Hymn to Indra
Rigveda X.73 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.
Thou wast born strong, a might unto might, the gladdening one, most mighty, rich in craft and cunning.
'Twas the storm-lords, the Maruts, who upheld thee then, when thy mother—she best at bearing—would set thee forth in swiftness.
Though she fondled thee, she sank beneath the weight of guileful deeds and workings not of light.
The Maruts lifted thee with songs of praise, when the worlds lay hidden, as if shadowed beneath a great footfall.
From gloom, from earliest morn, the unborn stirred.
High are thy steps when thou dost stride.
The Vājas and all their kin gave thee their strength.
Thou, O Indra, didst seize a thousand young wild dogs within thy mouth. Turn now the twin riders hither.
Even so, full swift, thou drivest to the rite; bring the Nāsatyas nigh in fellowship.
Thou bound a thousand in the womb of the worthy bride; the Aśvins, rejoicing, gave their gifts, O mighty one.
Made glad, for truth's sake to beget,
Indra strode forth with stout-hearted friends.
For he drew nigh unto the Dasyu’s snares, and with his craft, did scatter night and murk.
Smoke didst thou send upon him, even unto the twain that bear one name;
thou broke him, Indra, like Dawn’s own car.
With thy high-hearted, eager band, in one blow thou didst undo the roots of his heart.
Thou didst smite Namuci, who craved the fight, and made the wily Dāsa bare, for the seer’s sake.
Thou madest straight the paths for Manu, as though they led in troth unto the gods.
Thou hast fulfilled all thy names in full; thy mastery shown, thou took’st them in thine hand.
The gods delight in thy broad might;
thou overturned their wooden frames.
When his wheel sank low beneath the waves, that milk—sweet like honey—was his delight:
the udder bound unto the ground, the draught thou set in kine and growing green.
And when they say, “He came of horse,”
I reckon him begot of strength.
He came of fervent war-craft; he abode in a house secure— yet whence he came, that knoweth Indra alone.
Now the fine-feather’d fowl have flown to thee, O Indra— the Priyamedhas, seers in their need.
Unseal the dark; fill our eye with light.
Loose us, who lie as snared in unseen bonds.
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.73
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.
janiṣṭhā ugraḥ sahase turāya mandra ojiṣṭho bahulābhimānaḥ |
avardhann indram marutaś cid atra mātā yad vīraṁ dadhanad dhaniṣṭhā || 1 ||
druho niṣattā pṛśanī cid evaiḥ purū śaṁsena vāvṛdhuṣ ṭa indram |
abhīvṛteva tā mahāpadena dhvāntāt prapitvād ud aranta garbhāḥ || 2 ||
ṛṣvā te pādā pra yaj jigāsy avardhan vājā uta ye cid atra |
tvam indra sālāvṛkān sahasram āsan dadhiṣe aśvinā vavṛtyāḥ || 3 ||
samanā tūrṇir upa yāsi yajñam ā nāsatyā sakhyāya vakṣi |
vasāvyām indra dhārayaḥ sahasrāśvinā śūra dadatur maghāni || 4 ||
mandamāna ṛtād adhi prajāyai sakhibhir indra iṣirebhir artham |
ābhir hi māyā upa dasyum āgān mihaḥ pra tamrā avapat tamāṁsi || 5 ||
sanāmānā cid dhvasayo ny asmā avāhann indra uṣaso yathānaḥ |
ṛṣvair agacchaḥ sakhibhir nikāmaiḥ sākam pratiṣṭhā hṛdyā jaghantha || 6 ||
tvaṁ jaghantha namucim makhasyuṁ dāsaṁ kṛṇvāna ṛṣaye vimāyam |
tvaṁ cakartha manave syonān patho devatrāñjaseva yānān || 7 ||
tvam etāni papriṣe vi nāmeśāna indra dadhiṣe gabhastau |
anu tvā devāḥ śavasā madanty uparibudhnān vaninaś cakartha || 8 ||
cakraṁ yad asyāpsv ā niṣattam uto tad asmai madhv ic cacchadyāt |
pṛthivyām atiṣitaṁ yad ūdhaḥ payo goṣv adadhā oṣadhīṣu || 9 ||
aśvād iyāyeti yad vadanty ojaso jātam uta manya enam |
manyor iyāya harmyeṣu tasthau yataḥ prajajña indro asya veda || 10 ||
vayaḥ suparṇā upa sedur indram priyamedhā ṛṣayo nādhamānāḥ |
apa dhvāntam ūrṇuhi pūrdhi cakṣur mumugdhy a1smān nidhayeva baddhān || 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).
🌲