Indra, Vāc, and Viṣṇu
Rigveda VIII.100 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) from Maṇḍala 8 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. I come before you in person; all the gods follow behind me. When you set aside a portion for me, Indra — only then, through me, will heroic deeds be done.
2. I place for you first a share of the sweet drink; let your portion be set, let the soma be pressed for you. Be my friend at my right hand — then together we will strike down many Vṛtras.
3. Bring forth a hymn of praise, you who seek strength, to Indra — if truth is indeed truth. "There is no Indra," some say — who has seen him, that we should praise him?
4. Here I am, singer — look at me here. I surpass all creatures in greatness. The ordinances of truth make me grow; I am the breaker, I split apart the worlds.
5. When the eager ones climbed up to where I sat alone, on the back of the beloved one of truth, my own mind answered from my heart; my young companions cried out.
6. All these deeds of yours are to be proclaimed at the soma-pressings, deeds you performed, bounteous Indra, for the one who presses the soma — when you laid open the wealth gathered from afar by many, for Śarabha, kinsman of the sage.
7. Run forth now, each on your own course — no one here holds you back. Indra drove his mace down into the vital spot of Vṛtra.
8. Swift as thought, pressing onward, he crossed the fortress of iron. The fine-winged one, having gone to heaven, brought the soma for the wielder of the mace.
9. In the ocean he lies, wrapped by the water — the mace. The rivers that flow out before him, joined together, bring him tribute.
10. When Speech utters things unthought-of, the sovereign, delightful one among the gods, has taken her seat. She has milked out four streams of strength — where has her highest reach gone?
11. The gods gave birth to divine Speech; creatures of every form speak her. May she, the delightful one, milking out nourishment and strength for us, Speech the milk-cow, come to us well praised.
12. Friend Viṣṇu, stride out wider — give the mace room in heaven to brace itself. Let us two strike down Vṛtra, let us set the rivers free; loosed, let them flow at Indra's bidding.
Translator's note: verse 5 (the "eager ones" climbing to "the back of the beloved one of truth," and the "young companions" who cry out) and the phrase "her highest reach" in verse 10 are genuinely compressed and elliptical in the Sanskrit; they are rendered here conservatively, image for image, without smoothing them into a fixed interpretation.
Colophon
Rigveda VIII.100 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 VIII.100
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.
ayaṁ ta emi tanvā purastād viśve devā abhi mā yanti paścāt |
yadā mahyaṁ dīdharo bhāgam indrād in mayā kṛṇavo vīryāṇi || 1 ||
dadhāmi te madhuno bhakṣam agre hitas te bhāgaḥ suto astu somaḥ |
asaś ca tvaṁ dakṣiṇataḥ sakhā me 'dhā vṛtrāṇi jaṅghanāva bhūri || 2 ||
pra su stomam bharata vājayanta indrāya satyaṁ yadi satyam asti |
nendro astīti nema u tva āha ka īṁ dadarśa kam abhi ṣṭavāma || 3 ||
ayam asmi jaritaḥ paśya meha viśvā jātāny abhy asmi mahnā |
ṛtasya mā pradiśo vardhayanty ādardiro bhuvanā dardarīmi || 4 ||
ā yan mā venā aruhann ṛtasyam̐ ekam āsīnaṁ haryatasya pṛṣṭhe |
manaś cin me hṛda ā praty avocad acikradañ chiśumantaḥ sakhāyaḥ || 5 ||
viśvet tā te savaneṣu pravācyā yā cakartha maghavann indra sunvate |
pārāvataṁ yat purusambhṛtaṁ vasv apāvṛṇoḥ śarabhāya ṛṣibandhave || 6 ||
pra nūnaṁ dhāvatā pṛthaṅ neha yo vo avāvarīt |
ni ṣīṁ vṛtrasya marmaṇi vajram indro apīpatat || 7 ||
manojavā ayamāna āyasīm atarat puram |
divaṁ suparṇo gatvāya somaṁ vajriṇa ābharat || 8 ||
samudre antaḥ śayata udnā vajro abhīvṛtaḥ |
bharanty asmai saṁyataḥ puraḥprasravaṇā balim || 9 ||
yad vāg vadanty avicetanāni rāṣṭrī devānāṁ niṣasāda mandrā |
catasra ūrjaṁ duduhe payāṁsi kva svid asyāḥ paramaṁ jagāma || 10 ||
devīṁ vācam ajanayanta devās tāṁ viśvarūpāḥ paśavo vadanti |
sā no mandreṣam ūrjaṁ duhānā dhenur vāg asmān upa suṣṭutaitu || 11 ||
sakhe viṣṇo vitaraṁ vi kramasva dyaur dehi lokaṁ vajrāya viṣkabhe |
hanāva vṛtraṁ riṇacāva sindhūn indrasya yantu prasave visṛṣṭāḥ || 12 ||
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).