Dialogue of Indra, Indrāṇī, and Vṛṣākapi
Rigveda X.86 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. They have poured out from the pressings, and did not think of Indra as a god — there where Vṛṣākapi the lord, my drinking-companion, made merry amid the master's wealth. Indra is above all.
2. For you, Indra, run far away, past Vṛṣākapi's troubles — yet you find no other place for drinking soma. Indra is above all.
3. What has this tawny animal Vṛṣākapi done to you, that you resent him — or the master's abundant wealth? Indra is above all.
4. This dear Vṛṣākapi whom you protect, Indra — may the boar-hunting dog bite him by the ear! Indra is above all.
5. The ape has ruined my dear, well-adorned things — let me smash his head; I will not go easy on a wrongdoer. Indra is above all.
6. No woman is a better lover than I, none more skilled; none out-thrusts me, none lifts her thighs higher. Indra is above all.
7. I say, dear lady, easily-had one — it will be just as it will be: my rear, lady, my thigh, my head — all tremble with excitement! Indra is above all.
8. Why, fair-armed, fine-fingered, broad-hipped, broad-buttocked one — why, wife of the hero, do you rage against our Vṛṣākapi? Indra is above all.
9. This troublemaker treats me as though I had no man — but I have a hero, I am Indra's wife, companion of the Maruts. Indra is above all.
10. Once a woman went only to the shared offering, or the gathering — now she, ordainer of truth, wife of a hero, Indra's wife, is exalted. Indra is above all.
11. I have heard Indrāṇī is the most fortunate of women — for her husband never dies of old age. Indra is above all.
12. I take no delight, O Indrāṇī, without my friend Vṛṣākapi, whose dear offering goes to the gods. Indra is above all.
13. O wife of Vṛṣākapi, rich one, with fine sons and fine daughters-in-law — Indra will eat your oxen, the dear offering that grants every wish. Indra is above all.
14. For they cook fifteen, even twenty oxen for me at once — and I eat only the fat, till both my sides are full. Indra is above all.
15. Like a sharp-horned bull bellowing amid the herds — the stirred soma pleases your heart, Indra, which the devoted one presses for you. Indra is above all.
16. He is no master whose member hangs limp between his thighs; he alone is master whose hairy part, when he sits, stands wide open. Indra is above all.
17. He is no master whose hairy part, when seated, stands wide open; he alone is master whose member hangs still between his thighs. Indra is above all.
18. This Vṛṣākapi, Indra, found a slaughtered animal, a knife, a fresh cauldron, and a cart loaded with wood. Indra is above all.
19. I go forth, watching closely, telling apart the Dāsa from the Ārya; I drink the simple presser's soma, I look toward the wise. Indra is above all.
20. The wasteland and the ravine — how many leagues apart are they? Come home, Vṛṣākapi, to the nearer house. Indra is above all.
21. Come back again, Vṛṣākapi — let us two make things go well; you who go home again by the path, to your rest. Indra is above all.
22. When you two, Vṛṣākapi and Indra, went up to the house, where was that greatly-sinning beast? To whom did he go, accompanied by a woman? Indra is above all.
23. Parśu, Manu's daughter, gave birth to twenty at once — good fortune indeed for her whose belly ached in labor. Indra is above all.
Translator's note: several words in this hymn are among the most disputed in the Rigveda. "parasvantam" (v.18) is rendered conservatively as "a slaughtered animal" rather than the more specific "wild ass" found in some readings. Verse 22 (the "pulvagha" beast and the unnamed woman) resists confident translation; the rendering above stays close to the Sanskrit syntax without resolving the riddle. Verses 16–17 mirror each other by design in the Sanskrit — an intentional reversal, not a translation error.
