Hymn to Indra
Rigveda V.36 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.
None can match thy prowess, O Indra! No deva, no man, no creature under heaven can rival thee in strength. Thou standest alone at the peak of all power. The Devas themselves bow before thee and acknowledge thy supremacy.
In the beginning, when chaos did prevail, it was thou that brought order forth. Thou didst slay the primordial demons that would have consumed all being. Thou didst establish the courses of the sun and moon. Thou didst set the stars in their places. All creation oweth its existence to thy acts.
Other deities have their domains—Agni ruleth the fire, Varuṇa the waters, Sūrya the light of day. But thou, O Indra, transcendest all boundaries! Thy power reacheth into every realm. When thou speakest, the gods listen. When thou commandest, all must obey.
Thou art the king of the Devas, though none hath crowned thee with a formal crown. Thy sovereignty is acknowledged by all. The lesser gods come to thee for counsel. The celestial hosts march at thy command. The cosmos itself moveth according to thy will.
We are small beneath thy gaze, O mighty one! We are as dust motes in the sunlight of thy glory. Yet thou dost not despise us for our smallness. Thou receivest our hymns and our offerings. Thou hearest the prayers of mortals who call upon thy name. Grant us but a fraction of thy power, and we shall be content. Let us serve thee all our days, and in the world beyond this one, may we dwell in thy presence forever.
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.36
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.
sa ā gamad indro yo vasūnāṁ ciketad dātuṁ dāmano rayīṇām |
dhanvacaro na vaṁsagas tṛṣāṇaś cakamānaḥ pibatu dugdham aṁśum || 1 ||
ā te hanū harivaḥ śūra śipre ruhat somo na parvatasya pṛṣṭhe |
anu tvā rājann arvato na hinvan gīrbhir madema puruhūta viśve || 2 ||
cakraṁ na vṛttam puruhūta vepate mano bhiyā me amater id adrivaḥ |
rathād adhi tvā jaritā sadāvṛdha kuvin nu stoṣan maghavan purūvasuḥ || 3 ||
eṣa grāveva jaritā ta indreyarti vācam bṛhad āśuṣāṇaḥ |
pra savyena maghavan yaṁsi rāyaḥ pra dakṣiṇid dharivo mā vi venaḥ || 4 ||
vṛṣā tvā vṛṣaṇaṁ vardhatu dyaur vṛṣā vṛṣabhyāṁ vahase haribhyām |
sa no vṛṣā vṛṣarathaḥ suśipra vṛṣakrato vṛṣā vajrin bhare dhāḥ || 5 ||
yo rohitau vājinau vājinīvān tribhiḥ śataiḥ sacamānāv adiṣṭa |
yūne sam asmai kṣitayo namantāṁ śrutarathāya maruto duvoyā || 6 ||
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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