Hymn to Indra
Rigveda VI.44 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. O lord of riches, richest of the rich, most brilliant in your brilliance — the pressed Soma, Indra, is that exhilaration for you, master of your own strength.
2. You who are mighty, o most mighty, giver of wealth to our prayers — the pressed Soma, Indra, is that exhilaration for you, master of your own strength.
3. By which you grow strong in might, as it were, overpowering by your own powers — the pressed Soma, Indra, is that exhilaration for you, master of your own strength.
4. I praise that unconquerable one of yours, lord of might — Indra, the all-vanquishing hero, most bountiful, who watches over all people.
5. Whom the songs indeed strengthen, lord of overpowering bounty — him, indeed, the two divine world-halves, heaven and earth, honor for his fury.
6. That force of this hymn I lay out for Indra — whose aids, like inspired singers, rise up together, dwelling side by side.
7. The newer friend found strength; having drunk, he showed himself more bountiful to the gods. Having won it with the strong cleansing streams, he became a far-shielding protector to his friends.
8. On the path of truth the ordaining one was drunk; for splendor the gods turned their minds to him. Bearing his great name through their words, the lovely one revealed his wondrous form to be seen.
9. Place in us the most brilliant strength; drive away the many enmities of rival peoples. Make our vigor greater by your powers; help us in the winning of the prize.
10. Indra, bountiful one, we have become yours; o lord of bay steeds, do not withhold your giving. No such friend is found among mortals — why then do they call you "the one who spurs on the helpless"?
11. Do not give us over to the starving one, o bull; may we not come to harm in friendship with you, the wealthy one. Many, Indra, are your acts of subduing among peoples — slay those who press no soma, tear down the stingy.
12. Thundering like the clouds, Indra sends forth his gifts — of horses, of cattle. You have been, from ancient days, the sustainer of the poet; let not the ungenerous rich deceive you.
13. O hero adhvaryu priest, offer up to the great one from the pressed juices; carry it to Indra, for he is its king — he who has grown strong through the songs, ancient and new, of the praising seers.
14. Knowing many forms in his exhilaration, Indra, matchless, slew the obstructing foes. Pour out for him that honeyed Soma — for the hero with the strong jaws — for him to drink.
15. Let Indra be the drinker of the pressed Soma, the slayer of Vṛtra with the mace, exhilarated; the one who comes to the sacrifice even from afar, the good protector of our thoughts, the sustainer of the poet.
16. This is that cup, the drink of Indra; Indra's dear immortal draught has been drunk — that it may gladden the god toward good will, and drive far from us hatred, drive far distress.
17. Exhilarated by this draught, slay, o hero, our enemies — kin and non-kin alike, o bounteous one. Those who come against us with armies, who threaten us — drive them far away, Indra; crush them and slay.
18. In these battles, bounteous Indra, make wide room and easy passage for us. Win for us waters, offspring, and descendants; Indra, make the patrons stand on our side.
19. May the bay steeds, the mighty ones, well yoked, bring you here — with mighty chariot, mighty reins, the coursers, turned toward us, the mighty vajra-bearers. Well-yoked, may they carry the bull here for his exhilaration.
20. O bull, the mighty streams have mounted your vat, sprinkling ghee like waves, exhilarating. Indra, for you, with the mighty streams of the pressed juice, they bring Soma to the bull, to the mighty one.
21. You are the bull of heaven, the bull of earth, the bull of the rivers, the bull of the standing waters. For you, the mighty one, the Soma-drop has swelled, o bull — sweet the juice, the honey-drink, for your pleasure.
22. This god, born forth with force, with Indra as ally, held fast the Paṇi. This Soma-drop stole his own father's weapons — the deceits of the malicious one.
23. This one made the dawns well-wedded; this one set light within the sun. This one, the threefold one, in the shining realms of heaven, among the Tritas, found the hidden immortal nectar.
24. This one propped apart heaven and earth; this one yoked the seven-reined chariot. This one, Soma, by his power, held within the cows the ripe fountain, tamed by ten guides.
Translator's note: Verse 6 ("vipo na yasyotayo vi yad rohanti sakṣitaḥ") is syntactically compressed and rendered conservatively; "inspired singers" for vipaḥ and "dwelling side by side" for sakṣitaḥ follow the most natural reading of the words but the line's exact sense is debated. Verse 7's "staulābhir dhautarībhir" (rendered "strong cleansing streams") is likewise an obscure compound with no certain referent. Verses 22–24 shift from invoking Indra to praising the god Soma directly (the ambiguous "ayam" — "this one" — names Soma as the agent of these cosmic acts), which is kept as the Sanskrit presents it rather than smoothed into a single addressee.
Colophon
Rigveda VI.44 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.
