Hymn to Indra
Rigveda VIII.98 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. Sing the great chant to Indra, the great inspired one — to the maker of law, the discerning one, worthy of praise.
2. You, Indra, are the all-conquering one; you made the sun shine. You are the maker of all, the god of all, you are great.
3. Shining with light, you went to the sun, to the luminous realm of heaven. The gods, Indra, have bound themselves to your friendship.
4. Come to us, Indra, dear one, ever-victorious, undeceivable, broad on every side like a mountain, lord of heaven.
5. For indeed, true drinker of soma, you have pervaded both world-halves. Indra, you are the strengthener of the one who presses soma, lord of heaven.
6. For you, Indra, are the breaker of the many strongholds, slayer of the Dasyu, strengthener of Manu, lord of heaven.
7. Then indeed, Indra who loves praise-songs, we pour out to you our great desires, as those who go forth carried along with the waters.
8. Like streams with their waters, the sacred prayers strengthen you, hero, even you who are already grown strong, wielder of the stone, day by day.
9. With a chant they yoke the two bay steeds of the vigorous one, in the wide, wide-yoked chariot — Indra's carriers, yoked by the word.
10. Bring to us, Indra, might and manly power, hundred-powered one, far-seeing one — a hero who prevails in battle.
11. For you, bountiful one, are our father; you have become our mother, hundred-powered one. So we beg for your favor.
12. You, mighty one, much-invoked, eager for the prize — I address you, hundred-powered one. Grant us good heroic strength.
Translator's note: verse 7's "udeva yanta udabhiḥ" is a compressed simile likening the worshippers' outpoured desires to things carried along by flowing water; rendered here conservatively as "those who go forth carried along with the waters." "Agohyaḥ" in verse 4 (literally "not to be hidden/concealed") is rendered "undeceivable."
Colophon
Rigveda VIII.98 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.98
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.
indrāya sāma gāyata viprāya bṛhate bṛhat |
dharmakṛte vipaścite panasyave || 1 ||
tvam indrābhibhūr asi tvaṁ sūryam arocayaḥ |
viśvakarmā viśvadevo mahām̐ asi || 2 ||
vibhrājañ jyotiṣā sva1r agaccho rocanaṁ divaḥ |
devās ta indra sakhyāya yemire || 3 ||
endra no gadhi priyaḥ satrājid agohyaḥ |
girir na viśvatas pṛthuḥ patir divaḥ || 4 ||
abhi hi satya somapā ubhe babhūtha rodasī |
indrāsi sunvato vṛdhaḥ patir divaḥ || 5 ||
tvaṁ hi śaśvatīnām indra dartā purām asi |
hantā dasyor manor vṛdhaḥ patir divaḥ || 6 ||
adhā hīndra girvaṇa upa tvā kāmān mahaḥ sasṛjmahe |
udeva yanta udabhiḥ || 7 ||
vār ṇa tvā yavyābhir vardhanti śūra brahmāṇi |
vāvṛdhvāṁsaṁ cid adrivo dive-dive || 8 ||
yuñjanti harī iṣirasya gāthayorau ratha uruyuge |
indravāhā vacoyujā || 9 ||
tvaṁ na indrā bharam̐ ojo nṛmṇaṁ śatakrato vicarṣaṇe |
ā vīram pṛtanāṣaham || 10 ||
tvaṁ hi naḥ pitā vaso tvam mātā śatakrato babhūvitha |
adhā te sumnam īmahe || 11 ||
tvāṁ śuṣmin puruhūta vājayantam upa bruve śatakrato |
sa no rāsva suvīryam || 12 ||
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).