Hymn to Indra
Rigveda I.167 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.
Indra, the mighty lord, doth ride forth with the Maruts at his side,
His chariot doth thunder 'cross the sky with wheels that turn like lightning swift,
And all the gods do bow before him, for he is the king of heaven and of earth.
See how Indra doth advance, his bow held high and ready,
His arrows fly like birds of fire that strike the demon's heart asunder,
His sword doth cleave the darkness, his spear doth pierce the veil of shadow.
With the Maruts at his flanks, he formeth ranks invincible,
And naught can stand before his might, no foe can match his strength combined.
Indra hath conquered the great dragon in the ages long now past,
He released the waters that were bound within the serpent's coils,
He freed the sun from darkness, and the rain now falls upon the earth,
And all the worlds do flourish 'cause of Indra's deeds most glorious.
Yet even mighty Indra doth not scorn to fight beside the Maruts,
For he knoweth well that strength is greater when it is united,
That the roar of many voices doth echo louder through the heavens,
That the blow of many warriors doth strike with force multiplied beyond measure.
Together they do ride forth in the cosmic battle grand,
Against the demons of confusion and the powers of the dark,
Against the drought that drieth up the fields and rivers,
Against the sickness that doth lay the strong man low,
Against the ignorance that blindeth mortal eyes to truth eternal.
Indra speaketh unto the Maruts: Come now, let us ride together,
Let us strike as one vast force against the enemies of order,
Let us cleanse the world of evil, let us make the pathways safe,
That the sacrifice may rise pure unto the gods on high,
That the prayers of mortals may be heard and granted.
And the Maruts do respond: We stand with thee, O Indra,
We shall ride beside thee unto the ends of time,
We shall lend our strength unto thy strength, our fury unto thy fury,
And together we shall shake the very pillars of the world.
So Indra and the Maruts ride forth in their glory vast,
And all the cosmos doth resound with the thunder of their coming,
And the worlds do tremble, and the gods do celebrate their power,
And we mortals below do sing their praises with our voices raised,
Grateful for their protection and their endless vigilance.
Colophon
Rigveda I.167 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.167
sahasraṁ ta indrotayo naḥ sahasram iṣo harivo gūrtatamāḥ |
sahasraṁ rāyo mādayadhyai sahasriṇa upa no yantu vājāḥ || 1 ||
ā no 'vobhir maruto yāntv acchā jyeṣṭhebhir vā bṛhaddivaiḥ sumāyāḥ |
adha yad eṣāṁ niyutaḥ paramāḥ samudrasya cid dhanayanta pāre || 2 ||
mimyakṣa yeṣu sudhitā ghṛtācī hiraṇyanirṇig uparā na ṛṣṭiḥ |
guhā carantī manuṣo na yoṣā sabhāvatī vidathyeva saṁ vāk || 3 ||
parā śubhrā ayāso yavyā sādhāraṇyeva maruto mimikṣuḥ |
na rodasī apa nudanta ghorā juṣanta vṛdhaṁ sakhyāya devāḥ || 4 ||
joṣad yad īm asuryā sacadhyai viṣitastukā rodasī nṛmaṇāḥ |
ā sūryeva vidhato rathaṁ gāt tveṣapratīkā nabhaso netyā || 5 ||
āsthāpayanta yuvatiṁ yuvānaḥ śubhe nimiślāṁ vidatheṣu pajrām |
arko yad vo maruto haviṣmān gāyad gāthaṁ sutasomo duvasyan || 6 ||
pra taṁ vivakmi vakmyo ya eṣām marutām mahimā satyo asti |
sacā yad īṁ vṛṣamaṇā ahaṁyuḥ sthirā cij janīr vahate subhāgāḥ || 7 ||
pānti mitrāvaruṇāv avadyāc cayata īm aryamo apraśastān |
uta cyavante acyutā dhruvāṇi vāvṛdha īm maruto dātivāraḥ || 8 ||
nahī nu vo maruto anty asme ārāttāc cic chavaso antam āpuḥ |
te dhṛṣṇunā śavasā śūśuvāṁso 'rṇo na dveṣo dhṛṣatā pari ṣṭhuḥ || 9 ||
vayam adyendrasya preṣṭhā vayaṁ śvo vocemahi samarye |
vayam purā mahi ca no anu dyūn tan na ṛbhukṣā narām anu ṣyāt || 10 ||
eṣa vaḥ stomo maruta iyaṁ gīr māndāryasya mānyasya kāroḥ |
eṣā yāsīṣṭa tanve vayāṁ vidyāmeṣaṁ vṛjanaṁ jīradānum || 11 ||
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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