Hymn to Indra
Rigveda X.89 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. Let me praise Indra, the most manly, who by his greatness forced apart the luminous realms and the ends of the earth; who, sustainer of the peoples, filled the world with his bounties, surpassing the rivers in greatness.
2. That sun, around the wide expanses, Indra shall turn, like the wheels of a chariot; the restless, unresting course — with his blazing light he struck down the black darknesses.
3. Sing to him a constant, unfailing hymn — a new sacred word matchless between earth and heaven — to Indra, who has discerned the peoples of the stranger as one discerns the backs of horses, and needs no ally.
4. For Indra I send forth songs, unrestrained in their flow, like waters rising from the depth of the ocean — for him who, as an axle holds the two wheels apart, by his powers propped earth and heaven apart on every side.
5. Whose fury reaches to the waters, bearer of great force, roaring, mighty, armed, drinker of the pressed soma-dregs — Soma has pervaded all the thickets and woods; no counterfeit likeness has ever come near enough to deceive Indra.
6. Him whom neither heaven and earth, nor the desert plain, nor the mid-air, nor the mountains can match, to him Soma has flowed. When his fury is let loose, he shatters the hard and breaks the firm.
7. He slew Vṛtra as an axe fells a tree. He broke open the strongholds. He carved out the river-paths. He split the mountain like a new-made pot. Indra won the cattle with his own yoke-fellows.
8. You indeed, wise Indra, are the exactor of that debt; like a sword through a joint, you cut down the crooked ones — those who transgress the ordinances of Mitra and Varuṇa, as men break faith with a bonded friend.
9. Those of evil ways who transgress against Mitra, against Aryaman, who transgress against sworn agreements, against Varuṇa — against these enemies, Indra, drive down your mighty weapon; O bull, sharpen your ruddy, bull-strong bolt.
10. Indra rules the sky; Indra rules the earth. Indra rules the waters; Indra rules the mountains. Indra rules those who prosper; Indra rules the wise. Indra is to be called upon in peace and in struggle — Indra.
11. Indra, ever growing, surpasses the nights, surpasses the days, surpasses the mid-air, surpasses the depth of the ocean, surpasses the breadth of the wind, surpasses the edge of the earth, surpasses the rivers, surpasses the lands where people dwell.
12. Like the beacon of the blazing dawn, let your insatiable missile roll forth, Indra. Hurled from the sky like a stone, strike with your hottest dart those who betray friendship.
13. The months gave way before him; the woods too gave way, the plants gave way, the mountains gave way. The two world-halves, crying out, gave way for Indra. The waters likewise moved aside for him as he was being born.
14. When indeed, Indra, will that vengeance of yours against evil be seen — when you split open the demon that presses upon us? Let the false friends lie like cattle at the slaughtering-place, stretched out and joined to the earth there.
15. Those who, acting as enemies, have arrayed their might against us, growing strong in their host, Indra — let those foes be joined to blind darkness; let the well-lit nights come down upon them.
16. Many indeed are the soma-pressings of the people, and the sacred words of the chanting seers that gladden you. Hearing this united call, come to us with your help, passing by all others who praise you.
17. So may we, Indra, come to know your bounteous, fresh favors. May we know it at dawn, singing your praise with your help — we of Viśvāmitra's kin, indeed, Indra, now.
18. For good fortune may we call upon bounteous Indra, most manly, in this battle, in the winning of the prize — the mighty one who hears, for help in the clashes, the slayer of obstacles, the winner of riches.
Translator's note: verse 5 (āpāntamanyus tṛpalaprabharmā ... pratimānāni debhuḥ) contains epithets and a closing clause whose precise sense is disputed; the rendering above is conservative and follows the most literal reading of each word rather than any smoothing paraphrase.
