Hymn to Indra
Rigveda X.96 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. I will proclaim, at the great ritual gathering, your two bay steeds; I win for you, eager one, the longed-for rapture — you who, with your bays, pour out beautifully like ghee. May these songs enter you, whose form is golden.
2. Those who have cried out together toward the golden source, urging on the two bays, as to the heavenly seat — you whom they fill, as milch-cows fill with golden milk — sing to Indra a mighty song rich with gold.
3. His mace is golden, that mace of his made of iron; golden is his eagerness, golden in both hands. Bright, fair-cheeked, his weapon carries a golden fury. In Indra golden forms have been fixed fast.
4. Like a beacon set high in heaven, the longed-for mace was raised; the golden mace spread wide in its swiftness. Golden-cheeked, made of metal, it struck the serpent; it became thousand-flamed, the bearer of gold.
5. You alone were gladdened, praised by the ancient sacrificers, O Indra of the golden hair. You take delight; all that deserves praise is yours — undivided bounty, longed-for, O gold-born one.
6. Those two eager bays carry Indra the mace-bearer, exhilarated, praiseworthy in his rapture, in the chariot. Many pressings are dear to him; for Indra the golden soma-streams have flowed.
7. The golden streams have flowed enough for his desire; the golden ones urge on the swift, steadfast pair of bays. He who travels gladly with his swift bays has reached his golden desire.
8. Golden-bearded, golden-haired, made of metal, he who, drinking the gold soma, grew strong for the swift contest — rich in prize-mares, with his swift bays, may he carry us with his two bays across all dangers.
9. Whose golden jaws fluttered like two sacrificial spoons, golden cheeks quivering for the prize — when the cup was made ready, he groomed the two golden ones, having drunk of the delightful, exhilarating juice.
10. And indeed at the seat, the dwelling-place of the delightful one, the golden one neighed for the prize like a racehorse. Even great Dhiṣaṇā rejoiced at his might; you, delightful one, have taken on vast strength.
11. Delighting the two world-halves with your greatness, you take pleasure in each ever-newer, dear hymn. Reveal, O mighty lord, the longed-for dwelling-place of the cow to the golden sun.
12. May the harnessed teams of the people bring you, delighting Indra of the golden cheeks, in your chariot — that you may drink of the sweet offered soma, delighting in the sacrifice, the tenfold feast at the shared revelry.
13. You have drunk of the earlier pressings, lord of bays; and this pressing too is yours alone. Delight yourself in the honeyed soma, Indra; rain it wholly into your belly, O bull.
Translator's note: the hymn turns on the Sanskrit word hari and its cognates (hari, harit, hariṇa, harivat), which range across "golden," "tawny," "bay(-colored steed)," and by extension Indra's bay horses themselves. No single English word carries this whole range, so the translation renders it as "golden," "gold," or "bay" according to context, at the cost of losing the single repeated sound-thread that unifies the Sanskrit. dhiṣaṇā in verse 10 is left as a proper name (a goddess of insight/abundance, sometimes identified with the earth) rather than translated, since no single English word covers her range either.
Colophon
Rigveda X.96 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.96
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.
pra te mahe vidathe śaṁsiṣaṁ harī pra te vanve vanuṣo haryatam madam |
ghṛtaṁ na yo haribhiś cāru secata ā tvā viśantu harivarpasaṁ giraḥ || 1 ||
hariṁ hi yonim abhi ye samasvaran hinvanto harī divyaṁ yathā sadaḥ |
ā yam pṛṇanti haribhir na dhenava indrāya śūṣaṁ harivantam arcata || 2 ||
so asya vajro harito ya āyaso harir nikāmo harir ā gabhastyoḥ |
dyumnī suśipro harimanyusāyaka indre ni rūpā haritā mimikṣire || 3 ||
divi na ketur adhi dhāyi haryato vivyacad vajro harito na raṁhyā |
tudad ahiṁ hariśipro ya āyasaḥ sahasraśokā abhavad dharimbharaḥ || 4 ||
tvaṁ-tvam aharyathā upastutaḥ pūrvebhir indra harikeśa yajvabhiḥ |
tvaṁ haryasi tava viśvam ukthya1m asāmi rādho harijāta haryatam || 5 ||
tā vajriṇam mandinaṁ stomyam mada indraṁ rathe vahato haryatā harī |
purūṇy asmai savanāni haryata indrāya somā harayo dadhanvire || 6 ||
araṁ kāmāya harayo dadhanvire sthirāya hinvan harayo harī turā |
arvadbhir yo haribhir joṣam īyate so asya kāmaṁ harivantam ānaśe || 7 ||
hariśmaśārur harikeśa āyasas turaspeye yo haripā avardhata |
arvadbhir yo haribhir vājinīvasur ati viśvā duritā pāriṣad dharī || 8 ||
sruveva yasya hariṇī vipetatuḥ śipre vājāya hariṇī davidhvataḥ |
pra yat kṛte camase marmṛjad dharī pītvā madasya haryatasyāndhasaḥ || 9 ||
uta sma sadma haryatasya pastyo3r atyo na vājaṁ harivām̐ acikradat |
mahī cid dhi dhiṣaṇāharyad ojasā bṛhad vayo dadhiṣe haryataś cid ā || 10 ||
ā rodasī haryamāṇo mahitvā navyaṁ-navyaṁ haryasi manma nu priyam |
pra pastyam asura haryataṁ gor āviṣ kṛdhi haraye sūryāya || 11 ||
ā tvā haryantam prayujo janānāṁ rathe vahantu hariśipram indra |
pibā yathā pratibhṛtasya madhvo haryan yajñaṁ sadhamāde daśoṇim || 12 ||
apāḥ pūrveṣāṁ harivaḥ sutānām atho idaṁ savanaṁ kevalaṁ te |
mamaddhi somam madhumantam indra satrā vṛṣañ jaṭhara ā vṛṣasva || 13 ||
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).