Hymn to Indra
Rigveda VIII.24 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. Friends, let us direct our prayer to Indra, wielder of the thunderbolt; praise well the boldest, most manly one.
2. By your strength you are renowned, Vṛtra-slayer, through the slaying of Vṛtra; with gifts, O hero, you give beyond other bountiful givers.
3. Being praised, bring us wealth richest in fame — you who, O lord of bay steeds, are a giver of goods even where there is nothing.
4. Indra, break open both the empty hoard and the cherished one of rival peoples; boldly, O bold one, being praised, bring it to us.
5. Neither your left hand nor your right can be held back by foes, nor by any hindrance, O lord of bay steeds, in the quests for cattle.
6. With songs I stir you, O wielder of the stone, as one drives cattle to the pen; fulfill the singer's wish, fill his heart.
7. All-minded one, grant us all things through your insight, greatest Vṛtra-slayer; mighty leader, come down well to us, O bountiful one.
8. May we, O Vṛtra-slayer, hero, come to know this newest, desirable, enviable bounty of yours, O much-invoked one.
9. Indra, just as your strength, O dancer, is unfailing, so is your gift undiminished for the one who brings offerings, O much-invoked one.
10. Pour yourself forth, greatly mighty one, for great bounty, most manly one; be firm — firm as you are — O bounteous Indra, for the giving of gifts.
11. Now, O wielder of the stone, our hopes have gone nowhere but to you; grant that, O bounteous one, to us with your help.
12. For truly, O dancer, I find no one but you for bounty, for wealth, for splendor and for strength, O lover of praise.
13. Pour out the soma drop for Indra; let him drink the sweet soma; let him speed forth with bounty, in his greatness.
14. I have addressed the lord of the bay steeds, the skillful one who bestows abundantly. Now hear the praise of the singer Āśvya.
15. For indeed never before was born a more heroic one than you; no one equals you in wealth, in this way, nor in glory.
16. Pour, indeed, the more intoxicating portion of the sweet soma juice, O Adhvaryu priest; for thus is the hero praised, ever growing in strength.
17. Indra, driver of the bay steeds, no one has attained your ancient praise, your strength, or your glory.
18. We, desiring fame, have invoked him, the lord of prize-strength, to be exalted with unflagging sacrifices.
19. Come now, friends, let us praise Indra, the praiseworthy hero, who alone surpasses all peoples.
20. To him who does not withhold the cattle, who seeks cattle, the heavenly one — speak a wondrous word, sweeter than ghee and honey.
21. Whose powers are immeasurable, whose bounty cannot be encompassed — like light, his generosity overspreads everything.
22. Praise Indra, as Vyaśva did — the unshaken one, the mighty one, the controller — who bountifully distributes the lord's household wealth to the worshipper.
23. So now, O son of Vyaśva, praise him anew, the tenth song — the very wise one, celebrated among the officiants.
24. For you know, O thunderbolt-handed one, the way around calamities, day by day purifying us, as one who clears the snares that beset our steps.
25. Bring that down, O Indra, most wondrous one, by which you struck down foes twice over for Kutsa; impel that same power now for your worshipper.
26. We now entreat you anew, O most wondrous one, for our gain; may you overpower all our hostile foes.
27. You who freed us from distress, from Ṛkṣa, from Vāra, among the seven rivers — you, O very powerful one, have bent down the weapon of the Dāsa.
28. As you brought the choicest wealth to Suṣāman for his gain, bring it to the sons of Vyaśva, O fortunate, bounteous one.
29. May the gift of the generous patron come to the sons of Vyaśva, who possess soma — a substantial bounty, of a hundred, of a thousand.
30. If the sacrificer should ask you "where, where?" — know that this hidden Vala abides down upon the Gomatī.
Translator's note: several proper names and epithets in this hymn are uncertain. "Āśvya" (14) and "Vaiyaśva" (23) likely name the poet as a descendant of Vyaśva, whose sons are addressed directly in verses 22, 28, and 29. "Ṛkṣa" and "Vārya" (27) are left untranslated as probable proper names — of persons, places, or perils — whose referents are no longer recoverable with confidence. Verse 30's closing image, of the demon Vala withdrawn on the river Gomatī, is rendered as literally as the Sanskrit allows without supplying narrative that is not in the text.
