Hymn to Indra
Rigveda X.134 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.
When thou, O Indra, didst fill the twin world-halves— as Dawn filleth the sky with her golden breath— then was thy begetting wrought by She Who Beareth, by the fair and fateful Begetter wast thou born.
Loosen the bow of the wrathful man, whose heart is ill and set against us.
Cast him down beneath our feet, who dareth to lift his eye upon us.
The Begetter divine bore thee, the bright and blessèd Begetter bore thee.
Strike down the high, all-glistening draughts of might, O smiter of foes, O Indra strong in craft— do so by thy many-handed grace,
by thy shapes of help and thy endless store.
The Begetter divine bore thee, the bright and blessèd Begetter bore thee.
For all these thou shakest down, O Indra, resolute of heart, in hundreds of intents— as wealth falleth to the press-man’s hand, with help in thousands folded— the Begetter divine bore thee,
the bright and blessèd Begetter bore thee.
As sweat-beads scatter from the brow, so let the arrows fall, all round about— like sharp-edged grass of durva spread, let ill-will pass away from us.
The Begetter divine bore thee, the bright and blessèd Begetter bore thee.
Thou that wearest thy strength as a shepherd his crook, O wise in counsel, rich in gift— thou holdest it firm, even as a goat
holdeth the bough with its strong forefoot.
The Begetter divine bore thee, the bright and blessèd Begetter bore thee.
O ye gods, we blot you not, nor cast you aside; we heed your hallowed words in awe.
We cling unto you—by the side, by the shoulder— faithful in rite, steadfast in speech.
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.134
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.
ubhe yad indra rodasī āpaprāthoṣā iva |
mahāntaṁ tvā mahīnāṁ samrājaṁ carṣaṇīnāṁ devī janitry ajījanad bhadrā janitry ajījanat || 1 ||
ava sma durhaṇāyato martasya tanuhi sthiram |
adhaspadaṁ tam īṁ kṛdhi yo asmām̐ ādideśati devī janitry ajījanad bhadrā janitry ajījanat || 2 ||
ava tyā bṛhatīr iṣo viśvaścandrā amitrahan |
śacībhiḥ śakra dhūnuhīndra viśvābhir ūtibhir devī janitry ajījanad bhadrā janitry ajījanat || 3 ||
ava yat tvaṁ śatakratav indra viśvāni dhūnuṣe |
rayiṁ na sunvate sacā sahasriṇībhir ūtibhir devī janitry ajījanad bhadrā janitry ajījanat || 4 ||
ava svedā ivābhito viṣvak patantu didyavaḥ |
dūrvāyā iva tantavo vy a1smad etu durmatir devī janitry ajījanad bhadrā janitry ajījanat || 5 ||
dīrghaṁ hy aṅkuśaṁ yathā śaktim bibharṣi mantumaḥ |
pūrveṇa maghavan padājo vayāṁ yathā yamo devī janitry ajījanad bhadrā janitry ajījanat || 6 ||
nakir devā minīmasi nakir ā yopayāmasi mantraśrutyaṁ carāmasi |
pakṣebhir apikakṣebhir atrābhi saṁ rabhāmahe || 7 ||
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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