Hymn to Indra
Rigveda VIII.52 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.
O Indra, thou who drinkest deep the soma till thy power doth swell,
The sacred drink is poured for thee in vessels vast as mountain peaks.
Thy throat doth widen to receive the streams of this most precious wine.
No measure hath the bounty that doth flow into thy outstretched hand.
The warriors marvel at thy thirst, the gods themselves do shake with awe.
What mortal man could drink as thou dost drink and yet remain upright?
Thy thunderbolt, that terrible and bright and keen weapon of thine hand,
Doth smash to bits the forts of stone, it shattereth the pride of foes.
There is no obstacle that can withstand the force of thy great blow.
With it thou didst strike down the demons in the days of ancient time.
Thou brakest through the mountains high and piercest every clouded veil.
The enemies of gods did fall beneath thy weapon's awesome stroke.
Remember, O great Indra, all the deeds of old that thou didst do.
In those far times thou didst arise and save the gods from certain doom.
We call upon thee now as thou didst answer in the days of old.
With thy great strength thou hast upheld the heavens and the vault above.
The earth doth rest upon thy back, yet thou dost bear the weight with ease.
All creatures live and breathe because of thee, the sustainer of the world.
Now grant unto us once again the bounty that thou didst bestow.
Pour forth thy riches as of old upon the singers at thy shrine.
We ask not for the riches of the misers or the hoarded gold.
Give us the abundance that a generous god doth give to those who praise.
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.52
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.
yathā manau vivasvati somaṁ śakrāpibaḥ sutam |
yathā trite chanda indra jujoṣasy āyau mādayase sacā || 1 ||
pṛṣadhre medhye mātariśvanīndra suvāne amandathāḥ |
yathā somaṁ daśaśipre daśoṇye syūmaraśmāv ṛjūnasi || 2 ||
ya ukthā kevalā dadhe yaḥ somaṁ dhṛṣitāpibat |
yasmai viṣṇus trīṇi padā vicakrama upa mitrasya dharmabhiḥ || 3 ||
yasya tvam indra stomeṣu cākano vāje vājiñ chatakrato |
taṁ tvā vayaṁ sudughām iva goduho juhūmasi śravasyavaḥ || 4 ||
yo no dātā sa naḥ pitā mahām̐ ugra īśānakṛt |
ayāmann ugro maghavā purūvasur gor aśvasya pra dātu naḥ || 5 ||
yasmai tvaṁ vaso dānāya maṁhase sa rāyas poṣam invati |
vasūyavo vasupatiṁ śatakratuṁ stomair indraṁ havāmahe || 6 ||
kadā cana pra yucchasy ubhe ni pāsi janmanī |
turīyāditya havanaṁ ta indriyam ā tasthāv amṛtaṁ divi || 7 ||
yasmai tvam maghavann indra girvaṇaḥ śikṣo śikṣasi dāśuṣe |
asmākaṁ gira uta suṣṭutiṁ vaso kaṇvavac chṛṇudhī havam || 8 ||
astāvi manma pūrvyam brahmendrāya vocata |
pūrvīr ṛtasya bṛhatīr anūṣata stotur medhā asṛkṣata || 9 ||
sam indro rāyo bṛhatīr adhūnuta saṁ kṣoṇī sam u sūryam |
saṁ śukrāsaḥ śucayaḥ saṁ gavāśiraḥ somā indram amandiṣuḥ || 10 ||
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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