Hymn to Indra
Rigveda VIII.97 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. The heavenly gifts you took, Indra, from the Asuras — bounteous one, strengthen just this praiser, and those who for you have strewn the sacred grass.
2. The horse, the cow, the imperishable portion that you, Indra, hold — place it with the sacrificer who presses soma and gives the priest's fee, not with the miser.
3. He who sleeps without vow, Indra, sleeping on, giving the gods no devotion — let him perish by his own ways; his growing wealth, set it far from him, aside.
4. Whether you, mighty one, are in the distance or nearby, Vṛtra-slayer — from there the soma-presser, with heaven-reaching songs, Indra, seeks to draw you here.
5. Whether you are in the bright realm of heaven, or above the ocean's expanse, or in your earthly seat, best of Vṛtra-slayers, or in the mid-space — come.
6. Soma-drinker, lord of strength, rejoice for us in the pressed somas — with bounty, with true and generous wealth, Indra, with riches in abundance.
7. Do not cast us aside, Indra; be our companion at the feast. You are our help, you alone our bond of kinship — do not cast us aside, Indra.
8. Sit with us, Indra, by the pressed soma, to drink the sweet draught. Grant great help to your singer, bounteous one; sit with us, Indra, by the pressed soma.
9. Neither gods nor mortals have matched you, wielder of the pressing-stone. You surpass all creatures in might; neither gods have matched you.
10. All the war-hosts together shaped the overpowering hero and gave birth to Indra to rule over them — widest in resolve, a crusher of the best, fierce, strongest, mighty, swift.
11. The singers cried out together to Indra, to drink of the soma — to the lord of light, for his increase, since the vow-keeper comes in strength, together with his helpers.
12. The inspired singers, sounding as one, bow with their gaze to the wheel-rim, to the ram — bright ones, free of guile, close to the ear of the swift one, together with the chanters.
13. I call loudly on that Indra, the bounteous, the fierce, who holds his powers always unchecked — most generous, worthy of worship: may he turn here at our songs; may the mace-wielder make every path smooth for our wealth.
14. Of old, Indra, you took note with this same might, mightiest one, powerful one, to destroy them. Before you all beings tremble; mace-wielder, heaven and earth both shake in fear.
15. May that truth of mine protect me, Indra, hero, wondrous one; carry us across our many troubles, mace-wielder, as over waters. When, Indra, will you grant us wealth — all-nourishing, worth longing for, O king?
Translator's note: Verse 10's "vara āmurim" and verse 12's imagery of bowing to a "wheel-rim" and a "ram" are obscure phrases whose precise referents are uncertain; they are rendered here conservatively, close to the literal Sanskrit, rather than resolved into a confident but speculative image.
Colophon
Rigveda VIII.97 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.97
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.
yā indra bhuja ābharaḥ svarvām̐ asurebhyaḥ |
stotāram in maghavann asya vardhaya ye ca tve vṛktabarhiṣaḥ || 1 ||
yam indra dadhiṣe tvam aśvaṁ gām bhāgam avyayam |
yajamāne sunvati dakṣiṇāvati tasmin taṁ dhehi mā paṇau || 2 ||
ya indra sasty avrato 'nuṣvāpam adevayuḥ |
svaiḥ ṣa evair mumurat poṣyaṁ rayiṁ sanutar dhehi taṁ tataḥ || 3 ||
yac chakrāsi parāvati yad arvāvati vṛtrahan |
atas tvā gīrbhir dyugad indra keśibhiḥ sutāvām̐ ā vivāsati || 4 ||
yad vāsi rocane divaḥ samudrasyādhi viṣṭapi |
yat pārthive sadane vṛtrahantama yad antarikṣa ā gahi || 5 ||
sa naḥ someṣu somapāḥ suteṣu śavasas pate |
mādayasva rādhasā sūnṛtāvatendra rāyā parīṇasā || 6 ||
mā na indra parā vṛṇag bhavā naḥ sadhamādyaḥ |
tvaṁ na ūtī tvam in na āpyam mā na indra parā vṛṇak || 7 ||
asme indra sacā sute ni ṣadā pītaye madhu |
kṛdhī jaritre maghavann avo mahad asme indra sacā sute || 8 ||
na tvā devāsa āśata na martyāso adrivaḥ |
viśvā jātāni śavasābhibhūr asi na tvā devāsa āśata || 9 ||
viśvāḥ pṛtanā abhibhūtaraṁ naraṁ sajūs tatakṣur indraṁ jajanuś ca rājase |
kratvā variṣṭhaṁ vara āmurim utogram ojiṣṭhaṁ tavasaṁ tarasvinam || 10 ||
sam īṁ rebhāso asvarann indraṁ somasya pītaye |
svarpatiṁ yad īṁ vṛdhe dhṛtavrato hy ojasā sam ūtibhiḥ || 11 ||
nemiṁ namanti cakṣasā meṣaṁ viprā abhisvarā |
sudītayo vo adruho 'pi karṇe tarasvinaḥ sam ṛkvabhiḥ || 12 ||
tam indraṁ johavīmi maghavānam ugraṁ satrā dadhānam apratiṣkutaṁ śavāṁsi |
maṁhiṣṭho gīrbhir ā ca yajñiyo vavartad rāye no viśvā supathā kṛṇotu vajrī || 13 ||
tvam pura indra cikid enā vy ojasā śaviṣṭha śakra nāśayadhyai |
tvad viśvāni bhuvanāni vajrin dyāvā rejete pṛthivī ca bhīṣā || 14 ||
tan ma ṛtam indra śūra citra pātv apo na vajrin duritāti parṣi bhūri |
kadā na indra rāya ā daśasyer viśvapsnyasya spṛhayāyyasya rājan || 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).