Hymn to Indra
Rigveda III.37 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. For the slaying of Vṛtra, for strength, and for prevailing over the battle-hosts — O Indra, we set you in motion toward us.
2. Turn your mind well toward us, and your eye too, O hundred-powered one; let the priests bring it about, O Indra.
3. We reach for your names, O hundred-powered one, with all our songs, O Indra, for triumph over the hostile ones.
4. With the hundred forms of power of the much-praised one, we magnify Indra, upholder of the peoples.
5. I call upon Indra, the much-invoked, for the slaying of Vṛtra, in battles, for the winning of strength.
6. Be victorious in the contests for strength; we beseech you, O hundred-powered one, Indra, for the slaying of Vṛtra.
7. In glorious deeds, in the marshaling of battle, in the winning of fights, and in renown — O Indra, prevail over the hostile ones.
8. Drink the most vigorous soma, the glorious, the wakeful one, for our help, O Indra, hundred-powered one.
9. The Indra-powers that are yours, O hundred-powered one, among the five peoples — those, O Indra, I claim for you.
10. Great fame has come to you, Indra; hold fast the unconquerable glory; we exalt your might on high.
11. Come to us from the near ground, and also, O mighty one, from the far; whatever wide realm is yours, O wielder of the stone — Indra, from there come here.
Translator's note: śatakrato ("hundred-powered/hundred-willed") and adrivaḥ ("possessor of the stone," i.e. the thunderbolt or pressing-stone) are recurring Indra-epithets rendered descriptively rather than as fixed titles. "Indriyāṇi" (verse 9) denotes the powers or faculties proper to Indra; "the five peoples" (pañcasu janeṣu) is the standard Rigvedic phrase for the whole of humankind, traditionally the five tribes.
Colophon
Rigveda III.37 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.37
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.
vārtrahatyāya śavase pṛtanāṣāhyāya ca |
indra tvā vartayāmasi || 1 ||
arvācīnaṁ su te mana uta cakṣuḥ śatakrato |
indra kṛṇvantu vāghataḥ || 2 ||
nāmāni te śatakrato viśvābhir gīrbhir īmahe |
indrābhimātiṣāhye || 3 ||
puruṣṭutasya dhāmabhiḥ śatena mahayāmasi |
indrasya carṣaṇīdhṛtaḥ || 4 ||
indraṁ vṛtrāya hantave puruhūtam upa bruve |
bhareṣu vājasātaye || 5 ||
vājeṣu sāsahir bhava tvām īmahe śatakrato |
indra vṛtrāya hantave || 6 ||
dyumneṣu pṛtanājye pṛtsutūrṣu śravaḥsu ca |
indra sākṣvābhimātiṣu || 7 ||
śuṣmintamaṁ na ūtaye dyumninam pāhi jāgṛvim |
indra somaṁ śatakrato || 8 ||
indriyāṇi śatakrato yā te janeṣu pañcasu |
indra tāni ta ā vṛṇe || 9 ||
agann indra śravo bṛhad dyumnaṁ dadhiṣva duṣṭaram |
ut te śuṣmaṁ tirāmasi || 10 ||
arvāvato na ā gahy atho śakra parāvataḥ |
u loko yas te adriva indreha tata ā gahi || 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).