Hymn to Indra
Rigveda I.103 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) addressed to Indra, the storm-king and champion of the gods, slayer of Vṛtra, lord of thunder and rain. It is one of the 1,028 hymns of the Rigveda organized within Maṇḍala 1, the first of ten books. The ṛṣi (seer) to whom this hymn is attributed and its precise liturgical context are recorded in the traditional Śākalya Anukramaṇī.
The Rigveda is the oldest of the four Vedas and one of the oldest surviving religious texts in the world, composed approximately 1700–1100 BCE in the Vedic Sanskrit of the Indus-Sarasvatī region. Its hymns were preserved through oral transmission across millennia before being committed to writing. This is a Good Works Translation produced by the New Tianmu Anglican Church from the Sanskrit of the Śākala recension.
O thou who didst break Vṛtra with thy might, who split the darkness and released the light! The cloud-fort that the serpent-demon built, thou smote it down and drowned the world in guilt.
The great rock-cave where waters lay confined, thou didst unravel all its winding bind. The heavens opened, and the rain fell free; the waters rushed down to the waiting sea. The sun arose where darkness reigned before; thy thunderbolt unlocked the treasure door.
O Indra, cloud-splitter, storm-rider bold, thy deeds of valor shall forever be told. The mountains bow before thy mighty hand; the rivers answer to thy just command. Thou ridest in thy chariot swift and bright, and all the universe acknowledgeth thy might.
The Maruts dance with thee, the wind-gods wild; the demons flee like a cowering child. Thy roar doth fill the space from earth to sky; what mortal dares to question or defy?
We call to thee with soma pressed and sweet, and lay before thy altar sacred meat. Accept the offerings that we bring to thee — accept them now, and grant our victory.
The clouds do gather at thy sovereign will; the rains descend upon each vale and hill. The crops grow golden underneath thy sun; the cattle thrive when all thy works are done. But if thou turnest back thy gracious face, then famine cometh to the human race.
Grant us thy favor, O most mighty one; let our great deeds be sung when day is done. We mortals here below are weak and small — on thee, O Indra, we depend for all.
Colophon
Rigveda I.103 is drawn from the Śākala recension of the Rigveda, the version that has been transmitted and is considered canonical in the mainstream tradition. The Rigveda was composed approximately 1700–1100 BCE; this hymn addresses Indra, the storm-king and champion of the gods, slayer of Vṛtra, lord of thunder and rain. This is a Good Works Translation produced by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, translated independently from the Sanskrit. Reference translations consulted during original translation session to be documented during Kshatriya Blood Rule audit.
Compiled and formatted for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.
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Source Text: ṛgveda I.103
tat ta indriyam paramam parācair adhārayanta kavayaḥ puredam |
kṣamedam anyad divy a1nyad asya sam ī pṛcyate samaneva ketuḥ || 1 ||
sa dhārayat pṛthivīm paprathac ca vajreṇa hatvā nir apaḥ sasarja |
ahann ahim abhinad rauhiṇaṁ vy ahan vyaṁsam maghavā śacībhiḥ || 2 ||
sa jātūbharmā śraddadhāna ojaḥ puro vibhindann acarad vi dāsīḥ |
vidvān vajrin dasyave hetim asyāryaṁ saho vardhayā dyumnam indra || 3 ||
tad ūcuṣe mānuṣemā yugāni kīrtenyam maghavā nāma bibhrat |
upaprayan dasyuhatyāya vajrī yad dha sūnuḥ śravase nāma dadhe || 4 ||
tad asyedam paśyatā bhūri puṣṭaṁ śrad indrasya dhattana vīryāya |
sa gā avindat so avindad aśvān sa oṣadhīḥ so apaḥ sa vanāni || 5 ||
bhūrikarmaṇe vṛṣabhāya vṛṣṇe satyaśuṣmāya sunavāma somam |
ya ādṛtyā paripanthīva śūro 'yajvano vibhajann eti vedaḥ || 6 ||
tad indra preva vīryaṁ cakartha yat sasantaṁ vajreṇābodhayo 'him |
anu tvā patnīr hṛṣitaṁ vayaś ca viśve devāso amadann anu tvā || 7 ||
śuṣṇam pipruṁ kuyavaṁ vṛtram indra yadāvadhīr vi puraḥ śambarasya |
tan no mitro varuṇo māmahantām aditiḥ sindhuḥ pṛthivī uta dyauḥ || 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).
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