Hymn to Indra
Rigveda I.132 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 Indra, we beseech thee! Grant us victory! Thou art the wielder of the thunderbolt, the conqueror of demons, the lord of battles. Turn thy gaze toward us now, and let thy terrible strength fall upon our enemies!
We are the weak mortals who dwell upon this earth. We cannot match our foes in strength or numbers. Our arms are not as mighty as theirs. Our horses are not as swift. Our weapons are not as sharp. But we have thee, O Indra! We have thy power to rely upon! And this is more than all the strength in the world!
Hear our prayers! Listen to the voices of thy servants! We call upon thee with reverence and with hope. We kindle the sacred fires. We pour out the soma. We sing the ancient songs of praise. All of this we do in order that thou might'st hear us and take pity upon our plight.
Grant us the strength to stand firm when the enemy comes upon us. Grant us the courage to face the battle without fear. Grant us the wisdom to plan our strategies well. Grant us the luck that comes from thy blessing. And grant us the victory that shall make us prosperous and secure in our lands.
We promise thee, O Indra, that if thou dost grant us victory, we shall honor thee with the greatest sacrifices. We shall offer thee the finest animals from our herds. We shall sing thy praises and tell thy deeds throughout all generations. Thy name shall be remembered forever. Let thy power fall upon us now and crush our enemies beneath thy mighty hand!
Colophon
Rigveda I.132 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.132
nediṣṭhe asminn ahany adhi vocā nu sunvate |
asmin yajñe vi cayemā bhare kṛtaṁ vājayanto bhare kṛtam || 1 ||
ahann indro yathā vide śīrṣṇā-śīrṣṇopavācyaḥ |
asmatrā te sadhryak santu rātayo bhadrā bhadrasya rātayaḥ || 2 ||
vi tad vocer adha dvitāntaḥ paśyanti raśmibhiḥ |
sa ghā vide anv indro gaveṣaṇo bandhukṣidbhyo gaveṣaṇaḥ || 3 ||
aibhyaḥ samānyā diśāsmabhyaṁ jeṣi yotsi ca |
sunvadbhyo randhayā kaṁ cid avrataṁ hṛṇāyantaṁ cid avratam || 4 ||
tasmā āyuḥ prajāvad id bādhe arcanty ojasā |
indra okyaṁ didhiṣanta dhītayo devām̐ acchā na dhītayaḥ || 5 ||
dūre cattāya cchantsad gahanaṁ yad inakṣat |
asmākaṁ śatrūn pari śūra viśvato darmā darṣīṣṭa viśvataḥ || 6 ||
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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