Hymn to Indra
Rigveda X.60 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.
To the man of the Māhīnas, whose brightness glittereth, who is hailed with songs of praise, we are come in homage, our heads bowed low.
To the Unmatched One, ever-brimming, ever-glorious, whose chariot runneth downward in shining strength, lord of the holdings of Bhajeratha, who swayed the tribes like buffalo in the field— those who bore iron arms and those who bore none, all bowed in battle beneath his hand.
By his behest is Ikṣvāku, full of storehouses and gold, made radiant, as the sun that shineth in heaven, and likewise the fivefold kin.
O Indra, uphold the kingly strength within the Asamātis and Rathaproṣṭhas, that they be seen as the burning sun upon the sky.
For the seed of Agastya thou dost harness a red twin-yoked pair.
Thou hast trodden down the hoarders, and all who give not, O king, thou hast laid them low.
Here abideth the mother, and here the father; here shall the means of life be found.
Here lieth a way to glide forth—Subandhu, come hither, come out!
As they bind fast the yoke with a leather thong, so is thy mind held— held fast, not unto death, but unto life, to make thee beyond all harm.
As this wide earth holdeth tight the trees of the field, so doth he hold fast thy mind— not for thy dying, but for thy safekeeping.
I have drawn the mind of Subandhu hence
from Yama, son of the Sun, not for death, but for a life no hurt may touch.
Downward bloweth the wind, downward falleth the sun’s hot gaze.
The cow sendeth her milk flowing downward— downward be thy sickness swept.
Here is my hand that bringeth good hap; and here, another, bringing better still.
Here is the one that healeth all; here the hand with a blessing’s touch.
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.60
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.
ā janaṁ tveṣasaṁdṛśam māhīnānām upastutam |
aganma bibhrato namaḥ || 1 ||
asamātiṁ nitośanaṁ tveṣaṁ niyayinaṁ ratham |
bhajerathasya satpatim || 2 ||
yo janān mahiṣām̐ ivātitasthau pavīravān |
utāpavīravān yudhā || 3 ||
yasyekṣvākur upa vrate revān marāyy edhate |
divīva pañca kṛṣṭayaḥ || 4 ||
indra kṣatrāsamātiṣu rathaproṣṭheṣu dhāraya |
divīva sūryaṁ dṛśe || 5 ||
agastyasya nadbhyaḥ saptī yunakṣi rohitā |
paṇīn ny akramīr abhi viśvān rājann arādhasaḥ || 6 ||
ayam mātāyam pitāyaṁ jīvātur āgamat |
idaṁ tava prasarpaṇaṁ subandhav ehi nir ihi || 7 ||
yathā yugaṁ varatrayā nahyanti dharuṇāya kam |
evā dādhāra te mano jīvātave na mṛtyave 'tho ariṣṭatātaye || 8 ||
yatheyam pṛthivī mahī dādhāremān vanaspatīn |
evā dādhāra te mano jīvātave na mṛtyave 'tho ariṣṭatātaye || 9 ||
yamād ahaṁ vaivasvatāt subandhor mana ābharam |
jīvātave na mṛtyave 'tho ariṣṭatātaye || 10 ||
nya1g vāto 'va vāti nyak tapati sūryaḥ |
nīcīnam aghnyā duhe nyag bhavatu te rapaḥ || 11 ||
ayam me hasto bhagavān ayam me bhagavattaraḥ |
ayam me viśvabheṣajo 'yaṁ śivābhimarśanaḥ || 12 ||
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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