Hymn to Indra
Rigveda V.31 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) from Maṇḍala 5 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. Indra makes a downhill path for the chariot he has mounted, the bounteous one, urging it to race. Like a herdsman driving his herds of cattle out, unharmed he goes in front, seeking to win.
2. Run forth, lord of bay steeds — do not turn away, longing elsewhere; O giver of tawny gifts, attend to us. For there is nothing better than you, Indra: you have even made wifeless men into men with wives.
3. When might arose out of might, Indra showed forth all his powers; he drove the well-milking cows out from within the hidden cave, and with light he opened up the darkness that had closed in below.
4. Men fashioned your chariot for swift horses; Tvaṣṭṛ forged the shining thunderbolt, O much-invoked one. The priests, magnifying Indra with their chants, strengthened him for the slaying of the serpent.
5. When the mighty pressing-stones sang their chant to you, the bull, O Indra — the stones and Aditi joined together — then the wheel-rims, though horseless and chariotless, rolled forth at Indra's urging against the Dasyus.
6. I will proclaim your deeds of old, and the new ones too, bounteous one, that you have done — how, O powerful one, you held apart both world-halves, winning for Manu the waters bright with their bounty.
7. This indeed is your deed, wondrous and wise one: slaying the serpent, you displayed your might here; you seized even Śuṣṇa's magic wiles, and advancing forth, you drove the Dasyus away.
8. You made the well-yielding waters come to rest on the far bank for Yadu and Turvaśa, Indra. You carried fierce Kutsa along on your journey, when Uśanā and the gods rejoiced together with you.
9. Indra and Kutsa, borne along by the chariot — may your swift horses carry you at full speed. You two drive it forth from the waters, out from its lairs, and you ward off the darkness from the heart of the bounteous one.
10. Even to the well-yoked horses of Vāta, harnessed, this sage came seeking favor. Here all the Maruts, your friends, O Indra — their hymns increased your might.
11. Even the sun's chariot, at the critical moment, he made the hindmost — though racing — into the foremost. Etaśa bears the wheel and sends it forth; setting us in front, he shall carry through our purpose.
12. Here, people, Indra has come into sight, seeking his friend who has pressed the soma. Sounding out, he is borne to the altar like the pressing-stone, he whose swift offering the adhvaryu priests tend.
13. Those who have delighted in you — let them delight in you now, immortal one; may no harm come upon your mortals. Favor those who worship you, and place strength among the people among whom we would stand.
Translator's note: verses 8–11 carry compressed mythic allusions — Kutsa's chariot journey with Indra, Uśanā Kāvya's rejoicing, and the race of the horse Etaśa against the sun's chariot — that are elliptical even in the Sanskrit. They are rendered as literally as English allows rather than filled out with narrative detail not present in the text.
Colophon
Rigveda V.31 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.
🌲
Source Text: ṛgveda V.31
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.
indro rathāya pravataṁ kṛṇoti yam adhyasthān maghavā vājayantam |
yūtheva paśvo vy unoti gopā ariṣṭo yāti prathamaḥ siṣāsan || 1 ||
ā pra drava harivo mā vi venaḥ piśaṅgarāte abhi naḥ sacasva |
nahi tvad indra vasyo anyad asty amenām̐ś cij janivataś cakartha || 2 ||
ud yat sahaḥ sahasa ājaniṣṭa dediṣṭa indra indriyāṇi viśvā |
prācodayat sudughā vavre antar vi jyotiṣā saṁvavṛtvat tamo 'vaḥ || 3 ||
anavas te ratham aśvāya takṣan tvaṣṭā vajram puruhūta dyumantam |
brahmāṇa indram mahayanto arkair avardhayann ahaye hantavā u || 4 ||
vṛṣṇe yat te vṛṣaṇo arkam arcān indra grāvāṇo aditiḥ sajoṣāḥ |
anaśvāso ye pavayo 'rathā indreṣitā abhy avartanta dasyūn || 5 ||
pra te pūrvāṇi karaṇāni vocam pra nūtanā maghavan yā cakartha |
śaktīvo yad vibharā rodasī ubhe jayann apo manave dānucitrāḥ || 6 ||
tad in nu te karaṇaṁ dasma viprāhiṁ yad ghnann ojo atrāmimīthāḥ |
śuṣṇasya cit pari māyā agṛbhṇāḥ prapitvaṁ yann apa dasyūm̐r asedhaḥ || 7 ||
tvam apo yadave turvaśāyāramayaḥ sudughāḥ pāra indra |
ugram ayātam avaho ha kutsaṁ saṁ ha yad vām uśanāranta devāḥ || 8 ||
indrākutsā vahamānā rathenā vām atyā api karṇe vahantu |
niḥ ṣīm adbhyo dhamatho niḥ ṣadhasthān maghono hṛdo varathas tamāṁsi || 9 ||
vātasya yuktān suyujaś cid aśvān kaviś cid eṣo ajagann avasyuḥ |
viśve te atra marutaḥ sakhāya indra brahmāṇi taviṣīm avardhan || 10 ||
sūraś cid ratham paritakmyāyām pūrvaṁ karad uparaṁ jūjuvāṁsam |
bharac cakram etaśaḥ saṁ riṇāti puro dadhat saniṣyati kratuṁ naḥ || 11 ||
āyaṁ janā abhicakṣe jagāmendraḥ sakhāyaṁ sutasomam icchan |
vadan grāvāva vedim bhriyāte yasya jīram adhvaryavaś caranti || 12 ||
ye cākananta cākananta nū te martā amṛta mo te aṁha āran |
vāvandhi yajyūm̐r uta teṣu dhehy ojo janeṣu yeṣu te syāma || 13 ||
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).