🌲
Source Text: ṛgveda VI.44
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.
yo rayivo rayiṁtamo yo dyumnair dyumnavattamaḥ |
somaḥ sutaḥ sa indra te 'sti svadhāpate madaḥ || 1 ||
yaḥ śagmas tuviśagma te rāyo dāmā matīnām |
somaḥ sutaḥ sa indra te 'sti svadhāpate madaḥ || 2 ||
yena vṛddho na śavasā turo na svābhir ūtibhiḥ |
somaḥ sutaḥ sa indra te 'sti svadhāpate madaḥ || 3 ||
tyam u vo aprahaṇaṁ gṛṇīṣe śavasas patim |
indraṁ viśvāsāhaṁ naram maṁhiṣṭhaṁ viśvacarṣaṇim || 4 ||
yaṁ vardhayantīd giraḥ patiṁ turasya rādhasaḥ |
tam in nv asya rodasī devī śuṣmaṁ saparyataḥ || 5 ||
tad va ukthasya barhaṇendrāyopastṛṇīṣaṇi |
vipo na yasyotayo vi yad rohanti sakṣitaḥ || 6 ||
avidad dakṣam mitro navīyān papāno devebhyo vasyo acait |
sasavān staulābhir dhautarībhir uruṣyā pāyur abhavat sakhibhyaḥ || 7 ||
ṛtasya pathi vedhā apāyi śriye manāṁsi devāso akran |
dadhāno nāma maho vacobhir vapur dṛśaye venyo vy āvaḥ || 8 ||
dyumattamaṁ dakṣaṁ dhehy asme sedhā janānām pūrvīr arātīḥ |
varṣīyo vayaḥ kṛṇuhi śacībhir dhanasya sātāv asmām̐ aviḍḍhi || 9 ||
indra tubhyam in maghavann abhūma vayaṁ dātre harivo mā vi venaḥ |
nakir āpir dadṛśe martyatrā kim aṅga radhracodanaṁ tvāhuḥ || 10 ||
mā jasvane vṛṣabha no rarīthā mā te revataḥ sakhye riṣāma |
pūrvīṣ ṭa indra niṣṣidho janeṣu jahy asuṣvīn pra vṛhāpṛṇataḥ || 11 ||
ud abhrāṇīva stanayann iyartīndro rādhāṁsy aśvyāni gavyā |
tvam asi pradivaḥ kārudhāyā mā tvādāmāna ā dabhan maghonaḥ || 12 ||
adhvaryo vīra pra mahe sutānām indrāya bhara sa hy asya rājā |
yaḥ pūrvyābhir uta nūtanābhir gīrbhir vāvṛdhe gṛṇatām ṛṣīṇām || 13 ||
asya made puru varpāṁsi vidvān indro vṛtrāṇy apratī jaghāna |
tam u pra hoṣi madhumantam asmai somaṁ vīrāya śipriṇe pibadhyai || 14 ||
pātā sutam indro astu somaṁ hantā vṛtraṁ vajreṇa mandasānaḥ |
gantā yajñam parāvataś cid acchā vasur dhīnām avitā kārudhāyāḥ || 15 ||
idaṁ tyat pātram indrapānam indrasya priyam amṛtam apāyi |
matsad yathā saumanasāya devaṁ vy a1smad dveṣo yuyavad vy aṁhaḥ || 16 ||
enā mandāno jahi śūra śatrūñ jāmim ajāmim maghavann amitrān |
abhiṣeṇām̐ abhy ā3dediśānān parāca indra pra mṛṇā jahī ca || 17 ||
āsu ṣmā ṇo maghavann indra pṛtsv a1smabhyam mahi varivaḥ sugaṁ kaḥ |
apāṁ tokasya tanayasya jeṣa indra sūrīn kṛṇuhi smā no ardham || 18 ||
ā tvā harayo vṛṣaṇo yujānā vṛṣarathāso vṛṣaraśmayo 'tyāḥ |
asmatrāñco vṛṣaṇo vajravāho vṛṣṇe madāya suyujo vahantu || 19 ||
ā te vṛṣan vṛṣaṇo droṇam asthur ghṛtapruṣo normayo madantaḥ |
indra pra tubhyaṁ vṛṣabhiḥ sutānāṁ vṛṣṇe bharanti vṛṣabhāya somam || 20 ||
vṛṣāsi divo vṛṣabhaḥ pṛthivyā vṛṣā sindhūnāṁ vṛṣabhaḥ stiyānām |
vṛṣṇe ta indur vṛṣabha pīpāya svādū raso madhupeyo varāya || 21 ||
ayaṁ devaḥ sahasā jāyamāna indreṇa yujā paṇim astabhāyat |
ayaṁ svasya pitur āyudhānīndur amuṣṇād aśivasya māyāḥ || 22 ||
ayam akṛṇod uṣasaḥ supatnīr ayaṁ sūrye adadhāj jyotir antaḥ |
ayaṁ tridhātu divi rocaneṣu triteṣu vindad amṛtaṁ nigūḻham || 23 ||
ayaṁ dyāvāpṛthivī vi ṣkabhāyad ayaṁ ratham ayunak saptaraśmim |
ayaṁ goṣu śacyā pakvam antaḥ somo dādhāra daśayantram utsam || 24 ||
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).