Hymn to Indra
Rigveda X.161 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.
I release thee, with an offering, unto life—from the shadow of the unknown ill, from the sickness that striketh kings.
Or if some Seizer hath laid hold of him indeed, then from her grasp, O Indra and Agni, set him free.
If his span be spent, or he be already gone, or if but now he slipped unto death’s threshold, I draw him forth from the womb of Undoing. I have bought him back for a hundred harvests.
With an offering that beholdeth a thousandfold, bestowing a hundred years and lifetimes alike, I have called him back— that Indra may guide him through a hundred autumns unto the far shore, beyond all hard going.
Live thou in strength through a hundred autumns, a hundred winters, and a hundred springs.
For a hundred years, let Indra and Agni, Savitar and Bṛhaspati renew thee, with a gift that bringeth a hundredfold breathings of life.
I have drawn thee hither; I have found thee again.
Thou art come anew, thou reborn one.
With limbs made whole, I see thine eye made sound and thy span of days unbroken.
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.161
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.
muñcāmi tvā haviṣā jīvanāya kam ajñātayakṣmād uta rājayakṣmāt |
grāhir jagrāha yadi vaitad enaṁ tasyā indrāgnī pra mumuktam enam || 1 ||
yadi kṣitāyur yadi vā pareto yadi mṛtyor antikaṁ nīta eva |
tam ā harāmi nirṛter upasthād aspārṣam enaṁ śataśāradāya || 2 ||
sahasrākṣeṇa śataśāradena śatāyuṣā haviṣāhārṣam enam |
śataṁ yathemaṁ śarado nayātīndro viśvasya duritasya pāram || 3 ||
śataṁ jīva śarado vardhamānaḥ śataṁ hemantāñ chatam u vasantān |
śatam indrāgnī savitā bṛhaspatiḥ śatāyuṣā haviṣemam punar duḥ || 4 ||
āhārṣaṁ tvāvidaṁ tvā punar āgāḥ punarnava |
sarvāṅga sarvaṁ te cakṣuḥ sarvam āyuś ca te 'vidam || 5 ||
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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