Hymn to Indra
Rigveda VI.30 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 mighty Indra, slayer of Vṛtra dread,
Whose deeds do shake the very foundations of the world,
Sing we thy glory, O master of the cosmos,
Thou who didst fashion all that is and ever shall be.
II.
In the beginning was the chaos terrible,
The waters lay imprisoned by the serpent's coils,
The light was hidden, darkness ruled triumphant,
And naught but sterile emptiness did reign.
III.
Then Indra, wise and valiant, didst arise,
Thou didst call down the lightning from the sky,
Thou didst forge weapons in the blacksmith's fires,
And makest ready for the cosmic war.
IV.
The Maruts gathered, the deities assembled,
All the great powers did come forth in hope,
They looked upon thee, Indra, mighty one,
And knew that thou alone couldst save the world.
V.
Then thou didst strike, O thunder-wielder great,
Thy thunderbolt did cleave the sky asunder,
The Vṛtra fell, his body torn and broken,
And from his corpse the waters rushed forth free.
VI.
The sun arose victorious in the heavens,
The stars came forth and took their appointed places,
The rains began to fall upon the parched earth,
And order came to rule where chaos dwelt.
VII.
The cattle lowed in pastures green and fertile,
The crops grew tall and golden for the harvest,
The rivers flowed toward the waiting ocean,
And all creation gave a joyful song.
VIII.
O Indra, thou who art the Lord of All,
Who keepest order 'gainst the forces dark,
We praise thee for the cosmos that thou madest,
For sun and moon and stars and all that is.
IX.
Let thy great power continue ever watchful,
That chaos rise not up to rule again,
Grant us to live within the world thou orderedst,
And give us peace to walk upon the earth.
X.
O mighty one, whose deeds are sung eternal,
Whose glory shineth brighter than the sun,
Accept our hymn of praise, accept our offerings,
And guard us in the world that thou hast made.
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.30
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.
bhūya id vāvṛdhe vīryāyam̐ eko ajuryo dayate vasūni |
pra ririce diva indraḥ pṛthivyā ardham id asya prati rodasī ubhe || 1 ||
adhā manye bṛhad asuryam asya yāni dādhāra nakir ā mināti |
dive-dive sūryo darśato bhūd vi sadmāny urviyā sukratur dhāt || 2 ||
adyā cin nū cit tad apo nadīnāṁ yad ābhyo arado gātum indra |
ni parvatā admasado na sedus tvayā dṛḻhāni sukrato rajāṁsi || 3 ||
satyam it tan na tvāvām̐ anyo astīndra devo na martyo jyāyān |
ahann ahim pariśayānam arṇo 'vāsṛjo apo acchā samudram || 4 ||
tvam apo vi duro viṣūcīr indra dṛḻham arujaḥ parvatasya |
rājābhavo jagataś carṣaṇīnāṁ sākaṁ sūryaṁ janayan dyām uṣāsam || 5 ||
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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