Hymn to Indra
Rigveda III.31 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) from Maṇḍala 3 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. Ruling, the bearer went to the daughter's offspring, knowing, honoring the thought of truth (ṛta) — where the father, joining the daughter's outpouring, united himself with a vigorous mind.
2. He did not leave the inheritance of the body to the sister; he made the womb the storehouse of the winner. When the mothers gave birth to the bearer, one was the maker, another throve by good deeds.
3. Agni was born, quivering with his flame-tongue, for the worship of the great sons of the ruddy one. Great is the embryo, great the birth of these; great and increasing through the sacrifices of the tawny-horsed one.
4. The victorious ones followed the contending one; they made the great light known out of darkness. Knowing him, the dawns rose up to meet him; Indra alone became lord of the cows.
5. The wise ones broke through what stood firm; the seven sages, with one mind, drove forward. They found the whole path of truth; knowing it, he entered it with reverence.
6. When Saramā found the broken place of the rock, she made the great, ancient path converge as one. She led the way, fair-footed, for the unfailing ones; knowing first, she went toward their lowing.
7. The most inspired one came as a friend; the rock gave up its hidden treasure for the doer of good. The young hero, contending along with the young men, won; then straightaway he became Aṅgiras, singing praise.
8. Foremost, the match of every being, he knows all creatures and slays Śuṣṇa. Let him, the tracker from heaven, desiring cows, sing forth for us — a friend releasing his friends from disgrace.
9. With minds set on cattle, they sat down with their chants, making a path to immortality. This indeed is their abundant dwelling place, by that order through which they sought to win the months.
10. Seeing it together, they rejoiced over what was their own, milking the milk of the ancient seed. Their roar blazed through the two world-halves; at its birth they set the heroes firmly among the cows.
11. The Vṛtra-slayer, with those born with him and with oblations, Indra with his songs released the ruddy cows. Bearing ghee-rich milk for him, wide-ranging, the noble cow yielded sweet honey.
12. For the father too they made a dwelling, great and full of splendor; the doers of good shone forth. Propping apart the two parents with a pillar, seated, they measured out the impetuous force upward.
13. When great devotion set him striking, growing mighty in a day, vast over the two world-halves — in whom the blameless songs converge as one — all unsurpassed strength belongs to Indra.
14. Great is your friendship; I desire your powers. To you, Vṛtra-slayer, the many yoked steeds come. We have come for the great hymn, for help from the patron; be, O bounteous one, the true protector of us.
15. Having found the great field, abundant and bright, he then set the pastureland moving for his friends. Indra, shining, brought forth together with his men the sun, the dawn, the path, and Agni.
16. This mighty house-lord released even the waters; he sent forth the united, all-shining streams. Purifying the sweetness with the sages' filters, by days and by nights they speed the running waters.
17. The two dark, treasure-holding ones move on, one following the other, both worthy of worship through the sun's bounty — so that they might encompass your greatness, O Indra, desirable friends going straight to the goal.
18. Be the lord, O Vṛtra-slayer, of truthful, joyful words, full of life, the bull, bestower of vigor. Come to us with kindly friendship, great one, hastening with your great aid.
19. Honoring him, ancient-born, with homage like the Aṅgirases, I make my song new for gain. Drive away the many godless deceits, and grant us heaven's bliss, O bounteous one, for our winning.
20. The purifying mists have spread wide; carry us safely across to their far shore. You, Indra, charioteer, protect us from harm; quickly, quickly make us winners of cattle.
21. The Vṛtra-slayer, lord of cows, pointed out the cows; he went within the dark realm with his ruddy forms. Showing forth true joys by his order, he threw open all his own doors.
22. May we call, for our welfare, the bounteous Indra, most manly in this battle, in the winning of the prize — the mighty one who hears, for help in the fights, who slays the obstacles, the conqueror of riches.
Translator's note: verses 1–2 and several later lines (5, 12, 13, 17) are among the most syntactically compressed in the Rigveda, with pronouns and implied subjects that Vedic commentators themselves read variously. The renderings above stay close to the grammatical surface of the Sanskrit rather than resolving every ambiguity; "the two dark ones" in verse 17 and "house-lord" in verse 16 are conservative literal renderings of kṛṣṇe and damūnāḥ where the referent (night/twin nights; Indra or Agni) is not fixed by the text itself.
Colophon
Rigveda III.31 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 III.31
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.
