Hymn to Indra
Rigveda I.173 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 one, we do sing thy glory and thy splendor,
Thou who art the greatest of all the gods celestial,
Thy strength doth know no bounds, thy power is without limit,
And thy deeds do echo through the ages everlasting.
Thou art the one who did slay the great dragon of the depths,
Thou art the one who released the waters bound in darkness,
Thou art the one who brought the light unto the mortal world,
And thou art the one who doth protect us from all harm and evil.
What mighty deeds hath Indra wrought! What wonders hath he performed!
He did lift the mountains high, he did establish firm the earth,
He did stretch the sky above like a skin upon the drum,
And he did kindle forth the sun that shineth eternal.
Indra's strength is like the roaring of a thousand lions,
His power is like the crashing of a thousand waves upon the shore,
His will is like the force of wind that doth sweep all before it,
And his voice is like the thunder that doth shake the very heavens.
Thou hast conquered all thy enemies, O Indra, mighty lord,
The demons flee before thy face, the asuras do quail in fear,
No foe can stand against thee, no adversary can prevail,
For thy might is absolute and thy victory is ever assured.
Yet thou art not a tyrant, though thy power be supreme,
Thou art a just and righteous lord who ruleth with compassion,
Thou dost protect the weak and the helpless from the strong,
And thou dost ensure that order and justice do prevail.
Indra is the giver of all good things unto the mortals,
He doth bestow upon us the rain that maketh crops to flourish,
He doth grant us wealth and cattle and abundance manifold,
He doth bless us with the sons and daughters who do carry on our line.
We do sing thy praises, O mighty Indra, lord supreme,
We do acknowledge thy dominion o'er all the worlds created,
We do ask thee for thy favor and thy help in times of need,
We do give thee thanks for all the blessings that thou dost bestow.
May Indra ever reign victorious, may his strength never falter,
May his justice ever prevail, may his wisdom guide all things,
May he ever watch o'er us mortals with eyes of care and tenderness,
And may we be forever worthy of his great and glorious attention.
Colophon
Rigveda I.173 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.173
gāyat sāma nabhanya1ṁ yathā ver arcāma tad vāvṛdhānaṁ svarvat |
gāvo dhenavo barhiṣy adabdhā ā yat sadmānaṁ divyaṁ vivāsān || 1 ||
arcad vṛṣā vṛṣabhiḥ sveduhavyair mṛgo nāśno ati yaj juguryāt |
pra mandayur manāṁ gūrta hotā bharate maryo mithunā yajatraḥ || 2 ||
nakṣad dhotā pari sadma mitā yan bharad garbham ā śaradaḥ pṛthivyāḥ |
krandad aśvo nayamāno ruvad gaur antar dūto na rodasī carad vāk || 3 ||
tā karmāṣatarāsmai pra cyautnāni devayanto bharante |
jujoṣad indro dasmavarcā nāsatyeva sugmyo ratheṣṭhāḥ || 4 ||
tam u ṣṭuhīndraṁ yo ha satvā yaḥ śūro maghavā yo ratheṣṭhāḥ |
pratīcaś cid yodhīyān vṛṣaṇvān vavavruṣaś cit tamaso vihantā || 5 ||
pra yad itthā mahinā nṛbhyo asty araṁ rodasī kakṣye3 nāsmai |
saṁ vivya indro vṛjanaṁ na bhūmā bharti svadhāvām̐ opaśam iva dyām || 6 ||
samatsu tvā śūra satām urāṇam prapathintamam paritaṁsayadhyai |
sajoṣasa indram made kṣoṇīḥ sūriṁ cid ye anumadanti vājaiḥ || 7 ||
evā hi te śaṁ savanā samudra āpo yat ta āsu madanti devīḥ |
viśvā te anu joṣyā bhūd gauḥ sūrīm̐ś cid yadi dhiṣā veṣi janān || 8 ||
asāma yathā suṣakhāya ena svabhiṣṭayo narāṁ na śaṁsaiḥ |
asad yathā na indro vandaneṣṭhās turo na karma nayamāna ukthā || 9 ||
viṣpardhaso narāṁ na śaṁsair asmākāsad indro vajrahastaḥ |
mitrāyuvo na pūrpatiṁ suśiṣṭau madhyāyuva upa śikṣanti yajñaiḥ || 10 ||
yajño hi ṣmendraṁ kaś cid ṛndhañ juhurāṇaś cin manasā pariyan |
tīrthe nācchā tātṛṣāṇam oko dīrgho na sidhram ā kṛṇoty adhvā || 11 ||
mo ṣū ṇa indrātra pṛtsu devair asti hi ṣmā te śuṣminn avayāḥ |
mahaś cid yasya mīḻhuṣo yavyā haviṣmato maruto vandate gīḥ || 12 ||
eṣa stoma indra tubhyam asme etena gātuṁ harivo vido naḥ |
ā no vavṛtyāḥ suvitāya deva vidyāmeṣaṁ vṛjanaṁ jīradānum || 13 ||
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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