Hymn to Indra
Rigveda X.144 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.
Because this deathless draught, like a charger in his prime, showeth his craft and rule— a life-long art to thee, O wise one in the rites.
He is a wright among poets, a hammer in the hand of the giver.
Like one well-skilled, he bringeth the rousing draught, crowned with pearls, the draught that worketh wonders.
Yearning for the eager hawk, the bull amid his own kind, looked down upon them that swelled like snakes, or like full-fed kine beneath the storm—
He whom the fine-feather’d one, the hawk’s own son, bore from afar, he of a hundred wheels— he who is the path of the fruitful cow—
Him the falcon fetched for thee, borne on his foot, the cherished warder 'gainst the wolf, the ruddy keep of the sacred stalk.
By him is life made strong, the years made long; by him our house-bond holdeth fast and waketh.
So shall Indra, through this drop, win the great yielding of the gods’ own share.
By thy will is life, O thou of mighty heart; by thy will hath this soma been wrung from us.
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.144
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.
ayaṁ hi te amartya indur atyo na patyate |
dakṣo viśvāyur vedhase || 1 ||
ayam asmāsu kāvya ṛbhur vajro dāsvate |
ayam bibharty ūrdhvakṛśanam madam ṛbhur na kṛtvyam madam || 2 ||
ghṛṣuḥ śyenāya kṛtvana āsu svāsu vaṁsagaḥ |
ava dīdhed ahīśuvaḥ || 3 ||
yaṁ suparṇaḥ parāvataḥ śyenasya putra ābharat |
śatacakraṁ yo3 'hyo vartaniḥ || 4 ||
yaṁ te śyenaś cārum avṛkam padābharad aruṇam mānam andhasaḥ |
enā vayo vi tāry āyur jīvasa enā jāgāra bandhutā || 5 ||
evā tad indra indunā deveṣu cid dhārayāte mahi tyajaḥ |
kratvā vayo vi tāry āyuḥ sukrato kratvāyam asmad ā sutaḥ || 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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