Hymn to Indra
Rigveda VII.24 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, thy thunderbolt is the mightiest weapon that doth exist in all the worlds! With one blow thou dost shatter the strongholds of the demons. With one strike, thou dost break through all barriers and all walls.
No fortress can withstand thee; no rampart, however high and thick, can stand against thy terrible approach. The mountains that reach unto the heavens do bow before thy might. The rocks that seem eternal do crumble and fall away.
O Thunderer, when thou dost raise thy bolt, the very sky doth shake. The earth trembles beneath thy feet. The winds cry out in fear; the clouds do scatter like sheep fleeing before a hunter.
All the enemies of the gods do hide themselves when they perceive thy approaching thunder. They know that their strongholds are as paper before thee; their weapons are as straw. There is no place to hide from thy terrible and all-seeing power.
O mighty Indra, wielder of the bolt! Accept our hymn and our offering. Crush thou the enemies of those who believe in thee. Let none rise up against the worshippers of the Thunderer.
Grant unto us thy protection, O Indra! With thee beside us, no barrier can stand against us. With thy aid, we shall overcome all obstacles.
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.24
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.
yoniṣ ṭa indra sadane akāri tam ā nṛbhiḥ puruhūta pra yāhi |
aso yathā no 'vitā vṛdhe ca dado vasūni mamadaś ca somaiḥ || 1 ||
gṛbhītaṁ te mana indra dvibarhāḥ sutaḥ somaḥ pariṣiktā madhūni |
visṛṣṭadhenā bharate suvṛktir iyam indraṁ johuvatī manīṣā || 2 ||
ā no diva ā pṛthivyā ṛjīṣinn idam barhiḥ somapeyāya yāhi |
vahantu tvā harayo madryañcam āṅgūṣam acchā tavasam madāya || 3 ||
ā no viśvābhir ūtibhiḥ sajoṣā brahma juṣāṇo haryaśva yāhi |
varīvṛjat sthavirebhiḥ suśiprāsme dadhad vṛṣaṇaṁ śuṣmam indra || 4 ||
eṣa stomo maha ugrāya vāhe dhurī3vātyo na vājayann adhāyi |
indra tvāyam arka īṭṭe vasūnāṁ divīva dyām adhi naḥ śromataṁ dhāḥ || 5 ||
evā na indra vāryasya pūrdhi pra te mahīṁ sumatiṁ vevidāma |
iṣam pinva maghavadbhyaḥ suvīrāṁ 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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