Hymn to Indra
Rigveda VIII.32 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. Proclaim, O Kāṇvas, with a song, the deeds of Indra who loves the soma-lees, in the exhilaration of soma.
2. Who, the mighty one, slew Sṛbinda, Anarśani, Pipru the Dāsa, and Ahīśuva, releasing the waters.
3. Level down the summit of Arbuda, the height of the great one — perform that manly deed, O Indra.
4. Boldly, to the renowned one — like a swift one upon the mountain — I call the fair-cheeked one for help.
5. He, delighting, bursts open the pen of cattle and horses for those worthy of soma, like a fortress, O hero.
6. If you delight in my pressed soma, or take pleasure in my hymn, come near of your own accord.
7. We indeed are yours, O Indra who loves praise-songs, your praisers — quicken us, O soma-drinker.
8. And bring us food, freely giving and inexhaustible, O bounteous one — abundant is your wealth.
9. And make us rich in cattle, rich in gold, rich in horses — may we grasp abundance together with our offerings.
10. We call the one of the mighty hymn, the swift-armed one, for help — who acts rightly, for our protection.
11. Who, the hundred-powered one, even at the decisive moment, the Vṛtra-slayer, grants wealth to the singers, he who is rich in treasures.
12. May the mighty Indra empower us, bringing gifts, with all his protections.
13. Sing to that Indra who is the great stream of wealth, easy to cross, the friend of the soma-presser.
14. The great and steadfast one who comes, winner of glory in battles, lord of abundance through his might.
15. No one restrains his mighty deeds, his generous gifts; no one can say "he will not give."
16. Now indeed the eager soma-pressing priests owe no debt; soma is never drunk without its reward.
17. Sing to the praiseworthy one, recite hymns to the praiseworthy one, offer prayers indeed to the praiseworthy one.
18. The praiseworthy one has broken open hundreds and thousands of prizes, unhindered — Indra, who is the strengthener of the one who sacrifices.
19. Move about freely by your own nature, called on by the peoples; Indra, drink of the pressed soma.
20. Drink the soma that is your own, and that which is with Tugra's kin, and this too, O Indra, which is yours.
21. Pass by the wrathful one who has pressed soma in rivalry; drink this soma that is offered.
22. Come from the three far realms, come beyond the five peoples — the singing has reached Indra.
23. As the sun sends forth its ray, may my songs hold you fast, like waters flowing together toward the low ground.
24. O Adhvaryu priest, pour the soma for the heroic, fair-cheeked one; bring it for the drinking of the pressed juice.
25. Who split open the vessel of the waters and let the rivers loose downward, who set the ripened milk within the cows.
26. He slew Vṛtra, O you of the mighty hymns, and Aurṇavābha and Ahīśuva; he pierced Arbuda with frost.
27. Sing forth the god-given prayer to the fierce, relentless one, the unconquered, all-conquering one.
28. Indra, who in the exhilaration of the soma plant, stands out above all ordinances among the gods.
29. Here are those two fellow-revelers, the two bay steeds with golden manes, carrying him to the offering that is prepared.
30. O much-praised one, may the two bay steeds praised by Priyamedha carry you hither, for the drinking of soma.
Translator's note: This hymn names several demons and enemies slain by Indra — Sṛbinda, Anarśani, Pipru, Ahīśuva, Arbuda, and Aurṇavābha (v. 2, 26) — kept here as proper names rather than translated, following standard practice, since their meanings are uncertain. "Tugrye" (v. 20) likely refers to Tugra or his people, a figure elsewhere in the Rigveda; the exact sense of the phrase is not fully certain and is rendered conservatively. A few compound epithets (e.g. "sṛprakarasnam," v. 10; "dhenā," v. 22) admit more than one plausible reading; the renderings above favor the most literal sense of the Sanskrit roots.
