Hymn to Indra
Rigveda X.104 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.
The soma hath been pressed for thee, O oft-invoked one. With thy pair of dusky bays, speed swiftly to the holy feast.
The songs, whose heroes are the poets, hasten unto thee, O Indra. Drink of the pressed soma.
Thou of the dusky bays, drink here of the soma rinsed in the waters, pressed by our hands—fill thy belly!
The stones have loosed their bounty for thee, O Indra; with these draughts, uplift thy joy, thou who ridest the chariot of hymns.
I stir the strong drink, the true draught of pressed soma, for the bull—for thee to come forth, bearer of the dusky bays.
Indra, delight thyself here in our nourishing streams, while we hymn thee with all our sharpened thought.
By thy strength, O mighty one, and thy warlike hand, the fire-seers, truth-knowing and wise, have gained the life-bearing might and sat them in Manu’s house, O Indra, singing in joy and sharing in thy rapture.
By thy leading—praised one, well-graced and bright with splendor, O lord of the dusky bays—thy folk, thy song-givers, have won thy richest aid to carry them across. It is through thy open hand, O Indra.
O thou of the dusky bays, draw near our sacred words with thy twin steeds, to drink the pressed soma.
Indra, the rite hath found thee and waits in stillness. Thou art the pious mark of the sacrifice.
The giver of a thousand gifts, breaker of hate, lover of the pressing, he who heeds well-twisted hymns— unmatched Indra is attended by song. In the bard’s longing to bow low, he is struck with awe before Indra.
Seven are the godly streams, sweet and unbending, by which thou, Indra, breaker of keeps, didst cross the barred river, the ninety and nine flowing floods. Thou foundest the path for gods and for Manu.
Thou loosed the mighty waters from their bane, and thou, a god alone, didst keep them safe.
O Indra, those same streams born of thy triumph o’er Vr̥tra—may they uphold thy frame through all thy days.
The will of a hero—that is Indra. Good praise and the soma-stream both call him forth.
He shattered Vr̥tra; he widened the world; as the strong one, as triumph itself, he routed the battle-lines.
For blessing we call on bounteous Indra, most manful, at this raid, at the seizing of victory’s prize— he who heareth, he who aideth in strife, he who breaketh down bars—the winner of gifts.
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.104
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.
asāvi somaḥ puruhūta tubhyaṁ haribhyāṁ yajñam upa yāhi tūyam |
tubhyaṁ giro vipravīrā iyānā dadhanvira indra pibā sutasya || 1 ||
apsu dhūtasya harivaḥ pibeha nṛbhiḥ sutasya jaṭharam pṛṇasva |
mimikṣur yam adraya indra tubhyaṁ tebhir vardhasva madam ukthavāhaḥ || 2 ||
progrām pītiṁ vṛṣṇa iyarmi satyām prayai sutasya haryaśva tubhyam |
indra dhenābhir iha mādayasva dhībhir viśvābhiḥ śacyā gṛṇānaḥ || 3 ||
ūtī śacīvas tava vīryeṇa vayo dadhānā uśija ṛtajñāḥ |
prajāvad indra manuṣo duroṇe tasthur gṛṇantaḥ sadhamādyāsaḥ || 4 ||
praṇītibhiṣ ṭe haryaśva suṣṭoḥ suṣumnasya pururuco janāsaḥ |
maṁhiṣṭhām ūtiṁ vitire dadhānāḥ stotāra indra tava sūnṛtābhiḥ || 5 ||
upa brahmāṇi harivo haribhyāṁ somasya yāhi pītaye sutasya |
indra tvā yajñaḥ kṣamamāṇam ānaḍ dāśvām̐ asy adhvarasya praketaḥ || 6 ||
sahasravājam abhimātiṣāhaṁ suteraṇam maghavānaṁ suvṛktim |
upa bhūṣanti giro apratītam indraṁ namasyā jarituḥ pananta || 7 ||
saptāpo devīḥ suraṇā amṛktā yābhiḥ sindhum atara indra pūrbhit |
navatiṁ srotyā nava ca sravantīr devebhyo gātum manuṣe ca vindaḥ || 8 ||
apo mahīr abhiśaster amuñco 'jāgar āsv adhi deva ekaḥ |
indra yās tvaṁ vṛtratūrye cakartha tābhir viśvāyus tanvam pupuṣyāḥ || 9 ||
vīreṇyaḥ kratur indraḥ suśastir utāpi dhenā puruhūtam īṭṭe |
ārdayad vṛtram akṛṇod u lokaṁ sasāhe śakraḥ pṛtanā abhiṣṭiḥ || 10 ||
śunaṁ huvema maghavānam indram asmin bhare nṛtamaṁ vājasātau |
śṛṇvantam ugram ūtaye samatsu ghnantaṁ vṛtrāṇi saṁjitaṁ dhanānām || 11 ||
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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