Hymn to Indra
Rigveda VIII.93 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. You rise, O Sun, toward the bull of famous bounty, whose deeds are those of a hero — the hurler of the bolt.
2. He who broke ninety-nine strongholds by the strength of his arms, and slew the serpent — the Vṛtra-slayer.
3. May that Indra be a kind friend to us, yielding horses, cattle, barley — he milks forth like one with a broad-flowing stream.
4. Whatever exists today, O Vṛtra-slayer, over which the sun has risen — all that, Indra, is in your power.
5. Or when, O mighty lord of heroes, you think, "I will not die" — that too is true of you.
6. The somas that are pressed far away, and those pressed near — to all of them, Indra, you go.
7. We spur on that Indra to slay the great Vṛtra; may he prove himself the bull, the virile one.
8. That Indra is made for giving, most mighty, fixed firm in his exhilaration; he is splendid, renowned, worthy of the soma.
9. Gathered by the hymn like the thunderbolt, strong, unshaken, the lofty and unconquered one has grown mighty.
10. Even in hard straits make the way easy for us, when hymned, O Indra who loves praise-songs; for it is you, bounteous one, who have the power.
11. Whose command — your own sovereignty — not even now does anyone transgress: not a god, not an unyielding mortal.
12. Then, O fair-jawed one, the two divine worlds, heaven and earth, honor your unrivaled might.
13. You are the one who set this in place: the white milk within black cows, red cows, and dappled cows.
14. When all the gods fled apart before the serpent's fury, the might of the beast found them out.
15. Then he became my champion; the Vṛtra-slayer showed forth his manly power — he whose rival is not born, the unconquered one.
16. I proclaim to you the renowned, greatest Vṛtra-slayer, the champion-host of the peoples — for great vigor, for great bounty.
17. By this hymn seeking cattle, O you of many names, much-praised one, since you are present at every soma-pressing.
18. May the Vṛtra-slayer, receiver of many libations, be attentive to us; may the mighty one hear our prayer.
19. With what help do you delight toward us, O bull? With what help do you bring gifts to your praisers?
20. At whose pressed soma, with his team of steeds, does the bull rejoice, the mighty Vṛtra-slaying bull, for the drinking of soma?
21. Rejoicing, bring toward us a thousandfold wealth; show yourself a giver to the one who makes offering.
22. These pressed somas, together with their consort-waters, go eagerly to the feast — the mover of the waters, the nicumpuṇa.
23. The desired oblations have been sent forth to Indra, strengthening him at the rite, toward the closing offering, with might.
24. Here let those two fit for the shared feast, the golden-maned bay steeds, come to bear him to the offering that is set out.
25. For you, O radiant one, are these somas pressed, the barhis strewn — bring Indra to your praisers.
26. May he set your power through the shining realms, and treasures for the one who offers; sing praise to Indra for his praisers.
27. I set your Indra-power upon you with all my hymns, O hundred-powered one; be gracious, Indra, to your praisers.
28. Bring to us every good thing, nourishment and strength, O hundred-powered one, when, Indra, you are gracious to us.
29. Bring us all manner of good fortunes, O hundred-powered one, when, Indra, you are gracious to us.
30. You indeed, O greatest Vṛtra-slayer, we call, we who have pressed soma, when, Indra, you are gracious to us.
31. Come to our pressed soma with your bay steeds, O lord of exhilarations; come to our pressed soma with your bay steeds.
32. He who from of old is known as the greatest Vṛtra-slayer, Indra of a hundred powers — come to our pressed soma with your bay steeds.
33. For you, O Vṛtra-slayer, are the drinker of these somas; come to our pressed soma with your bay steeds.
34. May Indra give us wealth for our nourishment, wealth worthy of the Ṛbhus, wealth fit for Ṛbhukṣan; may the strong one give us strength.
Translator's note: verse 22's "nicumpuṇaḥ" is an obscure ritual term of uncertain meaning, rendered here conservatively by its bare sound rather than a guessed English equivalent. Verse 25 shifts address from Indra to a second deity (an epithet of Agni, "radiant one") who is asked to bring Indra to the rite — a known convention in this class of hymn, kept as the Sanskrit presents it.
