Hymn to Indra
Rigveda VIII.46 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) from Maṇḍala 8 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.
Sing praises to the mighty Indra, whom none doth equal in strength and valor. He who is called upon in the hour of battle, who hath driven back the darkness with thunder.
Indra, whose hand is swift and sure, thou who ridest upon the winds of heaven. The demons flee before thy wrath; the mountains bow beneath thy power. The Kāṇvas call upon thee now, for thou art the protector of the righteous.
Thou drinkest deep of Soma's draught, and thy strength groweth without measure. Thy limbs are mighty as iron, thy voice as thunder. When thou movest, the very earth doth tremble; when thou speakest, all the gods take heed.
Who dareth stand before thee, O Indra? Who dareth raise the hand against thee? Thou art the breaker of strongholds, the slayer of demons. Vṛtra and Śuṣṇa and all the foes of the gods have fallen before thy bolt.
Thy bay horses, swift as the wind, do carry thee from sacrifice to sacrifice. They toss their manes in the golden light; their hooves ring out upon the earth. Thou ridest forth to the place of worship, and the Kāṇvas see thy coming with joy.
The soma has been pressed, the hymn hath been sung. Come thou now and drink, O Indra. Let thy belly be filled with the sweet juice; let thy strength grow ever greater.
We give unto thee our offerings, O Mighty One. We lay before thee the choicest gifts, that thou might take them with a generous hand. Grant unto us thy favor; turn thy face upon us and smile. Make us victorious in battle; give unto us the abundance of cattle and gold.
Thou hast given unto us the light of the sun; thou hast loosed the rivers from their stone prisons. The rains fall at thy command; the crops grow at thy word. All things move at thy bidding, O Lord of all the gods.
Strong-armed Indra, whose thunderbolt is feared by demons and desiccators alike—we sing thy praise. The Kāṇvas are thy servants, and we do call upon thee with the voices that thou lovest. Come hither, O Bull of Heaven; come and feast with us this night.
The night darkens, but thy lightning doth break through the clouds. The earth trembles with each footstep. The very stars do bow before thy majesty. There is none like thee in heaven or on earth, nor shall there be.
Thou art the friend of the singer; thou art the refuge of the weak and lowly. When they call upon thee, thou hearest. When they cry out in their distress, thou comest forth with aid. The Kāṇvas know thy kindness well; we have been uplifted by thy hand.
Let thy bounty flow upon us like the rivers flow to the sea. Give unto us thy gifts—the steeds that carry us to victory, the kine that feed us, the gold that maketh us rich and mighty. O Indra, thou giver of all good things—be with us now and evermore.
With each new dawn, we shall praise thee. With each pressing of the Soma, thy name shall be upon our lips. The hymns of the Kāṇvas shall rise unto thy ears, and thou shalt be pleased. The juice shall flow, the horns shall sound, the priests shall call.
None other among the gods doth possess thy power. None other hath been worthy of such honor and praise. Thou art the mightiest, the most glorious, the most sought-after. All creatures honor thee; all things bow before thee.
Vṛtra is broken, shattered like a clay pot upon the earth. The seven rivers flow free, carrying blessing and water to all the lands. The sun doth shine in thy honor; the moon doth rise at thy command. The dawn cometh forth with rosy fingers to greet thy magnificence.
Come, O Indra, accept this hymn of ours. Let it please thee; let it enter thy ear and touch thy heart. We, the Kāṇvas, are thy devoted servants. We shall praise thee always, in this world and unto the distant ages yet unborn.
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 VIII.46
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.
