Hymn to Indra
Rigveda X.47 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. We have grasped your right hand, Indra, desiring goods, O lord of goods among goods. For we know you as the lord of cows, O hero, lord of cows — give us a wondrous, bull-strong wealth.
2. Well-armed, a good helper, a good guide, holder of the four seas, foundation of riches, ever to be praised, worthy of praise, rich in boons — give us a wondrous, bull-strong wealth.
3. Well-prayed-to, accompanied by gods, vast, wide, deep, broad-based, Indra — famed as a seer, fierce, overpowering the hostile — give us a wondrous, bull-strong wealth.
4. Ever-victorious, a hero among the inspired, all-conquering, wealth-winning, grown mighty, very skillful, slayer of Dasyus, breaker of strongholds, Indra, the true one — give us a wondrous, bull-strong wealth.
5. A prize rich in horses, with chariots, rich in men, thousandfold, hundredfold — Indra, with your goodly hosts, a hero among the inspired, winner of the sun — give us a wondrous, bull-strong wealth.
6. My thought goes forth to Bṛhaspati, lord of seven cows, whose insight is truth, the very wise, who is of the line of the Aṅgirases, to be approached with homage — give us a wondrous, bull-strong wealth.
7. My eager hymns go out like messengers to Indra, seeking his favor, touching the heart, stirred by the mind — give us a wondrous, bull-strong wealth.
8. What I ask of you, grant us that, Indra: a great dwelling, unmatched among peoples. May Heaven and Earth proclaim it — give us a wondrous, bull-strong wealth.
Translator's note: verse 6 turns from Indra to praise Bṛhaspati by name, yet keeps the same refrain and second-person verb form; the Sanskrit itself holds this ambiguity, and the rendering above preserves it rather than resolving it. "Saptagu" (verse 6) is rendered literally as "lord of seven cows," a traditional epithet whose exact original sense is uncertain.
Colophon
Rigveda X.47 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.47
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.
jagṛbhmā te dakṣiṇam indra hastaṁ vasūyavo vasupate vasūnām |
vidmā hi tvā gopatiṁ śūra gonām asmabhyaṁ citraṁ vṛṣaṇaṁ rayiṁ dāḥ || 1 ||
svāyudhaṁ svavasaṁ sunīthaṁ catuḥsamudraṁ dharuṇaṁ rayīṇām |
carkṛtyaṁ śaṁsyam bhūrivāram asmabhyaṁ citraṁ vṛṣaṇaṁ rayiṁ dāḥ || 2 ||
subrahmāṇaṁ devavantam bṛhantam uruṁ gabhīram pṛthubudhnam indra |
śrutaṛṣim ugram abhimātiṣāham asmabhyaṁ citraṁ vṛṣaṇaṁ rayiṁ dāḥ || 3 ||
sanadvājaṁ vipravīraṁ tarutraṁ dhanaspṛtaṁ śūśuvāṁsaṁ sudakṣam |
dasyuhanam pūrbhidam indra satyam asmabhyaṁ citraṁ vṛṣaṇaṁ rayiṁ dāḥ || 4 ||
aśvāvantaṁ rathinaṁ vīravantaṁ sahasriṇaṁ śatinaṁ vājam indra |
bhadravrātaṁ vipravīraṁ svarṣām asmabhyaṁ citraṁ vṛṣaṇaṁ rayiṁ dāḥ || 5 ||
pra saptagum ṛtadhītiṁ sumedhām bṛhaspatim matir acchā jigāti |
ya āṅgiraso namasopasadyo 'smabhyaṁ citraṁ vṛṣaṇaṁ rayiṁ dāḥ || 6 ||
vanīvāno mama dūtāsa indraṁ stomāś caranti sumatīr iyānāḥ |
hṛdispṛśo manasā vacyamānā asmabhyaṁ citraṁ vṛṣaṇaṁ rayiṁ dāḥ || 7 ||
yat tvā yāmi daddhi tan na indra bṛhantaṁ kṣayam asamaṁ janānām |
abhi tad dyāvāpṛthivī gṛṇītām asmabhyaṁ citraṁ vṛṣaṇaṁ rayiṁ dāḥ || 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).