Hymn to Indra
Rigveda I.134 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.
Vāyu, O wind-god! Thou art the first to drink the soma when it is pressed! Before all the other gods, before Indra himself, the soma cometh first to thy lips. Thou art honored among all the divine ones for thy swiftness and thy power.
O mighty wind, thou art everywhere! Thou canst not be seen, yet thy presence is felt in every corner of the world. Thou dost carry the scent of the flowers across the meadows. Thou dost push the clouds across the sky. Thou dost stir the waters of the sea into great waves. Thou art the breath of life itself, for without thee, all creatures would perish.
The warriors do invoke thy name before they go forth to battle, for thou art swift and strong. The merchant doth pray to thee, asking that thou might'st fill his sails and carry him safely across the sea. The farmer doth look to thee to bring the monsoon rains to his fields. Thou art essential to all aspects of mortal life.
O Vāyu, thou ridest in thy golden chariot across the sky! Thy steeds are the clouds themselves, swift and tireless. Thou dost travel from the highest mountains to the deepest valleys. No barrier can stop thee. No door can keep thee out. Thou art the most mobile of all the gods.
When we kindle the sacred fires and offer thee the soma, thy presence doth come near to us. Thou dost smell the sweet aroma of our offerings. Thou dost hear our voices calling out to thee. And in thy pleasure, thou dost grant us thy blessings. May thy swift winds carry our prayers to all the gods!
Colophon
Rigveda I.134 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.134
ūrdhvā te anu sūnṛtā manas tiṣṭhatu jānatī |
niyutvatā rathenā yāhi dāvane vāyo makhasya dāvane || 1 ||
yad dha krāṇā iradhyai dakṣaṁ sacanta ūtayaḥ |
sadhrīcīnā niyuto dāvane dhiya upa bruvata īṁ dhiyaḥ || 2 ||
pra bodhayā puraṁdhiṁ jāra ā sasatīm iva |
pra cakṣaya rodasī vāsayoṣasaḥ śravase vāsayoṣasaḥ || 3 ||
tubhyaṁ dhenuḥ sabardughā viśvā vasūni dohate |
ajanayo maruto vakṣaṇābhyo diva ā vakṣaṇābhyaḥ || 4 ||
tvāṁ tsārī dasamāno bhagam īṭṭe takvavīye |
tvaṁ viśvasmād bhuvanāt pāsi dharmaṇāsuryāt pāsi dharmaṇā || 5 ||
uto vihutmatīnāṁ viśāṁ vavarjuṣīṇām |
viśvā it te dhenavo duhra āśiraṁ ghṛtaṁ duhrata āśiram || 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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