Hymn to Indra
Rigveda IV.17 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) from Maṇḍala 4 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.
Before thee, O Indra, the foundations of all things trembled. In the first age, when the world was yet unformed and the cosmos lay in chaos, thou didst prop apart the heaven and the earth with thy mighty hands. Thou didst thrust them asunder so that light might flood between them.
Where was there a god like thee in that primordial time? The sky pressed down upon the earth, smothering all becoming. But thou — thou didst grip the sky with unconquerable strength and tear it upward. The earth thou didst hold firm and broad. Between them thou didst spread the light.
Thy cosmic deed knoweth no equal. No other god hath accomplished what thou hast wrought. The serpent Vṛtra lay coiled, choking the waters of life. His bulk was vast as a mountain, his poison deadly. But thou didst strike him with the thunderbolt, and his coils shattered. The waters rushed forth, flowing free toward the sea.
In that victory, thou didst loose the dawn. The sun began his journeys across the sky. The stars were set in their courses. All life became possible. The very order of existence — the ṛta itself — floweth from thy deed.
Even now, O Indra, thy ancient power sustaineth all things. The sun crosseth the sky because thou hast held the heavens high. The waters flow because thou didst break the serpent's coils. The seasons turn in their courses because thou didst establish order out of chaos.
We mortals live and breathe within the world thou didst create. Our cattle graze upon the broad earth that thou didst hold firm. Our children play beneath the sky that thou didst lift. Every breath we take is a gift born of thy primordial labor.
Glory to thee, O Indra! Glory to the propper-apart of heaven and earth!
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 IV.17
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.
tvam mahām̐ indra tubhyaṁ ha kṣā anu kṣatram maṁhanā manyata dyauḥ |
tvaṁ vṛtraṁ śavasā jaghanvān sṛjaḥ sindhūm̐r ahinā jagrasānān || 1 ||
tava tviṣo janiman rejata dyau rejad bhūmir bhiyasā svasya manyoḥ |
ṛghāyanta subhva1ḥ parvatāsa ārdan dhanvāni sarayanta āpaḥ || 2 ||
bhinad giriṁ śavasā vajram iṣṇann āviṣkṛṇvānaḥ sahasāna ojaḥ |
vadhīd vṛtraṁ vajreṇa mandasānaḥ sarann āpo javasā hatavṛṣṇīḥ || 3 ||
suvīras te janitā manyata dyaur indrasya kartā svapastamo bhūt |
ya īṁ jajāna svaryaṁ suvajram anapacyutaṁ sadaso na bhūma || 4 ||
ya eka ic cyāvayati pra bhūmā rājā kṛṣṭīnām puruhūta indraḥ |
satyam enam anu viśve madanti rātiṁ devasya gṛṇato maghonaḥ || 5 ||
satrā somā abhavann asya viśve satrā madāso bṛhato madiṣṭhāḥ |
satrābhavo vasupatir vasūnāṁ datre viśvā adhithā indra kṛṣṭīḥ || 6 ||
tvam adha prathamaṁ jāyamāno 'me viśvā adhithā indra kṛṣṭīḥ |
tvam prati pravata āśayānam ahiṁ vajreṇa maghavan vi vṛścaḥ || 7 ||
satrāhaṇaṁ dādhṛṣiṁ tumram indram mahām apāraṁ vṛṣabhaṁ suvajram |
hantā yo vṛtraṁ sanitota vājaṁ dātā maghāni maghavā surādhāḥ || 8 ||
ayaṁ vṛtaś cātayate samīcīr ya ājiṣu maghavā śṛṇva ekaḥ |
ayaṁ vājam bharati yaṁ sanoty asya priyāsaḥ sakhye syāma || 9 ||
ayaṁ śṛṇve adha jayann uta ghnann ayam uta pra kṛṇute yudhā gāḥ |
yadā satyaṁ kṛṇute manyum indro viśvaṁ dṛḻham bhayata ejad asmāt || 10 ||
sam indro gā ajayat saṁ hiraṇyā sam aśviyā maghavā yo ha pūrvīḥ |
ebhir nṛbhir nṛtamo asya śākai rāyo vibhaktā sambharaś ca vasvaḥ || 11 ||
kiyat svid indro adhy eti mātuḥ kiyat pitur janitur yo jajāna |
yo asya śuṣmam muhukair iyarti vāto na jūtaḥ stanayadbhir abhraiḥ || 12 ||
kṣiyantaṁ tvam akṣiyantaṁ kṛṇotīyarti reṇum maghavā samoham |
vibhañjanur aśanimām̐ iva dyaur uta stotāram maghavā vasau dhāt || 13 ||
ayaṁ cakram iṣaṇat sūryasya ny etaśaṁ rīramat sasṛmāṇam |
ā kṛṣṇa īṁ juhurāṇo jigharti tvaco budhne rajaso asya yonau || 14 ||
asiknyāṁ yajamāno na hotā || 15 ||
gavyanta indraṁ sakhyāya viprā aśvāyanto vṛṣaṇaṁ vājayantaḥ |
janīyanto janidām akṣitotim ā cyāvayāmo 'vate na kośam || 16 ||
trātā no bodhi dadṛśāna āpir abhikhyātā marḍitā somyānām |
sakhā pitā pitṛtamaḥ pitṝṇāṁ kartem u lokam uśate vayodhāḥ || 17 ||
sakhīyatām avitā bodhi sakhā gṛṇāna indra stuvate vayo dhāḥ |
vayaṁ hy ā te cakṛmā sabādha ābhiḥ śamībhir mahayanta indra || 18 ||
stuta indro maghavā yad dha vṛtrā bhūrīṇy eko apratīni hanti |
asya priyo jaritā yasya śarman nakir devā vārayante na martāḥ || 19 ||
evā na indro maghavā virapśī karat satyā carṣaṇīdhṛd anarvā |
tvaṁ rājā januṣāṁ dhehy asme adhi śravo māhinaṁ yaj jaritre || 20 ||
nū ṣṭuta indra nū gṛṇāna iṣaṁ jaritre nadyo3 na pīpeḥ |
akāri te harivo brahma navyaṁ dhiyā syāma rathyaḥ sadāsāḥ || 21 ||
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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