Hymn to Indra
Rigveda X.101 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) from Maṇḍala 10 of the Rigveda, one of the 1,028 hymns organized within the ten books of the oldest Veda. The Rigveda was composed approximately 1700–1100 BCE in Vedic Sanskrit and preserved through oral transmission across millennia.
This is a Good Works Translation produced by the New Tianmu Anglican Church from the Sanskrit of the Śākala recension.
Awake in one mind, O fellows of the hearth.
Together kindle the flame, ye many, sprung from a single nest.
I call down Dadhikrā, Agni, and the fair Dawn, each in the train of Indra, to stand at your side.
Make all things meetly glad; stretch forth your wise thoughts as upon a loom.
Shape ye a boat that shall cross the flood, steady by its oars.
Set your arms in array; trim them aright.
Lead forth the hallowing eastward, ye gathered hearts.
Yoke the ploughs; stretch wide the beams; cast the seed in the readied womb of earth.
If the hearing be fit for our lay, then let the ripened grain bow nearer to our blades.
The singers yoke their ploughs;
apart they stretch the beams—
the far-seeing ones who seek grace among the gods.
Draw forth the buckets; bind the cords fast.
Let us dip from the water's womb, from the spring that faileth not, that giveth freely.
The fount is made ready, her buckets strung well, her cords goodly, her waters steadfast.
From her I draw—sweet and unfailing.
Gladden the steeds: ye shall win the prize.
Only see thy chariot be well-wrought, and bringer of blessing.
Dip from the fount, whose buckets are cups of wood, whose wheel is stone, whose cask is wrapped in fleece— the spring that slaketh the thirst of men.
Raise up a fold for her, for she giveth drink to thy host.
Sew stout mail for her, broad and well-fitted.
Forge her fortresses, strong as steel and storm-proof.
Let no leak fall from the beaker—make it whole.
I turn to you a keen thought, gods, meet for this rite— a hallowed handmaid to serve at this offering.
Let her give us her milk as a great cow doth, flowing in a thousand streams as she goeth to graze.
Pour forth the tawny draught into wood’s bosom.
Hew the cup with axes of stone.
Bind him with ten girth-bands.
Yoke the draught-horse to the twin poles of the car.
Slowly he moveth betwixt the poles, like a man between two wives in the bedstead.
Set the lord of wood to stand amid the trees; place him well, and dig not up the spring.
The yard, the yard—lift it, ye men.
Stir it, thrust it, if ye would gain the prize.
Speed Niṣṭigrī’s son hither in haste, and call Indra swift to drink the soma.
Colophon
This hymn is drawn from the Śākala recension of the Rigveda, composed approximately 1700–1100 BCE. This is a Good Works Translation produced by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, translated independently from the Sanskrit. Reference translations consulted during original translation are to be documented during audit.
Compiled and formatted for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.
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Source Text: ṛgveda X.101
Sanskrit source text from the Aufrecht edition (1877) via GRETIL (Van Nooten & Holland input). Presented here for reference, study, and verification alongside the English translation above.
ud budhyadhvaṁ samanasaḥ sakhāyaḥ sam agnim indhvam bahavaḥ sanīḻāḥ |
dadhikrām agnim uṣasaṁ ca devīm indrāvato 'vase ni hvaye vaḥ || 1 ||
mandrā kṛṇudhvaṁ dhiya ā tanudhvaṁ nāvam aritraparaṇīṁ kṛṇudhvam |
iṣkṛṇudhvam āyudhāraṁ kṛṇudhvam prāñcaṁ yajñam pra ṇayatā sakhāyaḥ || 2 ||
yunakta sīrā vi yugā tanudhvaṁ kṛte yonau vapateha bījam |
girā ca śruṣṭiḥ sabharā asan no nedīya it sṛṇyaḥ pakvam eyāt || 3 ||
sīrā yuñjanti kavayo yugā vi tanvate pṛthak |
dhīrā deveṣu sumnayā || 4 ||
nir āhāvān kṛṇotana saṁ varatrā dadhātana |
siñcāmahā avatam udriṇaṁ vayaṁ suṣekam anupakṣitam || 5 ||
iṣkṛtāhāvam avataṁ suvaratraṁ suṣecanam |
udriṇaṁ siñce akṣitam || 6 ||
prīṇītāśvān hitaṁ jayātha svastivāhaṁ ratham it kṛṇudhvam |
droṇāhāvam avatam aśmacakram aṁsatrakośaṁ siñcatā nṛpāṇam || 7 ||
vrajaṁ kṛṇudhvaṁ sa hi vo nṛpāṇo varma sīvyadhvam bahulā pṛthūni |
puraḥ kṛṇudhvam āyasīr adhṛṣṭā mā vaḥ susroc camaso dṛṁhatā tam || 8 ||
ā vo dhiyaṁ yajñiyāṁ varta ūtaye devā devīṁ yajatāṁ yajñiyām iha |
sā no duhīyad yavaseva gatvī sahasradhārā payasā mahī gauḥ || 9 ||
ā tū ṣiñca harim īṁ dror upasthe vāśībhis takṣatāśmanmayībhiḥ |
pari ṣvajadhvaṁ daśa kakṣyābhir ubhe dhurau prati vahniṁ yunakta || 10 ||
ubhe dhurau vahnir āpibdamāno 'ntar yoneva carati dvijāniḥ |
vanaspatiṁ vana āsthāpayadhvaṁ ni ṣū dadhidhvam akhananta utsam || 11 ||
kapṛn naraḥ kapṛtham ud dadhātana codayata khudata vājasātaye |
niṣṭigryaḥ putram ā cyāvayotaya indraṁ sabādha iha somapītaye || 12 ||
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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