Hymn to Indra
Rigveda VIII.58 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, strongest god, come strike the demons! The soma hath been pressed for thee this morning. Come swift with thy bright bolt and shatter all the foes—all those that would do harm unto thy people.
We praise thee, lord of thunder, source of riches, giver of strength and glory unto mortals. Accept our soma and our hymns of worship; ride forth now to conquer all our enemies.
Stand thou before us, shield and mighty shelter, when we go forth to battle and to contest. Indra, the Bull, the hero of the ages—we call to thee with voices raised in prayer.
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.58
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.
yam ṛtvijo bahudhā kalpayantaḥ sacetaso yajñam imaṁ vahanti |
yo anūcāno brāhmaṇo yukta āsīt kā svit tatra yajamānasya saṁvit || 1 ||
eka evāgnir bahudhā samiddha ekaḥ sūryo viśvam anu prabhūtaḥ |
ekaivoṣāḥ sarvam idaṁ vi bhāty ekaṁ vā idaṁ vi babhūva sarvam || 2 ||
jyotiṣmantaṁ ketumantaṁ tricakraṁ sukhaṁ rathaṁ suṣadam bhūrivāram |
citrāmaghā yasya yoge 'dhijajñe taṁ vāṁ huve ati riktam pibadhyai || 3 ||
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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