Hymn to Indra
Rigveda X.116 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.
Drink thou the soma for thy might, O Indra.
Drink, great smiter of Vr̥tra, most stalwart of all.
Drink for wealth and for strength while thy name is called.
Drink of the honeyed draught—soak thyself in it till thou art filled, O Indra.
Take now this soma, pressed and poured with the offering of kine, drink as thy soul desireth, O Indra.
Come to gladness in thy mind;
incline thy heart unto us and bless us with thy bounty.
Let the soma of Heaven gladden thee, Indra, and let the draught pressed by earth-born hands uplift thee.
Be thou stirred by that which gave thee the wide expanse; be thou gladdened by that which melted thy foes to naught.
High and twin in loftiness, ever unspent, let Indra the bull ride hither with his twin fallow steeds to the stream of the poured stalk.
Breaker of the lightless, shatterer of the hammer, soak thyself in the sweetness, pressed on the cowhide and borne forth.
Blunt thou their sharpened points, unbind their drawn bowstrings, those who are roused by spell and craft.
I lend thee power and might, thou strong one— stand ‘gainst thy foes, and fell them mid their clashing cries.
Loosen the stranger’s pride, O Indra, his might, his wrath, and the ranks he musters— like bowstrings stretched too far.
Turn to us, thy strength renewed, thy limbs unwearied; stand firm in thy body.
This gift is thine, O bounteous king.
Take it with no wrath, ruler of all.
It is pressed and cooked for thee—
eat and drink when it is laid before thee, Indra.
Take joy in these offerings here, Indra.
Feast on the meats and the soma prepared for thee.
We bring thee gifts that please, and take our joy in thee.
Let the yearnings of the giver come to pass.
I send my winsome speech to Indra and to Agni, like a boat upon the flood I set it forth with my song.
The gods whirl about like dice in play—
they who grant us the wager, and ever find the lucky throw.
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.116
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.
pibā somam mahata indriyāya pibā vṛtrāya hantave śaviṣṭha |
piba rāye śavase hūyamānaḥ piba madhvas tṛpad indrā vṛṣasva || 1 ||
asya piba kṣumataḥ prasthitasyendra somasya varam ā sutasya |
svastidā manasā mādayasvārvācīno revate saubhagāya || 2 ||
mamattu tvā divyaḥ soma indra mamattu yaḥ sūyate pārthiveṣu |
mamattu yena varivaś cakartha mamattu yena niriṇāsi śatrūn || 3 ||
ā dvibarhā amino yātv indro vṛṣā haribhyām pariṣiktam andhaḥ |
gavy ā sutasya prabhṛtasya madhvaḥ satrā khedām aruśahā vṛṣasva || 4 ||
ni tigmāni bhrāśayan bhrāśyāny ava sthirā tanuhi yātujūnām |
ugrāya te saho balaṁ dadāmi pratītyā śatrūn vigadeṣu vṛśca || 5 ||
vy a1rya indra tanuhi śravāṁsy ojaḥ sthireva dhanvano 'bhimātīḥ |
asmadryag vāvṛdhānaḥ sahobhir anibhṛṣṭas tanvaṁ vāvṛdhasva || 6 ||
idaṁ havir maghavan tubhyaṁ rātam prati samrāḻ ahṛṇāno gṛbhāya |
tubhyaṁ suto maghavan tubhyam pakvo3 'ddhīndra piba ca prasthitasya || 7 ||
addhīd indra prasthitemā havīṁṣi cano dadhiṣva pacatota somam |
prayasvantaḥ prati haryāmasi tvā satyāḥ santu yajamānasya kāmāḥ || 8 ||
prendrāgnibhyāṁ suvacasyām iyarmi sindhāv iva prerayaṁ nāvam arkaiḥ |
ayā iva pari caranti devā ye asmabhyaṁ dhanadā udbhidaś ca || 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).
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