Hymn to Indra
Rigveda VI.41 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.
Indra, thou art valiant in the contest of the bold,
And liberal beyond measure in the giving forth of gold.
O warrior-king of generosity, whose hand is ever wide—
Accept our hymn of praise, for thou art bounty and thou art pride.
The miser doth behold Thy wrath and trembleth in his hall;
His hoarded wealth shall slip away, his granaries shall fall.
But he who giveth freely of his substance to the good,
Who honoureth the sacrifice and shaketh forth his wood—
To such a man Thou turnest then with countenance benign,
And pourest forth Thy blessings like the ever-flowing wine.
His flocks do multiply beyond the counting of the stones;
His herds do fatten in the field; his children fill his bones.
O generous Indra, look upon the hearts of all mankind—
The stingy soul Thou casteth down; the open-handed find
In Thee a friend most precious, who doth grant them all their prayer,
Who drinketh Soma, groweth strong, and rideth through the air.
The worshipper who offereth unto Thee with truth
Shall see his fortunes flourish in the vigor of his youth.
His enemies shall flee before the terror of his name;
His cattle crowd the meadow-land; his household knoweth fame.
So teach us, mighty Indra, this most paradox of war—
That strength and gentleness are one, that valor and much more
Do find their truest expression when the generous hand doth give.
O Thunderer, O Bounty-Lord, teach us the way to live.
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.41
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.
aheḻamāna upa yāhi yajñaṁ tubhyam pavanta indavaḥ sutāsaḥ |
gāvo na vajrin svam oko acchendrā gahi prathamo yajñiyānām || 1 ||
yā te kākut sukṛtā yā variṣṭhā yayā śaśvat pibasi madhva ūrmim |
tayā pāhi pra te adhvaryur asthāt saṁ te vajro vartatām indra gavyuḥ || 2 ||
eṣa drapso vṛṣabho viśvarūpa indrāya vṛṣṇe sam akāri somaḥ |
etam piba harivaḥ sthātar ugra yasyeśiṣe pradivi yas te annam || 3 ||
sutaḥ somo asutād indra vasyān ayaṁ śreyāñ cikituṣe raṇāya |
etaṁ titirva upa yāhi yajñaṁ tena viśvās taviṣīr ā pṛṇasva || 4 ||
hvayāmasi tvendra yāhy arvāṅ araṁ te somas tanve bhavāti |
śatakrato mādayasvā suteṣu prāsmām̐ ava pṛtanāsu pra vikṣu || 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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