Hymn to Indra
Rigveda III.36 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. Set well this offering in place, for winning — ever joining, again and again, with your helps. At every pressing he grows through the strengthening praises, he who through great deeds has become far-famed.
2. The soma-draughts for Indra, known from ancient days, skillfully prepared, by which the mighty, bull-limbed, vast one grew strong — grasp well these offered draughts; Indra, drink of the bull-soma that stirs with force.
3. Drink, grow strong; these pressed somas are truly yours, Indra — the first ones, and these too. As you drank the ancient somas of old, Indra, so drink now, praiseworthy one, freshly today.
4. Great, matchless, mighty amid the throng, he holds fierce power, bold strength. Not even the earth could contain him, when the somas gladdened the tawny-horsed one.
5. Great and fierce, he grew strong for valor; the bull shaped himself through his skill. Indra is fortune, the giver of spoils; his cattle are born in plenty, his gifts are many.
6. As the rivers go forth on their course, as the waters go to the sea like chariot-teams, so — even beyond that — Indra grows greater than his own seat, when the milked soma-stalk fills him.
7. The rivers, joining with the sea, bring the well-pressed soma to Indra. The skillful-handed ones milk the stalk with their vessels; they purify the sweet draught in a stream through the filters.
8. Like lakes are his soma-holding bellies; he has taken in the many pressings together. When Indra first ate of the offerings, having slain Vṛtra, he chose the soma for himself.
9. Bring it here now — let nothing stand in the way of this — for we know you as the lord of wealth, of treasures. Indra, whatever great gift is yours, grant that to us, tawny-horsed one.
10. Grant to us, bounteous Indra, drinker of the soma-dregs, wealth abundant and all-desirable. Grant us a hundred autumns to live; grant us heroes without end, Indra, the fair-helmeted one.
11. May we call, for our good, on bounteous Indra, most heroic in this fray, at the winning of the prize — the fierce one who listens for aid in combats, who smites the obstructing foes, the winner of riches.
Translator's note: verse 2's "ṛbhur" (rendered "skillfully prepared") and verse 5's "kāvyena" ("through his skill") both carry a range from "wisdom/poetic craft" to a possible allusion to the craftsman-gods the Ṛbhus; the conservative sense is kept here rather than resolving the ambiguity. Epithets such as "ṛjīṣin" (v.10, "drinker of the soma-dregs") and "śiprin" (v.10, "fair-helmeted," lit. of the jaw/helmet) are stock names for Indra rendered by their most literal sense.
Colophon
Rigveda III.36 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 III.36
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.
imām ū ṣu prabhṛtiṁ sātaye dhāḥ śaśvac-chaśvad ūtibhir yādamānaḥ |
sute-sute vāvṛdhe vardhanebhir yaḥ karmabhir mahadbhiḥ suśruto bhūt || 1 ||
indrāya somāḥ pradivo vidānā ṛbhur yebhir vṛṣaparvā vihāyāḥ |
prayamyamānān prati ṣū gṛbhāyendra piba vṛṣadhūtasya vṛṣṇaḥ || 2 ||
pibā vardhasva tava ghā sutāsa indra somāsaḥ prathamā uteme |
yathāpibaḥ pūrvyām̐ indra somām̐ evā pāhi panyo adyā navīyān || 3 ||
mahām̐ amatro vṛjane virapśy u1graṁ śavaḥ patyate dhṛṣṇv ojaḥ |
nāha vivyāca pṛthivī canainaṁ yat somāso haryaśvam amandan || 4 ||
mahām̐ ugro vāvṛdhe vīryāya samācakre vṛṣabhaḥ kāvyena |
indro bhago vājadā asya gāvaḥ pra jāyante dakṣiṇā asya pūrvīḥ || 5 ||
pra yat sindhavaḥ prasavaṁ yathāyann āpaḥ samudraṁ rathyeva jagmuḥ |
ataś cid indraḥ sadaso varīyān yad īṁ somaḥ pṛṇati dugdho aṁśuḥ || 6 ||
samudreṇa sindhavo yādamānā indrāya somaṁ suṣutam bharantaḥ |
aṁśuṁ duhanti hastino bharitrair madhvaḥ punanti dhārayā pavitraiḥ || 7 ||
hradā iva kukṣayaḥ somadhānāḥ sam ī vivyāca savanā purūṇi |
annā yad indraḥ prathamā vy āśa vṛtraṁ jaghanvām̐ avṛṇīta somam || 8 ||
ā tū bhara mākir etat pari ṣṭhād vidmā hi tvā vasupatiṁ vasūnām |
indra yat te māhinaṁ datram asty asmabhyaṁ tad dharyaśva pra yandhi || 9 ||
asme pra yandhi maghavann ṛjīṣinn indra rāyo viśvavārasya bhūreḥ |
asme śataṁ śarado jīvase dhā asme vīrāñ chaśvata indra śiprin || 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).