tvāvataḥ purūvaso vayam indra praṇetaḥ |
smasi sthātar harīṇām || 1 ||
tvāṁ hi satyam adrivo vidma dātāram iṣām |
vidma dātāraṁ rayīṇām || 2 ||
ā yasya te mahimānaṁ śatamūte śatakrato |
gīrbhir gṛṇanti kāravaḥ || 3 ||
sunītho ghā sa martyo yam maruto yam aryamā |
mitraḥ pānty adruhaḥ || 4 ||
dadhāno gomad aśvavat suvīryam ādityajūta edhate |
sadā rāyā puruspṛhā || 5 ||
tam indraṁ dānam īmahe śavasānam abhīrvam |
īśānaṁ rāya īmahe || 6 ||
tasmin hi santy ūtayo viśvā abhīravaḥ sacā |
tam ā vahantu saptayaḥ purūvasum madāya harayaḥ sutam || 7 ||
yas te mado vareṇyo ya indra vṛtrahantamaḥ |
ya ādadiḥ sva1r nṛbhir yaḥ pṛtanāsu duṣṭaraḥ || 8 ||
yo duṣṭaro viśvavāra śravāyyo vājeṣv asti tarutā |
sa naḥ śaviṣṭha savanā vaso gahi gamema gomati vraje || 9 ||
gavyo ṣu ṇo yathā purāśvayota rathayā |
varivasya mahāmaha || 10 ||
nahi te śūra rādhaso 'ntaṁ vindāmi satrā |
daśasyā no maghavan nū cid adrivo dhiyo vājebhir āvitha || 11 ||
ya ṛṣvaḥ śrāvayatsakhā viśvet sa veda janimā puruṣṭutaḥ |
taṁ viśve mānuṣā yugendraṁ havante taviṣaṁ yatasrucaḥ || 12 ||
sa no vājeṣv avitā purūvasuḥ puraḥsthātā maghavā vṛtrahā bhuvat || 13 ||
abhi vo vīram andhaso madeṣu gāya girā mahā vicetasam |
indraṁ nāma śrutyaṁ śākinaṁ vaco yathā || 14 ||
dadī rekṇas tanve dadir vasu dadir vājeṣu puruhūta vājinam |
nūnam atha || 15 ||
viśveṣām irajyantaṁ vasūnāṁ sāsahvāṁsaṁ cid asya varpasaḥ |
kṛpayato nūnam aty atha || 16 ||
mahaḥ su vo aram iṣe stavāmahe mīḻhuṣe araṁgamāya jagmaye |
yajñebhir gīrbhir viśvamanuṣām marutām iyakṣasi gāye tvā namasā girā || 17 ||
ye pātayante ajmabhir girīṇāṁ snubhir eṣām |
yajñam mahiṣvaṇīnāṁ sumnaṁ tuviṣvaṇīnām prādhvare || 18 ||
prabhaṅgaṁ durmatīnām indra śaviṣṭhā bhara |
rayim asmabhyaṁ yujyaṁ codayanmate jyeṣṭhaṁ codayanmate || 19 ||
sanitaḥ susanitar ugra citra cetiṣṭha sūnṛta |
prāsahā samrāṭ sahuriṁ sahantam bhujyuṁ vājeṣu pūrvyam || 20 ||
ā sa etu ya īvad ām̐ adevaḥ pūrtam ādade |
yathā cid vaśo aśvyaḥ pṛthuśravasi kānīte3 'syā vyuṣy ādade || 21 ||
ṣaṣṭiṁ sahasrāśvyasyāyutāsanam uṣṭrānāṁ viṁśatiṁ śatā |
daśa śyāvīnāṁ śatā daśa tryaruṣīṇāṁ daśa gavāṁ sahasrā || 22 ||
daśa śyāvā ṛdhadrayo vītavārāsa āśavaḥ |
mathrā nemiṁ ni vāvṛtuḥ || 23 ||
dānāsaḥ pṛthuśravasaḥ kānītasya surādhasaḥ |
rathaṁ hiraṇyayaṁ dadan maṁhiṣṭhaḥ sūrir abhūd varṣiṣṭham akṛta śravaḥ || 24 ||
ā no vāyo mahe tane yāhi makhāya pājase |
vayaṁ hi te cakṛmā bhūri dāvane sadyaś cin mahi dāvane || 25 ||
yo aśvebhir vahate vasta usrās triḥ sapta saptatīnām |
ebhiḥ somebhiḥ somasudbhiḥ somapā dānāya śukrapūtapāḥ || 26 ||
yo ma imaṁ cid u tmanāmandac citraṁ dāvane |
araṭve akṣe nahuṣe sukṛtvani sukṛttarāya sukratuḥ || 27 ||
ucathye3 vapuṣi yaḥ svarāḻ uta vāyo ghṛtasnāḥ |
aśveṣitaṁ rajeṣitaṁ śuneṣitam prājma tad idaṁ nu tat || 28 ||
adha priyam iṣirāya ṣaṣṭiṁ sahasrāsanam |
aśvānām in na vṛṣṇām || 29 ||
gāvo na yūtham upa yanti vadhraya upa mā yanti vadhrayaḥ || 30 ||
adha yac cārathe gaṇe śatam uṣṭrām̐ acikradat |
adha śvitneṣu viṁśatiṁ śatā || 31 ||
śataṁ dāse balbūthe vipras tarukṣa ā dade |
te te vāyav ime janā madantīndragopā madanti devagopāḥ || 32 ||
adha syā yoṣaṇā mahī pratīcī vaśam aśvyam |
adhirukmā vi nīyate || 33 ||
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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