Hymn to Indra
Rigveda IV.32 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. Come now to our side, O Indra, slayer of Vṛtra — great one, with your great help.
2. Restless and swift, wondrous one, you come among the wondrous mares; you work wonders for our aid.
3. Even with few companions at your side, you strike down with your strength the stronger, swelling foe — you, with those friends who are joined with you.
4. We, Indra, are joined with you; we cry out to you again and again. Raise each one of us up.
5. Come to us, O wielder of the stone, with your wondrous, blameless, unassailable aids.
6. May we truly be the friends of one such as you, Indra rich in cattle — yoked companions for the eager contest.
7. For you alone, Indra, rule over the prize rich in cattle; grant us abundant nourishment.
8. Nothing holds you back otherwise, when, being praised, you wish to give a gift to your praisers, O Indra who loves the song.
9. The Gotamas have sung out to you with their song, so that you may give, Indra, toward the eager prize.
10. We shall proclaim your heroic deeds — how, exulting, you broke open the strongholds of the Dāsa, going against them.
11. The sages sing of those manly deeds you have done, at the pressed Soma offerings, O Indra who loves the song.
12. The Gotamas, bearers of praise, have made you grow strong, Indra; set among them glory rich in sons.
13. Because you are, Indra, the one shared in common by all the peoples, we call upon you — you, that very one.
14. Turn toward us, good one; take your fill of the pressed juice among us, O Indra, drinker of the Soma.
15. May the praise of our hymns draw you here, Indra; turn your two bay horses toward us.
16. May you eat our rice-cake offering and delight in our songs, as a suitor delights in a young woman.
17. We beg of Indra a thousand yoked draft-beasts and a hundred measures of Soma.
18. We shall drive forth for you thousands and hundreds of cattle; may your bounty come to us.
19. We keep in mind your ten golden vessels; you are a bountiful giver, O slayer of Vṛtra.
20. Bountiful giver, give us much — not little; bring much. For indeed, Indra, you wish to give much.
21. For you are renowned as a bountiful giver in many places, O hero, slayer of Vṛtra; grant us a share of your bounty.
22. I praise your two bay horses, all-seeing one, descendant of the cattle-winner; do not, for their sake, withhold cattle from us.
23. Like two young girls at a new, small gathering-post, the two bay horses shine on their courses.
24. Fit for my morning journey, fit for the journey that follows — the two bay horses go unfailingly on their courses.
Translator's note: verse 22's "gā anu śiśrathaḥ" (literally "loosen/let slip the cows") is rendered conservatively as "withhold cattle" — the exact sense of the clause is uncertain. "Babhrū" (verses 22–24) names Indra's two tawny/bay horses, harī, referred to by their color rather than by name.
Colophon
Rigveda IV.32 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.32
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 tū na indra vṛtrahann asmākam ardham ā gahi |
mahān mahībhir ūtibhiḥ || 1 ||
bhṛmiś cid ghāsi tūtujir ā citra citriṇīṣv ā |
citraṁ kṛṇoṣy ūtaye || 2 ||
dabhrebhiś cic chaśīyāṁsaṁ haṁsi vrādhantam ojasā |
sakhibhir ye tve sacā || 3 ||
vayam indra tve sacā vayaṁ tvābhi nonumaḥ |
asmām̐-asmām̐ id ud ava || 4 ||
sa naś citrābhir adrivo 'navadyābhir ūtibhiḥ |
anādhṛṣṭābhir ā gahi || 5 ||
bhūyāmo ṣu tvāvataḥ sakhāya indra gomataḥ |
yujo vājāya ghṛṣvaye || 6 ||
tvaṁ hy eka īśiṣa indra vājasya gomataḥ |
sa no yandhi mahīm iṣam || 7 ||
na tvā varante anyathā yad ditsasi stuto magham |
stotṛbhya indra girvaṇaḥ || 8 ||
abhi tvā gotamā girānūṣata pra dāvane |
indra vājāya ghṛṣvaye || 9 ||
pra te vocāma vīryā3 yā mandasāna ārujaḥ |
puro dāsīr abhītya || 10 ||
tā te gṛṇanti vedhaso yāni cakartha pauṁsyā |
suteṣv indra girvaṇaḥ || 11 ||
avīvṛdhanta gotamā indra tve stomavāhasaḥ |
aiṣu dhā vīravad yaśaḥ || 12 ||
yac cid dhi śaśvatām asīndra sādhāraṇas tvam |
taṁ tvā vayaṁ havāmahe || 13 ||
arvācīno vaso bhavāsme su matsvāndhasaḥ |
somānām indra somapāḥ || 14 ||
asmākaṁ tvā matīnām ā stoma indra yacchatu |
arvāg ā vartayā harī || 15 ||
puroḻāśaṁ ca no ghaso joṣayāse giraś ca naḥ |
vadhūyur iva yoṣaṇām || 16 ||
sahasraṁ vyatīnāṁ yuktānām indram īmahe |
śataṁ somasya khāryaḥ || 17 ||
sahasrā te śatā vayaṁ gavām ā cyāvayāmasi |
asmatrā rādha etu te || 18 ||
daśa te kalaśānāṁ hiraṇyānām adhīmahi |
bhūridā asi vṛtrahan || 19 ||
bhūridā bhūri dehi no mā dabhram bhūry ā bhara |
bhūri ghed indra ditsasi || 20 ||
bhūridā hy asi śrutaḥ purutrā śūra vṛtrahan |
ā no bhajasva rādhasi || 21 ||
pra te babhrū vicakṣaṇa śaṁsāmi goṣaṇo napāt |
mābhyāṁ gā anu śiśrathaḥ || 22 ||
kanīnakeva vidradhe nave drupade arbhake |
babhrū yāmeṣu śobhete || 23 ||
aram ma usrayāmṇe 'ram anusrayāmṇe |
babhrū yāmeṣv asridhā || 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).