Hymn to Indra
Rigveda VII.104 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) from Maṇḍala 7 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 call upon thee, O Indra and Soma! Come forth with thy terrible power! There are those among us who are wicked, who are cruel, who are false. They traffic in sorcery and witchcraft. They weave their evil spells in the darkness. They seek to harm the righteous and to bring about the ruin of the good.
O mighty Indra! O potent Soma! I call upon you to strike them down! Let thy thunderbolt, O Indra, pierce through the heart of every sorcerer! Let thy poison, O Soma, enter into the belly of every liar! Let them die; let them perish; let them be utterly destroyed!
For what is sorcery but the work of the demons? What is witchcraft but the craft of the wicked? Those who practice these dark arts do seek to undo the work of the gods. They seek to bring chaos where there is order. They seek to bring darkness where there is light.
O Indra! Thou who hast slain the demon Vṛtra! Thou who hast defeated all the enemies of the gods! Rise up now and defend us from these sorcerers! Smash their altars; burn their books; destroy every vestige of their dark power!
O Soma! Thou who dost grant vision and wisdom to the righteous! Thou who dost open the third eye and reveal the hidden truths! Reveal to us the identity of every sorcerer! Show us where they hide! Help us to drive them forth into exile!
The liars shall not prosper! Those who speak false oaths shall be punished! Those who betray the gods shall be cast into the pit of darkness! For the law of the cosmos is truth; the law of the cosmos is righteousness; the law of the cosmos is justice!
And we mortals who cry out for thy protection are on the side of truth! We speak what is true; we act what is right; we honor what is sacred. Therefore shall we prosper, and our enemies shall be destroyed!
O Indra and Soma! Hearken unto our plea! Come forth with thy righteous wrath! Smite the sorcerers; slay the liars; destroy the evil-doers! Let them know the terror of thy power! Let them feel the agony of thy punishment! Let their names be forgotten; let their works be undone; let their very memory be erased from the earth!
For as long as there are righteous people who call upon thee, thou shalt come forth to defend them! For as long as there are those who speak truth and honor, thou shalt stand with them against all the forces of darkness!
We sing this hymn of curse and protection! We call down thy blessing upon all the righteous! We call down thy curse upon all the wicked! Let the outcome be swift and terrible! Let the sorcerers learn that they cannot prevail against the gods and those who serve them!
O Indra! O Soma! Accept our prayer! Grant us thy protection! Destroy our enemies! And let thy justice prevail forever!
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 VII.104
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.
indrāsomā tapataṁ rakṣa ubjataṁ ny arpayataṁ vṛṣaṇā tamovṛdhaḥ |
parā śṛṇītam acito ny oṣataṁ hataṁ nudethāṁ ni śiśītam atriṇaḥ || 1 ||
indrāsomā sam aghaśaṁsam abhy a1ghaṁ tapur yayastu carur agnivām̐ iva |
brahmadviṣe kravyāde ghoracakṣase dveṣo dhattam anavāyaṁ kimīdine || 2 ||
