Hymn to Indra
Rigveda IV.41 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 joint hymn to Indra and Varuṇa, those greatest of the devas, the warrior-king and the cosmic sovereign! One is the thunderer, the hurler of bolts, the slayer of demons; the other is the all-seeing lord, the upholder of ṛta, the keeper of cosmic order. Together they reign over the three worlds; apart, each is supreme in his domain.
Indra is the god of the storm and of battle, fierce and terrible, beloved of the warriors and the strong. His power is felt in the clash of swords, in the roar of the monsoon, in the overthrow of the wicked. He defendeth the righteous; he crusheth the unrighteous beneath his heel. His music is the thunder; his dance is the lightning's leap.
Varuṇa is the god of the sky and of law, majestic and terrible in a different way — the upholder of the cosmic order, the punisher of those who break the oath, the keeper of secrets and of hidden knowledge. He seeth all things, knoweth all things; his spies are the winds themselves. No lie escapeth him; no transgression remaineth hidden.
Yet these two, so different in nature, do work in harmony. Indra carves the path through chaos; Varuṇa buildeth and maintaineth the structure of reality. Indra is force; Varuṇa is form. Indra is the moment of transformation; Varuṇa is the eternal pattern. Together they are complete; apart, each would be incomplete.
We invoke both now: Indra, grant us thy might and thy victorious fury! Varuṇa, grant us thy wisdom and thy cosmic sight! Let Indra be our protector in battle, and let Varuṇa be our guide in the keeping of sacred law. For the strength without justice is mere brutality, and justice without strength cannot prevail. But when the warrior is also righteous, when might is wed to ṛta, then is the world well-ordered and all things prosper.
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 IV.41
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.
indrā ko vāṁ varuṇā sumnam āpa stomo haviṣmām̐ amṛto na hotā |
yo vāṁ hṛdi kratumām̐ asmad uktaḥ pasparśad indrāvaruṇā namasvān || 1 ||
indrā ha yo varuṇā cakra āpī devau martaḥ sakhyāya prayasvān |
sa hanti vṛtrā samitheṣu śatrūn avobhir vā mahadbhiḥ sa pra śṛṇve || 2 ||
indrā ha ratnaṁ varuṇā dheṣṭhetthā nṛbhyaḥ śaśamānebhyas tā |
yadī sakhāyā sakhyāya somaiḥ sutebhiḥ suprayasā mādayaite || 3 ||
indrā yuvaṁ varuṇā didyum asminn ojiṣṭham ugrā ni vadhiṣṭaṁ vajram |
yo no durevo vṛkatir dabhītis tasmin mimāthām abhibhūty ojaḥ || 4 ||
indrā yuvaṁ varuṇā bhūtam asyā dhiyaḥ pretārā vṛṣabheva dhenoḥ |
sā no duhīyad yavaseva gatvī sahasradhārā payasā mahī gauḥ || 5 ||
toke hite tanaya urvarāsu sūro dṛśīke vṛṣaṇaś ca pauṁsye |
indrā no atra varuṇā syātām avobhir dasmā paritakmyāyām || 6 ||
yuvām id dhy avase pūrvyāya pari prabhūtī gaviṣaḥ svāpī |
vṛṇīmahe sakhyāya priyāya śūrā maṁhiṣṭhā pitareva śambhū || 7 ||
tā vāṁ dhiyo 'vase vājayantīr ājiṁ na jagmur yuvayūḥ sudānū |
śriye na gāva upa somam asthur indraṁ giro varuṇam me manīṣāḥ || 8 ||
imā indraṁ varuṇam me manīṣā agmann upa draviṇam icchamānāḥ |
upem asthur joṣṭāra iva vasvo raghvīr iva śravaso bhikṣamāṇāḥ || 9 ||
aśvyasya tmanā rathyasya puṣṭer nityasya rāyaḥ patayaḥ syāma |
tā cakrāṇā ūtibhir navyasībhir asmatrā rāyo niyutaḥ sacantām || 10 ||
ā no bṛhantā bṛhatībhir ūtī indra yātaṁ varuṇa vājasātau |
yad didyavaḥ pṛtanāsu prakrīḻān tasya vāṁ syāma sanitāra ājeḥ || 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).
🌲