śāsad vahnir duhitur naptyaṁ gād vidvām̐ ṛtasya dīdhitiṁ saparyan |
pitā yatra duhituḥ sekam ṛñjan saṁ śagmyena manasā dadhanve || 1 ||
na jāmaye tānvo riktham āraik cakāra garbhaṁ sanitur nidhānam |
yadī mātaro janayanta vahnim anyaḥ kartā sukṛtor anya ṛndhan || 2 ||
agnir jajñe juhvā3 rejamāno mahas putrām̐ aruṣasya prayakṣe |
mahān garbho mahy ā jātam eṣām mahī pravṛd dharyaśvasya yajñaiḥ || 3 ||
abhi jaitrīr asacanta spṛdhānam mahi jyotis tamaso nir ajānan |
taṁ jānatīḥ praty ud āyann uṣāsaḥ patir gavām abhavad eka indraḥ || 4 ||
vīḻau satīr abhi dhīrā atṛndan prācāhinvan manasā sapta viprāḥ |
viśvām avindan pathyām ṛtasya prajānann it tā namasā viveśa || 5 ||
vidad yadī saramā rugṇam adrer mahi pāthaḥ pūrvyaṁ sadhryak kaḥ |
agraṁ nayat supady akṣarāṇām acchā ravam prathamā jānatī gāt || 6 ||
agacchad u vipratamaḥ sakhīyann asūdayat sukṛte garbham adriḥ |
sasāna maryo yuvabhir makhasyann athābhavad aṅgirāḥ sadyo arcan || 7 ||
sataḥ-sataḥ pratimānam purobhūr viśvā veda janimā hanti śuṣṇam |
pra ṇo divaḥ padavīr gavyur arcan sakhā sakhīm̐r amuñcan nir avadyāt || 8 ||
ni gavyatā manasā sedur arkaiḥ kṛṇvānāso amṛtatvāya gātum |
idaṁ cin nu sadanam bhūry eṣāṁ yena māsām̐ asiṣāsann ṛtena || 9 ||
sampaśyamānā amadann abhi svam payaḥ pratnasya retaso dughānāḥ |
vi rodasī atapad ghoṣa eṣāṁ jāte niṣṭhām adadhur goṣu vīrān || 10 ||
sa jātebhir vṛtrahā sed u havyair ud usriyā asṛjad indro arkaiḥ |
urūcy asmai ghṛtavad bharantī madhu svādma duduhe jenyā gauḥ || 11 ||
pitre cic cakruḥ sadanaṁ sam asmai mahi tviṣīmat sukṛto vi hi khyan |
viṣkabhnantaḥ skambhanenā janitrī āsīnā ūrdhvaṁ rabhasaṁ vi minvan || 12 ||
mahī yadi dhiṣaṇā śiśnathe dhāt sadyovṛdhaṁ vibhva1ṁ rodasyoḥ |
giro yasminn anavadyāḥ samīcīr viśvā indrāya taviṣīr anuttāḥ || 13 ||
mahy ā te sakhyaṁ vaśmi śaktīr ā vṛtraghne niyuto yanti pūrvīḥ |
mahi stotram ava āganma sūrer asmākaṁ su maghavan bodhi gopāḥ || 14 ||
mahi kṣetram puru ścandraṁ vividvān ād it sakhibhyaś carathaṁ sam airat |
indro nṛbhir ajanad dīdyānaḥ sākaṁ sūryam uṣasaṁ gātum agnim || 15 ||
apaś cid eṣa vibhvo3 damūnāḥ pra sadhrīcīr asṛjad viśvaścandrāḥ |
madhvaḥ punānāḥ kavibhiḥ pavitrair dyubhir hinvanty aktubhir dhanutrīḥ || 16 ||
anu kṛṣṇe vasudhitī jihāte ubhe sūryasya maṁhanā yajatre |
pari yat te mahimānaṁ vṛjadhyai sakhāya indra kāmyā ṛjipyāḥ || 17 ||
patir bhava vṛtrahan sūnṛtānāṁ girāṁ viśvāyur vṛṣabho vayodhāḥ |
ā no gahi sakhyebhiḥ śivebhir mahān mahībhir ūtibhiḥ saraṇyan || 18 ||
tam aṅgirasvan namasā saparyan navyaṁ kṛṇomi sanyase purājām |
druho vi yāhi bahulā adevīḥ svaś ca no maghavan sātaye dhāḥ || 19 ||
mihaḥ pāvakāḥ pratatā abhūvan svasti naḥ pipṛhi pāram āsām |
indra tvaṁ rathiraḥ pāhi no riṣo makṣū-makṣū kṛṇuhi gojito naḥ || 20 ||
adediṣṭa vṛtrahā gopatir gā antaḥ kṛṣṇām̐ aruṣair dhāmabhir gāt |
pra sūnṛtā diśamāna ṛtena duraś ca viśvā avṛṇod apa svāḥ || 21 ||
śunaṁ huvema maghavānam indram asmin bhare nṛtamaṁ vājasātau |
śṛṇvantam ugram ūtaye samatsu ghnantaṁ vṛtrāṇi saṁjitaṁ dhanānām || 22 ||
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).