Hymn to Indra
Rigveda II.21 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. To the all-conqueror, the wealth-conqueror, the heaven-conqueror, the ever-conqueror, the conqueror of men, the conqueror of fields, the conqueror of horses, the conqueror of cattle, the conqueror of waters — bring the desired soma to Indra, the worshipful one.
2. Speak homage to Indra: the overpowering, the breaker of foes, the conquering, the unconquerable, the ever-prevailing, the wise ordainer, the mighty, the bearer, the unsurpassable, the ever-victorious.
3. Ever-victorious, receiver of what the people offer, subduer of the clans, the shaker, the warrior, grown strong at his own pleasure, breaker of what stands in the way, the powerful one, set in motion among the tribes — I will proclaim the heroic deeds Indra has done.
4. Unyielding bull, the death-blow of the raging foe, profound, lofty, unmatched in wisdom, urger-on of the weak, the piercer, the celebrated, the vast — Indra, rightly worshipped, brought forth the dawns and the light of the sun.
5. By sacrifice the eager, thoughtful priests, driving their prayers onward, have found the way, needing no crossing by boat. Calling aloud, taking their seats, desiring cattle, seeking his favor, pressing toward Indra — they have won riches.
6. O Indra, grant us the finest riches, the discernment that comes with skill, good fortune for us, growth of wealth, safety of body, sweetness of speech, and fair days.
Translator's note: verse 5's syntax is compressed and its exact sense (who is "not crossing by boat," and how the clauses about cattle and calling aloud connect) is uncertain; the rendering above stays close to the individual Sanskrit terms rather than resolving the ambiguity. Several epithets in verses 1–4 (e.g. tuvigraye, vṛtaṁcayaḥ, asamaṣṭakāvyaḥ) are compound formations whose precise force is debated; they are rendered conservatively by their component parts.
Colophon
Rigveda II.21 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.
🌲
Source Text: ṛgveda II.21
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.
viśvajite dhanajite svarjite satrājite nṛjita urvarājite |
aśvajite gojite abjite bharendrāya somaṁ yajatāya haryatam || 1 ||
abhibhuve 'bhibhaṅgāya vanvate 'ṣāḻhāya sahamānāya vedhase |
tuvigraye vahnaye duṣṭarītave satrāsāhe nama indrāya vocata || 2 ||
satrāsāho janabhakṣo janaṁsahaś cyavano yudhmo anu joṣam ukṣitaḥ |
vṛtaṁcayaḥ sahurir vikṣv ārita indrasya vocam pra kṛtāni vīryā || 3 ||
anānudo vṛṣabho dodhato vadho gambhīra ṛṣvo asamaṣṭakāvyaḥ |
radhracodaḥ śnathano vīḻitas pṛthur indraḥ suyajña uṣasaḥ svar janat || 4 ||
yajñena gātum apturo vividrire dhiyo hinvānā uśijo manīṣiṇaḥ |
abhisvarā niṣadā gā avasyava indre hinvānā draviṇāny āśata || 5 ||
indra śreṣṭhāni draviṇāni dhehi cittiṁ dakṣasya subhagatvam asme |
poṣaṁ rayīṇām ariṣṭiṁ tanūnāṁ svādmānaṁ vācaḥ sudinatvam ahnām || 6 ||
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).