Hymn to Indra
Rigveda II.13 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) from Maṇḍala 2 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. The Season is his mother: quickly born, he entered her waters, in which he grows. That became swelling milk — the first foaming draught of the stalk: that is worthy of praise.
2. Together they come, carrying milk all around; for the all-nourishing one they bring forth food. Common is the path along the slopes for the one who runs — you who first made these things, you are worthy of praise.
3. One speaks accordingly what he gives; changing his forms, that one goes about his work. All the thrusts of the one he endures — you who first made these things, you are worthy of praise.
4. Distributing nourishment to creatures they sit, like wealth toward the ridge that swells for the one who comes. Unsated, with his fangs he eats the father's food — you who first made these things, you are worthy of praise.
5. Then you made the earth visible to the sky, you who, as slayer of the serpent, cleared the paths of the streams. The gods, with praise-songs, begot you the god, like a prize-winning steed with the waters — you are worthy of praise.
6. You who both apportion food and its increase — from the moist you have milked out what is sweet and firm. You have laid down treasure in Vivasvat; you alone rule over everything — you are worthy of praise.
7. You who by your ordinance held the flowering and budding plants, and the rivers, apart in your giving — and you, unequalled, who set the lightning of heaven in motion, wide and encompassing on every side — you are worthy of praise.
8. You who brought Nṛmara together with Sahavasu to be struck down, for Pṛkṣa's sake and for Dāsaveśa's — the unbesieged mouth of the strengthening one, and so still today, doer of many deeds — you are worthy of praise.
9. Whether a hundred or ten together, from of old, at the one man's call you helped him with your impetus — without a rope you overwhelmed the Dasyus for Dabhīti's sake; you became his good helper — you are worthy of praise.
10. All the barriers gave way before his manly strength; they granted wealth to him, the skillful one. You propped up the six wide-spread realms, the five that are visible; you became beyond the farthest reach — you are worthy of praise.
11. Well worth proclaiming, O hero, is your heroic deed, in that by a single resolve you win wealth. The vigor of Jātūṣṭhira, the mighty one — what you accomplished, O Indra, in all this you are worthy of praise.
12. You brought rest to the afflicted one so he might cross over, and made a path for Turvīti and for Vayya. You raised up Parāvṛj, who lay brought low, giving voice to the blind and the lame — you are worthy of praise.
13. For us, O good one, direct that bounty toward giving; abundant is your store of goods. O Indra, whatever is brilliant through fame, day upon day — may we, rich in heroic sons, speak loftily in the assembly.
Translator's note: II.13 is among the most syntactically compressed and riddling hymns in the Rigveda. The refrain closing verses 2–12, "sāsy ukthyaḥ" ("you are worthy of praise"), addresses Indra throughout; verse 1's opening lines, describing the growth of the Soma stalk, set up the invocation. Several proper names of figures Indra aids or defeats — Nṛmara, Sahavasu, Pṛkṣa, Dāsaveśa (v. 8), Dabhīti (v. 9), Jātūṣṭhira (v. 11), Turvīti, Vayya, Parāvṛj (v. 12) — are kept as names; the specific episodes behind them are not recoverable from the verses alone and are not reconstructed here. A handful of individual phrases (notably in verses 1, 3, 4, 7, and 10) admit more than one reading and have been translated conservatively, following the Sanskrit word order rather than resolving the ambiguity.
Colophon
Rigveda II.13 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 II.13
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.
ṛtur janitrī tasyā apas pari makṣū jāta āviśad yāsu vardhate |
tad āhanā abhavat pipyuṣī payo 'ṁśoḥ pīyūṣam prathamaṁ tad ukthyam || 1 ||
sadhrīm ā yanti pari bibhratīḥ payo viśvapsnyāya pra bharanta bhojanam |
samāno adhvā pravatām anuṣyade yas tākṛṇoḥ prathamaṁ sāsy ukthyaḥ || 2 ||
anv eko vadati yad dadāti tad rūpā minan tadapā eka īyate |
viśvā ekasya vinudas titikṣate yas tākṛṇoḥ prathamaṁ sāsy ukthyaḥ || 3 ||
prajābhyaḥ puṣṭiṁ vibhajanta āsate rayim iva pṛṣṭham prabhavantam āyate |
asinvan daṁṣṭraiḥ pitur atti bhojanaṁ yas tākṛṇoḥ prathamaṁ sāsy ukthyaḥ || 4 ||
adhākṛṇoḥ pṛthivīṁ saṁdṛśe dive yo dhautīnām ahihann āriṇak pathaḥ |
taṁ tvā stomebhir udabhir na vājinaṁ devaṁ devā ajanan sāsy ukthyaḥ || 5 ||
yo bhojanaṁ ca dayase ca vardhanam ārdrād ā śuṣkam madhumad dudohitha |
sa śevadhiṁ ni dadhiṣe vivasvati viśvasyaika īśiṣe sāsy ukthyaḥ || 6 ||
yaḥ puṣpiṇīś ca prasvaś ca dharmaṇādhi dāne vy a1vanīr adhārayaḥ |
yaś cāsamā ajano didyuto diva urur ūrvām̐ abhitaḥ sāsy ukthyaḥ || 7 ||
yo nārmaraṁ sahavasuṁ nihantave pṛkṣāya ca dāsaveśāya cāvahaḥ |
ūrjayantyā apariviṣṭam āsyam utaivādya purukṛt sāsy ukthyaḥ || 8 ||
śataṁ vā yasya daśa sākam ādya ekasya śruṣṭau yad dha codam āvitha |
arajjau dasyūn sam unab dabhītaye suprāvyo abhavaḥ sāsy ukthyaḥ || 9 ||
viśved anu rodhanā asya pauṁsyaṁ dadur asmai dadhire kṛtnave dhanam |
ṣaḻ astabhnā viṣṭiraḥ pañca saṁdṛśaḥ pari paro abhavaḥ sāsy ukthyaḥ || 10 ||
supravācanaṁ tava vīra vīrya1ṁ yad ekena kratunā vindase vasu |
jātūṣṭhirasya pra vayaḥ sahasvato yā cakartha sendra viśvāsy ukthyaḥ || 11 ||
aramayaḥ sarapasas tarāya kaṁ turvītaye ca vayyāya ca srutim |
nīcā santam ud anayaḥ parāvṛjam prāndhaṁ śroṇaṁ śravayan sāsy ukthyaḥ || 12 ||
asmabhyaṁ tad vaso dānāya rādhaḥ sam arthayasva bahu te vasavyam |
indra yac citraṁ śravasyā anu dyūn bṛhad vadema vidathe suvīrāḥ || 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).