Hymn to Indra
Rigveda VII.23 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, hear our prayer! We call upon thee in the time of our need. Come forth from thy dwelling place on high and stand beside us in our hour of peril.
The enemies do press upon us from all sides. Their arrows fall like rain; their spears are like lightning. We are weak and small before them. Only thou, O mighty one, canst give us strength to overcome them.
O Thunderer, grant unto us thy power! Let our arms be strong as iron; let our hearts be brave as lions. When we do stand against our foes, let us not falter. Let us strike with the certainty of one who knoweth that the gods are on his side.
With thy bolt, thou didst slay the demons. With thy strength, thou didst protect the gods and the mortals. So do thou protect us now, O Indra!
Hear thou our call! Come to our aid!
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.23
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.
ud u brahmāṇy airata śravasyendraṁ samarye mahayā vasiṣṭha |
ā yo viśvāni śavasā tatānopaśrotā ma īvato vacāṁsi || 1 ||
ayāmi ghoṣa indra devajāmir irajyanta yac churudho vivāci |
nahi svam āyuś cikite janeṣu tānīd aṁhāṁsy ati parṣy asmān || 2 ||
yuje rathaṁ gaveṣaṇaṁ haribhyām upa brahmāṇi jujuṣāṇam asthuḥ |
vi bādhiṣṭa sya rodasī mahitvendro vṛtrāṇy apratī jaghanvān || 3 ||
āpaś cit pipyuḥ staryo3 na gāvo nakṣann ṛtaṁ jaritāras ta indra |
yāhi vāyur na niyuto no acchā tvaṁ hi dhībhir dayase vi vājān || 4 ||
te tvā madā indra mādayantu śuṣmiṇaṁ tuvirādhasaṁ jaritre |
eko devatrā dayase hi martān asmiñ chūra savane mādayasva || 5 ||
eved indraṁ vṛṣaṇaṁ vajrabāhuṁ vasiṣṭhāso abhy arcanty arkaiḥ |
sa naḥ stuto vīravad dhātu gomad yūyam pāta svastibhiḥ sadā naḥ || 6 ||
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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