Hymn to Indra
Rigveda I.63 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.
None hath arisen to match thy glory, O Indra. The gods themselves acknowledge thy supremacy. When thou dost stand forth in armor, even the demons pale and retreat. The demon Dhuni fled at thy name alone, ere thou hadst drawn thy bow.
What feat hast thou not accomplished? What foe hath not fallen before thee? Thou didst slay Ahi the serpent-dragon—he whose coils encompassed the waters of heaven and earth. Thou didst free the sun from the devouring darkness. Thou didst break the chains that bound Soma, and made the soma-drink sacred to all men.
With arms that know no weariness, thou subdued the wild horses of the storm. The Maruts themselves become but thy companions when thou ridest forth to battle. The thunderbolt in thy hand is as a scepter—the very emblem of thy dominion over all created things.
Yet who art thou, O Indra? Art thou merely a god among many? Nay! Thou art the supreme lord of victory, the unrivaled champion. When men call upon thy name in their hour of need, it is thou alone who hearest. It is thy strength that sustains them. It is thy wisdom that guideth them through the labyrinth of this world.
Therefore we sing thy praises with voices of exultation! We pour out the soma in thy honor. We kindle the sacred fires. We invoke thee with all the fervor of our hearts. Grant us thy protection, thy favor, thy blessing. Make us undefeated in all our struggles. For thou art Indra the Mighty, the Unrivaled, the One Upon Whom All Depends!
Colophon
Rigveda I.63 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.
🌲
Source Text: ṛgveda I.63
tvam mahām̐ indra yo ha śuṣmair dyāvā jajñānaḥ pṛthivī ame dhāḥ |
yad dha te viśvā girayaś cid abhvā bhiyā dṛḻhāsaḥ kiraṇā naijan || 1 ||
ā yad dharī indra vivratā ver ā te vajraṁ jaritā bāhvor dhāt |
yenāviharyatakrato amitrān pura iṣṇāsi puruhūta pūrvīḥ || 2 ||
tvaṁ satya indra dhṛṣṇur etān tvam ṛbhukṣā naryas tvaṁ ṣāṭ |
tvaṁ śuṣṇaṁ vṛjane pṛkṣa āṇau yūne kutsāya dyumate sacāhan || 3 ||
tvaṁ ha tyad indra codīḥ sakhā vṛtraṁ yad vajrin vṛṣakarmann ubhnāḥ |
yad dha śūra vṛṣamaṇaḥ parācair vi dasyūm̐r yonāv akṛto vṛthāṣāṭ || 4 ||
tvaṁ ha tyad indrāriṣaṇyan dṛḻhasya cin martānām ajuṣṭau |
vy a1smad ā kāṣṭhā arvate var ghaneva vajriñ chnathihy amitrān || 5 ||
tvāṁ ha tyad indrārṇasātau svarmīḻhe nara ājā havante |
tava svadhāva iyam ā samarya ūtir vājeṣv atasāyyā bhūt || 6 ||
tvaṁ ha tyad indra sapta yudhyan puro vajrin purukutsāya dardaḥ |
barhir na yat sudāse vṛthā varg aṁho rājan varivaḥ pūrave kaḥ || 7 ||
tvaṁ tyāṁ na indra deva citrām iṣam āpo na pīpayaḥ parijman |
yayā śūra praty asmabhyaṁ yaṁsi tmanam ūrjaṁ na viśvadha kṣaradhyai || 8 ||
akāri ta indra gotamebhir brahmāṇy oktā namasā haribhyām |
supeśasaṁ vājam ā bharā naḥ prātar makṣū dhiyāvasur jagamyāt || 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).
🌲