Hymn to Indra
Rigveda X.66 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 call upon the gods of high renown, for our good and thriving—ye bringers of light, heedful of the rite, who, possessing all things, have waxed in strength, ye deathless ones with Indra as your head, made mighty by truth.
Ye that were sent forth by Indra and led by Varuna, who found your portion in the sun’s fair light, to you we lift our thought—O band of the Maruts, who in your bounty fathered the rite and stand as its lords.
Let Indra with the Vasus guard our livings round about, let Aditi with the Ādityas stretch wide her shelter o’er us.
May Rudra with the Rudras show mercy unto us, and Tvaṣṭar with the godly Wives stir us toward fair going.
Aditi, Heaven and Earth, Great Truth,
Indra and Viṣṇu, the Maruts, and the Sun aloft— to these high ones we lift our cry for aid:
the Ādityas, Vasus, Rudras, and wise Savitar.
Let Sarasvant come with insight, Varuṇa whose laws are firm, Pūṣan and Viṣṇu the Great, Vāyu, and the twin Aśvins.
They, who shaped the holy spells, immortal and all-possessing, shall grant us shelter with thrice-fold shield against the hard paths.
Let our offering be a bull, and all things of the rite be bulls:
the gods, bulls; the offerers, bulls;
Heaven and Earth, truth-speaking bulls;
Parjanya a bull; the praisers, bulls as well.
I call upon the bulls, Agni and Soma, to gain the prize, those twin bulls sung of by the many.
They whom the bulls have honored in their offering to the gods, these shall spread a shelter wide, a shield thrice-fold for us.
The rulers whose word is upheld, who bring the rite to birth, the high ones in heaven, full in the brightness of the rite— they whose Hotar is Agni, who deal in truth unfeigned— they loosed the waters after Vṛtra's fall.
They made heaven and earth to move by their decree, brought forth the waters, the herbs, and the trees that serve the rite.
They filled the mid-air and lit the sun to help.
The gods bound their will to their own hearts.
Let the upholders of heaven, the R̥bhus with deft hands, let Vāta and Parjanya, stormy as buffalo, let waters and herbs speed forth our song.
Let Bhaga, Giver, and prize-bearers hearken to my voice.
The sea, the stream, the shadowed land, the mid-air vast; Aja Ekapad, Thunderer, the flood, and Ahi Budhnya— these shall hear my words, and all the gods and patrons likewise.
Would we all were Manus, seekers of the gods.
Lead forth our rite eastward, straight to its end.
O Ādityas, Rudras, Vasus of goodly gifts, breathe life into these hallowed words as they are spoken.
The twin godly Hotars, the foremost set ahead, these I follow down the path of truth, straight to the mark.
We call upon the lord of field and stead, our close neighbor, and all the deathless gods who tarry not afar.
The sons of Vasiṣṭha have raised their voice as their father once did, calling the gods as that old seer for good weal.
Like kindred well-pleased, drawn near at our bidding, O gods, shake your goods down upon us.
Vasiṣṭha hath praised the deathless gods who shine above all that live and breathe.
Let them grant us broad room this day—
and ever shield us with their grace.
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.66
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.
devān huve bṛhacchravasaḥ svastaye jyotiṣkṛto adhvarasya pracetasaḥ |
ye vāvṛdhuḥ prataraṁ viśvavedasa indrajyeṣṭhāso amṛtā ṛtāvṛdhaḥ || 1 ||
indraprasūtā varuṇapraśiṣṭā ye sūryasya jyotiṣo bhāgam ānaśuḥ |
marudgaṇe vṛjane manma dhīmahi māghone yajñaṁ janayanta sūrayaḥ || 2 ||
indro vasubhiḥ pari pātu no gayam ādityair no aditiḥ śarma yacchatu |
rudro rudrebhir devo mṛḻayāti nas tvaṣṭā no gnābhiḥ suvitāya jinvatu || 3 ||
aditir dyāvāpṛthivī ṛtam mahad indrāviṣṇū marutaḥ svar bṛhat |
devām̐ ādityām̐ avase havāmahe vasūn rudrān savitāraṁ sudaṁsasam || 4 ||
sarasvān dhībhir varuṇo dhṛtavrataḥ pūṣā viṣṇur mahimā vāyur aśvinā |
brahmakṛto amṛtā viśvavedasaḥ śarma no yaṁsan trivarūtham aṁhasaḥ || 5 ||
vṛṣā yajño vṛṣaṇaḥ santu yajñiyā vṛṣaṇo devā vṛṣaṇo haviṣkṛtaḥ |
vṛṣaṇā dyāvāpṛthivī ṛtāvarī vṛṣā parjanyo vṛṣaṇo vṛṣastubhaḥ || 6 ||
agnīṣomā vṛṣaṇā vājasātaye purupraśastā vṛṣaṇā upa bruve |
yāv ījire vṛṣaṇo devayajyayā tā naḥ śarma trivarūthaṁ vi yaṁsataḥ || 7 ||
dhṛtavratāḥ kṣatriyā yajñaniṣkṛto bṛhaddivā adhvarāṇām abhiśriyaḥ |
agnihotāra ṛtasāpo adruho 'po asṛjann anu vṛtratūrye || 8 ||
dyāvāpṛthivī janayann abhi vratāpa oṣadhīr vanināni yajñiyā |
antarikṣaṁ sva1r ā paprur ūtaye vaśaṁ devāsas tanvī3 ni māmṛjuḥ || 9 ||
dhartāro diva ṛbhavaḥ suhastā vātāparjanyā mahiṣasya tanyatoḥ |
āpa oṣadhīḥ pra tirantu no giro bhago rātir vājino yantu me havam || 10 ||
samudraḥ sindhū rajo antarikṣam aja ekapāt tanayitnur arṇavaḥ |
ahir budhnyaḥ śṛṇavad vacāṁsi me viśve devāsa uta sūrayo mama || 11 ||
syāma vo manavo devavītaye prāñcaṁ no yajñam pra ṇayata sādhuyā |
ādityā rudrā vasavaḥ sudānava imā brahma śasyamānāni jinvata || 12 ||
daivyā hotārā prathamā purohita ṛtasya panthām anv emi sādhuyā |
kṣetrasya patim prativeśam īmahe viśvān devām̐ amṛtām̐ aprayucchataḥ || 13 ||
vasiṣṭhāsaḥ pitṛvad vācam akrata devām̐ īḻānā ṛṣivat svastaye |
prītā iva jñātayaḥ kāmam etyāsme devāso 'va dhūnutā vasu || 14 ||
devān vasiṣṭho amṛtān vavande ye viśvā bhuvanābhi pratasthuḥ |
te no rāsantām urugāyam adya yūyam pāta svastibhiḥ sadā naḥ || 15 ||
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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