Hymn to Indra and Soma
Rigveda IV.28 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. With you as ally, that deed was yours, Soma, through your friendship — Indra made the waters flow for Manu. He struck down the serpent and let loose the seven rivers; he threw open the passages as if they were shut doors.
2. With you as ally, Indra, drop of Soma, at once by force struck down the sun's wheel as it moved along the great ridge; from the mighty Druh he took away its whole span of life.
3. Indra struck them down and Agni burned them, drop of Soma — the Dasyus of old, at midday, face to face. In the hard-to-reach stronghold, by his power, like those who march out, he laid low many thousands with the arrow.
4. From every side, Indra, you cast down the lowest of the Dasyus; you made the Dāsa peoples without honor. You two pressed hard on the enemies and struck them down; you two won your due through your weapons.
5. So truly, you two bounteous ones, Indra and Soma, did this: you tore open the covered cave rich in horses and cattle; piercing even the earth, you two set flowing what had been sealed within.
Translator's note: verse 2's "druho" (from "druh," deceit/hostility) is rendered as a proper name, "the Druh," following its use elsewhere in the Rigveda for a hostile/demonic force; the phrase remains compact enough that a more explanatory paraphrase risked adding content not in the Sanskrit. Verse 3's "kratvā na yātām" and verse 5's "aśnā" are similarly terse constructions (roughly "as of those who go, by his power" and "with/by the stone") translated conservatively rather than expanded.
Colophon
Rigveda IV.28 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.28
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.
tvā yujā tava tat soma sakhya indro apo manave sasrutas kaḥ |
ahann ahim ariṇāt sapta sindhūn apāvṛṇod apihiteva khāni || 1 ||
tvā yujā ni khidat sūryasyendraś cakraṁ sahasā sadya indo |
adhi ṣṇunā bṛhatā vartamānam maho druho apa viśvāyu dhāyi || 2 ||
ahann indro adahad agnir indo purā dasyūn madhyaṁdinād abhīke |
durge duroṇe kratvā na yātām purū sahasrā śarvā ni barhīt || 3 ||
viśvasmāt sīm adhamām̐ indra dasyūn viśo dāsīr akṛṇor apraśastāḥ |
abādhethām amṛṇataṁ ni śatrūn avindethām apacitiṁ vadhatraiḥ || 4 ||
evā satyam maghavānā yuvaṁ tad indraś ca somorvam aśvyaṁ goḥ |
ādardṛtam apihitāny aśnā riricathuḥ kṣāś cit tatṛdānā || 5 ||
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).