Hymn to Indra
Rigveda I.174 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.
The cosmic deeds of mighty Indra, we do recount now with voices filled with wonder,
The great and glorious acts that he hath wrought in ages past and present both,
The miracles and marvels that do testify unto his power without measure.
Indra did stride across the heavens, and with each footstep, worlds were created,
The span of his feet doth measure the space 'tween the earth and the sky,
His head doth touch the stars themselves, his body filleth all the cosmos,
And there is no place wherein Indra's might doth not reach and hold dominion.
He did fight the great battle 'gainst Vṛtra, the serpent of impediment,
For ages long and terrible, with thunder's awful voice they contended,
Until Indra, summoning forth all his strength eternal,
Did strike with the thunderbolt and shattered the serpent's immortal coils.
At that moment, the cosmos did convulse, the very fabric of being did rend asunder,
The waters that were trapped in darkness leaped forth like liberated slaves,
The light that had been bound in the serpent's grip burst forth and flooded all the worlds,
And the sun did shine in glory 'cross the heavens once again made clear.
Indra did rescue the sun from the demon Sūrya who had swallowed it,
He did reach into the depths and draw it forth with hands of thunder,
And the golden orb did rise again upon the eastern sky,
Bringing warmth and light and blessing unto all the living beings.
He did hold the mountains firm upon their seats eternal and unshakeable,
He did prevent the earth from sinking 'neath the weight of all the waters,
He did establish the foundations fast and keep them fast forever,
That the lands might know stability and not be lost in chaos.
Indra did protect the Ṛbhus, those divine craftsmen skilled and wondrous,
He did favor them with gifts of immortality and eternal life,
And their handiwork doth shine throughout the cosmos in testament to his regard.
He did grant unto Urvāśi, the heavenly damsel fair and beautiful,
The power to charm the mortal hearts and draw them toward the divine,
Yet also did he preserve their purity that they might serve the sacred purpose.
The cosmic deeds of Indra cannot all be numbered nor accounted,
For his actions span the vast expanse of time and space eternal,
And with each one of these great deeds doth he ensure that all creation doth maintain its being.
We mortals stand in awe before these wonders great and terrible,
We do praise Indra with our voices and our hearts devoted true,
And we do beg him to continue in his cosmic labors noble,
That all the worlds may flourish and be blessed by his eternal vigilance.
Colophon
Rigveda I.174 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.174
tvaṁ rājendra ye ca devā rakṣā nṝn pāhy asura tvam asmān |
tvaṁ satpatir maghavā nas tarutras tvaṁ satyo vasavānaḥ sahodāḥ || 1 ||
dano viśa indra mṛdhravācaḥ sapta yat puraḥ śarma śāradīr dart |
ṛṇor apo anavadyārṇā yūne vṛtram purukutsāya randhīḥ || 2 ||
ajā vṛta indra śūrapatnīr dyāṁ ca yebhiḥ puruhūta nūnam |
rakṣo agnim aśuṣaṁ tūrvayāṇaṁ siṁho na dame apāṁsi vastoḥ || 3 ||
śeṣan nu ta indra sasmin yonau praśastaye pavīravasya mahnā |
sṛjad arṇāṁsy ava yad yudhā gās tiṣṭhad dharī dhṛṣatā mṛṣṭa vājān || 4 ||
vaha kutsam indra yasmiñ cākan syūmanyū ṛjrā vātasyāśvā |
pra sūraś cakraṁ vṛhatād abhīke 'bhi spṛdho yāsiṣad vajrabāhuḥ || 5 ||
jaghanvām̐ indra mitrerūñ codapravṛddho harivo adāśūn |
pra ye paśyann aryamaṇaṁ sacāyos tvayā śūrtā vahamānā apatyam || 6 ||
rapat kavir indrārkasātau kṣāṁ dāsāyopabarhaṇīṁ kaḥ |
karat tisro maghavā dānucitrā ni duryoṇe kuyavācam mṛdhi śret || 7 ||
sanā tā ta indra navyā āguḥ saho nabho 'viraṇāya pūrvīḥ |
bhinat puro na bhido adevīr nanamo vadhar adevasya pīyoḥ || 8 ||
tvaṁ dhunir indra dhunimatīr ṛṇor apaḥ sīrā na sravantīḥ |
pra yat samudram ati śūra parṣi pārayā turvaśaṁ yaduṁ svasti || 9 ||
tvam asmākam indra viśvadha syā avṛkatamo narāṁ nṛpātā |
sa no viśvāsāṁ spṛdhāṁ sahodā vidyāmeṣaṁ vṛjanaṁ jīradānum || 10 ||
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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