Hymn to Indra
Rigveda III.35 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. Stand, O bay horses, as you are yoked to the chariot; come to us like Vāyu with his team. You drink the soma-stalk poured out for us; O Indra, with the cry of "svāhā" we have offered it to you for your exhilaration.
2. I yoke the swift pair, the two bay horses, to the poles of the chariot for the much-invoked one, so that, running, they may bring Indra here to this sacrifice, to the soma gathered from every side.
3. Bring them close, O mighty pair — and you, O bull who hold your own power, come down. Let the two ruddy horses seize their fodder; unyoke them here. Day after day, eat the same parched grains.
4. With the sacred formula I yoke your two swift companions, the bay horses, yoked by the formula, for the shared feast. Mounted on the firm, smooth-running chariot, O Indra, knowing and wise, come to the soma.
5. Let no other sacrificers hold back your two mighty horses with their sleek backs. Pass by all the rest and come here; with the pressed soma we shall satisfy you fully.
6. This soma is yours; come here, well-disposed, and drink of it again and again. Seated on the sacred grass at this sacrifice, take this drop of soma into your belly, O Indra.
7. The sacred grass is strewn for you, O Indra, the soma is pressed, the grains are prepared for your two bay horses to eat. To you who dwell there, of many powers, the bull accompanied by the Maruts, the oblations are given.
8. The men, the mountains, the waters, O Indra, together with the cows, have made this sweet drink for you. Having come to it, gracious and lofty one, drink — knowing well, and wise, along your own paths.
9. The Maruts whom you made sharers in the soma, O Indra, who strengthened you and became your troop — with them, of one mind, eagerly desiring it, drink this soma through the tongue of Agni, O Indra.
10. O Indra, drink of the pressed soma by your own power, or drink it through the tongue of Agni, O one worthy of worship; or, O mighty one, from the outstretched hand of the adhvaryu priest, or delight in the sacrifice and oblation of the hotar priest.
11. Joyfully we would call on bounteous Indra, most heroic, in this contest, in the winning of the prize — the fierce one who hears, for help in our battles, who strikes down the obstructing foes and wins the riches.
Translator's note: verse 3's opening epithets (rendered here "mighty pair," "bull who hold your own power") translate a compound (tapuṣpā) whose precise sense is uncertain; the rendering is conservative rather than certain.
Colophon
Rigveda III.35 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.35
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.
tiṣṭhā harī ratha ā yujyamānā yāhi vāyur na niyuto no accha |
pibāsy andho abhisṛṣṭo asme indra svāhā rarimā te madāya || 1 ||
upājirā puruhūtāya saptī harī rathasya dhūrṣv ā yunajmi |
dravad yathā sambhṛtaṁ viśvataś cid upemaṁ yajñam ā vahāta indram || 2 ||
upo nayasva vṛṣaṇā tapuṣpotem ava tvaṁ vṛṣabha svadhāvaḥ |
grasetām aśvā vi muceha śoṇā dive-dive sadṛśīr addhi dhānāḥ || 3 ||
brahmaṇā te brahmayujā yunajmi harī sakhāyā sadhamāda āśū |
sthiraṁ rathaṁ sukham indrādhitiṣṭhan prajānan vidvām̐ upa yāhi somam || 4 ||
mā te harī vṛṣaṇā vītapṛṣṭhā ni rīraman yajamānāso anye |
atyāyāhi śaśvato vayaṁ te 'raṁ sutebhiḥ kṛṇavāma somaiḥ || 5 ||
tavāyaṁ somas tvam ehy arvāṅ chaśvattamaṁ sumanā asya pāhi |
asmin yajñe barhiṣy ā niṣadyā dadhiṣvemaṁ jaṭhara indum indra || 6 ||
stīrṇaṁ te barhiḥ suta indra somaḥ kṛtā dhānā attave te haribhyām |
tadokase puruśākāya vṛṣṇe marutvate tubhyaṁ rātā havīṁṣi || 7 ||
imaṁ naraḥ parvatās tubhyam āpaḥ sam indra gobhir madhumantam akran |
tasyāgatyā sumanā ṛṣva pāhi prajānan vidvān pathyā3 anu svāḥ || 8 ||
yām̐ ābhajo maruta indra some ye tvām avardhann abhavan gaṇas te |
tebhir etaṁ sajoṣā vāvaśāno3 'gneḥ piba jihvayā somam indra || 9 ||
indra piba svadhayā cit sutasyāgner vā pāhi jihvayā yajatra |
adhvaryor vā prayataṁ śakra hastād dhotur vā yajñaṁ haviṣo juṣasva || 10 ||
śunaṁ huvema maghavānam indram asmin bhare nṛtamaṁ vājasātau |
śṛṇvantam ugram ūtaye samatsu ghnantaṁ vṛtrāṇi saṁjitaṁ dhanānām || 11 ||
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).