Hymn to Indra
Rigveda X.108 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.
What seekest thou, Saramā, that thou art come this far?
The road is long, and the far reach devoureth the wanderer.
What errand draweth thee to our dark door?
By what craft didst thou cross the black waters of Rasā?
By Indra’s word I ride, his messenger sent swift.
I come to seek the hoards ye hide, ye Paṇis, great and deep.
Though fear did seize us in the leap, a force unseen did bear us— so was Rasā crossed, and I stand now before thee.
And what is this Indra, then, that thou shouldst race in his name?
What look hath he, whose call thou heedest from afar?
If he will stand before us, we shall make terms— he may tend our herds and guard our kine.
I know him not as one to be fooled—
he is the fooler of all fools.
The deep-flowing rivers veil him not.
Indra shall break you, Paṇis, and ye shall lie in dust.
Thou wouldst take these kine thou didst glimpse from heaven’s edge?
Think not we’ll yield them meekly.
Our weapons are keen; we are no herd to scatter.
Thy words are but air and echo.
Though thy cursed flesh be proof 'gainst shaft and spear, though thy lair lie hidden past all path—
Br̥haspati shall still show no mercy.
This hoard, set firm upon stone, overfloweth with kine and gold.
We, the watchful, guard it well.
Thy way was wasted—no prize awaiteth thee here.
The seers come, kindled by soma’s fire—
Ayāsya, the Aṅgirases, the Navagvas.
They shall break thy fence and divide thy spoils.
Then shall thy bold words be spewed as bile.
Thou art come, driven by a power thou canst not flee.
Yet I would call thee sister.
Go not hence—take a share of the kine. Stay.
I know no bond of blood with thy brood.
Indra knows. The fierce Aṅgirases know.
They burned with desire for kine when I came.
Get thee hence, Paṇis—far away and farther still!
Away with thee, ye hoarders of falsehood!
Let truth rise in thy place.
Let the kine come forth once hidden—
found by Br̥haspati, with soma, with stone, and with the soul-lit speech of seers.
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.108
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.
kim icchantī saramā predam ānaḍ dūre hy adhvā jaguriḥ parācaiḥ |
kāsmehitiḥ kā paritakmyāsīt kathaṁ rasāyā ataraḥ payāṁsi || 1 ||
indrasya dūtīr iṣitā carāmi maha icchantī paṇayo nidhīn vaḥ |
atiṣkado bhiyasā tan na āvat tathā rasāyā ataram payāṁsi || 2 ||
kīdṛṅṅ indraḥ sarame kā dṛśīkā yasyedaṁ dūtīr asaraḥ parākāt |
ā ca gacchān mitram enā dadhāmāthā gavāṁ gopatir no bhavāti || 3 ||
nāhaṁ taṁ veda dabhyaṁ dabhat sa yasyedaṁ dūtīr asaram parākāt |
na taṁ gūhanti sravato gabhīrā hatā indreṇa paṇayaḥ śayadhve || 4 ||
imā gāvaḥ sarame yā aicchaḥ pari divo antān subhage patantī |
kas ta enā ava sṛjād ayudhvy utāsmākam āyudhā santi tigmā || 5 ||
asenyā vaḥ paṇayo vacāṁsy aniṣavyās tanvaḥ santu pāpīḥ |
adhṛṣṭo va etavā astu panthā bṛhaspatir va ubhayā na mṛḻāt || 6 ||
ayaṁ nidhiḥ sarame adribudhno gobhir aśvebhir vasubhir nyṛṣṭaḥ |
rakṣanti tam paṇayo ye sugopā reku padam alakam ā jagantha || 7 ||
eha gamann ṛṣayaḥ somaśitā ayāsyo aṅgiraso navagvāḥ |
ta etam ūrvaṁ vi bhajanta gonām athaitad vacaḥ paṇayo vamann it || 8 ||
evā ca tvaṁ sarama ājagantha prabādhitā sahasā daivyena |
svasāraṁ tvā kṛṇavai mā punar gā apa te gavāṁ subhage bhajāma || 9 ||
nāhaṁ veda bhrātṛtvaṁ no svasṛtvam indro vidur aṅgirasaś ca ghorāḥ |
gokāmā me acchadayan yad āyam apāta ita paṇayo varīyaḥ || 10 ||
dūram ita paṇayo varīya ud gāvo yantu minatīr ṛtena |
bṛhaspatir yā avindan nigūḻhāḥ somo grāvāṇa ṛṣayaś ca viprāḥ || 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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