Colophon
Rigveda X.89 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.89
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.
indraṁ stavā nṛtamaṁ yasya mahnā vibabādhe rocanā vi jmo antān |
ā yaḥ paprau carṣaṇīdhṛd varobhiḥ pra sindhubhyo riricāno mahitvā || 1 ||
sa sūryaḥ pary urū varāṁsy endro vavṛtyād rathyeva cakrā |
atiṣṭhantam apasya1ṁ na sargaṁ kṛṣṇā tamāṁsi tviṣyā jaghāna || 2 ||
samānam asmā anapāvṛd arca kṣmayā divo asamam brahma navyam |
vi yaḥ pṛṣṭheva janimāny arya indraś cikāya na sakhāyam īṣe || 3 ||
indrāya giro aniśitasargā apaḥ prerayaṁ sagarasya budhnāt |
yo akṣeṇeva cakriyā śacībhir viṣvak tastambha pṛthivīm uta dyām || 4 ||
āpāntamanyus tṛpalaprabharmā dhuniḥ śimīvāñ charumām̐ ṛjīṣī |
somo viśvāny atasā vanāni nārvāg indram pratimānāni debhuḥ || 5 ||
na yasya dyāvāpṛthivī na dhanva nāntarikṣaṁ nādrayaḥ somo akṣāḥ |
yad asya manyur adhinīyamānaḥ śṛṇāti vīḻu rujati sthirāṇi || 6 ||
jaghāna vṛtraṁ svadhitir vaneva ruroja puro aradan na sindhūn |
bibheda giriṁ navam in na kumbham ā gā indro akṛṇuta svayugbhiḥ || 7 ||
tvaṁ ha tyad ṛṇayā indra dhīro 'sir na parva vṛjinā śṛṇāsi |
pra ye mitrasya varuṇasya dhāma yujaṁ na janā minanti mitram || 8 ||
pra ye mitram prāryamaṇaṁ durevāḥ pra saṁgiraḥ pra varuṇam minanti |
ny a1mitreṣu vadham indra tumraṁ vṛṣan vṛṣāṇam aruṣaṁ śiśīhi || 9 ||
indro diva indra īśe pṛthivyā indro apām indra it parvatānām |
indro vṛdhām indra in medhirāṇām indraḥ kṣeme yoge havya indraḥ || 10 ||
prāktubhya indraḥ pra vṛdho ahabhyaḥ prāntarikṣāt pra samudrasya dhāseḥ |
pra vātasya prathasaḥ pra jmo antāt pra sindhubhyo ririce pra kṣitibhyaḥ || 11 ||
pra śośucatyā uṣaso na ketur asinvā te vartatām indra hetiḥ |
aśmeva vidhya diva ā sṛjānas tapiṣṭhena heṣasā droghamitrān || 12 ||
anv aha māsā anv id vanāny anv oṣadhīr anu parvatāsaḥ |
anv indraṁ rodasī vāvaśāne anv āpo ajihata jāyamānam || 13 ||
karhi svit sā ta indra cetyāsad aghasya yad bhinado rakṣa eṣat |
mitrakruvo yac chasane na gāvaḥ pṛthivyā āpṛg amuyā śayante || 14 ||
śatrūyanto abhi ye nas tatasre mahi vrādhanta ogaṇāsa indra |
andhenāmitrās tamasā sacantāṁ sujyotiṣo aktavas tām̐ abhi ṣyuḥ || 15 ||
purūṇi hi tvā savanā janānām brahmāṇi mandan gṛṇatām ṛṣīṇām |
imām āghoṣann avasā sahūtiṁ tiro viśvām̐ arcato yāhy arvāṅ || 16 ||
evā te vayam indra bhuñjatīnāṁ vidyāma sumatīnāṁ navānām |
vidyāma vastor avasā gṛṇanto viśvāmitrā uta ta indra nūnam || 17 ||
śunaṁ huvema maghavānam indram asmin bhare nṛtamaṁ vājasātau |
śṛṇvantam ugram ūtaye samatsu ghnantaṁ vṛtrāṇi saṁjitaṁ dhanānām || 18 ||
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).