Hymn to Indra
Rigveda V.33 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.
Indra is invoked here as the strong, thunderbolt-wielding charioteer whose bay steeds are yoked by the singer's hymns and who overpowers the peoples of the foe. The poet recalls Indra winning the cow and the plowlands in battle, striking down the Dāsa, and asks him to guard the singers and reward the offering with well-pressed mead.
The second half of the hymn turns into a dāna-stuti — a formal praise of gifts — naming the human patrons (Paurukutsya, Trasadasyu, Gairikṣita, Mārutāśva, Dhvanya, Lakṣmaṇya, and the seer Saṁvaraṇa) who gave the poet horses and wealth, described arriving like cattle coming home to the stall.
1. Greatly I meditate on the great, mighty one — on Indra, thus, for the mighty one, thinking of men who lack strength. He who, praised among the people, has recognized good will toward him in the winning of the prize, is skilled in the contest.
2. You, O Indra, called on by us with hymns of praise, O bull, have fastened the yoke-strap of your bay steeds. As it pleases you, O bounteous one, growing, you overpower the peoples of the foe.
3. Your lofty steeds, O Indra, unyoked, would not come to us without our prayer. Mount that chariot, O thunderbolt-handed one; you, god of good horses, hold fast the reins.
4. Many are the hymns that are yours, O Indra, since you, fighting in the plowlands, won the cow. You fashioned a dwelling of his own even for Sūrya; the bull, in the battles, struck out even the name of the Dāsa.
5. We are yours, O Indra, and those men are yours too — the host that has been born, and the chariots that have gone forth. May the warrior of serpent-crushing strength come to us, to be called upon like Bhaga, dear in our offerings.
6. Truly abundant strength is in you, Indra, and manly powers, O most manly, immortal one. Winning goods, give us shining wealth; I praise the gift of the very bounteous one, taken from the foe.
7. So, Indra, guard us with your help — the singing poets, O hero. And to those who give the offering in the winning of the prize, grant satisfaction with the lovely, well-pressed mead.
8. And those golden gifts of mine, from the wise patron Paurukutsya, from Trasadasyu, have been granted. Let his ten white horses carry me; I now hold to the purposes of Gairikṣita.
9. And those red horses of mine, of Mārutāśva, bounteous through his wisdom, at the gift-giving of the sacred assembly — giving me thousands, setting them loose, he adorned, it seems, the ornament of the noble lord, for its beauty.
10. And those, dear to me, of Dhvanya, of Lakṣmaṇya, bright-shining, well-yoked — by the greatness of the wealth of the seer Saṁvaraṇa, sent forth, they have come to me, like cows coming to the stall.
Translator's note: Verses 8–10 are a dāna-stuti, a formal catalogue of gifts naming the poet's royal and noble patrons (Paurukutsya, Trasadasyu, Gairikṣita, Mārutāśva, Dhvanya, Lakṣmaṇya, Saṁvaraṇa). Several of these lines are compressed and elliptical in the Sanskrit even to traditional commentary; the renderings above are conservative and some phrasing (notably "ānūkam...vapuṣe" in verse 9) remains uncertain.
Colophon
Rigveda V.33 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 V.33
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.
mahi mahe tavase dīdhye nṝn indrāyetthā tavase atavyān |
yo asmai sumatiṁ vājasātau stuto jane samaryaś ciketa || 1 ||
sa tvaṁ na indra dhiyasāno arkair harīṇāṁ vṛṣan yoktram aśreḥ |
yā itthā maghavann anu joṣaṁ vakṣo abhi prāryaḥ sakṣi janān || 2 ||
na te ta indrābhy a1smad ṛṣvāyuktāso abrahmatā yad asan |
tiṣṭhā ratham adhi taṁ vajrahastā raśmiṁ deva yamase svaśvaḥ || 3 ||
purū yat ta indra santy ukthā gave cakarthorvarāsu yudhyan |
tatakṣe sūryāya cid okasi sve vṛṣā samatsu dāsasya nāma cit || 4 ||
vayaṁ te ta indra ye ca naraḥ śardho jajñānā yātāś ca rathāḥ |
āsmāñ jagamyād ahiśuṣma satvā bhago na havyaḥ prabhṛtheṣu cāruḥ || 5 ||
papṛkṣeṇyam indra tve hy ojo nṛmṇāni ca nṛtamāno amartaḥ |
sa na enīṁ vasavāno rayiṁ dāḥ prāryaḥ stuṣe tuvimaghasya dānam || 6 ||
evā na indrotibhir ava pāhi gṛṇataḥ śūra kārūn |
uta tvacaṁ dadato vājasātau piprīhi madhvaḥ suṣutasya cāroḥ || 7 ||
uta tye mā paurukutsyasya sūres trasadasyor hiraṇino rarāṇāḥ |
vahantu mā daśa śyetāso asya gairikṣitasya kratubhir nu saśce || 8 ||
uta tye mā mārutāśvasya śoṇāḥ kratvāmaghāso vidathasya rātau |
sahasrā me cyavatāno dadāna ānūkam aryo vapuṣe nārcat || 9 ||
uta tye mā dhvanyasya juṣṭā lakṣmaṇyasya suruco yatānāḥ |
mahnā rāyaḥ saṁvaraṇasya ṛṣer vrajaṁ na gāvaḥ prayatā api gman || 10 ||
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).