Hymn to Indra
Rigveda IV.23 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.
What deeds hath Indra wrought that we might rehearse them in song! How many ages have passed, yet still his ancient victories echo through the worlds. We praise him not for what he shall do in time to come, but for what he hath already accomplished in the ages past.
Thou didst slay the serpent Vṛtra when the waters lay imprisoned. Thou didst break open the chambers where the rain was locked away. Thou didst free the rivers to flow down from the mountains. By this deed alone thou art worthy of eternal praise.
Thou didst prop apart the sky and the earth, that there might be space for all creatures to flourish. Before thy deed, the cosmos lay stifled in darkness. After thy deed, light flooded all the worlds.
Thou didst slay the Dasyus in their fortresses. Thou didst break their chariots and scatter their armies. The riches of those vanquished foes became the property of the Āryan peoples who worship thee.
Thou didst beget the Maruts, those fierce storm-gods who ride upon the clouds and shake the heavens with thunder. Thy progeny are mighty and fearless, forever assisting thee in thy celestial battles.
When the demons arose to challenge thy supremacy, thou didst cast them down. When the Dasyus built their strongholds against thee, thou didst reduce them to rubble. No enemy hath ever prevailed against thee.
The sages of old sang thy praises, and we sing them now. The sages of ages yet to come shall sing them in their turn. Thy deeds are eternal, unchanged by the passage of time. Thy glory fadeth not.
O Indra, these ancient victories of thine are more permanent than mountains! They are more stable than the earth itself! Let us rehearse them forever, that our children's children might know thy power and fear thy name.
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.23
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.
kathā mahām avṛdhat kasya hotur yajñaṁ juṣāṇo abhi somam ūdhaḥ |
pibann uśāno juṣamāṇo andho vavakṣa ṛṣvaḥ śucate dhanāya || 1 ||
ko asya vīraḥ sadhamādam āpa sam ānaṁśa sumatibhiḥ ko asya |
kad asya citraṁ cikite kad ūtī vṛdhe bhuvac chaśamānasya yajyoḥ || 2 ||
kathā śṛṇoti hūyamānam indraḥ kathā śṛṇvann avasām asya veda |
kā asya pūrvīr upamātayo ha kathainam āhuḥ papuriṁ jaritre || 3 ||
kathā sabādhaḥ śaśamāno asya naśad abhi draviṇaṁ dīdhyānaḥ |
devo bhuvan navedā ma ṛtānāṁ namo jagṛbhvām̐ abhi yaj jujoṣat || 4 ||
kathā kad asyā uṣaso vyuṣṭau devo martasya sakhyaṁ jujoṣa |
kathā kad asya sakhyaṁ sakhibhyo ye asmin kāmaṁ suyujaṁ tatasre || 5 ||
kim ād amatraṁ sakhyaṁ sakhibhyaḥ kadā nu te bhrātram pra bravāma |
śriye sudṛśo vapur asya sargāḥ sva1r ṇa citratamam iṣa ā goḥ || 6 ||
druhaṁ jighāṁsan dhvarasam anindrāṁ tetikte tigmā tujase anīkā |
ṛṇā cid yatra ṛṇayā na ugro dūre ajñātā uṣaso babādhe || 7 ||
ṛtasya hi śurudhaḥ santi pūrvīr ṛtasya dhītir vṛjināni hanti |
ṛtasya śloko badhirā tatarda karṇā budhānaḥ śucamāna āyoḥ || 8 ||
ṛtasya dṛḻhā dharuṇāni santi purūṇi candrā vapuṣe vapūṁṣi |
ṛtena dīrgham iṣaṇanta pṛkṣa ṛtena gāva ṛtam ā viveśuḥ || 9 ||
ṛtaṁ yemāna ṛtam id vanoty ṛtasya śuṣmas turayā u gavyuḥ |
ṛtāya pṛthvī bahule gabhīre ṛtāya dhenū parame duhāte || 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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