Hymn to Indra

Rigveda VIII.21 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. We call to you, unrivaled one, bringing scarcely anything, seeking your help — we summon the wondrous one for the contest of strength.

2. To you, for help in our task, he has come forward — our young, fierce one, who dares boldly. You indeed we have chosen as our protector, Indra, as friend, the winner of gain.

3. Come, here are the soma drops — lord of horses, lord of cattle, lord of the plowlands. Drink the soma, soma-drinker.

4. We, though without kin, we the inspired ones, Indra, have held fast to you who have many kin. With all your powers, O bull, come, to drink the soma.

5. Settling like birds onto the milk-blended, intoxicating, swelling sweetness, we call loudly to you, Indra.

6. We address you with this homage — why do you hesitate again and again? There are wishes we hold, O lord of bay steeds; you are the giver, we are yours; our prayers stand ready.

7. Anew, Indra, we have become yours through your help; not only now, O wielder of the pressing-stone, have we known of your abundance — we knew it before as well.

8. We know your friendship, hero, and your bounty; these things of yours we beg, O wielder of the thunderbolt. And in this contest sharpen us, good one, fair-cheeked one, for the prize rich in cattle.

9. He who has, again and again, brought us good things in the past — him indeed I praise for you, friends: Indra, for his help.

10. He of the bay steeds, the true lord, overpowerer of peoples — he indeed who was gladdened by the soma — he, the bounteous one, weaves out for his praisers a hundredfold wealth in cattle and horses.

11. With you as our ally, O bull, may we speak out boldly against the snorting foe, in the clash over the cattle-rich folk.

12. May we, the doers, win in the contest, O much-invoked one; may we overcome the malicious ones. With our warriors may we slay the obstructing foe; may we prosper — and, Indra, let our prayers go forth.

13. Thus you are without a rival, Indra — from birth, from of old, you are without kin; it is through battle that you seek fellowship.

14. You find no rich man to take as friend; those who revile you are brought low. When you make the roaring foe cry out and sweep him away, then you are called upon like a father.

15. Not like fools who grow old uselessly at home, Indra, in friendship with one such as you — may we instead sit down together where the soma is pressed.

16. May we not fall short of your bounty, O giver of cattle; Indra, may we not be held back from you. Seize even the firm strongholds of the rival and bring them here — your gifts do not fail.

17. Indra indeed gives this much bounty, or fortunate Sarasvatī gives wealth, or you, O wondrous one, give it to the one who offers worship.

18. The wondrous one alone is the true king; the others who dwell along the Sarasvatī are mere kinglets. For he has spread out like Parjanya with rain, giving thousands, tens of thousands.

Translator's note: verse 14 contains the obscure term "surāśvaḥ" (rendered conservatively above as "those who revile you") and the word "nadanum," which may name a specific adversary rather than describe a generic "roaring" one; both are kept close to the literal Sanskrit rather than resolved with confidence. Verse 12's "vṛtram" is translated as the common noun "obstructing foe" rather than the proper name Vṛtra, since nothing in this verse ties it to the mountain-and-waters narrative told elsewhere in the Rigveda.

Colophon

Rigveda VIII.21 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.21

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.

vayam u tvām apūrvya sthūraṁ na kac cid bharanto 'vasyavaḥ |
vāje citraṁ havāmahe || 1 ||

upa tvā karmann ūtaye sa no yuvograś cakrāma yo dhṛṣat |
tvām id dhy avitāraṁ vavṛmahe sakhāya indra sānasim || 2 ||

ā yāhīma indavo 'śvapate gopata urvarāpate |
somaṁ somapate piba || 3 ||

vayaṁ hi tvā bandhumantam abandhavo viprāsa indra yemima |
yā te dhāmāni vṛṣabha tebhir ā gahi viśvebhiḥ somapītaye || 4 ||

sīdantas te vayo yathā gośrīte madhau madire vivakṣaṇe |
abhi tvām indra nonumaḥ || 5 ||

acchā ca tvainā namasā vadāmasi kim muhuś cid vi dīdhayaḥ |
santi kāmāso harivo dadiṣ ṭvaṁ smo vayaṁ santi no dhiyaḥ || 6 ||

nūtnā id indra te vayam ūtī abhūma nahi nū te adrivaḥ |
vidmā purā parīṇasaḥ || 7 ||

vidmā sakhitvam uta śūra bhojya1m ā te tā vajrinn īmahe |
uto samasminn ā śiśīhi no vaso vāje suśipra gomati || 8 ||

yo na idam-idam purā pra vasya ānināya tam u vaḥ stuṣe |
sakhāya indram ūtaye || 9 ||

haryaśvaṁ satpatiṁ carṣaṇīsahaṁ sa hi ṣmā yo amandata |
ā tu naḥ sa vayati gavyam aśvyaṁ stotṛbhyo maghavā śatam || 10 ||

tvayā ha svid yujā vayam prati śvasantaṁ vṛṣabha bruvīmahi |
saṁsthe janasya gomataḥ || 11 ||

jayema kāre puruhūta kāriṇo 'bhi tiṣṭhema dūḍhyaḥ |
nṛbhir vṛtraṁ hanyāma śūśuyāma cāver indra pra ṇo dhiyaḥ || 12 ||

abhrātṛvyo anā tvam anāpir indra januṣā sanād asi |
yudhed āpitvam icchase || 13 ||

nakī revantaṁ sakhyāya vindase pīyanti te surāśvaḥ |
yadā kṛṇoṣi nadanuṁ sam ūhasy ād it piteva hūyase || 14 ||

mā te amājuro yathā mūrāsa indra sakhye tvāvataḥ |
ni ṣadāma sacā sute || 15 ||

mā te godatra nir arāma rādhasa indra mā te gṛhāmahi |
dṛḻhā cid aryaḥ pra mṛśābhy ā bhara na te dāmāna ādabhe || 16 ||

indro vā ghed iyan maghaṁ sarasvatī vā subhagā dadir vasu |
tvaṁ vā citra dāśuṣe || 17 ||

citra id rājā rājakā id anyake yake sarasvatīm anu |
parjanya iva tatanad dhi vṛṣṭyā sahasram ayutā dadat || 18 ||

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).