Hymn to Indra
Rigveda VIII.2 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. Drink this pressed draught, O bounteous one, and fill your belly full. We have given it to you without fear.
2. Pressed by the men, shaken with the stones, filtered clean through the sheep's wool — purified like a horse washed in the rivers.
3. As barley is mixed sweet with milk, so we have made this sweet for you, Indra, at this shared feast.
4. Indra alone is the soma-drinker; Indra alone, drinker of the pressed juice, lives through every age — among gods and among mortals.
5. Neither the clear draught, nor the ill-mixed one, nor the sated ones can turn him away — the wide-ranging one, the good-hearted friend.
6. When others besides us go hunting for him, as for a wild animal, they stalk him with cattle, they close in with their milk-cows.
7. Three are the pressed somas belonging to Indra the god, in his own dwelling, for the drinker of the pressed juice.
8. Three vessels drip, three cups stand well filled, set upon one and the same platform.
9. You are bright, firmly established among many, mixed in the middle with milk, most delighted with curd, O hero.
10. These somas of yours, Indra, sharp and pressed here by us, bright, call out for the mixing with milk.
11. Mix that milk-offering and that cake into this soma, Indra — for I hear that you are one of great wealth.
12. Drunk, they contend within the heart, like men wildly drunk on liquor; they cry out like the naked at the udder.
13. Truly wealthy should be the praiser of one so wealthy, of a bounteous one like you; forth indeed goes the praise of the renowned one, O lord of bay horses.
14. The niggardly stranger takes no notice of the hymn being chanted, nor of the gāyatrī being sung.
15. Do not give us over, Indra, to the reviler, nor to the arrogant. Help us with your powers, O mighty one.
16. We indeed, for this very purpose, Indra, devoted to you as friends — we the Kāṇvas praise you with our hymns.
17. No other has drunk of this besides, O wielder of the bolt, in this fresh labor; it is your praise-song that he has taken notice of.
18. The gods seek out the one who presses soma; they have no desire for sleep. Untiring, they never fall into negligence.
19. Come forth freely with your spoils; do not be angry at us, like a great man with a young wife.
20. Today let not the ill-willed one drive it far off from us at evening, like an unlucky son-in-law.
21. For we know the richly-giving favor of this hero, the thoughts of him who was born into the three worlds.
22. Pour it out then for the one who thinks of the Kāṇvas; we know none more glorious than the powerful one of a hundred aids.
23. With the finest portion, O presser, bring the soma for Indra — for the hero, the mighty one, the manly one, as he drinks.
24. He who is wisest amid the unfailing things — grant horse-rich strength to the singers, cattle-rich strength to the praisers.
25. O pressers, hasten each with your praiseworthy offering to the intoxicating soma, for the hero, the strong one.
26. May the Vṛtra-slayer, drinker of the pressed draught, come — not far from us; the one of a hundred aids reins in his team.
27. Hither may the two capable bay steeds, yoked by prayer, bring the friend, renowned through songs, who delights in praise.
28. Sweet are the somas — come! Mixed are the somas — come! O helmeted one, lord of seers, mighty one, lead this one to the shared feast.
29. And those who, praised, strengthen you toward great bounty and manly power, Indra — strengthening the one who makes the hymn.
30. And the songs that are yours, O song-borne one, and the hymns — these together have gathered up your powers.
31. So this mighty doer, alone with the bolt in hand, distributes the prizes, unharmed from ancient times.
32. Slayer of Vṛtra with his right hand, Indra, much invoked, many times over — great with his great powers.
33. In whom rest all the peoples, and the impulses and the wide spaces — following him, the exhilarated one, the bounteous one.
34. This Indra has done all these deeds, who is heard above all others — the prize-giver of the bounteous ones.
35. The bearer-forth of the chariot that longs for cattle, whom he favors even from afar — he, the mighty one, is the true bringer of wealth.
36. The wise winner of spoils with his steeds, the hero who slays Vṛtra with his men, the true protector of the one who worships.
37. Worship him, O Priyamedhas, worship Indra with a united mind — him who has grown truly exhilarated on the somas.
38. O Kāṇvas, sing to the one famed in song, the true lord, desirous of fame, far-ranging, the winner of prizes.
39. Who, even without a fight, gave back the cattle from their hiding-places, as a mighty friend, to the men who set their desire on him.
40. Thus, O wielder of the stone, you came to the thoughtful Kāṇva Medhyātithi, having become a ram, going forth, unyielding.
41. Grant help, Vibhindu, giving to him four myriads, and eight thousand more besides.
42. And those two, strengthened with milk, gave Mākī, the daughter of Raṇa, for marriage.
Translator's note: Several verses in this hymn are genuinely obscure in the received Sanskrit and are rendered conservatively rather than confidently. Verse 5 (śukro, durāśīḥ, tṛprāḥ) likely distinguishes grades or conditions of the soma draught, but the precise sense of each term is uncertain. Verses 12 and 20 contain compressed similes (drunkenness in the heart; an "unlucky son-in-law") whose exact application is not fully recoverable from the verse alone. Verses 40–42 describe a legend — Indra taking the form of a ram for the sage Kāṇva Medhyātithi, followed by a gift-list naming Vibhindu and Mākī, daughter of Raṇa — that is referenced elliptically here and known more fully only from later tradition; the names and the bare narrative are preserved as the Sanskrit gives them, without added explanation.
