Hymn to Indra
Rigveda IV.21 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) from Maṇḍala 4 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. May Indra come here to us with his help, praised; let the hero be our companion at the feast. Growing strong, he whose powers are many — like heaven, may he foster his overpowering dominion.
2. Here indeed you praise his bull-like powers, the men of him who is very brilliant, very bountiful — whose resolve, like a sovereign's fit for the assembly, subdues and overcomes: he prevails over the peoples.
3. May Indra come swiftly, from heaven, from earth, from the ocean or from the waters, from the realm of sunlight — accompanied by the Maruts, for our help — or from far away, from the seat of Truth.
4. Him who rules over vast, abundant wealth — that Indra we praise in the assemblies — who by his swiftness conquers in the cattle-rich contests, who boldly leads us onward toward greater riches.
5. He who, offering homage upon homage, raises up speech, giving it voice for the sacrifice — striving with hymns, O much-desired one — may the priest bring Indra into the sacrificial seats.
6. If, devoted in thought, we swift ones sit at the pressing-stone in the hiding-place of Auśija — there is the priest of the dwelling, hostile to foes, who for us is the great bearer of offerings amid the concealments.
7. When altogether the fury of the mighty bull attends the one who praises him, for the contest — when he is hidden in the hiding-place of Auśija — it is for insight, for the offering, for exhilaration.
8. When he opens wide the mountain's expanses, and with the waters' floods quickens the swift-running streams — he found it in the lair of the wild ox — when the devoted ones bring offerings for the prize.
9. Auspicious are your hands, O Indra, and well-formed your palms, extending bounty to the one who praises you. Why do you hold back? Why do you not gladden us? Why do you not rise up eagerly to give?
10. Thus Indra, true sovereign of wealth, slayer of Vṛtra, who made room for Puru — O much-praised one, grant us wealth by your power; may I share in your divine favor.
11. Now praised, Indra, now extolled — pour out refreshment for your singer, like rivers in flood. A new prayer has been made for you, O lord of bay horses. Through devotion may we be charioteers, ever victorious.
Translator's note: Verses 6–7 turn on the obscure figure Auśija (a patronymic linked to the seer Kakṣīvant) and rare words (dhiṣaṇyantaḥ, saraṇyān, duroṣāḥ, bhārvarasya) whose precise sense is uncertain outside their ritual context; they are rendered conservatively, keeping the images of the pressing-stone, the hidden dwelling, and the "bull" as given in the Sanskrit rather than resolving them into a confident narrative.
Colophon
Rigveda IV.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.
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Source Text: ṛgveda IV.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.
ā yātv indro 'vasa upa na iha stutaḥ sadhamād astu śūraḥ |
vāvṛdhānas taviṣīr yasya pūrvīr dyaur na kṣatram abhibhūti puṣyāt || 1 ||
tasyed iha stavatha vṛṣṇyāni tuvidyumnasya tuvirādhaso nṝn |
yasya kratur vidathyo3 na samrāṭ sāhvān tarutro abhy asti kṛṣṭīḥ || 2 ||
ā yātv indro diva ā pṛthivyā makṣū samudrād uta vā purīṣāt |
svarṇarād avase no marutvān parāvato vā sadanād ṛtasya || 3 ||
sthūrasya rāyo bṛhato ya īśe tam u ṣṭavāma vidatheṣv indram |
yo vāyunā jayati gomatīṣu pra dhṛṣṇuyā nayati vasyo accha || 4 ||
upa yo namo namasi stabhāyann iyarti vācaṁ janayan yajadhyai |
ṛñjasānaḥ puruvāra ukthair endraṁ kṛṇvīta sadaneṣu hotā || 5 ||
dhiṣā yadi dhiṣaṇyantaḥ saraṇyān sadanto adrim auśijasya gohe |
ā duroṣāḥ pāstyasya hotā yo no mahān saṁvaraṇeṣu vahniḥ || 6 ||
satrā yad īm bhārvarasya vṛṣṇaḥ siṣakti śuṣmaḥ stuvate bharāya |
guhā yad īm auśijasya gohe pra yad dhiye prāyase madāya || 7 ||
vi yad varāṁsi parvatasya vṛṇve payobhir jinve apāṁ javāṁsi |
vidad gaurasya gavayasya gohe yadī vājāya sudhyo3 vahanti || 8 ||
bhadrā te hastā sukṛtota pāṇī prayantārā stuvate rādha indra |
kā te niṣattiḥ kim u no mamatsi kiṁ nod-ud u harṣase dātavā u || 9 ||
evā vasva indraḥ satyaḥ samrāḍ ḍhantā vṛtraṁ varivaḥ pūrave kaḥ |
puruṣṭuta kratvā naḥ śagdhi rāyo bhakṣīya te 'vaso daivyasya || 10 ||
nū ṣṭuta indra nū gṛṇāna iṣaṁ jaritre nadyo3 na pīpeḥ |
akāri te harivo brahma navyaṁ dhiyā syāma rathyaḥ sadāsāḥ || 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).