Hymn to Indra
Rigveda X.29 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. As one gladly set down in the wood, the bright hymn has roused you two, ever-restless ones — the hymn of which, through many days, Indra is the priest, the manly one, most manly among men, lord of the nights.
2. At this dawn, and at the dawn that follows it, may we stand in the vanguard of you, most manly of men. Triśoka brought a hundred men along with Kutsa's chariot, the chariot that was ever victorious.
3. What intoxicating draught pleases you, Indra? Mighty one, run toward the doors of these songs. What drawing-near can bring you close to me through thought? May I offer you, the highest one, worthy bounty, with food.
4. What glory, Indra, belongs to men like you? By what insight will you act — what will come to us? Like a true friend, wide-striding one, worthy to be sustained, when the thoughts of all were gathered as offering.
5. Send them forth, as the sun sends toward the far goal, those who go to fulfill his desire as men go to win a bride — and the many songs that are yours, O mighty-born one; men, Indra, repay you with offerings of food.
6. For your vast measure, Indra, well-measured of old — heaven by its might, earth by its skill — let the ghee-rich pressed somas be sweet for your choosing; let the honeyed draughts be ready for your drinking.
7. They have poured out for him a full vessel of honey, for Indra, for he is one whose bounty is true. He has grown great across the breadth of the earth, the manly one, in resolve and in manly strength.
8. Indra, mighty in his own strength, has broken through the battle-hosts; many muster to seek his friendship. Mount, as upon a chariot, into the battles — the one you drive forward with kindly favor.
Translator's note: Verse 1 addresses "you two, ever-restless ones" (vāṁ ... bhuraṇau) in the dual, though the rest of the hymn addresses Indra alone in the singular — the identity of the second addressee is not made explicit in the Sanskrit and is left open here rather than resolved by guesswork. "Janidhā" in verse 5 (rendered "men who go to win a bride") is a rare compound whose precise sense is uncertain; the rendering given is conservative.
Colophon
Rigveda X.29 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.
🌲
Source Text: ṛgveda X.29
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.
vane na vā yo ny adhāyi cākañ chucir vāṁ stomo bhuraṇāv ajīgaḥ |
yasyed indraḥ purudineṣu hotā nṛṇāṁ naryo nṛtamaḥ kṣapāvān || 1 ||
pra te asyā uṣasaḥ prāparasyā nṛtau syāma nṛtamasya nṛṇām |
anu triśokaḥ śatam āvahan nṝn kutsena ratho yo asat sasavān || 2 ||
kas te mada indra rantyo bhūd duro giro abhy u1gro vi dhāva |
kad vāho arvāg upa mā manīṣā ā tvā śakyām upamaṁ rādho annaiḥ || 3 ||
kad u dyumnam indra tvāvato nṝn kayā dhiyā karase kan na āgan |
mitro na satya urugāya bhṛtyā anne samasya yad asan manīṣāḥ || 4 ||
preraya sūro arthaṁ na pāraṁ ye asya kāmaṁ janidhā iva gman |
giraś ca ye te tuvijāta pūrvīr nara indra pratiśikṣanty annaiḥ || 5 ||
mātre nu te sumite indra pūrvī dyaur majmanā pṛthivī kāvyena |
varāya te ghṛtavantaḥ sutāsaḥ svādman bhavantu pītaye madhūni || 6 ||
ā madhvo asmā asicann amatram indrāya pūrṇaṁ sa hi satyarādhāḥ |
sa vāvṛdhe varimann ā pṛthivyā abhi kratvā naryaḥ pauṁsyaiś ca || 7 ||
vy ānaḻ indraḥ pṛtanāḥ svojā āsmai yatante sakhyāya pūrvīḥ |
ā smā rathaṁ na pṛtanāsu tiṣṭha yam bhadrayā sumatyā codayāse || 8 ||
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).