Hymn to Indra
Rigveda I.155 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 Viṣṇu! O Indra! The strider and the thunderer! Together ye are mighty beyond measure! Joined in purpose, ye are the defenders of all existence against the forces of chaos and darkness.
Viṣṇu! Thy steps have established the dwelling-places for all beings. Thou hast measured and ordered the cosmos so that it doth not collapse into formlessness. Thy power is the power of sustaining, of maintaining, of preserving all things in their proper order.
Indra! Thy thunderbolt breaketh through obstacles! When the demon doth rise and threaten to overwhelm the world, thou rushest forth with thy mighty power and defeaest him. Thy power is the power of transformation, of destruction of the evil, of victory.
Together ye art the balance! Viṣṇu preserveth that which is good. Indra destroyeth that which is harmful. Viṣṇu holdeth the cosmos in its place. Indra breaketh the bonds that would imprison the world.
We warriors call upon Indra before we go forth to battle. Grant us thy courage! Grant us thy strength! Make our arms mighty! Make our arrows true! Let our enemies tremble before us!
And when victory cometh, we call upon Viṣṇu. Thou who hast established the order of all things, help us now to build anew! Help us to establish justice in the lands we have conquered! Help us to create lasting prosperity from the victory we have won!
O Viṣṇu and Indra! Ye are the saviors of existence! When the chaos-demon arose in ancient times, ye worked together to defeat it. When the serpent that sought to devour all things threatened the world, ye united to slay it.
Grant us the wisdom to balance your power within ourselves! Let us preserve that which is good, and let us boldly destroy that which is evil! Let us build and let us defend! Let us sustain and let us transform!
We praise you both! Accept our offerings! Grant us your favour!
Colophon
Rigveda I.155 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.155
pra vaḥ pāntam andhaso dhiyāyate mahe śūrāya viṣṇave cārcata |
yā sānuni parvatānām adābhyā mahas tasthatur arvateva sādhunā || 1 ||
tveṣam itthā samaraṇaṁ śimīvator indrāviṣṇū sutapā vām uruṣyati |
yā martyāya pratidhīyamānam it kṛśānor astur asanām uruṣyathaḥ || 2 ||
tā īṁ vardhanti mahy asya pauṁsyaṁ ni mātarā nayati retase bhuje |
dadhāti putro 'varam param pitur nāma tṛtīyam adhi rocane divaḥ || 3 ||
tat-tad id asya pauṁsyaṁ gṛṇīmasīnasya trātur avṛkasya mīḻhuṣaḥ |
yaḥ pārthivāni tribhir id vigāmabhir uru kramiṣṭorugāyāya jīvase || 4 ||
dve id asya kramaṇe svardṛśo 'bhikhyāya martyo bhuraṇyati |
tṛtīyam asya nakir ā dadharṣati vayaś cana patayantaḥ patatriṇaḥ || 5 ||
caturbhiḥ sākaṁ navatiṁ ca nāmabhiś cakraṁ na vṛttaṁ vyatīm̐r avīvipat |
bṛhaccharīro vimimāna ṛkvabhir yuvākumāraḥ praty ety āhavam || 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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