indrāsomā duṣkṛto vavre antar anārambhaṇe tamasi pra vidhyatam |
yathā nātaḥ punar ekaś canodayat tad vām astu sahase manyumac chavaḥ || 3 ||
indrāsomā vartayataṁ divo vadhaṁ sam pṛthivyā aghaśaṁsāya tarhaṇam |
ut takṣataṁ svarya1m parvatebhyo yena rakṣo vāvṛdhānaṁ nijūrvathaḥ || 4 ||
indrāsomā vartayataṁ divas pary agnitaptebhir yuvam aśmahanmabhiḥ |
tapurvadhebhir ajarebhir atriṇo ni parśāne vidhyataṁ yantu nisvaram || 5 ||
indrāsomā pari vām bhūtu viśvata iyam matiḥ kakṣyāśveva vājinā |
yāṁ vāṁ hotrām parihinomi medhayemā brahmāṇi nṛpatīva jinvatam || 6 ||
prati smarethāṁ tujayadbhir evair hataṁ druho rakṣaso bhaṅgurāvataḥ |
indrāsomā duṣkṛte mā sugam bhūd yo naḥ kadā cid abhidāsati druhā || 7 ||
yo mā pākena manasā carantam abhicaṣṭe anṛtebhir vacobhiḥ |
āpa iva kāśinā saṁgṛbhītā asann astv āsata indra vaktā || 8 ||
ye pākaśaṁsaṁ viharanta evair ye vā bhadraṁ dūṣayanti svadhābhiḥ |
ahaye vā tān pradadātu soma ā vā dadhātu nirṛter upasthe || 9 ||
yo no rasaṁ dipsati pitvo agne yo aśvānāṁ yo gavāṁ yas tanūnām |
ripuḥ stenaḥ steyakṛd dabhram etu ni ṣa hīyatāṁ tanvā3 tanā ca || 10 ||
paraḥ so astu tanvā3 tanā ca tisraḥ pṛthivīr adho astu viśvāḥ |
prati śuṣyatu yaśo asya devā yo no divā dipsati yaś ca naktam || 11 ||
suvijñānaṁ cikituṣe janāya sac cāsac ca vacasī paspṛdhāte |
tayor yat satyaṁ yatarad ṛjīyas tad it somo 'vati hanty āsat || 12 ||
na vā u somo vṛjinaṁ hinoti na kṣatriyam mithuyā dhārayantam |
hanti rakṣo hanty āsad vadantam ubhāv indrasya prasitau śayāte || 13 ||
yadi vāham anṛtadeva āsa moghaṁ vā devām̐ apyūhe agne |
kim asmabhyaṁ jātavedo hṛṇīṣe droghavācas te nirṛthaṁ sacantām || 14 ||
adyā murīya yadi yātudhāno asmi yadi vāyus tatapa pūruṣasya |
adhā sa vīrair daśabhir vi yūyā yo mā moghaṁ yātudhānety āha || 15 ||
yo māyātuṁ yātudhānety āha yo vā rakṣāḥ śucir asmīty āha |
indras taṁ hantu mahatā vadhena viśvasya jantor adhamas padīṣṭa || 16 ||
pra yā jigāti khargaleva naktam apa druhā tanva1ṁ gūhamānā |
vavrām̐ anantām̐ ava sā padīṣṭa grāvāṇo ghnantu rakṣasa upabdaiḥ || 17 ||
vi tiṣṭhadhvam maruto vikṣv i1cchata gṛbhāyata rakṣasaḥ sam pinaṣṭana |
vayo ye bhūtvī patayanti naktabhir ye vā ripo dadhire deve adhvare || 18 ||
pra vartaya divo aśmānam indra somaśitam maghavan saṁ śiśādhi |
prāktād apāktād adharād udaktād abhi jahi rakṣasaḥ parvatena || 19 ||
eta u tye patayanti śvayātava indraṁ dipsanti dipsavo 'dābhyam |
śiśīte śakraḥ piśunebhyo vadhaṁ nūnaṁ sṛjad aśaniṁ yātumadbhyaḥ || 20 ||
indro yātūnām abhavat parāśaro havirmathīnām abhy ā3vivāsatām |
abhīd u śakraḥ paraśur yathā vanam pātreva bhindan sata eti rakṣasaḥ || 21 ||
ulūkayātuṁ śuśulūkayātuṁ jahi śvayātum uta kokayātum |
suparṇayātum uta gṛdhrayātuṁ dṛṣadeva pra mṛṇa rakṣa indra || 22 ||
mā no rakṣo abhi naḍ yātumāvatām apocchatu mithunā yā kimīdinā |
pṛthivī naḥ pārthivāt pātv aṁhaso 'ntarikṣaṁ divyāt pātv asmān || 23 ||
indra jahi pumāṁsaṁ yātudhānam uta striyam māyayā śāśadānām |
vigrīvāso mūradevā ṛdantu mā te dṛśan sūryam uccarantam || 24 ||
prati cakṣva vi cakṣvendraś ca soma jāgṛtam |
rakṣobhyo vadham asyatam aśaniṁ yātumadbhyaḥ || 25 ||
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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