Hymn to Indra
Rigveda VIII.99 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 eager men have made you swell, both yesterday and now, O wielder of the thunderbolt. O Indra, hear here the bringers of praise-hymns; come to the gathering.
2. Be exhilarated, fair-jawed one, lord of the bay horses — that is what we ask of you. The sages attend upon you. Your glories are incomparable, worthy of hymns, at the soma-pressings, O Indra who loves the songs of praise.
3. As all things turn toward the sun, so all partake of what is Indra's. Amid the treasures born of his might, engendering, we look, as it were, toward our share.
4. Praise the ungrudging one, the giver of wealth — good are Indra's gifts. He does not begrudge the wish of the one who serves him, urging his own mind toward giving.
5. You, Indra, in the onrushes of battle, overcome all rival hosts. You are the slayer of the reviler, the begetter, victorious over all; you overcome in battle those who would overpower others.
6. The two world-regions follow after your rushing might, as two mothers follow a child. All your rival hosts are struck down before your fury, Indra, when you overcome Vṛtra.
7. From here, with your help — we call on the unaging one, the impeller who is himself unimpelled, the swift conqueror, the urger-on, the best of charioteers, the unconquered, strengthener of the swift ones.
8. We call upon that same Indra for help — the setter-right, himself unbested, made mighty by strength, of a hundred aids, of a hundred powers, winner of goods, who speeds wealth toward us.
Translator's note: verse 3's syntax ("śrāyanta iva sūryaṁ... prati bhāgaṁ na dīdhima") and verse 7's compound "tugryāvṛdham" are among the most compressed in the hymn; both are rendered conservatively, staying close to the Sanskrit word order rather than smoothing them into fuller English sense. "tugryāvṛdham" is translated as "strengthener of the swift ones," since the precise reference of tugrya here is uncertain.
Colophon
Rigveda VIII.99 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.99
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.
tvām idā hyo naro 'pīpyan vajrin bhūrṇayaḥ |
sa indra stomavāhasām iha śrudhy upa svasaram ā gahi || 1 ||
matsvā suśipra harivas tad īmahe tve ā bhūṣanti vedhasaḥ |
tava śravāṁsy upamāny ukthyā suteṣv indra girvaṇaḥ || 2 ||
śrāyanta iva sūryaṁ viśved indrasya bhakṣata |
vasūni jāte janamāna ojasā prati bhāgaṁ na dīdhima || 3 ||
anarśarātiṁ vasudām upa stuhi bhadrā indrasya rātayaḥ |
so asya kāmaṁ vidhato na roṣati mano dānāya codayan || 4 ||
tvam indra pratūrtiṣv abhi viśvā asi spṛdhaḥ |
aśastihā janitā viśvatūr asi tvaṁ tūrya taruṣyataḥ || 5 ||
anu te śuṣmaṁ turayantam īyatuḥ kṣoṇī śiśuṁ na mātarā |
viśvās te spṛdhaḥ śnathayanta manyave vṛtraṁ yad indra tūrvasi || 6 ||
ita ūtī vo ajaram prahetāram aprahitam |
āśuṁ jetāraṁ hetāraṁ rathītamam atūrtaṁ tugryāvṛdham || 7 ||
iṣkartāram aniṣkṛtaṁ sahaskṛtaṁ śatamūtiṁ śatakratum |
samānam indram avase havāmahe vasavānaṁ vasūjuvam || 8 ||
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).