Hymn to Indra and Varuṇa
Rigveda VI.68 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. For your ready hearing, O you two, the sacrifice is raised, in one accord, to worship as Manu did, with the barhis grass strewn. This offering has turned today toward Indra and Varuṇa, for great strengthening, for great favor, mightily.
2. You two indeed are the best in divine service, strong, mightiest among heroes — this you have become. Most generous of the bounteous, very powerful, through order you overcome the foe, with all your might.
3. Praise those two with reverent hymns, with songs seeking their favor — Indra and Varuṇa, who delight in them. One, with the mace, by his strength, slays Vṛtra; the other, the wise one, attends the righteous in their settlements.
4. When the divine women and the men grew strong, and all the gods, welcomed of their own accord by men — Indra and Varuṇa surpass them in greatness; heaven and the wide earth belong to them.
5. He indeed is truly generous, self-protected, possessing truth, O Indra and Varuṇa, who worships you two in person. With that sustenance may the worshiper cross beyond his enemies; may he win wealth, and wealthy people too.
6. The wealth that you two, O gods, bestow on the one who performs sacrifice — rich in goods, abundant in food — may that wealth, O Indra and Varuṇa, be ours, wealth that breaks apart the curses of those who envy us.
7. And may there be for us wealth that protects well, guarded by the gods; O Indra and Varuṇa, may wealth belong to our patrons — whose vigor, victorious in battles, swiftly, all-conquering, increases our glory.
8. Now, O Indra and Varuṇa, being praised by us, grant us wealth, O gods, for glorious renown. Praising your mighty strength in this way, may we cross over hardships as one crosses waters by boat.
9. Now sing forth a dear hymn, far-reaching, to the exalted sovereign, to the god Varuṇa — he who, by his greatness, of mighty ordinances, pervades the two wide worlds, who shines forth by his power, ageless, as with flame.
10. O Indra and Varuṇa, drinkers of the pressed soma, drink this pressed, intoxicating soma, you whose laws are firm. Your chariot comes to the sacrifice, to the feast of the gods; it approaches our dwelling to drink.
11. O Indra and Varuṇa, of the sweetest, most vigorous soma, you two mighty ones, drink your fill. This draught is poured out for you two among us; having sat down on this sacred grass, rejoice yourselves.
Translator's note: verse 9 addresses Varuṇa alone by name ("devāya varuṇāya," "to the god Varuṇa") within a hymn otherwise addressed to both gods jointly — this shift is in the Sanskrit itself, not an error introduced in translation. A few terms admit more than one reading and were rendered conservatively: "svagūrtāḥ" (verse 4, "welcomed of their own accord") and "taturiḥ" (verse 7, "all-conquering") are both compact epithets whose precise nuance is debated; "vṛṣethām" and "mādayethām" (verse 11) are middle-voice forms treated here as reflexive ("drink your fill," "rejoice yourselves").
Colophon
Rigveda VI.68 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.68
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.
śruṣṭī vāṁ yajña udyataḥ sajoṣā manuṣvad vṛktabarhiṣo yajadhyai |
ā ya indrāvaruṇāv iṣe adya mahe sumnāya maha āvavartat || 1 ||
tā hi śreṣṭhā devatātā tujā śūrāṇāṁ śaviṣṭhā tā hi bhūtam |
maghonām maṁhiṣṭhā tuviśuṣma ṛtena vṛtraturā sarvasenā || 2 ||
tā gṛṇīhi namasyebhiḥ śūṣaiḥ sumnebhir indrāvaruṇā cakānā |
vajreṇānyaḥ śavasā hanti vṛtraṁ siṣakty anyo vṛjaneṣu vipraḥ || 3 ||
gnāś ca yan naraś ca vāvṛdhanta viśve devāso narāṁ svagūrtāḥ |
praibhya indrāvaruṇā mahitvā dyauś ca pṛthivi bhūtam urvī || 4 ||
sa it sudānuḥ svavām̐ ṛtāvendrā yo vāṁ varuṇa dāśati tman |
iṣā sa dviṣas tared dāsvān vaṁsad rayiṁ rayivataś ca janān || 5 ||
yaṁ yuvaṁ dāśvadhvarāya devā rayiṁ dhattho vasumantam purukṣum |
asme sa indrāvaruṇāv api ṣyāt pra yo bhanakti vanuṣām aśastīḥ || 6 ||
uta naḥ sutrātro devagopāḥ sūribhya indrāvaruṇā rayiḥ ṣyāt |
yeṣāṁ śuṣmaḥ pṛtanāsu sāhvān pra sadyo dyumnā tirate taturiḥ || 7 ||
nū na indrāvaruṇā gṛṇānā pṛṅktaṁ rayiṁ sauśravasāya devā |
itthā gṛṇanto mahinasya śardho 'po na nāvā duritā tarema || 8 ||
pra samrāje bṛhate manma nu priyam arca devāya varuṇāya saprathaḥ |
ayaṁ ya urvī mahinā mahivrataḥ kratvā vibhāty ajaro na śociṣā || 9 ||
indrāvaruṇā sutapāv imaṁ sutaṁ somam pibatam madyaṁ dhṛtavratā |
yuvo ratho adhvaraṁ devavītaye prati svasaram upa yāti pītaye || 10 ||
indrāvaruṇā madhumattamasya vṛṣṇaḥ somasya vṛṣaṇā vṛṣethām |
idaṁ vām andhaḥ pariṣiktam asme āsadyāsmin barhiṣi mādayethām || 11 ||
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).