Hymn to Indra
Rigveda VII.26 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. Unpressed soma has never gladdened Indra; soma pressed without prayer has not gladdened the bounteous one. For him I fashion a hymn that he may enjoy, ever newer, rich in heroes, so that he may hear us.
2. At every hymn the pressed soma has gladdened Indra; at every chant it has gladdened the bounteous one — when, pressing close like sons calling to a father, men of one purpose call him for help.
3. He has done these deeds; now may he do the others too, which the sages speak of at the soma-pressings. Like one husband common to many wives, Indra alone has thoroughly mastered all the strongholds.
4. So they call him, and Indra is renowned as the sole distributor, the one who wins through to the gifts — whose many helping powers outdo one another; may the good and dear things attend us.
5. Thus Vasiṣṭha praises Indra, the bull among peoples, at the soma-pressing, for his help. Bring us great, thousandfold rewards. Protect us always, all of you, with your blessings.
Translator's note: verse 3's "like one husband common to many wives" (janīr iva patir ekaḥ samānaḥ) renders Indra's mastery of the many enemy strongholds through a marriage image whose exact force is debated; the conservative reading given here keeps the simile literal. Verse 4's "vibhaktā taraṇir maghānām" (distributor, overpowerer/winner-through of gifts) is compressed in the Sanskrit; the rendering keeps both senses rather than picking one.
Colophon
Rigveda VII.26 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 VII.26
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.
na soma indram asuto mamāda nābrahmāṇo maghavānaṁ sutāsaḥ |
tasmā ukthaṁ janaye yaj jujoṣan nṛvan navīyaḥ śṛṇavad yathā naḥ || 1 ||
uktha-ukthe soma indram mamāda nīthe-nīthe maghavānaṁ sutāsaḥ |
yad īṁ sabādhaḥ pitaraṁ na putrāḥ samānadakṣā avase havante || 2 ||
cakāra tā kṛṇavan nūnam anyā yāni bruvanti vedhasaḥ suteṣu |
janīr iva patir ekaḥ samāno ni māmṛje pura indraḥ su sarvāḥ || 3 ||
evā tam āhur uta śṛṇva indra eko vibhaktā taraṇir maghānām |
mithastura ūtayo yasya pūrvīr asme bhadrāṇi saścata priyāṇi || 4 ||
evā vasiṣṭha indram ūtaye nṝn kṛṣṭīnāṁ vṛṣabhaṁ sute gṛṇāti |
sahasriṇa upa no māhi vājān yūyam pāta svastibhiḥ sadā naḥ || 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).