Hymn to Indra
Rigveda IV.38 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.
Hear now the thunder of the hooves! Dadhikrā, the divine steed, cometh forth in all his terrible majesty. No horse of mortal lineage is he, but a god incarnate in equine form, swift beyond the racing clouds, mighty as the storm wind itself. His nostrils flare with the breath of eternity; his eyes burn with the fire of conquest.
Dadhikrā the golden, Dadhikrā the unconquerable! When he taketh the field, the very earth trembleth beneath his weight. His mane floweth like the waves of the cosmic ocean; his tail streaketh the sky like the fall of meteorite and fire. No chariot horse is he — he is war itself made manifest, the fury of battle given legs and sinew.
The warrior who rideth upon Dadhikrā shall know no defeat. The enemy's arrows cannot pierce his flanks; the sorcerer's curse cannot touch his sacred hide. He hath been blessed by Indra himself, anointed by the Adityas, praised by every god in heaven. His lineage ascendeth back to the very fountains of creation, where the sky-god first fashioned the perfect horse.
When the chariots clash and the battle doth rage, Dadhikrā's presence turneth the tide. He carrieth his rider swiftly through the press of foes, leapeth over pits and obstacles that would trap lesser beasts, and cometh not to weariness even when the day is long and bitter. His strength is as the strength of a hundred horses; his courage as the courage of all warriors combined.
O Dadhikrā, we sing thy praises! Come now and be near to those who invoke thy name with righteous intent. Grant us thy speed in pursuit of our foes, thy wisdom in the chaos of battle, thy unstoppable force when the moment of victory draweth near. Let thy hooves thunder upon the plain, and let thy riders be as undefeatable as thee.
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.38
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.
uto hi vāṁ dātrā santi pūrvā yā pūrubhyas trasadasyur nitośe |
kṣetrāsāṁ dadathur urvarāsāṁ ghanaṁ dasyubhyo abhibhūtim ugram || 1 ||
uta vājinam puruniṣṣidhvānaṁ dadhikrām u dadathur viśvakṛṣṭim |
ṛjipyaṁ śyenam pruṣitapsum āśuṁ carkṛtyam aryo nṛpatiṁ na śūram || 2 ||
yaṁ sīm anu pravateva dravantaṁ viśvaḥ pūrur madati harṣamāṇaḥ |
paḍbhir gṛdhyantam medhayuṁ na śūraṁ rathaturaṁ vātam iva dhrajantam || 3 ||
yaḥ smārundhāno gadhyā samatsu sanutaraś carati goṣu gacchan |
āvirṛjīko vidathā nicikyat tiro aratim pary āpa āyoḥ || 4 ||
uta smainaṁ vastramathiṁ na tāyum anu krośanti kṣitayo bhareṣu |
nīcāyamānaṁ jasuriṁ na śyenaṁ śravaś cācchā paśumac ca yūtham || 5 ||
uta smāsu prathamaḥ sariṣyan ni veveti śreṇibhī rathānām |
srajaṁ kṛṇvāno janyo na śubhvā reṇuṁ rerihat kiraṇaṁ dadaśvān || 6 ||
uta sya vājī sahurir ṛtāvā śuśrūṣamāṇas tanvā samarye |
turaṁ yatīṣu turayann ṛjipyo 'dhi bhruvoḥ kirate reṇum ṛñjan || 7 ||
uta smāsya tanyator iva dyor ṛghāyato abhiyujo bhayante |
yadā sahasram abhi ṣīm ayodhīd durvartuḥ smā bhavati bhīma ṛñjan || 8 ||
uta smāsya panayanti janā jūtiṁ kṛṣṭipro abhibhūtim āśoḥ |
utainam āhuḥ samithe viyantaḥ parā dadhikrā asarat sahasraiḥ || 9 ||
ā dadhikrāḥ śavasā pañca kṛṣṭīḥ sūrya iva jyotiṣāpas tatāna |
sahasrasāḥ śatasā vājy arvā pṛṇaktu madhvā sam imā vacāṁsi || 10 ||
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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