Hymn to Indra
Rigveda VI.29 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. Men have clung to Indra for friendship, seeking his great favor, longing for it. For he is a great giver, the mace-bearer in hand — worship the great, joyous one for your aid.
2. In whose hand the manly gifts have been fixed, who stands in a chariot of gold as its rider; the reins held fast in his two strong arms — the stallion horses moved, once yoked.
3. For splendor your feet have been set to their service, bold mace-bearer, generous in your strength; wearing a fragrant garment, good to look upon, you have grown eager as the sun for the dance.
4. That soma, once pressed, has become closely bound to him, in which the cooking is cooked, in which the grains are found; men praising Indra, shaping the sacred words, reciting the hymns, most dear to the gods.
5. No end has been set to this strength of yours; by your greatness you drove the two world-halves apart. The patron, hastening, fills these worlds, as herds gather together in the waters, by your help.
6. So may Indra, easily called, lofty, stand by us with help and never withhold it, the golden-jawed warrior. For born thus with unequaled might, he strikes down many obstacles and lays low the dasyus.
Translator's note: "vṛtra" in verse 6 (here "obstacles") is Indra's signature epithet for the cosmic foes/blockages he slays, sometimes capitalized as the demon Vṛtra; "dasyus" are the hostile peoples/forces opposed to the Vedic order. "dakṣiṇāvān" in verse 3 (here "generous") carries the specific sense of one who gives sacrificial gifts (dakṣiṇā).
Colophon
Rigveda VI.29 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.29
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.
indraṁ vo naraḥ sakhyāya sepur maho yantaḥ sumataye cakānāḥ |
maho hi dātā vajrahasto asti mahām u raṇvam avase yajadhvam || 1 ||
ā yasmin haste naryā mimikṣur ā rathe hiraṇyaye ratheṣṭhāḥ |
ā raśmayo gabhastyoḥ sthūrayor ādhvann aśvāso vṛṣaṇo yujānāḥ || 2 ||
śriye te pādā duva ā mimikṣur dhṛṣṇur vajrī śavasā dakṣiṇāvān |
vasāno atkaṁ surabhiṁ dṛśe kaṁ sva1r ṇa nṛtav iṣiro babhūtha || 3 ||
sa soma āmiślatamaḥ suto bhūd yasmin paktiḥ pacyate santi dhānāḥ |
indraṁ naraḥ stuvanto brahmakārā ukthā śaṁsanto devavātatamāḥ || 4 ||
na te antaḥ śavaso dhāyy asya vi tu bābadhe rodasī mahitvā |
ā tā sūriḥ pṛṇati tūtujāno yūthevāpsu samījamāna ūtī || 5 ||
eved indraḥ suhava ṛṣvo astūtī anūtī hiriśipraḥ satvā |
evā hi jāto asamātyojāḥ purū ca vṛtrā hanati ni dasyūn || 6 ||
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).