Hymn to Indra
Rigveda VI.22 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) from Maṇḍala 6 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. He alone is to be called upon among the peoples — praise that Indra with these songs: who rules as the bull endowed with bull-strength, the true warrior, rich in resource, the powerful one.
2. Toward him our ancient fathers, the Navagvas, the seven sages, drove their praises with their thoughts — toward him who overtakes the deceiver, who carries [his worshippers] across, who stands upon the mountain, whose word is never false, the mightiest.
3. We beg that Indra for wealth of this kind: rich in many heroes, full of men, abounding in cattle. He whose life is unbroken, who does not age, who holds the light of heaven — bring that here, lord of bay horses, for us to rejoice in.
4. Declare this to us: whether in time past your praisers have won your favor, Indra. What is your share, what your vigor, unshakable one, harasser of foes? Much-invoked one, rich in good things, slayer of the asuras.
5. Questioning him, the thunderbolt-handed, who stands in the chariot — Indra — trembling and winding is the voice raised to him now: the mighty grasper, the mighty doer, the impetuous giver — our path seeks out the vast one for what we desire.
6. By this power, grown strong, swift as thought, mighty in yourself, with the mountain — even things unshaken and firmly set, O forceful one, you broke apart, tearing down the strongholds boldly, roaring one.
7. Him, the strongest, the ancient one, in the ancient way, we extend toward you with newest thought. May he, immeasurable, a good carrier, Indra, bring us across all hard passages.
8. For the hostile, deceitful people, set ablaze the earthly, heavenly, and mid-air regions. Burn them on every side with your flame, bull; for the one who hates sacred speech, make earth and waters burn.
9. Be king of the heavenly folk, of the earthly moving world, bright in appearance. Take the thunderbolt in your right hand, Indra; unaging one, you break apart all their powers.
10. Bring us, Indra, a joined and complete well-being, vast and unfailing, for the conquest of our enemies — by which, wielder of the thunderbolt, you may make the Dāsa and Ārya foes, the swift ones of Nahuṣa's people, powerless before us.
11. With your yoked team, much-invoked ordainer, granting every good thing, come to us, greatly worshipped one. Which team no godless one holds back, nor any god — with these come swiftly, your gaze turned toward us.
Translator's note: verse 5 (vepī vakvarī gīḥ, "trembling, winding voice") and verse 10 (the string dāsāny āryāṇi vṛtrā karo ... sutukā nāhuṣāṇi, naming Dāsa and Ārya "obstructers" together with a term possibly referring to the legendary Nahuṣa) are among the most syntactically compressed and disputed passages in the Rigveda. Both are rendered here conservatively, following the most literal reading of the Sanskrit rather than smoothing the sense.
Colophon
Rigveda VI.22 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 VI.22
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.
ya eka id dhavyaś carṣaṇīnām indraṁ taṁ gīrbhir abhy arca ābhiḥ |
yaḥ patyate vṛṣabho vṛṣṇyāvān satyaḥ satvā purumāyaḥ sahasvān || 1 ||
tam u naḥ pūrve pitaro navagvāḥ sapta viprāso abhi vājayantaḥ |
nakṣaddābhaṁ taturim parvateṣṭhām adroghavācam matibhiḥ śaviṣṭham || 2 ||
tam īmaha indram asya rāyaḥ puruvīrasya nṛvataḥ purukṣoḥ |
yo askṛdhoyur ajaraḥ svarvān tam ā bhara harivo mādayadhyai || 3 ||
tan no vi voco yadi te purā cij jaritāra ānaśuḥ sumnam indra |
kas te bhāgaḥ kiṁ vayo dudhra khidvaḥ puruhūta purūvaso 'suraghnaḥ || 4 ||
tam pṛcchantī vajrahastaṁ ratheṣṭhām indraṁ vepī vakvarī yasya nū gīḥ |
tuvigrābhaṁ tuvikūrmiṁ rabhodāṁ gātum iṣe nakṣate tumram accha || 5 ||
ayā ha tyam māyayā vāvṛdhānam manojuvā svatavaḥ parvatena |
acyutā cid vīḻitā svojo rujo vi dṛḻhā dhṛṣatā virapśin || 6 ||
taṁ vo dhiyā navyasyā śaviṣṭham pratnam pratnavat paritaṁsayadhyai |
sa no vakṣad animānaḥ suvahmendro viśvāny ati durgahāṇi || 7 ||
ā janāya druhvaṇe pārthivāni divyāni dīpayo 'ntarikṣā |
tapā vṛṣan viśvataḥ śociṣā tān brahmadviṣe śocaya kṣām apaś ca || 8 ||
bhuvo janasya divyasya rājā pārthivasya jagatas tveṣasaṁdṛk |
dhiṣva vajraṁ dakṣiṇa indra haste viśvā ajurya dayase vi māyāḥ || 9 ||
ā saṁyatam indra ṇaḥ svastiṁ śatrutūryāya bṛhatīm amṛdhrām |
yayā dāsāny āryāṇi vṛtrā karo vajrin sutukā nāhuṣāṇi || 10 ||
sa no niyudbhiḥ puruhūta vedho viśvavārābhir ā gahi prayajyo |
na yā adevo varate na deva ābhir yāhi tūyam ā madryadrik || 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).