Hymn to Indra
Rigveda V.33 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) from Maṇḍala 5 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.
Indra is the friend of those who trust in him. He standeth as a bulwark between the faithful and their foes. When the wicked gather in malice, he rideth forth upon his car drawn by the storm-horses, and his enemies scatter like dust before the wind.
Thou art the champion of ṛta, O Indra—of that cosmic order which holdeth all things in their place. The liar, the cheat, the breaker of oaths—these thou dost cast down. Thou strikeest the fortress of the godless, and their walls crumble into ash. Their treasuries thou openest, and the spoil floweth forth like water from a broken dam.
Thou hast a thousand names, O mighty one! Thou art called the Powerful, the Thunderer, the Protector of the Righteous. The hymn-singers cry out to thee, and thou hearest them. The merchant calleth upon thee in his peril, and thou guidest his ship through the storm. The warrior invoketh thy name before the battle, and his arm is strengthened.
We have seen thy deeds, O Indra! We have witnessed how thou defendest the innocent and punishest the wicked. Thy chariot rolleth through the cosmos as a wheel of fire. Nothing can stand against thee. The demons flee at the sound of thy footfall. The asuras hide themselves in deep places.
Grant us thy protection, O Indra! Stand as our fortress against the darkness that would crush us. Make strong our limbs for the work we must do. Sharpen our minds that we may discern right from wrong. And when at last our earthly deeds are finished, receive us into thy glory, for thou art the greatest of all the Devas.
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 V.33
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.
mahi mahe tavase dīdhye nṝn indrāyetthā tavase atavyān |
yo asmai sumatiṁ vājasātau stuto jane samaryaś ciketa || 1 ||
sa tvaṁ na indra dhiyasāno arkair harīṇāṁ vṛṣan yoktram aśreḥ |
yā itthā maghavann anu joṣaṁ vakṣo abhi prāryaḥ sakṣi janān || 2 ||
na te ta indrābhy a1smad ṛṣvāyuktāso abrahmatā yad asan |
tiṣṭhā ratham adhi taṁ vajrahastā raśmiṁ deva yamase svaśvaḥ || 3 ||
purū yat ta indra santy ukthā gave cakarthorvarāsu yudhyan |
tatakṣe sūryāya cid okasi sve vṛṣā samatsu dāsasya nāma cit || 4 ||
vayaṁ te ta indra ye ca naraḥ śardho jajñānā yātāś ca rathāḥ |
āsmāñ jagamyād ahiśuṣma satvā bhago na havyaḥ prabhṛtheṣu cāruḥ || 5 ||
papṛkṣeṇyam indra tve hy ojo nṛmṇāni ca nṛtamāno amartaḥ |
sa na enīṁ vasavāno rayiṁ dāḥ prāryaḥ stuṣe tuvimaghasya dānam || 6 ||
evā na indrotibhir ava pāhi gṛṇataḥ śūra kārūn |
uta tvacaṁ dadato vājasātau piprīhi madhvaḥ suṣutasya cāroḥ || 7 ||
uta tye mā paurukutsyasya sūres trasadasyor hiraṇino rarāṇāḥ |
vahantu mā daśa śyetāso asya gairikṣitasya kratubhir nu saśce || 8 ||
uta tye mā mārutāśvasya śoṇāḥ kratvāmaghāso vidathasya rātau |
sahasrā me cyavatāno dadāna ānūkam aryo vapuṣe nārcat || 9 ||
uta tye mā dhvanyasya juṣṭā lakṣmaṇyasya suruco yatānāḥ |
mahnā rāyaḥ saṁvaraṇasya ṛṣer vrajaṁ na gāvaḥ prayatā api gman || 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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