Colophon
Rigveda VIII.24 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.24
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.
sakhāya ā śiṣāmahi brahmendrāya vajriṇe |
stuṣa ū ṣu vo nṛtamāya dhṛṣṇave || 1 ||
śavasā hy asi śruto vṛtrahatyena vṛtrahā |
maghair maghono ati śūra dāśasi || 2 ||
sa naḥ stavāna ā bhara rayiṁ citraśravastamam |
nireke cid yo harivo vasur dadiḥ || 3 ||
ā nirekam uta priyam indra darṣi janānām |
dhṛṣatā dhṛṣṇo stavamāna ā bhara || 4 ||
na te savyaṁ na dakṣiṇaṁ hastaṁ varanta āmuraḥ |
na paribādho harivo gaviṣṭiṣu || 5 ||
ā tvā gobhir iva vrajaṁ gīrbhir ṛṇomy adrivaḥ |
ā smā kāmaṁ jaritur ā manaḥ pṛṇa || 6 ||
viśvāni viśvamanaso dhiyā no vṛtrahantama |
ugra praṇetar adhi ṣū vaso gahi || 7 ||
vayaṁ te asya vṛtrahan vidyāma śūra navyasaḥ |
vasoḥ spārhasya puruhūta rādhasaḥ || 8 ||
indra yathā hy asti te 'parītaṁ nṛto śavaḥ |
amṛktā rātiḥ puruhūta dāśuṣe || 9 ||
ā vṛṣasva mahāmaha mahe nṛtama rādhase |
dṛḻhaś cid dṛhya maghavan maghattaye || 10 ||
nū anyatrā cid adrivas tvan no jagmur āśasaḥ |
maghavañ chagdhi tava tan na ūtibhiḥ || 11 ||
nahy a1ṅga nṛto tvad anyaṁ vindāmi rādhase |
rāye dyumnāya śavase ca girvaṇaḥ || 12 ||
endum indrāya siñcata pibāti somyam madhu |
pra rādhasā codayāte mahitvanā || 13 ||
upo harīṇām patiṁ dakṣam pṛñcantam abravam |
nūnaṁ śrudhi stuvato aśvyasya || 14 ||
nahy a1ṅga purā cana jajñe vīrataras tvat |
nakī rāyā naivathā na bhandanā || 15 ||
ed u madhvo madintaraṁ siñca vādhvaryo andhasaḥ |
evā hi vīraḥ stavate sadāvṛdhaḥ || 16 ||
indra sthātar harīṇāṁ nakiṣ ṭe pūrvyastutim |
ud ānaṁśa śavasā na bhandanā || 17 ||
taṁ vo vājānām patim ahūmahi śravasyavaḥ |
aprāyubhir yajñebhir vāvṛdhenyam || 18 ||
eto nv indraṁ stavāma sakhāyaḥ stomyaṁ naram |
kṛṣṭīr yo viśvā abhy asty eka it || 19 ||
agorudhāya gaviṣe dyukṣāya dasmyaṁ vacaḥ |
ghṛtāt svādīyo madhunaś ca vocata || 20 ||
yasyāmitāni vīryā3 na rādhaḥ paryetave |
jyotir na viśvam abhy asti dakṣiṇā || 21 ||
stuhīndraṁ vyaśvavad anūrmiṁ vājinaṁ yamam |
aryo gayam maṁhamānaṁ vi dāśuṣe || 22 ||
evā nūnam upa stuhi vaiyaśva daśamaṁ navam |
suvidvāṁsaṁ carkṛtyaṁ caraṇīnām || 23 ||
vetthā hi nirṛtīnāṁ vajrahasta parivṛjam |
ahar-ahaḥ śundhyuḥ paripadām iva || 24 ||
tad indrāva ā bhara yenā daṁsiṣṭha kṛtvane |
dvitā kutsāya śiśnatho ni codaya || 25 ||
tam u tvā nūnam īmahe navyaṁ daṁsiṣṭha sanyase |
sa tvaṁ no viśvā abhimātīḥ sakṣaṇiḥ || 26 ||
ya ṛkṣād aṁhaso mucad yo vāryāt sapta sindhuṣu |
vadhar dāsasya tuvinṛmṇa nīnamaḥ || 27 ||
yathā varo suṣāmṇe sanibhya āvaho rayim |
vyaśvebhyaḥ subhage vājinīvati || 28 ||
ā nāryasya dakṣiṇā vyaśvām̐ etu sominaḥ |
sthūraṁ ca rādhaḥ śatavat sahasravat || 29 ||
yat tvā pṛcchād ījānaḥ kuhayā kuhayākṛte |
eṣo apaśrito valo gomatīm ava tiṣṭhati || 30 ||
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).