Hymn to Indra
Rigveda VI.34 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. Many songs have gathered to you, Indra, and mighty insights go forth from you. Now as in ancient times, the praise-songs of the seers — hymns and chants — have vied with one another over Indra.
2. He who is much-invoked, much-extolled, mighty — he alone is greatly praised through sacrifices. Like a chariot yoked for great strength, Indra has become one for us to exalt.
3. No thoughts, no voices harm him whom they reach — they only strengthen Indra as they approach him. Whether a hundred praisers or a thousand sing to him who loves the song, that is welcome to him.
4. For him, as in heaven, month by month the soma has been mixed and poured down to Indra. As waters together rush upon the dry land like a gathering people, so the invocations have all grown together through the sacrifices.
5. For him this great acclaim, for him, for Indra, a hymn of praise has been spoken with our thoughts, so that he may prevail in the great battle against the foe — Indra, ever-living, protector and strengthener.
Translator's note: Verse 4 is the most opaque line in the hymn — "divi arca iva māsā" (something like "as in heaven... month by month/like a ray") resists a fully confident rendering; the translation given is conservative and follows the verse's own image of waters converging as a figure for invocations gathering strength.
Colophon
Rigveda VI.34 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.34
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.
saṁ ca tve jagmur gira indra pūrvīr vi ca tvad yanti vibhvo manīṣāḥ |
purā nūnaṁ ca stutaya ṛṣīṇām paspṛdhra indre adhy ukthārkā || 1 ||
puruhūto yaḥ purugūrta ṛbhvām̐ ekaḥ purupraśasto asti yajñaiḥ |
ratho na mahe śavase yujāno3 'smābhir indro anumādyo bhūt || 2 ||
na yaṁ hiṁsanti dhītayo na vāṇīr indraṁ nakṣantīd abhi vardhayantīḥ |
yadi stotāraḥ śataṁ yat sahasraṁ gṛṇanti girvaṇasaṁ śaṁ tad asmai || 3 ||
asmā etad divy a1rceva māsā mimikṣa indre ny ayāmi somaḥ |
janaṁ na dhanvann abhi saṁ yad āpaḥ satrā vāvṛdhur havanāni yajñaiḥ || 4 ||
asmā etan mahy āṅgūṣam asmā indrāya stotram matibhir avāci |
asad yathā mahati vṛtratūrya indro viśvāyur avitā vṛdhaś ca || 5 ||
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).