Hymn to Indra
Rigveda VII.22 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.
O Indra, thou art the Bull! Mighty and strong art thou beyond all measure. The gods do tremble at thy voice; the demons do flee before thy approaching.
When thou dost drink the soma, thy body swelleth with power. The very heavens cannot contain thy might; the earth is as a small thing beneath thy feet. The mountains bow before thee; the rivers do thy bidding.
O friend of those who bring thee the pressed juice! The singer who raiseth hymn unto thee shall never be forsaken. Thou dost care for the pious; thou dost protect those who put their faith in thee.
With thy hands thou hast conquered all the demons. The serpent Vṛtra, that ancient enemy, thou didst slay. The waters that were imprisoned thou didst set free. Through thy victory, all life was given freedom.
O Indra! Accept the soma that we offer with voices raised in hymn. Drink thou and be glad! Let thy belly be filled with rapture. When thou art pleased, all the universe doth flourish.
Grant unto us, O mighty Bull, thy strength and thy protection. Let no evil come near unto us. Guard us through all times and all places. Be thou our friend and our protector forevermore.
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.22
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.
pibā somam indra mandatu tvā yaṁ te suṣāva haryaśvādriḥ |
sotur bāhubhyāṁ suyato nārvā || 1 ||
yas te mado yujyaś cārur asti yena vṛtrāṇi haryaśva haṁsi |
sa tvām indra prabhūvaso mamattu || 2 ||
bodhā su me maghavan vācam emāṁ yāṁ te vasiṣṭho arcati praśastim |
imā brahma sadhamāde juṣasva || 3 ||
śrudhī havaṁ vipipānasyādrer bodhā viprasyārcato manīṣām |
kṛṣvā duvāṁsy antamā sacemā || 4 ||
na te giro api mṛṣye turasya na suṣṭutim asuryasya vidvān |
sadā te nāma svayaśo vivakmi || 5 ||
bhūri hi te savanā mānuṣeṣu bhūri manīṣī havate tvām it |
māre asman maghavañ jyok kaḥ || 6 ||
tubhyed imā savanā śūra viśvā tubhyam brahmāṇi vardhanā kṛṇomi |
tvaṁ nṛbhir havyo viśvadhāsi || 7 ||
nū cin nu te manyamānasya dasmod aśnuvanti mahimānam ugra |
na vīryam indra te na rādhaḥ || 8 ||
ye ca pūrva ṛṣayo ye ca nūtnā indra brahmāṇi janayanta viprāḥ |
asme te santu sakhyā śivāni yūyam pāta svastibhiḥ sadā naḥ || 9 ||
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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