Hymn to Indra
Rigveda VI.19 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.
Indra the thunderer, the lord of storms and lightning,
Who rideth on the clouds as on a war-horse fierce and swift,
Who breaketh open the treasuries of the sky,
And sendeth down the rains to make the earth rejoice.
II.
Hear us, O mighty one, as we call upon thee,
Accept the soma poured with reverent hands and voice,
We gather round the fire to praise thy deeds of old,
The victories thou hast won against the powers of darkness.
III.
The thunder that doth roll across the heavens,
That maketh mortals tremble and the mountains quake—
This is thy voice, O Indra, speaking unto man,
Declaring thy great strength and thy immortal glory.
IV.
When thou dost raise thy hand and strike with lightning,
The whole of heaven doth flash with brilliant light,
The earth doth reel and shudder at the thunder's roar,
And all the devas gather round to sing thy praise.
V.
O thou who pourest forth the life-giving waters,
Who makest fertile every barren field and plain,
The cattle thrive when thou hast sent the rains,
The crops grow thick and golden for the harvest.
VI.
Grant us, O thunderer, thy mighty protection,
Let not the storms that thou commandest come against us,
But rain upon our fields the waters of thy blessing,
That we may reap in gladness and in peace.
VII.
Thou art the friend to him who maketh offerings,
To him who poureth soma and calleth on thy name,
Come swift as lightning when we call upon thee,
And turn away the evils that assail our homes.
VIII.
O master of the storms, O wielder of the lightning,
We bow before thy majesty and thy immortal might,
Grant us the victory, grant us the wisdom,
To live in thy good favor all the days of our lives.
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.19
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.
mahām̐ indro nṛvad ā carṣaṇiprā uta dvibarhā aminaḥ sahobhiḥ |
asmadryag vāvṛdhe vīryāyoruḥ pṛthuḥ sukṛtaḥ kartṛbhir bhūt || 1 ||
indram eva dhiṣaṇā sātaye dhād bṛhantam ṛṣvam ajaraṁ yuvānam |
aṣāḻhena śavasā śūśuvāṁsaṁ sadyaś cid yo vāvṛdhe asāmi || 2 ||
pṛthū karasnā bahulā gabhastī asmadrya1k sam mimīhi śravāṁsi |
yūtheva paśvaḥ paśupā damūnā asmām̐ indrābhy ā vavṛtsvājau || 3 ||
taṁ va indraṁ catinam asya śākair iha nūnaṁ vājayanto huvema |
yathā cit pūrve jaritāra āsur anedyā anavadyā ariṣṭāḥ || 4 ||
dhṛtavrato dhanadāḥ somavṛddhaḥ sa hi vāmasya vasunaḥ purukṣuḥ |
saṁ jagmire pathyā3 rāyo asmin samudre na sindhavo yādamānāḥ || 5 ||
śaviṣṭhaṁ na ā bhara śūra śava ojiṣṭham ojo abhibhūta ugram |
viśvā dyumnā vṛṣṇyā mānuṣāṇām asmabhyaṁ dā harivo mādayadhyai || 6 ||
yas te madaḥ pṛtanāṣāḻ amṛdhra indra taṁ na ā bhara śūśuvāṁsam |
yena tokasya tanayasya sātau maṁsīmahi jigīvāṁsas tvotāḥ || 7 ||
ā no bhara vṛṣaṇaṁ śuṣmam indra dhanaspṛtaṁ śūśuvāṁsaṁ sudakṣam |
yena vaṁsāma pṛtanāsu śatrūn tavotibhir uta jāmīm̐r ajāmīn || 8 ||
ā te śuṣmo vṛṣabha etu paścād ottarād adharād ā purastāt |
ā viśvato abhi sam etv arvāṅ indra dyumnaṁ svarvad dhehy asme || 9 ||
nṛvat ta indra nṛtamābhir ūtī vaṁsīmahi vāmaṁ śromatebhiḥ |
īkṣe hi vasva ubhayasya rājan dhā ratnam mahi sthūram bṛhantam || 10 ||
marutvantaṁ vṛṣabhaṁ vāvṛdhānam akavāriṁ divyaṁ śāsam indram |
viśvāsāham avase nūtanāyograṁ sahodām iha taṁ huvema || 11 ||
janaṁ vajrin mahi cin manyamānam ebhyo nṛbhyo randhayā yeṣv asmi |
adhā hi tvā pṛthivyāṁ śūrasātau havāmahe tanaye goṣv apsu || 12 ||
vayaṁ ta ebhiḥ puruhūta sakhyaiḥ śatroḥ-śatror uttara it syāma |
ghnanto vṛtrāṇy ubhayāni śūra rāyā madema bṛhatā tvotāḥ || 13 ||
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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