Hymn to Indra
Rigveda VIII.70 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. He who is king of the peoples, who travels unhindered with his chariots, who overcomes all battles — the greatest, the slayer of Vṛtra: him I praise.
2. Adorn that Indra, slayer of many, for his help — he for whose hand, at the great dispensing, the thunderbolt was set, visible, like the sun in the vast sky.
3. No one can reach him by any deed, he who has made himself ever-growing — Indra, praised by all through sacrifices, mighty, unassailable, bold in strength.
4. Unconquered, fierce, all-conquering in battles, in whom the great, wide-ranging powers dwell — at his birth the milk-cows lowed together, the heavens and the earth lowed.
5. Even if you had a hundred heavens, Indra, and a hundred earths besides, not a thousand suns could match you, O thunder-wielder; the two world-halves could not contain you at your birth.
6. You have filled all the bull-like powers with your greatness, O bull, most mighty one, with your strength. Help us, bounteous one, in the cattle-pen, O thunder-wielder, with your wondrous aids.
7. No godless mortal, however long-lived, has reached that vigor of yours — Indra, who yokes his two bay steeds; even swift Etaśa yoked them, Indra yokes them.
8. That Indra of yours, great, to be magnified, ever ready to give — who is to be called on in shallow fords, who is to be called on in far places, and is to be called on in contests for spoils.
9. Reach out for us, good one, toward great bounty, O hero. Reach out well toward great generosity, bounteous one; reach out, Indra, toward great renown.
10. You, Indra, seeking rightness for us, put down those who revile you. Dwell in our midst, you of mighty manly power; you strike down the dāsa with your blows.
11. May the friend, the mountain, shake down from heaven the one of alien ways, the inhuman, non-sacrificing, godless one — the mountain shakes down the Dasyu for easy slaying.
12. You, Indra, most mighty, gather wealth in hand to give to us, like grain — gather it twice over for us, wanting us for your own.
13. Friends, seek out his purpose — how shall we succeed in singing praise for the bounty? The generous patron who gives without shame.
14. You will be praised by many seers who have spread the sacred grass, since in this way, one by one, you gave away calves as gifts.
15. Having taken hold by the ear, the bounteous one of Śūradeva('s line) brought us a calf for the three; the patron brought a goat besides, for milking.
Translator's note: verses 13–15 form a dānastuti, a closing passage naming and thanking a human patron for gifts of livestock — a common feature at the end of Rigvedic hymns. The proper names and kinship terms in these verses (Etaśa/Etagvā in v.7, Śūradeva in v.15) are only partly recoverable; they are rendered conservatively rather than resolved with confidence.
Colophon
Rigveda VIII.70 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.70
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.
yo rājā carṣaṇīnāṁ yātā rathebhir adhriguḥ |
viśvāsāṁ tarutā pṛtanānāṁ jyeṣṭho yo vṛtrahā gṛṇe || 1 ||
indraṁ taṁ śumbha puruhanmann avase yasya dvitā vidhartari |
hastāya vajraḥ prati dhāyi darśato maho dive na sūryaḥ || 2 ||
nakiṣ ṭaṁ karmaṇā naśad yaś cakāra sadāvṛdham |
indraṁ na yajñair viśvagūrtam ṛbhvasam adhṛṣṭaṁ dhṛṣṇvojasam || 3 ||
aṣāḻham ugram pṛtanāsu sāsahiṁ yasmin mahīr urujrayaḥ |
saṁ dhenavo jāyamāne anonavur dyāvaḥ kṣāmo anonavuḥ || 4 ||
yad dyāva indra te śataṁ śatam bhūmīr uta syuḥ |
na tvā vajrin sahasraṁ sūryā anu na jātam aṣṭa rodasī || 5 ||
ā paprātha mahinā vṛṣṇyā vṛṣan viśvā śaviṣṭha śavasā |
asmām̐ ava maghavan gomati vraje vajriñ citrābhir ūtibhiḥ || 6 ||
na sīm adeva āpad iṣaṁ dīrghāyo martyaḥ |
etagvā cid ya etaśā yuyojate harī indro yuyojate || 7 ||
taṁ vo maho mahāyyam indraṁ dānāya sakṣaṇim |
yo gādheṣu ya āraṇeṣu havyo vājeṣv asti havyaḥ || 8 ||
ud ū ṣu ṇo vaso mahe mṛśasva śūra rādhase |
ud ū ṣu mahyai maghavan maghattaya ud indra śravase mahe || 9 ||
tvaṁ na indra ṛtayus tvānido ni tṛmpasi |
madhye vasiṣva tuvinṛmṇorvor ni dāsaṁ śiśnatho hathaiḥ || 10 ||
anyavratam amānuṣam ayajvānam adevayum |
ava svaḥ sakhā dudhuvīta parvataḥ sughnāya dasyum parvataḥ || 11 ||
tvaṁ na indrāsāṁ haste śaviṣṭha dāvane |
dhānānāṁ na saṁ gṛbhāyāsmayur dviḥ saṁ gṛbhāyāsmayuḥ || 12 ||
sakhāyaḥ kratum icchata kathā rādhāma śarasya |
upastutim bhojaḥ sūrir yo ahrayaḥ || 13 ||
bhūribhiḥ samaha ṛṣibhir barhiṣmadbhiḥ staviṣyase |
yad ittham ekam-ekam ic chara vatsān parādadaḥ || 14 ||
karṇagṛhyā maghavā śauradevyo vatsaṁ nas tribhya ānayat |
ajāṁ sūrir na dhātave || 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).