Hymn to Indra
Rigveda VIII.52 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. As with Manu Vaivasvata, Śakra, you drank the pressed soma. As with Trita you took delight, Indra; you exhilarate together with Āyu.
2. In Pṛṣadhra, in Medhya, in Mātariśvan, Indra, when the soma was pressed you were gladdened — as with the soma in Daśaśipra, in Daśoṇi, in Syūmaraśmi, you are true to your course.
3. He who alone holds the hymns of praise, who boldly drank the soma — for him Vishnu strode out his three steps, according to the ordinances of Mitra.
4. Indra, you whose praise-songs delight you in the contest, mighty one, wielder of a hundred powers — we, seeking glory, call out to you as cowherds call to a good milk-giving cow.
5. He who is our giver is our father, the great one, the mighty one, the maker of rulers. May the mighty, bounteous one, rich in treasures, grant us cattle and horses on our journey.
6. He to whom you, good Indra, are generous with gifts attains an increase of riches. Seeking wealth, we call with our hymns upon Indra, lord of wealth, wielder of a hundred powers.
7. Never do you fail us; you protect both races of beings. O fourth Āditya, your indra-power, once invoked, stands immortal in heaven.
8. To whomever you grant aid, bounteous Indra, lover of song, eager to help the one who has offered — hear our songs and our fair praise; good Indra, hear our call as you heard that of the Kaṇvas.
9. The ancient hymn has been sung; speak the sacred word to Indra. The many great streams of truth have resounded; the praiser's inspired thought has poured forth.
10. Indra shook loose great riches, and set in motion the two worlds and the sun. The bright, pure soma drops, mixed with milk, gladdened Indra all together.
Translator's note: verses 1–2 name a cluster of figures — Manu Vaivasvata, Śakra (an epithet of Indra), Trita, Āyu, Pṛṣadhra, Medhya, Mātariśvan, Daśaśipra, Daśoṇi, Syūmaraśmi — evidently ancient soma-pressers or patrons associated with Indra's drinking; the Sanskrit gives only the names without further gloss, so they are kept untranslated. In verse 2, "ṛjūnasi" is rendered conservatively as "you are true to your course," the sense being uncertain. In verse 7, "turīyāditya" ("fourth Āditya") is kept literally as an epithet applied to Indra here, without asserting a fixed doctrinal identification.
Colophon
Rigveda VIII.52 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.52
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.
yathā manau vivasvati somaṁ śakrāpibaḥ sutam |
yathā trite chanda indra jujoṣasy āyau mādayase sacā || 1 ||
pṛṣadhre medhye mātariśvanīndra suvāne amandathāḥ |
yathā somaṁ daśaśipre daśoṇye syūmaraśmāv ṛjūnasi || 2 ||
ya ukthā kevalā dadhe yaḥ somaṁ dhṛṣitāpibat |
yasmai viṣṇus trīṇi padā vicakrama upa mitrasya dharmabhiḥ || 3 ||
yasya tvam indra stomeṣu cākano vāje vājiñ chatakrato |
taṁ tvā vayaṁ sudughām iva goduho juhūmasi śravasyavaḥ || 4 ||
yo no dātā sa naḥ pitā mahām̐ ugra īśānakṛt |
ayāmann ugro maghavā purūvasur gor aśvasya pra dātu naḥ || 5 ||
yasmai tvaṁ vaso dānāya maṁhase sa rāyas poṣam invati |
vasūyavo vasupatiṁ śatakratuṁ stomair indraṁ havāmahe || 6 ||
kadā cana pra yucchasy ubhe ni pāsi janmanī |
turīyāditya havanaṁ ta indriyam ā tasthāv amṛtaṁ divi || 7 ||
yasmai tvam maghavann indra girvaṇaḥ śikṣo śikṣasi dāśuṣe |
asmākaṁ gira uta suṣṭutiṁ vaso kaṇvavac chṛṇudhī havam || 8 ||
astāvi manma pūrvyam brahmendrāya vocata |
pūrvīr ṛtasya bṛhatīr anūṣata stotur medhā asṛkṣata || 9 ||
sam indro rāyo bṛhatīr adhūnuta saṁ kṣoṇī sam u sūryam |
saṁ śukrāsaḥ śucayaḥ saṁ gavāśiraḥ somā indram amandiṣuḥ || 10 ||
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).