Hymn to Indra, with a Gift-Praise to Ātithigva and Aśvamedha
Rigveda VIII.68 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 turn the chariot toward you, for help, for favor — you of mighty deeds, who withstand every assault, O Indra, most powerful, lord of the good.
2. O mighty in strength, mighty in resolve, powerful one — with all your understanding you have filled the world with your greatness.
3. Your two hands, great in their greatness, hold the golden thunderbolt that ranges over the earth.
4. I call, for our help, the lord of all people, of unbending strength, together with the courses of the tribes and of the chariots.
5. For aid — him, the ever-strengthening one, whom men call upon, each in their own way, for help in the contests for heaven's light.
6. Indra, immeasurable, worthy of praise, mighty, of good bounty — even the ruler of all treasures.
7. That very Indra I urge on, for great bounty, to the drink — he who, the leader of the peoples, commands the ancient praise-song.
8. No mortal, O powerful one, has attained your friendship; no one shall attain your might.
9. Aided by you, with you as our ally, may we win great wealth in the waters, in the sunlight, in battles, O wielder of the thunderbolt.
10. We beseech you with sacrifices, you with our songs, O you who most delight in song — Indra, just as you once helped the one of many powers in the contests for strength.
11. You whose friendship is sweet, whose guidance is sweet, O stone-armed one — your sacrifice deserves to be prolonged.
12. Extend wide room for our bodies; make wide room for us to dwell; grant us wide room to live.
13. A wide path for our men, a wide path for our cattle, a wide path for the chariot — this we desire, the feast of the gods.
14. Six men, two by two, bringing sweet gifts, come and stand by me, with the gladdening draughts of soma.
15. And, O Indra, I have received two ruddy bay horses from the son of Ṛkṣa, and two red horses from Aśvamedha.
16. Horses good at the chariot, from Ātithigva; well-reined ones, from the son of Ṛkṣa; well-adorned ones, from Aśvamedha.
17. Six horses, with mares besides, I have won from Ātithigva, O Indra — together, from the pure-minded one.
18. Among these shines forth, among the bay horses, the ruddy mare — vigorous, well-reined, carrying the whip.
19. No mortal, even one wishing to find fault, shall ever lay blame on you, O comrades of the race.
Translator's note: Verses 6–7, 10, and 17–19 carry compressed epithets and proper names (ṛcīṣamam, purumāyyam, pūtakratau, vājabandhavaḥ) whose precise sense is debated; they are rendered conservatively, staying close to their literal components rather than resolving the ambiguity. Ātithigva, "the son of Ṛkṣa," and Aśvamedha are treated as the human patrons named in the gift-praise (dānastuti) that closes the hymn, following the shift in address from Indra to the poet's donors beginning at verse 14.
Colophon
Rigveda VIII.68 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.68
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.
ā tvā rathaṁ yathotaye sumnāya vartayāmasi |
tuvikūrmim ṛtīṣaham indra śaviṣṭha satpate || 1 ||
tuviśuṣma tuvikrato śacīvo viśvayā mate |
ā paprātha mahitvanā || 2 ||
yasya te mahinā mahaḥ pari jmāyantam īyatuḥ |
hastā vajraṁ hiraṇyayam || 3 ||
viśvānarasya vas patim anānatasya śavasaḥ |
evaiś ca carṣaṇīnām ūtī huve rathānām || 4 ||
abhiṣṭaye sadāvṛdhaṁ svarmīḻheṣu yaṁ naraḥ |
nānā havanta ūtaye || 5 ||
paromātram ṛcīṣamam indram ugraṁ surādhasam |
īśānaṁ cid vasūnām || 6 ||
taṁ-tam id rādhase maha indraṁ codāmi pītaye |
yaḥ pūrvyām anuṣṭutim īśe kṛṣṭīnāṁ nṛtuḥ || 7 ||
na yasya te śavasāna sakhyam ānaṁśa martyaḥ |
nakiḥ śavāṁsi te naśat || 8 ||
tvotāsas tvā yujāpsu sūrye mahad dhanam |
jayema pṛtsu vajrivaḥ || 9 ||
taṁ tvā yajñebhir īmahe taṁ gīrbhir girvaṇastama |
indra yathā cid āvitha vājeṣu purumāyyam || 10 ||
yasya te svādu sakhyaṁ svādvī praṇītir adrivaḥ |
yajño vitantasāyyaḥ || 11 ||
uru ṇas tanve3 tana uru kṣayāya nas kṛdhi |
uru ṇo yandhi jīvase || 12 ||
uruṁ nṛbhya uruṁ gava uruṁ rathāya panthām |
devavītim manāmahe || 13 ||
upa mā ṣaḍ dvā-dvā naraḥ somasya harṣyā |
tiṣṭhanti svādurātayaḥ || 14 ||
ṛjrāv indrota ā dade harī ṛkṣasya sūnavi |
āśvamedhasya rohitā || 15 ||
surathām̐ ātithigve svabhīśūm̐r ārkṣe |
āśvamedhe supeśasaḥ || 16 ||
ṣaḻ aśvām̐ ātithigva indrote vadhūmataḥ |
sacā pūtakratau sanam || 17 ||
aiṣu cetad vṛṣaṇvaty antar ṛjreṣv aruṣī |
svabhīśuḥ kaśāvatī || 18 ||
na yuṣme vājabandhavo ninitsuś cana martyaḥ |
avadyam adhi dīdharat || 19 ||
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).