Hymn to Indra
Rigveda X.139 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.
With the beams of the sun, with hair of gold, Savitar hath lifted the undying light from the east.
By his bidding doth Pūṣan fare forth—the watchful herdsman, beholding all that liveth.
With eye upon mankind, he sitteth midmost in the heavens, having filled the twain world-halves and the vast between.
He keepeth watch o’er mares—or ladles—turned toward the ghee, turned to all sides, between the beacons east and west.
He is the root of wealth, the gatherer of gain; he beholdeth all shapes by his hidden strengths.
His laws hold sure as do Savitar’s own; and as Indra, he abideth where spoils meet and mingle.
O Soma, the waters, when they beheld Viśvāvasu the Gandharva, withdrew each to their own by the truth that was in them.
Indra made haste and went down following that selfsame truth; he cast his glance round about the sun’s enclosings.
Let Viśvāvasu sing the truth unto us—the skyward Gandharva, the meterman of the airy stretch— Whether we know it true or no, let him rouse our wits and lend his voice to ours.
He found the victor amid the flowing streams, and opened the gates to those penned by stone.
The Gandharva named the deathless ones aloud; and Indra came to learn the might of the fruitful kine.
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.139
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.
sūryaraśmir harikeśaḥ purastāt savitā jyotir ud ayām̐ ajasram |
tasya pūṣā prasave yāti vidvān sampaśyan viśvā bhuvanāni gopāḥ || 1 ||
nṛcakṣā eṣa divo madhya āsta āpaprivān rodasī antarikṣam |
sa viśvācīr abhi caṣṭe ghṛtācīr antarā pūrvam aparaṁ ca ketum || 2 ||
rāyo budhnaḥ saṁgamano vasūnāṁ viśvā rūpābhi caṣṭe śacībhiḥ |
deva iva savitā satyadharmendro na tasthau samare dhanānām || 3 ||
viśvāvasuṁ soma gandharvam āpo dadṛśuṣīs tad ṛtenā vy āyan |
tad anvavaid indro rārahāṇa āsām pari sūryasya paridhīm̐r apaśyat || 4 ||
viśvāvasur abhi tan no gṛṇātu divyo gandharvo rajaso vimānaḥ |
yad vā ghā satyam uta yan na vidma dhiyo hinvāno dhiya in no avyāḥ || 5 ||
sasnim avindac caraṇe nadīnām apāvṛṇod duro aśmavrajānām |
prāsāṁ gandharvo amṛtāni vocad indro dakṣam pari jānād ahīnām || 6 ||
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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