
4. You two mighty wonder-workers churned forth the joined pair, when called upon by Vimada — you churned them forth, O Nāsatyas.
5. All the gods grieved for the joined pair as they flew apart. The gods said to the two Nāsatyas: "Bring them back again."
6. Honey-sweet was my going forth, honey-sweet my coming back. Make us, by your godhead, honey-sweet as well, you two gods.
Translator's note: verses 4–6 refer to an old story about the Aśvins and the sage Vimada that is not spelled out in the hymn itself — what exactly the "joined pair" (samīcī) is that the Aśvins "churned forth" and then restored is not stated in the Sanskrit, and no invented detail has been added here to fill the gap.
Colophon
Rigveda X.24 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.24
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.
indra somam imam piba madhumantaṁ camū sutam |
asme rayiṁ ni dhāraya vi vo made sahasriṇam purūvaso vivakṣase || 1 ||
tvāṁ yajñebhir ukthair upa havyebhir īmahe |
śacīpate śacīnāṁ vi vo made śreṣṭhaṁ no dhehi vāryaṁ vivakṣase || 2 ||
yas patir vāryāṇām asi radhrasya coditā |
indra stotṝṇām avitā vi vo made dviṣo naḥ pāhy aṁhaso vivakṣase || 3 ||
yuvaṁ śakrā māyāvinā samīcī nir amanthatam |
vimadena yad īḻitā nāsatyā niramanthatam || 4 ||
viśve devā akṛpanta samīcyor niṣpatantyoḥ |
nāsatyāv abruvan devāḥ punar ā vahatād iti || 5 ||
madhuman me parāyaṇam madhumat punar āyanam |
tā no devā devatayā yuvam madhumatas kṛtam || 6 ||
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).