Hymn to Indra
Rigveda VI.37 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. Hither, O mighty Indra — let your yoked bay horses bring your chariot that holds every good thing. Even the humble singer who seeks heaven's light calls out to you; may we, your companions at the feast, prosper today.
2. Forth into the wooden vat the bright drops have gone to their work, purifying themselves, flowing straight. May Indra — the ancient one, dweller in heaven, king of this exhilarating soma — drink of it first, before all others, for us.
3. Streaming toward powerful Indra, the fair-wheeled chariot horses — going straight toward glory, may they carry him here. And may this immortal drink, meant also for Vāyu, never run short.
4. The greatest of the bounteous ones, most mighty in action, Indra sends forth his gift. By that same power, O wielder of the thunderbolt, you pass beyond distress — and, bold one, you share out your bounty among your patrons.
5. Indra is the giver of abundant strength and prize. May Indra, whose greatness grows, grow further through our songs. May Indra be the mightiest slayer of Vṛtra, the champion warrior — and may the patron, pressing eagerly forward, see these wishes fulfilled.
Translator's note: several words resist a single confident English equivalent and are rendered conservatively here. "Harayaḥ" in verses 2–3 can mean either Indra's bay horses or the tawny soma-drops themselves; verse 2's context (the pressing-vat, the drops being "purified") favors soma-drops, so it is translated that way, while verse 1 and verse 3's "chariot horses" plainly mean horses. "Sadhamādaḥ" (v.1) — fellow feasters at the soma-feast — is given as "companions at the feast." "Dakṣiṇām" (v.4) is the ritual gift or largesse a patron receives from the sacrifice; rendered simply as "gift." "Satvā" (v.5), a term for a mighty warrior or champion, is kept close to that sense.
Colophon
Rigveda VI.37 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.37
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.
arvāg rathaṁ viśvavāraṁ ta ugrendra yuktāso harayo vahantu |
kīriś cid dhi tvā havate svarvān ṛdhīmahi sadhamādas te adya || 1 ||
pro droṇe harayaḥ karmāgman punānāsa ṛjyanto abhūvan |
indro no asya pūrvyaḥ papīyād dyukṣo madasya somyasya rājā || 2 ||
āsasrāṇāsaḥ śavasānam acchendraṁ sucakre rathyāso aśvāḥ |
abhi śrava ṛjyanto vaheyur nū cin nu vāyor amṛtaṁ vi dasyet || 3 ||
variṣṭho asya dakṣiṇām iyartīndro maghonāṁ tuvikūrmitamaḥ |
yayā vajrivaḥ pariyāsy aṁho maghā ca dhṛṣṇo dayase vi sūrīn || 4 ||
indro vājasya sthavirasya dātendro gīrbhir vardhatāṁ vṛddhamahāḥ |
indro vṛtraṁ haniṣṭho astu satvā tā sūriḥ pṛṇati tūtujānaḥ || 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).