Hymn to Indra
Rigveda II.18 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. At dawn a new chariot has been yoked — victorious, four-yoked, triple-whipped, seven-reined, ten-oared, belonging to Manu's people, winning the sun. By offerings and by prayers it has become swift.
2. It suits him first, and it suits him second, and also third — he is the priest of Manu. Others beget the offspring of another; he, the noble bull, joins himself with others.
3. Now indeed I yoke Indra's two bay horses to the chariot, for his coming, with a new well-spoken hymn. Let the many other inspired poets, the other sacrificers, not delay you here.
4. Come, Indra, with two bay horses; come, called with four; come, called with six. With eight, with ten, to the soma-drink — this soma is pressed, O bountiful one; do not fail us.
5. Come here with twenty, with thirty; come, yoked with forty bay horses. Come with fifty, with fine chariots, Indra, with sixty, with seventy, to the soma-drink.
6. Come here with eighty, with ninety; come, borne by a hundred bay horses. This soma is indeed here for you, Indra, among the Śunahotras, poured out by one devoted to you, for your exhilaration.
7. Come, Indra, to my sacred word; set your two bay horses at the pole of the chariot. For you have been called on in many places — rejoice, O hero, at this pressing.
8. May my friendship with Indra never come apart; may his bounty yield its milk for us. Under his highest, sheltering hand, may we be victorious in every contest.
9. Now may that bounteous milk-cow of yours, Indra, yield its boon to the singer. Grant help to your praisers; let our good fortune not burn away. Rich in good sons, may we speak with strength in the assembly.
Translator's note: verse 1 describes the hymn itself under the figure of a chariot being yoked at dawn, a common Rigvedic riddle-image; the exact sense of "ten-oared" (daśāritraḥ, normally a boat-term) applied to a chariot is uncertain and is kept literal rather than smoothed over. Verse 2 is a deliberately riddling verse about priestly succession and kinship; it is translated conservatively, following the Sanskrit word order, rather than resolved into a single confident reading. Verses 4–6 name numbers 2 through 100 in strict sequence — the mounting count of yoked horses is the verses' own structure and has been preserved.
Colophon
Rigveda II.18 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.18
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.
prātā ratho navo yoji sasniś caturyugas trikaśaḥ saptaraśmiḥ |
daśāritro manuṣyaḥ svarṣāḥ sa iṣṭibhir matibhī raṁhyo bhūt || 1 ||
sāsmā aram prathamaṁ sa dvitīyam uto tṛtīyam manuṣaḥ sa hotā |
anyasyā garbham anya ū jananta so anyebhiḥ sacate jenyo vṛṣā || 2 ||
harī nu kaṁ ratha indrasya yojam āyai sūktena vacasā navena |
mo ṣu tvām atra bahavo hi viprā ni rīraman yajamānāso anye || 3 ||
ā dvābhyāṁ haribhyām indra yāhy ā caturbhir ā ṣaḍbhir hūyamānaḥ |
āṣṭābhir daśabhiḥ somapeyam ayaṁ sutaḥ sumakha mā mṛdhas kaḥ || 4 ||
ā viṁśatyā triṁśatā yāhy arvāṅ ā catvāriṁśatā haribhir yujānaḥ |
ā pañcāśatā surathebhir indrā ṣaṣṭyā saptatyā somapeyam || 5 ||
āśītyā navatyā yāhy arvāṅ ā śatena haribhir uhyamānaḥ |
ayaṁ hi te śunahotreṣu soma indra tvāyā pariṣikto madāya || 6 ||
mama brahmendra yāhy acchā viśvā harī dhuri dhiṣvā rathasya |
purutrā hi vihavyo babhūthāsmiñ chūra savane mādayasva || 7 ||
na ma indreṇa sakhyaṁ vi yoṣad asmabhyam asya dakṣiṇā duhīta |
upa jyeṣṭhe varūthe gabhastau prāye-prāye jigīvāṁsaḥ syāma || 8 ||
nūnaṁ sā te prati varaṁ jaritre duhīyad indra dakṣiṇā maghonī |
śikṣā stotṛbhyo māti dhag bhago no bṛhad vadema vidathe suvīrāḥ || 9 ||
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).