Colophon
Rigveda VIII.93 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.93
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.
ud ghed abhi śrutāmaghaṁ vṛṣabhaṁ naryāpasam |
astāram eṣi sūrya || 1 ||
nava yo navatim puro bibheda bāhvojasā |
ahiṁ ca vṛtrahāvadhīt || 2 ||
sa na indraḥ śivaḥ sakhāśvāvad gomad yavamat |
urudhāreva dohate || 3 ||
yad adya kac ca vṛtrahann udagā abhi sūrya |
sarvaṁ tad indra te vaśe || 4 ||
yad vā pravṛddha satpate na marā iti manyase |
uto tat satyam it tava || 5 ||
ye somāsaḥ parāvati ye arvāvati sunvire |
sarvām̐s tām̐ indra gacchasi || 6 ||
tam indraṁ vājayāmasi mahe vṛtrāya hantave |
sa vṛṣā vṛṣabho bhuvat || 7 ||
indraḥ sa dāmane kṛta ojiṣṭhaḥ sa made hitaḥ |
dyumnī ślokī sa somyaḥ || 8 ||
girā vajro na sambhṛtaḥ sabalo anapacyutaḥ |
vavakṣa ṛṣvo astṛtaḥ || 9 ||
durge cin naḥ sugaṁ kṛdhi gṛṇāna indra girvaṇaḥ |
tvaṁ ca maghavan vaśaḥ || 10 ||
yasya te nū cid ādiśaṁ na minanti svarājyam |
na devo nādhrigur janaḥ || 11 ||
adhā te apratiṣkutaṁ devī śuṣmaṁ saparyataḥ |
ubhe suśipra rodasī || 12 ||
tvam etad adhārayaḥ kṛṣṇāsu rohiṇīṣu ca |
paruṣṇīṣu ruśat payaḥ || 13 ||
vi yad aher adha tviṣo viśve devāso akramuḥ |
vidan mṛgasya tām̐ amaḥ || 14 ||
ād u me nivaro bhuvad vṛtrahādiṣṭa pauṁsyam |
ajātaśatrur astṛtaḥ || 15 ||
śrutaṁ vo vṛtrahantamam pra śardhaṁ carṣaṇīnām |
ā śuṣe rādhase mahe || 16 ||
ayā dhiyā ca gavyayā puruṇāman puruṣṭuta |
yat some-soma ābhavaḥ || 17 ||
bodhinmanā id astu no vṛtrahā bhūryāsutiḥ |
śṛṇotu śakra āśiṣam || 18 ||
kayā tvaṁ na ūtyābhi pra mandase vṛṣan |
kayā stotṛbhya ā bhara || 19 ||
kasya vṛṣā sute sacā niyutvān vṛṣabho raṇat |
vṛtrahā somapītaye || 20 ||
abhī ṣu ṇas tvaṁ rayim mandasānaḥ sahasriṇam |
prayantā bodhi dāśuṣe || 21 ||
patnīvantaḥ sutā ime uśanto yanti vītaye |
apāṁ jagmir nicumpuṇaḥ || 22 ||
iṣṭā hotrā asṛkṣatendraṁ vṛdhāso adhvare |
acchāvabhṛtham ojasā || 23 ||
iha tyā sadhamādyā harī hiraṇyakeśyā |
voḻhām abhi prayo hitam || 24 ||
tubhyaṁ somāḥ sutā ime stīrṇam barhir vibhāvaso |
stotṛbhya indram ā vaha || 25 ||
ā te dakṣaṁ vi rocanā dadhad ratnā vi dāśuṣe |
stotṛbhya indram arcata || 26 ||
ā te dadhāmīndriyam ukthā viśvā śatakrato |
stotṛbhya indra mṛḻaya || 27 ||
bhadram-bhadraṁ na ā bhareṣam ūrjaṁ śatakrato |
yad indra mṛḻayāsi naḥ || 28 ||
sa no viśvāny ā bhara suvitāni śatakrato |
yad indra mṛḻayāsi naḥ || 29 ||
tvām id vṛtrahantama sutāvanto havāmahe |
yad indra mṛḻayāsi naḥ || 30 ||
upa no haribhiḥ sutaṁ yāhi madānām pate |
upa no haribhiḥ sutam || 31 ||
dvitā yo vṛtrahantamo vida indraḥ śatakratuḥ |
upa no haribhiḥ sutam || 32 ||
tvaṁ hi vṛtrahann eṣām pātā somānām asi |
upa no haribhiḥ sutam || 33 ||
indra iṣe dadātu na ṛbhukṣaṇam ṛbhuṁ rayim |
vājī dadātu vājinam || 34 ||
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).