Hymn to Indra
Rigveda VI.31 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.
Thou art supreme, O Indra, among all the gods—no peer hath thy strength, no rival thy might. The mortals cannot match thee, nor the immortals themselves. Thou hast set the mountains firm upon the earth, thou who didst uphold the vault of heaven.
Who hath conquered as thou hast conquered? Who beareth a burden such as thine? The very sky trembled at thy growing power; the earth bowed down before thee. Thou alone art mighty beyond measure.
The lesser gods acknowledge thy dominion. The mightier deeds are thine—thou drankest first of the soma-juice and became what thou art, lord of all power. Thy thunder echoes through the three worlds; thy voice shaketh the foundations.
Thou givest strength to the warrior's arm; thou makest firm the hymn-singer's tongue. By thy favor the weak become mighty, and the fearful grow bold as lions. No enemy can stand before thee, no demon can hide from thy sight.
Praise, then, O Indra most mighty! Accept the butter-sacrifice, the soma pressed by our hands. We call upon thee in our hour of need, knowing that thou alone canst deliver us from peril. Thy glory is without end; thy deeds are sung in every world.
Let thy power flow through us, O lord. Make us like unto thee in courage and strength. For thou art the lord of lords, the king of all that moveth and all that is still. No god can rival thee, no mortal can equal thy name.
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.31
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.
abhūr eko rayipate rayīṇām ā hastayor adhithā indra kṛṣṭīḥ |
vi toke apsu tanaye ca sūre 'vocanta carṣaṇayo vivācaḥ || 1 ||
tvad bhiyendra pārthivāni viśvācyutā cic cyāvayante rajāṁsi |
dyāvākṣāmā parvatāso vanāni viśvaṁ dṛḻham bhayate ajmann ā te || 2 ||
tvaṁ kutsenābhi śuṣṇam indrāśuṣaṁ yudhya kuyavaṁ gaviṣṭau |
daśa prapitve adha sūryasya muṣāyaś cakram avive rapāṁsi || 3 ||
tvaṁ śatāny ava śambarasya puro jaghanthāpratīni dasyoḥ |
aśikṣo yatra śacyā śacīvo divodāsāya sunvate sutakre bharadvājāya gṛṇate vasūni || 4 ||
sa satyasatvan mahate raṇāya ratham ā tiṣṭha tuvinṛmṇa bhīmam |
yāhi prapathinn avasopa madrik pra ca śruta śrāvaya carṣaṇibhyaḥ || 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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