Colophon
Rigveda X.86 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.86
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.
vi hi sotor asṛkṣata nendraṁ devam amaṁsata |
yatrāmadad vṛṣākapir aryaḥ puṣṭeṣu matsakhā viśvasmād indra uttaraḥ || 1 ||
parā hīndra dhāvasi vṛṣākaper ati vyathiḥ |
no aha pra vindasy anyatra somapītaye viśvasmād indra uttaraḥ || 2 ||
kim ayaṁ tvāṁ vṛṣākapiś cakāra harito mṛgaḥ |
yasmā irasyasīd u nv a1ryo vā puṣṭimad vasu viśvasmād indra uttaraḥ || 3 ||
yam imaṁ tvaṁ vṛṣākapim priyam indrābhirakṣasi |
śvā nv asya jambhiṣad api karṇe varāhayur viśvasmād indra uttaraḥ || 4 ||
priyā taṣṭāni me kapir vyaktā vy adūduṣat |
śiro nv asya rāviṣaṁ na sugaṁ duṣkṛte bhuvaṁ viśvasmād indra uttaraḥ || 5 ||
na mat strī subhasattarā na suyāśutarā bhuvat |
na mat praticyavīyasī na sakthy udyamīyasī viśvasmād indra uttaraḥ || 6 ||
uve amba sulābhike yathevāṅga bhaviṣyati |
bhasan me amba sakthi me śiro me vīva hṛṣyati viśvasmād indra uttaraḥ || 7 ||
kiṁ subāho svaṅgure pṛthuṣṭo pṛthujāghane |
kiṁ śūrapatni nas tvam abhy amīṣi vṛṣākapiṁ viśvasmād indra uttaraḥ || 8 ||
avīrām iva mām ayaṁ śarārur abhi manyate |
utāham asmi vīriṇīndrapatnī marutsakhā viśvasmād indra uttaraḥ || 9 ||
saṁhotraṁ sma purā nārī samanaṁ vāva gacchati |
vedhā ṛtasya vīriṇīndrapatnī mahīyate viśvasmād indra uttaraḥ || 10 ||
indrāṇīm āsu nāriṣu subhagām aham aśravam |
nahy asyā aparaṁ cana jarasā marate patir viśvasmād indra uttaraḥ || 11 ||
nāham indrāṇi rāraṇa sakhyur vṛṣākaper ṛte |
yasyedam apyaṁ haviḥ priyaṁ deveṣu gacchati viśvasmād indra uttaraḥ || 12 ||
vṛṣākapāyi revati suputra ād u susnuṣe |
ghasat ta indra ukṣaṇaḥ priyaṁ kācitkaraṁ havir viśvasmād indra uttaraḥ || 13 ||
ukṣṇo hi me pañcadaśa sākam pacanti viṁśatim |
utāham admi pīva id ubhā kukṣī pṛṇanti me viśvasmād indra uttaraḥ || 14 ||
vṛṣabho na tigmaśṛṅgo 'ntar yūtheṣu roruvat |
manthas ta indra śaṁ hṛde yaṁ te sunoti bhāvayur viśvasmād indra uttaraḥ || 15 ||
na seśe yasya rambate 'ntarā sakthyā3 kapṛt |
sed īśe yasya romaśaṁ niṣeduṣo vijṛmbhate viśvasmād indra uttaraḥ || 16 ||
na seśe yasya romaśaṁ niṣeduṣo vijṛmbhate |
sed īśe yasya rambate 'ntarā sakthyā3 kapṛd viśvasmād indra uttaraḥ || 17 ||
ayam indra vṛṣākapiḥ parasvantaṁ hataṁ vidat |
asiṁ sūnāṁ navaṁ carum ād edhasyāna ācitaṁ viśvasmād indra uttaraḥ || 18 ||
ayam emi vicākaśad vicinvan dāsam āryam |
pibāmi pākasutvano 'bhi dhīram acākaśaṁ viśvasmād indra uttaraḥ || 19 ||
dhanva ca yat kṛntatraṁ ca kati svit tā vi yojanā |
nedīyaso vṛṣākape 'stam ehi gṛhām̐ upa viśvasmād indra uttaraḥ || 20 ||
punar ehi vṛṣākape suvitā kalpayāvahai |
ya eṣa svapnanaṁśano 'stam eṣi pathā punar viśvasmād indra uttaraḥ || 21 ||
yad udañco vṛṣākape gṛham indrājagantana |
kva1 sya pulvagho mṛgaḥ kam agañ janayopano viśvasmād indra uttaraḥ || 22 ||
parśur ha nāma mānavī sākaṁ sasūva viṁśatim |
bhadram bhala tyasyā abhūd yasyā udaram āmayad viśvasmād indra uttaraḥ || 23 ||
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).