Hymn to Indra
Rigveda VIII.66 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. With strength, urgently, we call upon Indra, finder of wealth, for our help — singing loudly at the soma-pressing, at the rite, I call him as one calls a laborer to carry the load.
2. Whom neither the violent nor the steadfast hold back, in the exhilaration of the soma-drink, the fair-jawed one — who, with due honor, is a giver to the one who labors and presses soma, a praiseworthy gift for the singer.
3. He, the mighty one, swift as a horse — or golden-adorned — he shakes open the cattle-pen, unbarring it, Indra the Vṛtra-slayer.
4. Even wealth long buried and hoarded by men he pours out to the one who honors him with offerings — the thunderbolt-bearer, fair-jawed, with bay steeds. Indra acts as he wills, by his own power.
5. What you have desired, much-praised one, even from ancient times, hero among men — that, Indra, we now bring to you: sacrifice, hymn, and forceful speech.
6. At the soma-pressings, much-invoked, thunderbolt-armed, heavenly soma-drinker, be present for the exhilaration. For you indeed are the best giver of desirable wealth to the one who fashions sacred speech, to the one who presses soma.
7. We gave him, the thunderbolt-wielder, soma to drink here only yesterday. To him again today bring the pressed soma — attend now upon the renowned one.
8. Even the wolf, the sheep-slayer, formidable, attends upon his tracks. Delighting in this our hymn of praise, come, O Indra, with your brilliant insight!
9. What indeed is left undone of Indra's manly power? By what report has the Vṛtra-slayer not been heard of, ever since his birth?
10. What indeed are his great, unassailable powers? What indeed remains unconquered by the Vṛtra-slayer? Indra prevails over all the bekanāṭas, the day-seers, and by his power over the Paṇis.
11. We indeed, most numerous, offer to you unprecedented sacred formulations, Indra, Vṛtra-slayer, much-invoked, thunderbolt-armed — we bring them forth like a wage.
12. Many hopes indeed call upon you, O doer of mighty deeds — our aids call upon you, Indra. Come, even across the rival lord's soma-pressings, O good one; hear my call, O mightiest!
13. We, the inspired poets, belong to you alone, Indra. For there is no other than you, much-invoked bounteous one, who shows such mercy.
14. Defend us from this poverty, from hunger, and from calumny. With your help, with your wondrous insight, assist us, O mightiest, finder of the path.
15. Let the soma indeed be pressed for you. Do not fear, O kalis — this one vanishes away; he himself departs.
Translator's note: several words in this hymn are obscure or attested nowhere else and are rendered conservatively. In verse 2, "muraḥ" (here "the steadfast") is uncertain. In verse 8, the image of "the wolf" attending Indra's "tracks" (vayuneṣu) is opaque in context and kept literal rather than resolved into a clearer image. In verse 10, "bekanāṭān" and "ahardṛśaḥ" are unclear terms — possibly names for classes of adversaries — and are transliterated rather than confidently translated. In verse 15, "kalayaḥ" (rendered "O kalis") is likewise an uncertain vocative, possibly addressing hostile or ill-omened beings; the verse as a whole resists a confident reading and is kept close to the Sanskrit word order.
Colophon
Rigveda VIII.66 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.66
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.
tarobhir vo vidadvasum indraṁ sabādha ūtaye |
bṛhad gāyantaḥ sutasome adhvare huve bharaṁ na kāriṇam || 1 ||
na yaṁ dudhrā varante na sthirā muro made suśipram andhasaḥ |
ya ādṛtyā śaśamānāya sunvate dātā jaritra ukthyam || 2 ||
yaḥ śakro mṛkṣo aśvyo yo vā kījo hiraṇyayaḥ |
sa ūrvasya rejayaty apāvṛtim indro gavyasya vṛtrahā || 3 ||
nikhātaṁ cid yaḥ purusambhṛtaṁ vasūd id vapati dāśuṣe |
vajrī suśipro haryaśva it karad indraḥ kratvā yathā vaśat || 4 ||
yad vāvantha puruṣṭuta purā cic chūra nṛṇām |
vayaṁ tat ta indra sam bharāmasi yajñam ukthaṁ turaṁ vacaḥ || 5 ||
sacā someṣu puruhūta vajrivo madāya dyukṣa somapāḥ |
tvam id dhi brahmakṛte kāmyaṁ vasu deṣṭhaḥ sunvate bhuvaḥ || 6 ||
vayam enam idā hyo 'pīpemeha vajriṇam |
tasmā u adya samanā sutam bharā nūnam bhūṣata śrute || 7 ||
vṛkaś cid asya vāraṇa urāmathir ā vayuneṣu bhūṣati |
semaṁ naḥ stomaṁ jujuṣāṇa ā gahīndra pra citrayā dhiyā || 8 ||
kad ū nv a1syākṛtam indrasyāsti pauṁsyam |
keno nu kaṁ śromatena na śuśruve januṣaḥ pari vṛtrahā || 9 ||
kad ū mahīr adhṛṣṭā asya taviṣīḥ kad u vṛtraghno astṛtam |
indro viśvān bekanāṭām̐ ahardṛśa uta kratvā paṇīm̐r abhi || 10 ||
vayaṁ ghā te apūrvyendra brahmāṇi vṛtrahan |
purūtamāsaḥ puruhūta vajrivo bhṛtiṁ na pra bharāmasi || 11 ||
pūrvīś cid dhi tve tuvikūrminn āśaso havanta indrotayaḥ |
tiraś cid aryaḥ savanā vaso gahi śaviṣṭha śrudhi me havam || 12 ||
vayaṁ ghā te tve id v indra viprā api ṣmasi |
nahi tvad anyaḥ puruhūta kaś cana maghavann asti marḍitā || 13 ||
tvaṁ no asyā amater uta kṣudho3 'bhiśaster ava spṛdhi |
tvaṁ na ūtī tava citrayā dhiyā śikṣā śaviṣṭha gātuvit || 14 ||
soma id vaḥ suto astu kalayo mā bibhītana |
aped eṣa dhvasmāyati svayaṁ ghaiṣo apāyati || 15 ||
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).