Hymn to Indra
Rigveda VI.40 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. Drink, Indra — it is pressed for you, for your exhilaration. Unyoke your two bay horses, friend. And sing out, having taken your seat with the company; then give vigor to the sacrifice, for the one who sings your praise.
2. Drink of this soma, Indra — the one you drank, once it was born, for exhilaration, for your power, abundant one. That drop the cows, the men, the waters, and the pressing stone have all prepared together for you to drink.
3. When the fire is kindled and the soma is pressed, Indra, let your best-carrying bay horses bring you here. With my mind set toward you I call out again and again — Indra, come, for our great well-being.
4. Come here — you have always gone eagerly, with a great mind, to the soma-drinking, Indra. Listen to these formulations of ours; then let the sacrifice give strength to your body.
5. Whether, Indra, you are in the farthest heaven, or apart from it, or in your own seat wherever you dwell — from there guard our sacrifice, you who come with your yoked team. Of one accord, protect us, lover of praise-songs, together with the Maruts.
Colophon
Rigveda VI.40 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.40
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.
indra piba tubhyaṁ suto madāyāva sya harī vi mucā sakhāyā |
uta pra gāya gaṇa ā niṣadyāthā yajñāya gṛṇate vayo dhāḥ || 1 ||
asya piba yasya jajñāna indra madāya kratve apibo virapśin |
tam u te gāvo nara āpo adrir induṁ sam ahyan pītaye sam asmai || 2 ||
samiddhe agnau suta indra soma ā tvā vahantu harayo vahiṣṭhāḥ |
tvāyatā manasā johavīmīndrā yāhi suvitāya mahe naḥ || 3 ||
ā yāhi śaśvad uśatā yayāthendra mahā manasā somapeyam |
upa brahmāṇi śṛṇava imā no 'thā te yajñas tanve3 vayo dhāt || 4 ||
yad indra divi pārye yad ṛdhag yad vā sve sadane yatra vāsi |
ato no yajñam avase niyutvān sajoṣāḥ pāhi girvaṇo marudbhiḥ || 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).