Hymn to Vāyu and Indra-Vāyu
Rigveda IV.46 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. Drink first of the sweet pressed soma, Vāyu, at the offerings that reach toward heaven — for you are the first to drink.
2. With a hundred favors, driving your yoked team, with Indra as your charioteer — Vāyu, be satisfied, both of you, with the pressed soma.
3. Let your thousand bay horses, Indra and Vāyu, carry you here to the offering, to the drinking of soma.
4. Mount your golden-seated chariot, Indra and Vāyu — the chariot fit for sacrifice, that touches the sky.
5. With your broad-fronted chariot come to the one who has given the offering; Indra and Vāyu, come here.
6. Indra and Vāyu, this soma is pressed; drink it, in accord with the gods, in the house of the worshiper.
7. Let your journey be here, Indra and Vāyu, and here the unyoking of your steeds; here, for the drinking of soma.
Translator's note: verses 1–2 address Vāyu alone (though verse 2's final verb is dual, drawing Indra in as his charioteer); verses 3–7 address the paired deity Indra-Vāyu directly. "diviṣṭiṣu" (v.1) is rendered "offerings that reach toward heaven," a compact ritual term without a single natural English equivalent.
Colophon
Rigveda IV.46 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.46
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.
agram pibā madhūnāṁ sutaṁ vāyo diviṣṭiṣu |
tvaṁ hi pūrvapā asi || 1 ||
śatenā no abhiṣṭibhir niyutvām̐ indrasārathiḥ |
vāyo sutasya tṛmpatam || 2 ||
ā vāṁ sahasraṁ haraya indravāyū abhi prayaḥ |
vahantu somapītaye || 3 ||
rathaṁ hiraṇyavandhuram indravāyū svadhvaram |
ā hi sthātho divispṛśam || 4 ||
rathena pṛthupājasā dāśvāṁsam upa gacchatam |
indravāyū ihā gatam || 5 ||
indravāyū ayaṁ sutas taṁ devebhiḥ sajoṣasā |
pibataṁ dāśuṣo gṛhe || 6 ||
iha prayāṇam astu vām indravāyū vimocanam |
iha vāṁ somapītaye || 7 ||
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).