Hymn to Indra
Rigveda IV.19 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.
The serpent Vṛtra lay coiled across the waters, his body spanning the sky itself, his fangs dripping poison. For ages he had held the waters captive, choking the breath of the world. No rain fell. No rivers flowed. The earth gasped in drought, and all creatures perished of thirst.
Then came Indra, the thunderbolt-wielder. His eyes blazed like molten gold. His hand gripped the vajra, that terrible weapon fashioned by the craftsman gods. The serpent saw him approach and hissed defiance: "I am Vṛtra! I am eternal as the mountains! What puny god cometh against me?"
But Indra answered not with words. He raised the thunderbolt high above his head, and it sang through the air like a falcon screaming at the height of its dive. The light from that bolt illuminated all the worlds. The gods cried out in exultation.
Down came the thunderbolt upon Vṛtra's hide. The sound of that blow echoed through the three worlds. The serpent's body shattered like clay struck by a stone. Blood gushed forth — not the blood of a god, but a dark ichor that poisoned the earth where it fell.
The waters, released at last from their captivity, rushed forth in a mighty torrent. They roared toward the ocean, carving out the river beds, soaking into the parched earth. The world was made whole again. Life returned.
And Indra stood triumphant above the broken corpse of the serpent, breathing heavily, the thunderbolt still gripped in his hand. The light of his eyes was fierce and exultant. He had done what no other god could do. He had slain the eternal serpent and restored the order of the cosmos.
We praise thee, O Indra! Thou alone hast the strength to break the chains of darkness!
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.19
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.
evā tvām indra vajrinn atra viśve devāsaḥ suhavāsa ūmāḥ |
mahām ubhe rodasī vṛddham ṛṣvaṁ nir ekam id vṛṇate vṛtrahatye || 1 ||
avāsṛjanta jivrayo na devā bhuvaḥ samrāḻ indra satyayoniḥ |
ahann ahim pariśayānam arṇaḥ pra vartanīr arado viśvadhenāḥ || 2 ||
atṛpṇuvantaṁ viyatam abudhyam abudhyamānaṁ suṣupāṇam indra |
sapta prati pravata āśayānam ahiṁ vajreṇa vi riṇā aparvan || 3 ||
akṣodayac chavasā kṣāma budhnaṁ vār ṇa vātas taviṣībhir indraḥ |
dṛḻhāny aubhnād uśamāna ojo 'vābhinat kakubhaḥ parvatānām || 4 ||
abhi pra dadrur janayo na garbhaṁ rathā iva pra yayuḥ sākam adrayaḥ |
atarpayo visṛta ubja ūrmīn tvaṁ vṛtām̐ ariṇā indra sindhūn || 5 ||
tvam mahīm avaniṁ viśvadhenāṁ turvītaye vayyāya kṣarantīm |
aramayo namasaijad arṇaḥ sutaraṇām̐ akṛṇor indra sindhūn || 6 ||
prāgruvo nabhanvo3 na vakvā dhvasrā apinvad yuvatīr ṛtajñāḥ |
dhanvāny ajrām̐ apṛṇak tṛṣāṇām̐ adhog indraḥ staryo3 daṁsupatnīḥ || 7 ||
pūrvīr uṣasaḥ śaradaś ca gūrtā vṛtraṁ jaghanvām̐ asṛjad vi sindhūn |
pariṣṭhitā atṛṇad badbadhānāḥ sīrā indraḥ sravitave pṛthivyā || 8 ||
vamrībhiḥ putram agruvo adānaṁ niveśanād dhariva ā jabhartha |
vy a1ndho akhyad ahim ādadāno nir bhūd ukhacchit sam aranta parva || 9 ||
pra te pūrvāṇi karaṇāni viprāvidvām̐ āha viduṣe karāṁsi |
yathā-yathā vṛṣṇyāni svagūrtāpāṁsi rājan naryāviveṣīḥ || 10 ||
nū ṣṭuta indra nū gṛṇāna iṣaṁ jaritre nadyo3 na pīpeḥ |
akāri te harivo brahma navyaṁ dhiyā syāma rathyaḥ sadāsāḥ || 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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