Hymn to Indra
Rigveda X.48 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 was the foremost among lords of plenty.
Ever do I win the wager, again and again.
Upon me do all creatures cry, as children call their sire.
I mete out meat and bread unto the godly man.
I am Indra, strong shield and breastplate of the Atharvan seers.
It was for Trita that I drew forth kine from out the coils of the serpent.
From the Dasyus I stole their manly strength, and with skill did I seize their pens of kine for Dadhyañc and Mātariśvan to dwell therein.
For my sake did Tvaṣṭar shape the mace of gleaming ore.
Unto me the gods have bowed their will.
My face is as the face of the sun—
no man may match it.
By deeds past and yet to come, they know me.
With spear and might I win cattle and steeds, golden, abundant, spilling over the bounds.
Ten thousand foes I grind like chaff when the soma runs with song, and I am raised in rapture.
I am Indra: the wager is ever mine.
No death hath o'ertaken me, nor have I yielded.
When ye press the soma, call upon me for boons.
In my fellowship, O Pūrus, ye shall not suffer harm.
By twos I struck them down, snorting and fierce, those who dared lift arm 'gainst Indra and his mace.
I smote with one blow the bold of tongue, even as I, unbending, hurled bold words at them who should have bowed.
One to one, I am conqueror. Two to one, still I prevail.
What are three to me?
I strike through hosts like threshers beat sheaves on the barn-floor.
Shall my foes, who have no Indra, yet hold me in scorn?
I gave Atithigva back to the Guṅgus as one bringeth back healing.
I upheld the breaker of barriers among the tribes.
In the downfall of Parṇaya, and in the ruin of Karañja, as in the great smiting of Vṛtra, I stretched my name wide.
Namī Sāpya rose for me, seeking the draught of delight, and in the hunt for kine, he struck pact with me once more.
When I nocked the shaft in battle’s din, then did I lift him up to be sung and praised.
In one, the soma is seen even when it hides within; in the other, its lack betrays the man.
He who striveth with the sharp-horned bull is snared within the thick cords of his own deceit.
I, god above gods, keep still the laws of the Ādityas, and of the Vasus, and of the Rudriyas.
For a fair strength they made me:
unfailing, unbroken, and never overcome.
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.48
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.
aham bhuvaṁ vasunaḥ pūrvyas patir ahaṁ dhanāni saṁ jayāmi śaśvataḥ |
māṁ havante pitaraṁ na jantavo 'haṁ dāśuṣe vi bhajāmi bhojanam || 1 ||
aham indro rodho vakṣo atharvaṇas tritāya gā ajanayam aher adhi |
ahaṁ dasyubhyaḥ pari nṛmṇam ā dade gotrā śikṣan dadhīce mātariśvane || 2 ||
mahyaṁ tvaṣṭā vajram atakṣad āyasam mayi devāso 'vṛjann api kratum |
mamānīkaṁ sūryasyeva duṣṭaram mām āryanti kṛtena kartvena ca || 3 ||
aham etaṁ gavyayam aśvyam paśum purīṣiṇaṁ sāyakenā hiraṇyayam |
purū sahasrā ni śiśāmi dāśuṣe yan mā somāsa ukthino amandiṣuḥ || 4 ||
aham indro na parā jigya id dhanaṁ na mṛtyave 'va tasthe kadā cana |
somam in mā sunvanto yācatā vasu na me pūravaḥ sakhye riṣāthana || 5 ||
aham etāñ chāśvasato dvā-dvendraṁ ye vajraṁ yudhaye 'kṛṇvata |
āhvayamānām̐ ava hanmanāhanaṁ dṛḻhā vadann anamasyur namasvinaḥ || 6 ||
abhī3dam ekam eko asmi niṣṣāḻ abhī dvā kim u trayaḥ karanti |
khale na parṣān prati hanmi bhūri kim mā nindanti śatravo 'nindrāḥ || 7 ||
ahaṁ guṅgubhyo atithigvam iṣkaram iṣaṁ na vṛtraturaṁ vikṣu dhārayam |
yat parṇayaghna uta vā karañjahe prāham mahe vṛtrahatye aśuśravi || 8 ||
pra me namī sāpya iṣe bhuje bhūd gavām eṣe sakhyā kṛṇuta dvitā |
didyuṁ yad asya samitheṣu maṁhayam ād id enaṁ śaṁsyam ukthyaṁ karam || 9 ||
pra nemasmin dadṛśe somo antar gopā nemam āvir asthā kṛṇoti |
sa tigmaśṛṅgaṁ vṛṣabhaṁ yuyutsan druhas tasthau bahule baddho antaḥ || 10 ||
ādityānāṁ vasūnāṁ rudriyāṇāṁ devo devānāṁ na mināmi dhāma |
te mā bhadrāya śavase tatakṣur aparājitam astṛtam aṣāḻham || 11 ||
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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