Hymn to Indra
Rigveda I.52 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 Indra, slayer of the demon! Behold—we have prepared the soma for thee. We have crushed the sacred plant; we have filtered it through the wool. The golden liquid now awaiteth thee, O mighty one! Come and drink. Let the draught pass thy lips. Let it fill thy body with strength divine.
The demon Vṛtra shall tremble at thy approach! He concealeth himself in the mountains, thinking himself safe behind peaks of stone. But what wall can withstand thee? What fortification can contain thy rage when the soma hath filled thy limbs?
Thou shalt advance against him without hesitation. Thy chariot shall roll forward; thy horses shall stamp their hooves upon the earth with mighty thunder. Thou shalt raise thy thunderbolt—that supreme weapon, forged in the fires of creation—and thou shalt hurl it at the demon. The bolt shall strike true. The dragon shall shriek and writhe. His blood shall flow like rivers.
When Vṛtra falleth, the waters shall be released. The dammed-up torrents shall rush forth. The rains shall fall upon the parched earth. The cattle shall drink their fill. The crops shall grow tall in the renewed moisture. Life shall flourish anew.
And all this shall come to pass because thou, O Indra, hast drunk the soma and felt the god-power flow through thy veins. The intoxication giveth thee might; the ecstasy giveth thee will; the sacred draught giveth thee invincibility.
Therefore we make the offering unto thee, O Indra! Consume this soma with joy! Let it kindle in thee the fury and the power that shaketh worlds. For we depend upon thee, O demon-slayer. Without thy victories, without thy strength, the world would sink back into chaos. The demon would reign; the waters would be bound forever; all life would perish. But thou art our hope. Thou art our protector. Thus do we sing thy praises and offer thee the soma.
Colophon
Rigveda I.52 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.52
tyaṁ su meṣam mahayā svarvidaṁ śataṁ yasya subhvaḥ sākam īrate |
atyaṁ na vājaṁ havanasyadaṁ ratham endraṁ vavṛtyām avase suvṛktibhiḥ || 1 ||
sa parvato na dharuṇeṣv acyutaḥ sahasramūtis taviṣīṣu vāvṛdhe |
indro yad vṛtram avadhīn nadīvṛtam ubjann arṇāṁsi jarhṛṣāṇo andhasā || 2 ||
sa hi dvaro dvariṣu vavra ūdhani candrabudhno madavṛddho manīṣibhiḥ |
indraṁ tam ahve svapasyayā dhiyā maṁhiṣṭharātiṁ sa hi paprir andhasaḥ || 3 ||
ā yam pṛṇanti divi sadmabarhiṣaḥ samudraṁ na subhva1ḥ svā abhiṣṭayaḥ |
taṁ vṛtrahatye anu tasthur ūtayaḥ śuṣmā indram avātā ahrutapsavaḥ || 4 ||
abhi svavṛṣṭim made asya yudhyato raghvīr iva pravaṇe sasrur ūtayaḥ |
indro yad vajrī dhṛṣamāṇo andhasā bhinad valasya paridhīm̐r iva tritaḥ || 5 ||
parīṁ ghṛṇā carati titviṣe śavo 'po vṛtvī rajaso budhnam āśayat |
vṛtrasya yat pravaṇe durgṛbhiśvano nijaghantha hanvor indra tanyatum || 6 ||
hradaṁ na hi tvā nyṛṣanty ūrmayo brahmāṇīndra tava yāni vardhanā |
tvaṣṭā cit te yujyaṁ vāvṛdhe śavas tatakṣa vajram abhibhūtyojasam || 7 ||
jaghanvām̐ u haribhiḥ sambhṛtakratav indra vṛtram manuṣe gātuyann apaḥ |
ayacchathā bāhvor vajram āyasam adhārayo divy ā sūryaṁ dṛśe || 8 ||
bṛhat svaścandram amavad yad ukthya1m akṛṇvata bhiyasā rohaṇaṁ divaḥ |
yan mānuṣapradhanā indram ūtayaḥ svar nṛṣāco maruto 'madann anu || 9 ||
dyauś cid asyāmavām̐ aheḥ svanād ayoyavīd bhiyasā vajra indra te |
vṛtrasya yad badbadhānasya rodasī made sutasya śavasābhinac chiraḥ || 10 ||
yad in nv indra pṛthivī daśabhujir ahāni viśvā tatananta kṛṣṭayaḥ |
atrāha te maghavan viśrutaṁ saho dyām anu śavasā barhaṇā bhuvat || 11 ||
tvam asya pāre rajaso vyomanaḥ svabhūtyojā avase dhṛṣanmanaḥ |
cakṛṣe bhūmim pratimānam ojaso 'paḥ svaḥ paribhūr eṣy ā divam || 12 ||
tvam bhuvaḥ pratimānam pṛthivyā ṛṣvavīrasya bṛhataḥ patir bhūḥ |
viśvam āprā antarikṣam mahitvā satyam addhā nakir anyas tvāvān || 13 ||
na yasya dyāvāpṛthivī anu vyaco na sindhavo rajaso antam ānaśuḥ |
nota svavṛṣṭim made asya yudhyata eko anyac cakṛṣe viśvam ānuṣak || 14 ||
ārcann atra marutaḥ sasminn ājau viśve devāso amadann anu tvā |
vṛtrasya yad bhṛṣṭimatā vadhena ni tvam indra praty ānaṁ jaghantha || 15 ||
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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