Hymn to Indra
Rigveda I.2 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.
Come, O Vāyu, with thy steeds, with thy swift winds and chariotry. Thou dwellest in the spacious paths; thou art the life of all that moveth. Come unto our sacrifice, drink of the soma that we have pressed.
The winds do go before thee as messengers; they stir the waters and rouse the earth to wakefulness. Vāyu, thou art the breath of life, the spirit that sustaineth all living things. Without thee, nought doth move nor grow upon this earth.
Come, O Indra and Vāyu together, to our pressing of the soma. Drink ye deep of the sweet juice and rejoice in the offerings we make. Ye are the mightiest pair among the gods; grant us victory in battle and abundance in all we do.
O Mitra and Varuṇa, we invoke you both. Mitra, thou guardian of friendship and of contracts; Varuṇa, lord of the waters and of truth. Keep ye the sacred order; uphold the law of ṛta. Do ye protect our people and bring prosperity to our dwelling.
Come at dawn, O Mitra, when the light breaks forth; come at evening, O Varuṇa, when the stars appear. Ye are the lords of the day and of the night; ye rule over all things seen and unseen. Bless our sacrifice and make our offerings acceptable.
From the east cometh Mitra with the morning; from the western regions cometh Varuṇa at eventide. Together they ordain the course of the sun and the movements of the constellations. May their favor rest upon us always; may their protection never fail.
Colophon
Rigveda I.2 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.2
vāyav ā yāhi darśateme somā araṁkṛtāḥ |
teṣām pāhi śrudhī havam || 1 ||
vāya ukthebhir jarante tvām acchā jaritāraḥ |
sutasomā aharvidaḥ || 2 ||
vāyo tava prapṛñcatī dhenā jigāti dāśuṣe |
urūcī somapītaye || 3 ||
indravāyū ime sutā upa prayobhir ā gatam |
indavo vām uśanti hi || 4 ||
vāyav indraś ca cetathaḥ sutānāṁ vājinīvasū |
tāv ā yātam upa dravat || 5 ||
vāyav indraś ca sunvata ā yātam upa niṣkṛtam |
makṣv i1tthā dhiyā narā || 6 ||
mitraṁ huve pūtadakṣaṁ varuṇaṁ ca riśādasam |
dhiyaṁ ghṛtācīṁ sādhantā || 7 ||
ṛtena mitrāvaruṇāv ṛtāvṛdhāv ṛtaspṛśā |
kratum bṛhantam āśāthe || 8 ||
kavī no mitrāvaruṇā tuvijātā urukṣayā |
dakṣaṁ dadhāte apasam || 9 ||
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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