Hymn to Indra
Rigveda VI.41 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. Free of anger, come to the sacrifice — for you the pressed soma-drops flow pure. Like cows going home to their own stall, O wielder of the thunderbolt: come, Indra, first among those worthy of worship.
2. With that peak of yours, well-formed and widest, with which you always drink the flood of sweetness — drink with that. Your adhvaryu priest has stepped forward for you. Let your bolt turn toward us, Indra, eager for cattle.
3. This drop, the bull of every form — for Indra the bull, this soma has been made. Drink it, lord of the bay horses, steadfast and mighty, you who from ancient days have ruled over what is your food.
4. Pressed soma is better than unpressed, Indra; it is the finer one for the battle you know well. Overcoming all, come to the sacrifice; with it fill yourself with all your strength.
5. We call you, Indra — come toward us; the soma will be fit for your body. O hundred-powered one, take delight in the pressed drinks; help us forward in the battles, among the tribes.
Translator's note: "kākut" (verse 2) literally names a peak or summit — here likely Indra's hump/back or an exalted bodily part by which he drinks; rendered conservatively as "that peak of yours." "Vikṣu" (verse 5) means "among the clans/peoples/settlements," rendered as "among the tribes."
Colophon
Rigveda VI.41 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.41
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.
aheḻamāna upa yāhi yajñaṁ tubhyam pavanta indavaḥ sutāsaḥ |
gāvo na vajrin svam oko acchendrā gahi prathamo yajñiyānām || 1 ||
yā te kākut sukṛtā yā variṣṭhā yayā śaśvat pibasi madhva ūrmim |
tayā pāhi pra te adhvaryur asthāt saṁ te vajro vartatām indra gavyuḥ || 2 ||
eṣa drapso vṛṣabho viśvarūpa indrāya vṛṣṇe sam akāri somaḥ |
etam piba harivaḥ sthātar ugra yasyeśiṣe pradivi yas te annam || 3 ||
sutaḥ somo asutād indra vasyān ayaṁ śreyāñ cikituṣe raṇāya |
etaṁ titirva upa yāhi yajñaṁ tena viśvās taviṣīr ā pṛṇasva || 4 ||
hvayāmasi tvendra yāhy arvāṅ araṁ te somas tanve bhavāti |
śatakrato mādayasvā suteṣu prāsmām̐ ava pṛtanāsu pra vikṣu || 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).