Colophon
Rigveda VIII.2 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.2
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.
idaṁ vaso sutam andhaḥ pibā supūrṇam udaram |
anābhayin rarimā te || 1 ||
nṛbhir dhūtaḥ suto aśnair avyo vāraiḥ paripūtaḥ |
aśvo na nikto nadīṣu || 2 ||
taṁ te yavaṁ yathā gobhiḥ svādum akarma śrīṇantaḥ |
indra tvāsmin sadhamāde || 3 ||
indra it somapā eka indraḥ sutapā viśvāyuḥ |
antar devān martyām̐ś ca || 4 ||
na yaṁ śukro na durāśīr na tṛprā uruvyacasam |
apaspṛṇvate suhārdam || 5 ||
gobhir yad īm anye asman mṛgaṁ na vrā mṛgayante |
abhitsaranti dhenubhiḥ || 6 ||
traya indrasya somāḥ sutāsaḥ santu devasya |
sve kṣaye sutapāvnaḥ || 7 ||
trayaḥ kośāsaḥ ścotanti tisraś camva1ḥ supūrṇāḥ |
samāne adhi bhārman || 8 ||
śucir asi puruniḥṣṭhāḥ kṣīrair madhyata āśīrtaḥ |
dadhnā mandiṣṭhaḥ śūrasya || 9 ||
ime ta indra somās tīvrā asme sutāsaḥ |
śukrā āśiraṁ yācante || 10 ||
tām̐ āśiram puroḻāśam indremaṁ somaṁ śrīṇīhi |
revantaṁ hi tvā śṛṇomi || 11 ||
hṛtsu pītāso yudhyante durmadāso na surāyām |
ūdhar na nagnā jarante || 12 ||
revām̐ id revataḥ stotā syāt tvāvato maghonaḥ |
pred u harivaḥ śrutasya || 13 ||
ukthaṁ cana śasyamānam agor arir ā ciketa |
na gāyatraṁ gīyamānam || 14 ||
mā na indra pīyatnave mā śardhate parā dāḥ |
śikṣā śacīvaḥ śacībhiḥ || 15 ||
vayam u tvā tadidarthā indra tvāyantaḥ sakhāyaḥ |
kaṇvā ukthebhir jarante || 16 ||
na ghem anyad ā papana vajrinn apaso naviṣṭau |
taved u stomaṁ ciketa || 17 ||
icchanti devāḥ sunvantaṁ na svapnāya spṛhayanti |
yanti pramādam atandrāḥ || 18 ||
o ṣu pra yāhi vājebhir mā hṛṇīthā abhy a1smān |
mahām̐ iva yuvajāniḥ || 19 ||
mo ṣv a1dya durhaṇāvān sāyaṁ karad āre asmat |
aśrīra iva jāmātā || 20 ||
vidmā hy asya vīrasya bhūridāvarīṁ sumatim |
triṣu jātasya manāṁsi || 21 ||
ā tū ṣiñca kaṇvamantaṁ na ghā vidma śavasānāt |
yaśastaraṁ śatamūteḥ || 22 ||
jyeṣṭhena sotar indrāya somaṁ vīrāya śakrāya |
bharā piban naryāya || 23 ||
yo vediṣṭho avyathiṣv aśvāvantaṁ jaritṛbhyaḥ |
vājaṁ stotṛbhyo gomantam || 24 ||
panyam-panyam it sotāra ā dhāvata madyāya |
somaṁ vīrāya śūrāya || 25 ||
pātā vṛtrahā sutam ā ghā gaman nāre asmat |
ni yamate śatamūtiḥ || 26 ||
eha harī brahmayujā śagmā vakṣataḥ sakhāyam |
gīrbhiḥ śrutaṁ girvaṇasam || 27 ||
svādavaḥ somā ā yāhi śrītāḥ somā ā yāhi |
śiprinn ṛṣīvaḥ śacīvo nāyam acchā sadhamādam || 28 ||
stutaś ca yās tvā vardhanti mahe rādhase nṛmṇāya |
indra kāriṇaṁ vṛdhantaḥ || 29 ||
giraś ca yās te girvāha ukthā ca tubhyaṁ tāni |
satrā dadhire śavāṁsi || 30 ||
eved eṣa tuvikūrmir vājām̐ eko vajrahastaḥ |
sanād amṛkto dayate || 31 ||
hantā vṛtraṁ dakṣiṇenendraḥ purū puruhūtaḥ |
mahān mahībhiḥ śacībhiḥ || 32 ||
yasmin viśvāś carṣaṇaya uta cyautnā jrayāṁsi ca |
anu ghen mandī maghonaḥ || 33 ||
eṣa etāni cakārendro viśvā yo 'ti śṛṇve |
vājadāvā maghonām || 34 ||
prabhartā rathaṁ gavyantam apākāc cid yam avati |
ino vasu sa hi voḻhā || 35 ||
sanitā vipro arvadbhir hantā vṛtraṁ nṛbhiḥ śūraḥ |
satyo 'vitā vidhantam || 36 ||
yajadhvainam priyamedhā indraṁ satrācā manasā |
yo bhūt somaiḥ satyamadvā || 37 ||
gāthaśravasaṁ satpatiṁ śravaskāmam purutmānam |
kaṇvāso gāta vājinam || 38 ||
ya ṛte cid gās padebhyo dāt sakhā nṛbhyaḥ śacīvān |
ye asmin kāmam aśriyan || 39 ||
itthā dhīvantam adrivaḥ kāṇvam medhyātithim |
meṣo bhūto3 'bhi yann ayaḥ || 40 ||
śikṣā vibhindo asmai catvāry ayutā dadat |
aṣṭā paraḥ sahasrā || 41 ||
uta su tye payovṛdhā mākī raṇasya naptyā |
janitvanāya māmahe || 42 ||
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).