Hymn to Indra
Rigveda VI.17 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) from Maṇḍala 6 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.
I.
Sing we the mighty Indra, whose arm is never weary,
Who rideth in the war-chariot drawn by golden horses,
Whose thunder shaketh heaven and earth to their foundations,
The lord of warriors, the slayer of the demon hosts.
II.
He beareth the golden thunderbolt in his right hand,
That weapon which doth rend asunder the mountains,
By it he hath broken through the demon's strongholds,
And given free passage to the rivers and the rains.
III.
O mighty Indra, thou art the friend of man,
Thou hearest the prayers of them that call upon thee,
Grant us the strength to overcome our enemies,
Give us the victory in battle and the spoils of war.
IV.
The gods themselves do tremble at thy coming,
Maruts and Aśvins wait upon thy will,
Thou sittest higher than all the powers of heaven,
King of the gods, lord of the three worlds.
V.
What hero can withstand when thou dost raise thy weapon?
What fortress can resist thy terrible assault?
The demons flee before thee like the beasts before the hunter,
And mortals praise thy name from dawn till darkness falleth.
VI.
O Indra, thou whom no foe hath ever vanquished,
We pour the soma for thee, we sing thy mighty deeds,
Grant us thy favor, grant us thy protection,
That we may walk in peace and prosper all our days.
VII.
Come thou to us when enemies do threaten,
Come as thou didst to them of old, our forefathers,
With thy strong arm, with thy victorious purpose,
And scatter thou our foes like dust before the wind.
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 VI.17
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.
pibā somam abhi yam ugra tarda ūrvaṁ gavyam mahi gṛṇāna indra |
vi yo dhṛṣṇo vadhiṣo vajrahasta viśvā vṛtram amitriyā śavobhiḥ || 1 ||
sa īm pāhi ya ṛjīṣī tarutro yaḥ śipravān vṛṣabho yo matīnām |
yo gotrabhid vajrabhṛd yo hariṣṭhāḥ sa indra citrām̐ abhi tṛndhi vājān || 2 ||
evā pāhi pratnathā mandatu tvā śrudhi brahma vāvṛdhasvota gīrbhiḥ |
āviḥ sūryaṁ kṛṇuhi pīpihīṣo jahi śatrūm̐r abhi gā indra tṛndhi || 3 ||
te tvā madā bṛhad indra svadhāva ime pītā ukṣayanta dyumantam |
mahām anūnaṁ tavasaṁ vibhūtim matsarāso jarhṛṣanta prasāham || 4 ||
yebhiḥ sūryam uṣasam mandasāno 'vāsayo 'pa dṛḻhāni dardrat |
mahām adrim pari gā indra santaṁ nutthā acyutaṁ sadasas pari svāt || 5 ||
tava kratvā tava tad daṁsanābhir āmāsu pakvaṁ śacyā ni dīdhaḥ |
aurṇor dura usriyābhyo vi dṛḻhod ūrvād gā asṛjo aṅgirasvān || 6 ||
paprātha kṣām mahi daṁso vy u1rvīm upa dyām ṛṣvo bṛhad indra stabhāyaḥ |
adhārayo rodasī devaputre pratne mātarā yahvī ṛtasya || 7 ||
adha tvā viśve pura indra devā ekaṁ tavasaṁ dadhire bharāya |
adevo yad abhy auhiṣṭa devān svarṣātā vṛṇata indram atra || 8 ||
adha dyauś cit te apa sā nu vajrād dvitānamad bhiyasā svasya manyoḥ |
ahiṁ yad indro abhy ohasānaṁ ni cid viśvāyuḥ śayathe jaghāna || 9 ||
adha tvaṣṭā te maha ugra vajraṁ sahasrabhṛṣṭiṁ vavṛtac chatāśrim |
nikāmam aramaṇasaṁ yena navantam ahiṁ sam piṇag ṛjīṣin || 10 ||
vardhān yaṁ viśve marutaḥ sajoṣāḥ pacac chatam mahiṣām̐ indra tubhyam |
pūṣā viṣṇus trīṇi sarāṁsi dhāvan vṛtrahaṇam madiram aṁśum asmai || 11 ||
ā kṣodo mahi vṛtaṁ nadīnām pariṣṭhitam asṛja ūrmim apām |
tāsām anu pravata indra panthām prārdayo nīcīr apasaḥ samudram || 12 ||
evā tā viśvā cakṛvāṁsam indram mahām ugram ajuryaṁ sahodām |
suvīraṁ tvā svāyudhaṁ suvajram ā brahma navyam avase vavṛtyāt || 13 ||
sa no vājāya śravasa iṣe ca rāye dhehi dyumata indra viprān |
bharadvāje nṛvata indra sūrīn divi ca smaidhi pārye na indra || 14 ||
ayā vājaṁ devahitaṁ sanema madema śatahimāḥ suvīrāḥ || 15 ||
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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