Hymn to Indra
Rigveda VIII.80 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. For there is no other comforter, O hundred-powered one — you, Indra, show us mercy.
2. You who have always helped us before, unfailing, for the winning of strength — you, Indra, show us mercy.
3. Why then, rouser of the weak, are you not the helper of the one who presses soma? Surely, Indra, you can act well on our behalf.
4. Indra, wielder of the pressing-stone, drive our chariot forward — even if it now stands at the back, put it at the front for me.
5. Come now — why do you sit still? Put our chariot first. Grant the highest glory to one eager for the prize.
6. Help our chariot that is eager for the prize — is it not easy for you? Make us truly victorious.
7. Indra, stand firm — you are a fortress, an auspicious one. Your appointed place awaits you. This prayer is offered at its right time.
8. Let no blameworthy one share in it — the wide goal, the prize that has been set. Let the excluded ones stay excluded.
9. When you carry out the fourth sacred rite, that is what we long for. Then indeed you are regarded as our lord.
10. He has strengthened you, immortal ones, all in a single day; he has gladdened the gods and the goddesses too. For him, make bounty renowned — may he, rich in devotion, come quickly, at dawn.
Translator's note: verse 1's "baḻākaram" and verse 8's "aratnayaḥ" are obscure terms without settled meaning; both are rendered conservatively here rather than guessed at with confidence. Verse 9's "turīyaṁ nāma yajñiyam" ("the fourth sacred name/rite") likely points to a specific ritual formula whose exact referent is not recoverable from the verse alone.
Colophon
Rigveda VIII.80 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.80
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.
nahy a1nyam baḻākaram marḍitāraṁ śatakrato |
tvaṁ na indra mṛḻaya || 1 ||
yo naḥ śaśvat purāvithāmṛdhro vājasātaye |
sa tvaṁ na indra mṛḻaya || 2 ||
kim aṅga radhracodanaḥ sunvānasyāvited asi |
kuvit sv indra ṇaḥ śakaḥ || 3 ||
indra pra ṇo ratham ava paścāc cit santam adrivaḥ |
purastād enam me kṛdhi || 4 ||
hanto nu kim āsase prathamaṁ no rathaṁ kṛdhi |
upamaṁ vājayu śravaḥ || 5 ||
avā no vājayuṁ rathaṁ sukaraṁ te kim it pari |
asmān su jigyuṣas kṛdhi || 6 ||
indra dṛhyasva pūr asi bhadrā ta eti niṣkṛtam |
iyaṁ dhīr ṛtviyāvatī || 7 ||
mā sīm avadya ā bhāg urvī kāṣṭhā hitaṁ dhanam |
apāvṛktā aratnayaḥ || 8 ||
turīyaṁ nāma yajñiyaṁ yadā karas tad uśmasi |
ād it patir na ohase || 9 ||
avīvṛdhad vo amṛtā amandīd ekadyūr devā uta yāś ca devīḥ |
tasmā u rādhaḥ kṛṇuta praśastam prātar makṣū dhiyāvasur jagamyāt || 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).