Hymn to Indra
Rigveda X.179 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.
Stand ye, priests—lift up your eyes unto Indra’s rightful share.
If it be boiled and ready, then pour it forth!
If it be not yet done, then tarry and wait.
The offering is cooked.
Come forth, Indra, draw nigh—
for the sun standeth at the height of its path.
Thy fellows await thee with meat and with drink, as doth the goodwife wait upon the master of the field as he maketh his rounds.
The draught in the udder is done, I deem, and the draught on the flame is well seethed.
Aye, and this newer word—this song of ours—seemeth well kindled also.
O Indra, bearer of the mace, thou mighty in deed, quaff thou the soured milk of the Midday Pressing— and take thy joy therein.
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.
🌲
Source Text: ṛgveda X.179
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.
ut tiṣṭhatāva paśyatendrasya bhāgam ṛtviyam |
yadi śrāto juhotana yady aśrāto mamattana || 1 ||
śrātaṁ havir o ṣv indra pra yāhi jagāma sūro adhvano vimadhyam |
pari tvāsate nidhibhiḥ sakhāyaḥ kulapā na vrājapatiṁ carantam || 2 ||
śrātam manya ūdhani śrātam agnau suśrātam manye tad ṛtaṁ navīyaḥ |
mādhyaṁdinasya savanasya dadhnaḥ pibendra vajrin purukṛj juṣāṇaḥ || 3 ||
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).
🌲