Hymn to Indra
Rigveda VI.25 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.
O Indra, bountiful lord of heaven and earth,
Whose gifts do multiply beyond all measure,
The cattle-herds do prosper at thy blessing,
The fields do yield their increase for the faithful.
II.
Thou art the lord of all that is abundant,
The giver of the rains that make the earth rejoice,
The sender of the sun to warm the fields,
The lord of wind and weather and the seasons.
III.
When thou dost look with favor on a man,
His fortunes rise like the ascending moon,
His enemies are turned away in shame,
And all the world doth bow before his greatness.
IV.
The merchants traveling forth do call upon thee,
The farmer standing in his field doth pray,
The mother in her home doth seek thy blessing,
All turn to thee for bounty and for grace.
V.
O mighty one, extend thy hand of blessing,
Let thy great power flow toward the waiting world,
We ask not for the wealth that breeds corruption,
But for the honest plenty that doth feed and gladden.
VI.
The man of truth and righteousness doth prosper,
When he doth honor thee with gifts and prayer,
But he who loveth lies and base deception,
Shall find his wealth grow thin and slip away.
VII.
Grant us, O bountiful one, thy protection,
Grant us the wisdom to use well thy gifts,
Let us remember always that thou art the giver,
And that all bounty floweth from thy throne.
VIII.
O Indra, may we walk in thy good favor,
And may our children's children know thy grace,
Let the abundance of thy blessings fall upon us,
And make us worthy of thy endless care.
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.25
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.
yā ta ūtir avamā yā paramā yā madhyamendra śuṣminn asti |
tābhir ū ṣu vṛtrahatye 'vīr na ebhiś ca vājair mahān na ugra || 1 ||
ābhiḥ spṛdho mithatīr ariṣaṇyann amitrasya vyathayā manyum indra |
ābhir viśvā abhiyujo viṣūcīr āryāya viśo 'va tārīr dāsīḥ || 2 ||
indra jāmaya uta ye 'jāmayo 'rvācīnāso vanuṣo yuyujre |
tvam eṣāṁ vithurā śavāṁsi jahi vṛṣṇyāni kṛṇuhī parācaḥ || 3 ||
śūro vā śūraṁ vanate śarīrais tanūrucā taruṣi yat kṛṇvaite |
toke vā goṣu tanaye yad apsu vi krandasī urvarāsu bravaite || 4 ||
nahi tvā śūro na turo na dhṛṣṇur na tvā yodho manyamāno yuyodha |
indra nakiṣ ṭvā praty asty eṣāṁ viśvā jātāny abhy asi tāni || 5 ||
sa patyata ubhayor nṛmṇam ayor yadī vedhasaḥ samithe havante |
vṛtre vā maho nṛvati kṣaye vā vyacasvantā yadi vitantasaite || 6 ||
adha smā te carṣaṇayo yad ejān indra trātota bhavā varūtā |
asmākāso ye nṛtamāso arya indra sūrayo dadhire puro naḥ || 7 ||
anu te dāyi maha indriyāya satrā te viśvam anu vṛtrahatye |
anu kṣatram anu saho yajatrendra devebhir anu te nṛṣahye || 8 ||
evā naḥ spṛdhaḥ sam ajā samatsv indra rārandhi mithatīr adevīḥ |
vidyāma vastor avasā gṛṇanto bharadvājā uta ta indra nūnam || 9 ||
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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