Hymn to Indra and Varuṇa
Rigveda VII.83 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. You two heroes, mindful of your bond with him, went eastward seeking cattle, wide-bladed ones. Strike down the Dāsa foes and the Ārya foes — you, Indra and Varuṇa, helped Sudās with your favor.
2. Where men with banners raised join battle, where in that contest something precious hangs in the balance, where the sky-seeing creatures tremble with fear — there, Indra and Varuṇa, speak up on our behalf.
3. The ends of the earth appeared covered in dust; the roar of battle climbed to heaven, Indra and Varuṇa. The hostile people's enmities stood arrayed against me — come hither with your help, you who hear our call.
4. Indra and Varuṇa, with weapons no one can withstand, overpowering Bheda, you carried Sudās forward. Hear the sacred formulas, the invocations of these men — the priestly office of the Tṛtsus has proved true.
5. Indra and Varuṇa, the malice and the hostility of the covetous rival burn against us. Since the two of you rule over wealth of both kinds, help us on the decisive day.
6. Both sides call on you two in their battles — Indra for wealth, and Varuṇa — to win the prize. Where he was hard-pressed by the ten kings, you carried Sudās forward, together with the Tṛtsus.
7. The ten kings, banded together, without sacrifice, could not overcome Sudās, Indra and Varuṇa. True was the praise-song of the men seated at the feast; the gods stood with them in their calling.
8. In the battle of the ten kings, when he was hemmed in on every side, you two, Indra and Varuṇa, gave Sudās your aid — where the fair ones with braided hair, devout in thought, worshipping with homage, the Tṛtsus, stood by him.
9. One of you strikes down the obstructing foes in the clashes of battle; the other ever guards his ordinances. We call on you two, mighty ones, with well-wrought hymns; Indra and Varuṇa, grant us shelter.
10. May Indra, Varuṇa, Mitra, and Aryaman grant us splendor, a great and far-spreading shelter. We who uphold the sacred order call to mind the unfailing light of Aditi, and the call of the god Savitṛ.
Translator's note: verse 1's "pṛthuparśavaḥ" (literally "broad-axed/broad-bladed") and verse 8's "śvityañcaḥ" (literally "white-going, fair-complexioned") are obscure epithets, likely describing the Tṛtsus or their weapons; they are rendered conservatively rather than resolved into a specific claim. "Kapardin" (verse 8) names a particular coiled or braided hairstyle, rendered here descriptively.
Colophon
Rigveda VII.83 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.83
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.
yuvāṁ narā paśyamānāsa āpyam prācā gavyantaḥ pṛthuparśavo yayuḥ |
dāsā ca vṛtrā hatam āryāṇi ca sudāsam indrāvaruṇāvasāvatam || 1 ||
yatrā naraḥ samayante kṛtadhvajo yasminn ājā bhavati kiṁ cana priyam |
yatrā bhayante bhuvanā svardṛśas tatrā na indrāvaruṇādhi vocatam || 2 ||
sam bhūmyā antā dhvasirā adṛkṣatendrāvaruṇā divi ghoṣa āruhat |
asthur janānām upa mām arātayo 'rvāg avasā havanaśrutā gatam || 3 ||
indrāvaruṇā vadhanābhir aprati bhedaṁ vanvantā pra sudāsam āvatam |
brahmāṇy eṣāṁ śṛṇutaṁ havīmani satyā tṛtsūnām abhavat purohitiḥ || 4 ||
indrāvaruṇāv abhy ā tapanti māghāny aryo vanuṣām arātayaḥ |
yuvaṁ hi vasva ubhayasya rājatho 'dha smā no 'vatam pārye divi || 5 ||
yuvāṁ havanta ubhayāsa ājiṣv indraṁ ca vasvo varuṇaṁ ca sātaye |
yatra rājabhir daśabhir nibādhitam pra sudāsam āvataṁ tṛtsubhiḥ saha || 6 ||
daśa rājānaḥ samitā ayajyavaḥ sudāsam indrāvaruṇā na yuyudhuḥ |
satyā nṛṇām admasadām upastutir devā eṣām abhavan devahūtiṣu || 7 ||
dāśarājñe pariyattāya viśvataḥ sudāsa indrāvaruṇāv aśikṣatam |
śvityañco yatra namasā kapardino dhiyā dhīvanto asapanta tṛtsavaḥ || 8 ||
vṛtrāṇy anyaḥ samitheṣu jighnate vratāny anyo abhi rakṣate sadā |
havāmahe vāṁ vṛṣaṇā suvṛktibhir asme indrāvaruṇā śarma yacchatam || 9 ||
asme indro varuṇo mitro aryamā dyumnaṁ yacchantu mahi śarma saprathaḥ |
avadhraṁ jyotir aditer ṛtāvṛdho devasya ślokaṁ savitur manāmahe || 10 ||
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).