Hymn to Indra
Rigveda VII.27 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, great and glorious! Come hither at our call. We have prepared the sacrifice for thee; the altar burneth bright. The seven pressing-stones have sounded; now come thou to the feast.
In ancient times, thou didst slay the serpent Vṛtra and didst loose the waters. The rivers did flow forth; the cattle were set free. The earth itself was made fertile by thy deeds.
The demons cried out in terror when they beheld thy thunderbolt. The mountains did quake; the very heavens trembled. No creature dared stand against thee, O Bull of Heaven.
Yet thou art not only the god of war and thunder. Thou art also the giver of wealth, the bestower of gifts. The rich man and the poor man alike do call upon thy name.
Come, O Indra, and sit with us at the feast! Drink of the Soma that we have pressed! Let our hymns bring gladness to thy heart, and may thy bounty flow forever.
The Kāṇvas do praise thee with all their hearts. Accept our prayers, O Mighty One, and grant unto us thy protection and thy love.
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.27
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.
indraṁ naro nemadhitā havante yat pāryā yunajate dhiyas tāḥ |
śūro nṛṣātā śavasaś cakāna ā gomati vraje bhajā tvaṁ naḥ || 1 ||
ya indra śuṣmo maghavan te asti śikṣā sakhibhyaḥ puruhūta nṛbhyaḥ |
tvaṁ hi dṛḻhā maghavan vicetā apā vṛdhi parivṛtaṁ na rādhaḥ || 2 ||
indro rājā jagataś carṣaṇīnām adhi kṣami viṣurūpaṁ yad asti |
tato dadāti dāśuṣe vasūni codad rādha upastutaś cid arvāk || 3 ||
nū cin na indro maghavā sahūtī dāno vājaṁ ni yamate na ūtī |
anūnā yasya dakṣiṇā pīpāya vāmaṁ nṛbhyo abhivītā sakhibhyaḥ || 4 ||
nū indra rāye varivas kṛdhī na ā te mano vavṛtyāma maghāya |
gomad aśvāvad rathavad vyanto yūyam pāta svastibhiḥ sadā naḥ || 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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