Hymn to Indra
Rigveda IV.30 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. None is higher than you, Indra, none greater, Vṛtra-slayer; none is as you are.
2. All the peoples have turned to follow you entirely, as if they were spokes turning round a wheel; you are renowned, wholly great.
3. Not even all the gods together have fought against you, Indra, when you pressed on through days and nights.
4. And where, for Kutsa fighting against those who pressed him hard, you stole the sun's wheel, Indra.
5. Where you alone, unopposed, struck down all the raging gods; you, Indra, slew the covetous foes.
6. And where, for a certain mortal, you set the sun moving, Indra; with your powers you aided Etaśa.
7. What then — are you not, Vṛtra-slayer, bounteous one, most furious of all? Here indeed you overcame Dānu.
8. This too was a heroic deed of manly power you performed, Indra: you struck down the woman bent on harm, the daughter of Heaven.
9. Even the daughter of Heaven, though mighty and exulting in her might — Uṣas — you, great Indra, crushed to pieces.
10. Away from her shattered wagon Uṣas fled, terrified, when the bull struck her down.
11. Her wagon lies there, utterly smashed, on the Vipāś; she herself fled far off, into the distance.
12. And the river Sindhu, spread out over the earth — you surrounded it, Indra, by your power of magic.
13. And boldly you swept away Śuṣṇa's wealth, when you crushed his strongholds.
14. And the demon Śambara, son of Kulitara, you struck down from the high mountain, Indra.
15. And of the demon Varcin you slew a hundred thousand, as easily as striking down five chariot-rims.
16. And that son of the unwed woman, the outcast, Indra of a hundred powers gave a share in the hymns of praise.
17. And Turvaśa and Yadu, the two who could not cross the water, Indra, lord of power, knowingly brought safely across.
18. And in a single day, Indra, on the far bank of the Sarayu, you slew Arṇa and Citraratha, those noble lords.
19. You lead on the two forsaken ones, the blind man and the lame, Vṛtra-slayer; that grace of yours is not easily reached.
20. A hundred stone-built strongholds Indra hurled down, for Divodāsa, the devoted giver.
21. For Dabhīti, Indra put thirty thousand of the demons to sleep with blows, by his power of magic.
22. You indeed remain the same, Vṛtra-slayer, Indra, lord of cattle, who has accomplished all these deeds.
23. And now too, whatever mighty deed of power you will do, Indra — let no one belittle it this day.
24. May the god Aryaman give you good thing after good thing; good things from Pūṣan, good things from Bhaga, good things from the goddess Karūḻatī.
Translator's note: verse 12's "vibālyam" and verse 24's "karūḻatī" are rare or obscure words without settled meanings; they are rendered conservatively here. Verse 15's simile of "five chariot-rims" is likewise opaque and translated literally rather than interpreted.
Colophon
Rigveda IV.30 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.30
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.
nakir indra tvad uttaro na jyāyām̐ asti vṛtrahan |
nakir evā yathā tvam || 1 ||
satrā te anu kṛṣṭayo viśvā cakreva vāvṛtuḥ |
satrā mahām̐ asi śrutaḥ || 2 ||
viśve caned anā tvā devāsa indra yuyudhuḥ |
yad ahā naktam ātiraḥ || 3 ||
yatrota bādhitebhyaś cakraṁ kutsāya yudhyate |
muṣāya indra sūryam || 4 ||
yatra devām̐ ṛghāyato viśvām̐ ayudhya eka it |
tvam indra vanūm̐r ahan || 5 ||
yatrota martyāya kam ariṇā indra sūryam |
prāvaḥ śacībhir etaśam || 6 ||
kim ād utāsi vṛtrahan maghavan manyumattamaḥ |
atrāha dānum ātiraḥ || 7 ||
etad ghed uta vīrya1m indra cakartha pauṁsyam |
striyaṁ yad durhaṇāyuvaṁ vadhīr duhitaraṁ divaḥ || 8 ||
divaś cid ghā duhitaram mahān mahīyamānām |
uṣāsam indra sam piṇak || 9 ||
apoṣā anasaḥ sarat sampiṣṭād aha bibhyuṣī |
ni yat sīṁ śiśnathad vṛṣā || 10 ||
etad asyā anaḥ śaye susampiṣṭaṁ vipāśy ā |
sasāra sīm parāvataḥ || 11 ||
uta sindhuṁ vibālyaṁ vitasthānām adhi kṣami |
pari ṣṭhā indra māyayā || 12 ||
uta śuṣṇasya dhṛṣṇuyā pra mṛkṣo abhi vedanam |
puro yad asya sampiṇak || 13 ||
uta dāsaṁ kaulitaram bṛhataḥ parvatād adhi |
avāhann indra śambaram || 14 ||
uta dāsasya varcinaḥ sahasrāṇi śatāvadhīḥ |
adhi pañca pradhīm̐r iva || 15 ||
uta tyam putram agruvaḥ parāvṛktaṁ śatakratuḥ |
uktheṣv indra ābhajat || 16 ||
uta tyā turvaśāyadū asnātārā śacīpatiḥ |
indro vidvām̐ apārayat || 17 ||
uta tyā sadya āryā sarayor indra pārataḥ |
arṇācitrarathāvadhīḥ || 18 ||
anu dvā jahitā nayo 'ndhaṁ śroṇaṁ ca vṛtrahan |
na tat te sumnam aṣṭave || 19 ||
śatam aśmanmayīnām purām indro vy āsyat |
divodāsāya dāśuṣe || 20 ||
asvāpayad dabhītaye sahasrā triṁśataṁ hathaiḥ |
dāsānām indro māyayā || 21 ||
sa ghed utāsi vṛtrahan samāna indra gopatiḥ |
yas tā viśvāni cicyuṣe || 22 ||
uta nūnaṁ yad indriyaṁ kariṣyā indra pauṁsyam |
adyā nakiṣ ṭad ā minat || 23 ||
vāmaṁ-vāmaṁ ta ādure devo dadātv aryamā |
vāmam pūṣā vāmam bhago vāmaṁ devaḥ karūḻatī || 24 ||
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).