Hymn to Indra
Rigveda VIII.14 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. If, Indra, I were as you are, sole lord of wealth, my praise-singer would be rich in cattle.
2. I would help him, I would wish to give to the wise one, O lord of might, if I were lord of cattle.
3. Your bounteous milk-cow, Indra, swelling with milk, yields cattle and horses for the sacrificer who presses soma.
4. There is no one, Indra — neither god nor mortal — who can hold back your bounty, when, praised, you wish to give a gift.
5. The sacrifice strengthened Indra, when he turned the earth over, fashioning it as an ornament in heaven.
6. We choose the help of you, Indra, grown strong, who have won all treasures.
7. In the intoxication of soma, the lights spread out the atmosphere, when Indra broke open Vala.
8. He drove the cows out for the Aṅgirases, making manifest those that were hidden, and pushed Vala down.
9. By Indra the lights of heaven were made firm and strengthened; being steadfast, they are not driven away.
10. Like a wave of water surging, the hymn of praise rushes swiftly to you, Indra; your exhilarations have blazed forth.
11. For you, Indra, are the strengthener of praise-songs, the strengthener of hymns, and the bringer of good fortune to those who praise you.
12. The two long-maned bay steeds carry Indra, of good bounty, to the sacrifice, for the drinking of soma.
13. With the foam of the waters, Indra, you struck off the head of Namuci, when you conquered all your rivals.
14. You shook down the Dasyus, Indra, who by their magic wiles sought to creep away and climb up to heaven.
15. You scattered utterly in every direction the assembly that presses no soma, Indra; being the soma-drinker, you proved yourself supreme.
Translator's note: verse 5's "opaśam divi" (literally "a headdress/braid in heaven") is an obscure image for the ordering of the sky after Indra rules the earth; rendered conservatively as "fashioning it as an ornament in heaven." Verse 14 concerns the Dasyus attempting to escape Indra's power by magic and ascend to heaven, in the context of the Namuci myth of verse 13.
Colophon
Rigveda VIII.14 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.14
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.
yad indrāhaṁ yathā tvam īśīya vasva eka it |
stotā me goṣakhā syāt || 1 ||
śikṣeyam asmai ditseyaṁ śacīpate manīṣiṇe |
yad ahaṁ gopatiḥ syām || 2 ||
dhenuṣ ṭa indra sūnṛtā yajamānāya sunvate |
gām aśvam pipyuṣī duhe || 3 ||
na te vartāsti rādhasa indra devo na martyaḥ |
yad ditsasi stuto magham || 4 ||
yajña indram avardhayad yad bhūmiṁ vy avartayat |
cakrāṇa opaśaṁ divi || 5 ||
vāvṛdhānasya te vayaṁ viśvā dhanāni jigyuṣaḥ |
ūtim indrā vṛṇīmahe || 6 ||
vy a1ntarikṣam atiran made somasya rocanā |
indro yad abhinad valam || 7 ||
ud gā ājad aṅgirobhya āviṣ kṛṇvan guhā satīḥ |
arvāñcaṁ nunude valam || 8 ||
indreṇa rocanā divo dṛḻhāni dṛṁhitāni ca |
sthirāṇi na parāṇude || 9 ||
apām ūrmir madann iva stoma indrājirāyate |
vi te madā arājiṣuḥ || 10 ||
tvaṁ hi stomavardhana indrāsy ukthavardhanaḥ |
stotṝṇām uta bhadrakṛt || 11 ||
indram it keśinā harī somapeyāya vakṣataḥ |
upa yajñaṁ surādhasam || 12 ||
apām phenena namuceḥ śira indrod avartayaḥ |
viśvā yad ajayaḥ spṛdhaḥ || 13 ||
māyābhir utsisṛpsata indra dyām ārurukṣataḥ |
ava dasyūm̐r adhūnuthāḥ || 14 ||
asunvām indra saṁsadaṁ viṣūcīṁ vy anāśayaḥ |
somapā uttaro bhavan || 15 ||
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).