Hymn to Indra
Rigveda VII.22 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) from Maṇḍala 7 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 the soma, Indra — let it delight you — which the pressing stone, O lord of bay horses, has pressed for you, well-guided by the presser's arms, like a racehorse.
2. That exhilaration of yours, fitting and lovely, by which, O lord of bay horses, you strike down the Vṛtras — let that delight you, Indra, rich in wealth.
3. Attend well, O bountiful one, to this speech of mine, the praise-song that Vasiṣṭha sings to you. Take pleasure in these prayers at the shared feast.
4. Hear the call of the stone as it presses out the draught; attend to the thought of the inspired singer who praises you. Bring your favors closest to us; let us share fully in them.
5. I do not forget your praises, O swift one, nor, knowing it, the fitting praise of you who hold supreme lordship. I proclaim your name always, self-glorious one.
6. Many indeed are your soma-pressings among men; many a thinking one calls on you alone. Do not stay far from us for long, O bountiful one.
7. For you alone, O hero, are all these pressings; for you I make these strengthening prayers. You are the one to be called upon by men at every turn.
8. Not even now can they reach the greatness of you who are held wondrous, O fierce one — neither your heroic power, Indra, nor your bounty.
9. Both the seers of old and the new inspired ones who generate prayers for you, Indra — may your friendships toward us be kind. Protect us always, all of you, with blessings.
Translator's note: "vipipānasya" (v. 4) is an intensive/desiderative form built on "drink," here applied to the pressing stone itself in a common Vedic idiom that treats the stone as sharing in the draught it presses; rendered conservatively as "presses out the draught." "prabhūvaso" (v. 2) and "asuryasya" (v. 5) — epithets of abundant wealth and supreme (asura-) lordship — are rendered by sense rather than literally transliterated.
Colophon
Rigveda VII.22 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 VII.22
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.
pibā somam indra mandatu tvā yaṁ te suṣāva haryaśvādriḥ |
sotur bāhubhyāṁ suyato nārvā || 1 ||
yas te mado yujyaś cārur asti yena vṛtrāṇi haryaśva haṁsi |
sa tvām indra prabhūvaso mamattu || 2 ||
bodhā su me maghavan vācam emāṁ yāṁ te vasiṣṭho arcati praśastim |
imā brahma sadhamāde juṣasva || 3 ||
śrudhī havaṁ vipipānasyādrer bodhā viprasyārcato manīṣām |
kṛṣvā duvāṁsy antamā sacemā || 4 ||
na te giro api mṛṣye turasya na suṣṭutim asuryasya vidvān |
sadā te nāma svayaśo vivakmi || 5 ||
bhūri hi te savanā mānuṣeṣu bhūri manīṣī havate tvām it |
māre asman maghavañ jyok kaḥ || 6 ||
tubhyed imā savanā śūra viśvā tubhyam brahmāṇi vardhanā kṛṇomi |
tvaṁ nṛbhir havyo viśvadhāsi || 7 ||
nū cin nu te manyamānasya dasmod aśnuvanti mahimānam ugra |
na vīryam indra te na rādhaḥ || 8 ||
ye ca pūrva ṛṣayo ye ca nūtnā indra brahmāṇi janayanta viprāḥ |
asme te santu sakhyā śivāni yūyam pāta svastibhiḥ sadā naḥ || 9 ||
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).