Hymn to Indra
Rigveda VIII.15 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. Sing out to him, the much-invoked, the much-praised. With your songs, seek to win Indra, the mighty one.
2. Whose vast, doubly-mighty strength has held apart the two worlds, heaven and earth; through his bull-like power he holds the mountains, the plains, the waters, and the light of the sun.
3. You alone rule, much-praised one; you strike down the Vṛtras. O Indra — for victories and for glory, and to hold all in your guidance.
4. We proclaim that exhilaration of yours, the bull, all-conquering in battles, the maker of room for us, O wielder of the pressing-stone, glorious with your bay steeds.
5. By which power you won the lights for Āyu and for Manu, for mankind; rejoicing at this sacred grass, you shine forth widely.
6. That deed, even today, your praisers, the singers of hymns, celebrate as of old. Win, day after day, the waters whose lord is the bull.
7. That vast Indra-power of yours, your fury and your resolve — devotion sharpens your excellent thunderbolt.
8. Heaven magnifies your manly power, O Indra; earth increases your fame; the waters and the mountains urge you onward.
9. Viṣṇu of the wide dwelling praises you; Mitra and Varuṇa praise you; the host of the Maruts exults in accord with you.
10. You, the bull, most bountiful among peoples, O Indra, were born; you hold, altogether, all fair possessions.
11. Altogether, you alone, much-praised, shatter the Vṛtras. No one other than Indra accomplishes a greater deed.
12. When, O Indra, through our hymns they call you from every side for help — here, with our warriors, win the sunlight.
13. Entering all forms, fitting for our great dwelling — rouse Indra, the lord of power, to victory.
Translator's note: several phrases resist confident rendering. In verse 2, "dvibarhasaḥ" (doubly-mighty / two-fold-strengthened) is uncertain in exact force. In verse 6, "vṛṣapatnīr apaḥ" (the waters whose lord/husband is the bull) is left close to literal rather than resolved into a smoother image. In verse 11, "karaṇam" (deed, act, or agent) is rendered as "deed" but could also mean "means" or "instrument." These are translated conservatively rather than guessed into fluency.
Colophon
Rigveda VIII.15 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 VIII.15
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.
tam v abhi pra gāyata puruhūtam puruṣṭutam |
indraṁ gīrbhis taviṣam ā vivāsata || 1 ||
yasya dvibarhaso bṛhat saho dādhāra rodasī |
girīm̐r ajrām̐ apaḥ svar vṛṣatvanā || 2 ||
sa rājasi puruṣṭutam̐ eko vṛtrāṇi jighnase |
indra jaitrā śravasyā ca yantave || 3 ||
taṁ te madaṁ gṛṇīmasi vṛṣaṇam pṛtsu sāsahim |
u lokakṛtnum adrivo hariśriyam || 4 ||
yena jyotīṁṣy āyave manave ca viveditha |
mandāno asya barhiṣo vi rājasi || 5 ||
tad adyā cit ta ukthino 'nu ṣṭuvanti pūrvathā |
vṛṣapatnīr apo jayā dive-dive || 6 ||
tava tyad indriyam bṛhat tava śuṣmam uta kratum |
vajraṁ śiśāti dhiṣaṇā vareṇyam || 7 ||
tava dyaur indra pauṁsyam pṛthivī vardhati śravaḥ |
tvām āpaḥ parvatāsaś ca hinvire || 8 ||
tvāṁ viṣṇur bṛhan kṣayo mitro gṛṇāti varuṇaḥ |
tvāṁ śardho madaty anu mārutam || 9 ||
tvaṁ vṛṣā janānām maṁhiṣṭha indra jajñiṣe |
satrā viśvā svapatyāni dadhiṣe || 10 ||
satrā tvam puruṣṭutam̐ eko vṛtrāṇi tośase |
nānya indrāt karaṇam bhūya invati || 11 ||
yad indra manmaśas tvā nānā havanta ūtaye |
asmākebhir nṛbhir atrā svar jaya || 12 ||
araṁ kṣayāya no mahe viśvā rūpāṇy āviśan |
indraṁ jaitrāya harṣayā śacīpatim || 13 ||
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).