Hymn to Indra and Varuṇa

Rigveda IV.41 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 hymn addresses Indra and Varuṇa together, in the dual form typical of Rigvedic dvandva hymns to paired deities. The poet asks the two gods jointly for favor, friendship, protection of children and cattle in the fields, victory in battle, and lasting wealth. This is a Good Works Translation produced for the Good Works Library from the Sanskrit of the Śākala recension.

1. Indra, Varuṇa — who among us has won your favor? The praise-hymn, laden with oblation, like an immortal priest, wins it. May the thoughtful word we speak, reverent, touch your heart, Indra and Varuṇa.

2. Indra, Varuṇa — the mortal who has made you gods his friends, bringing gifts for the sake of friendship, he slays his foes like Vṛtras in battle; or through your great help, he becomes renowned.

3. Indra and Varuṇa, thus you grant treasure to the men who toil in worship — when, as friends for friendship's sake, well-provided with pressed soma, you two take your delight.

4. Indra and Varuṇa, you fierce ones — hurl down upon him the mightiest bolt, the thunder-weapon; whoever is our malicious enemy, wolf-like and deceitful, against him let loose your overwhelming strength.

5. Indra and Varuṇa, be the forerunners of this our prayer, like two bulls leading a milk-cow. May she, having gone out to pasture, yield her milk for us — the great cow with a thousand streams.

6. When our children and offspring are at stake in the fields, in the sunlight's sight, and in the manly strength of the strong — may Indra and Varuṇa be there for us then, wondrous ones, with their help, in the hour of crisis.

7. It is you two we choose for age-old protection, mighty and good friends to one who seeks cattle, for dear friendship — heroes, most generous, kind as two fathers.

8. These prayers of ours, eager for strength, have raced toward you two for protection, like chariots in a contest, seeking you, most generous ones. Like cows moving toward glory, my hymns have come to the soma — my praises to Indra, my thoughts to Varuṇa.

9. These thoughts of mine have gone to Indra and Varuṇa, seeking wealth. They have approached like those who delight in good things, like swift mares begging for glory.

10. May we ourselves become masters of the increase of horses and chariots, of wealth that endures. May you two, working through your newest aids, bring team-drawn riches to accompany us.

11. Come to us, you two mighty ones, with your mighty aid, Indra and Varuṇa, in the winning of the prize. When the arrows fly playing in battle, may we, through you, be the winners of that fight.

Translator's note: verse 6's "paritakmyāyām" (a moment of danger or crisis, sometimes a river-crossing or transition point) is rendered conservatively as "the hour of crisis." Verse 8's "vājayantīḥ" (prayers "seeking strength/prize") and verse 10's "niyutaḥ" (teams of horses, or the wealth/gifts they draw) are likewise rendered by their core sense rather than a fixed technical gloss, since Vedic commentators differ on the precise image intended.

Colophon

Rigveda IV.41 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.41

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.

indrā ko vāṁ varuṇā sumnam āpa stomo haviṣmām̐ amṛto na hotā |
yo vāṁ hṛdi kratumām̐ asmad uktaḥ pasparśad indrāvaruṇā namasvān || 1 ||

indrā ha yo varuṇā cakra āpī devau martaḥ sakhyāya prayasvān |
sa hanti vṛtrā samitheṣu śatrūn avobhir vā mahadbhiḥ sa pra śṛṇve || 2 ||

indrā ha ratnaṁ varuṇā dheṣṭhetthā nṛbhyaḥ śaśamānebhyas tā |
yadī sakhāyā sakhyāya somaiḥ sutebhiḥ suprayasā mādayaite || 3 ||

indrā yuvaṁ varuṇā didyum asminn ojiṣṭham ugrā ni vadhiṣṭaṁ vajram |
yo no durevo vṛkatir dabhītis tasmin mimāthām abhibhūty ojaḥ || 4 ||

indrā yuvaṁ varuṇā bhūtam asyā dhiyaḥ pretārā vṛṣabheva dhenoḥ |
sā no duhīyad yavaseva gatvī sahasradhārā payasā mahī gauḥ || 5 ||

toke hite tanaya urvarāsu sūro dṛśīke vṛṣaṇaś ca pauṁsye |
indrā no atra varuṇā syātām avobhir dasmā paritakmyāyām || 6 ||

yuvām id dhy avase pūrvyāya pari prabhūtī gaviṣaḥ svāpī |
vṛṇīmahe sakhyāya priyāya śūrā maṁhiṣṭhā pitareva śambhū || 7 ||

tā vāṁ dhiyo 'vase vājayantīr ājiṁ na jagmur yuvayūḥ sudānū |
śriye na gāva upa somam asthur indraṁ giro varuṇam me manīṣāḥ || 8 ||

imā indraṁ varuṇam me manīṣā agmann upa draviṇam icchamānāḥ |
upem asthur joṣṭāra iva vasvo raghvīr iva śravaso bhikṣamāṇāḥ || 9 ||

aśvyasya tmanā rathyasya puṣṭer nityasya rāyaḥ patayaḥ syāma |
tā cakrāṇā ūtibhir navyasībhir asmatrā rāyo niyutaḥ sacantām || 10 ||

ā no bṛhantā bṛhatībhir ūtī indra yātaṁ varuṇa vājasātau |
yad didyavaḥ pṛtanāsu prakrīḻān tasya vāṁ syāma sanitāra ājeḥ || 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).