Hymn to Indra
Rigveda VI.27 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 of Indra, the Dāsa-slayer fearsome,
Who smote the servants of the dark with thunderous hand,
When Abhyāvartin Cāyamāna called upon thee,
Thou didst go forth and break the enemy's might.
II.
The Dāsas rose in rebellion 'gainst the righteous,
They gathered round with weapons sharp and cruel,
They sought to turn back the courses of the rivers,
And break the sacred order of the gods.
III.
Then Abhyāvartin Cāyamāna called unto thee,
His voice did rise as a prayer unto the heavens,
He poured the soma forth in desperation,
And cried for thee to come and save his people.
IV.
O Indra, thou didst hear his righteous plea,
Thou came with thunder rolling through the sky,
The very earth did tremble at thy coming,
And all the heavens rang with thy great war-cry.
V.
The Dāsas fled before thee like the darkness
When first the sun doth break upon the eastern hills,
Their weapons fell useless from their nerveless fingers,
Their fortresses crumbled like the sand.
VI.
By thy great hand was slain the demon leader,
Who had sought to enslave the righteous men,
The servants of the dark did fall and perish,
And the world was freed from their dark curse.
VII.
O Indra, thou who savest the righteous,
Who comest to the aid of those that pray,
Grant that we too may find thy aid and succor,
When evil riseth up to challenge thee.
VIII.
Abhyāvartin Cāyamāna gained great glory,
For he did trust in thee and found thee true,
Let us too walk the path of the righteous,
That we may call on thee and find thee ever nigh.
IX.
O slayer of the servants of the darkness,
Accept our praises, hear our grateful song,
Let thy great strength guard all the faithful peoples,
And let the righteous triumph and grow strong.
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.27
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.
kim asya made kim v asya pītāv indraḥ kim asya sakhye cakāra |
raṇā vā ye niṣadi kiṁ te asya purā vividre kim u nūtanāsaḥ || 1 ||
sad asya made sad v asya pītāv indraḥ sad asya sakhye cakāra |
raṇā vā ye niṣadi sat te asya purā vividre sad u nūtanāsaḥ || 2 ||
nahi nu te mahimanaḥ samasya na maghavan maghavattvasya vidma |
na rādhaso-rādhaso nūtanasyendra nakir dadṛśa indriyaṁ te || 3 ||
etat tyat ta indriyam aceti yenāvadhīr varaśikhasya śeṣaḥ |
vajrasya yat te nihatasya śuṣmāt svanāc cid indra paramo dadāra || 4 ||
vadhīd indro varaśikhasya śeṣo 'bhyāvartine cāyamānāya śikṣan |
vṛcīvato yad dhariyūpīyāyāṁ han pūrve ardhe bhiyasāparo dart || 5 ||
triṁśacchataṁ varmiṇa indra sākaṁ yavyāvatyām puruhūta śravasyā |
vṛcīvantaḥ śarave patyamānāḥ pātrā bhindānā nyarthāny āyan || 6 ||
yasya gāvāv aruṣā sūyavasyū antar ū ṣu carato rerihāṇā |
sa sṛñjayāya turvaśam parādād vṛcīvato daivavātāya śikṣan || 7 ||
dvayām̐ agne rathino viṁśatiṁ gā vadhūmato maghavā mahyaṁ samrāṭ |
abhyāvartī cāyamāno dadāti dūṇāśeyaṁ dakṣiṇā pārthavānām || 8 ||
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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