Colophon
Rigveda VIII.32 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.32
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.
pra kṛtāny ṛjīṣiṇaḥ kaṇvā indrasya gāthayā |
made somasya vocata || 1 ||
yaḥ sṛbindam anarśanim pipruṁ dāsam ahīśuvam |
vadhīd ugro riṇann apaḥ || 2 ||
ny arbudasya viṣṭapaṁ varṣmāṇam bṛhatas tira |
kṛṣe tad indra pauṁsyam || 3 ||
prati śrutāya vo dhṛṣat tūrṇāśaṁ na girer adhi |
huve suśipram ūtaye || 4 ||
sa gor aśvasya vi vrajam mandānaḥ somyebhyaḥ |
puraṁ na śūra darṣasi || 5 ||
yadi me rāraṇaḥ suta ukthe vā dadhase canaḥ |
ārād upa svadhā gahi || 6 ||
vayaṁ ghā te api ṣmasi stotāra indra girvaṇaḥ |
tvaṁ no jinva somapāḥ || 7 ||
uta naḥ pitum ā bhara saṁrarāṇo avikṣitam |
maghavan bhūri te vasu || 8 ||
uta no gomatas kṛdhi hiraṇyavato aśvinaḥ |
iḻābhiḥ saṁ rabhemahi || 9 ||
bṛbadukthaṁ havāmahe sṛprakarasnam ūtaye |
sādhu kṛṇvantam avase || 10 ||
yaḥ saṁsthe cic chatakratur ād īṁ kṛṇoti vṛtrahā |
jaritṛbhyaḥ purūvasuḥ || 11 ||
sa naḥ śakraś cid ā śakad dānavām̐ antarābharaḥ |
indro viśvābhir ūtibhiḥ || 12 ||
yo rāyo3 'vanir mahān supāraḥ sunvataḥ sakhā |
tam indram abhi gāyata || 13 ||
āyantāram mahi sthiram pṛtanāsu śravojitam |
bhūrer īśānam ojasā || 14 ||
nakir asya śacīnāṁ niyantā sūnṛtānām |
nakir vaktā na dād iti || 15 ||
na nūnam brahmaṇām ṛṇam prāśūnām asti sunvatām |
na somo apratā pape || 16 ||
panya id upa gāyata panya ukthāni śaṁsata |
brahmā kṛṇota panya it || 17 ||
panya ā dardirac chatā sahasrā vājy avṛtaḥ |
indro yo yajvano vṛdhaḥ || 18 ||
vi ṣū cara svadhā anu kṛṣṭīnām anv āhuvaḥ |
indra piba sutānām || 19 ||
piba svadhainavānām uta yas tugrye sacā |
utāyam indra yas tava || 20 ||
atīhi manyuṣāviṇaṁ suṣuvāṁsam upāraṇe |
imaṁ rātaṁ sutam piba || 21 ||
ihi tisraḥ parāvata ihi pañca janām̐ ati |
dhenā indrāvacākaśat || 22 ||
sūryo raśmiṁ yathā sṛjā tvā yacchantu me giraḥ |
nimnam āpo na sadhryak || 23 ||
adhvaryav ā tu hi ṣiñca somaṁ vīrāya śipriṇe |
bharā sutasya pītaye || 24 ||
ya udnaḥ phaligam bhinan nya1k sindhūm̐r avāsṛjat |
yo goṣu pakvaṁ dhārayat || 25 ||
ahan vṛtram ṛcīṣama aurṇavābham ahīśuvam |
himenāvidhyad arbudam || 26 ||
pra va ugrāya niṣṭure 'ṣāḻhāya prasakṣiṇe |
devattam brahma gāyata || 27 ||
yo viśvāny abhi vratā somasya made andhasaḥ |
indro deveṣu cetati || 28 ||
iha tyā sadhamādyā harī hiraṇyakeśyā |
voḻhām abhi prayo hitam || 29 ||
arvāñcaṁ tvā puruṣṭuta priyamedhastutā harī |
somapeyāya vakṣataḥ || 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).