Hymn to Indra
Rigveda VIII.69 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 lord of a hundred blessings! How matchless is thy thirst, how mighty thy appetite! No drink can equal the soma that thou drinkest; no feast doth satisfy thee as doth the pressed juice of the sacred plant.
Thou drinkest as a river drinketh the rain. Thou drinkest as the earth drinketh the morning dew. Thou drinkest as the fire drinketh the wood cast into its flames. Yet thy thirst is never quenched, nor thy strength diminished. Rather, with every draught, thy power groweth greater.
When thou hast drunk the soma to the full, thy voice shaketh the heavens. Thy laughter thundereth across the sky. Thy very breath striketh down the enemies of the gods. Thou art invincible in that hour, unconquerable, supreme.
The Kāṇvas gather at the pressing-stone; they beat the drum of warning; they prepare the sacred space. "Indra cometh!" they cry. "The mighty one drinketh! Make ready the vessels! Fill them to the brim with the foam-crowned juice!"
The priests work with fevered haste, pressing the stalks beneath their feet, grinding them against the stone, coaxing forth the precious liquid. They pour it into vessels wrought of wood and copper. The aroma riseth to heaven like incense ascending from a thousand altars.
"Drink, O Indra!" they cry. "Drink and grow strong! Drink and prepare for battle! The demons gather their forces; the darkness presseth close. We need thy strength, O mighty one. We need thy courage. We need thy terrible wrath to be kindled against our foes!"
And thou, O Indra, drinkest! Thou drinkest the first draught, and the gods do cower. Thou drinkest the second, and the demons begin to flee. Thou drinkest the third, and thy power becometh infinite. Thy arms grow long as the earth; thy chest groweth broad as the sky; thy strength becometh terrible to behold.
Then thou speedest forth to battle, riding in thy chariot drawn by thy bay steeds, thy thunderbolt raised high. The demons see thee coming and they scatter like leaves before the storm. Their fortresses crumble. Their magic spells avail them nothing. Their tricks and stratagems are as naught against thy might.
One blow of thy thunderbolt! The demon army is routed. Another blow! The sorcerers are cast down. A third blow! Their stronghold is shattered, and the survivors flee shrieking into the darkness.
O Indra, thou art the strength of the strong! Thou art the courage of the courageous! Thou art the warrior whom all warriors do admire. The greatest champions of old did invoke thy name before they went into battle. They drank of the soma as thou dost drink; they called upon thee with fervent hearts.
And thou didst hear them, O mighty one! Thou didst come to their aid! Thou didst grant them victory! The singers have composed hymns in honor of their triumphs, and those hymns do resound through the ages, proclaiming thy faithfulness to those who honor thee.
We, the Kāṇvas, also do call upon thee! We press the soma and we sing thy praise. Accept our offering, O lord of a hundred blessings! Drink of this juice that we have prepared with our own hands. Grant unto us thy friendship and thy protection. And when we go forth to battle, go thou before us, that our enemies may be scattered and our victory assured.
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.69
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.
pra-pra vas triṣṭubham iṣam mandadvīrāyendave |
dhiyā vo medhasātaye puraṁdhyā vivāsati || 1 ||
nadaṁ va odatīnāṁ nadaṁ yoyuvatīnām |
patiṁ vo aghnyānāṁ dhenūnām iṣudhyasi || 2 ||
tā asya sūdadohasaḥ somaṁ śrīṇanti pṛśnayaḥ |
janman devānāṁ viśas triṣv ā rocane divaḥ || 3 ||
abhi pra gopatiṁ girendram arca yathā vide |
sūnuṁ satyasya satpatim || 4 ||
ā harayaḥ sasṛjrire 'ruṣīr adhi barhiṣi |
yatrābhi saṁnavāmahe || 5 ||
indrāya gāva āśiraṁ duduhre vajriṇe madhu |
yat sīm upahvare vidat || 6 ||
ud yad bradhnasya viṣṭapaṁ gṛham indraś ca ganvahi |
madhvaḥ pītvā sacevahi triḥ sapta sakhyuḥ pade || 7 ||
arcata prārcata priyamedhāso arcata |
arcantu putrakā uta puraṁ na dhṛṣṇv arcata || 8 ||
ava svarāti gargaro godhā pari saniṣvaṇat |
piṅgā pari caniṣkadad indrāya brahmodyatam || 9 ||
ā yat patanty enyaḥ sudughā anapasphuraḥ |
apasphuraṁ gṛbhāyata somam indrāya pātave || 10 ||
apād indro apād agnir viśve devā amatsata |
varuṇa id iha kṣayat tam āpo abhy anūṣata vatsaṁ saṁśiśvarīr iva || 11 ||
sudevo asi varuṇa yasya te sapta sindhavaḥ |
anukṣaranti kākudaṁ sūrmyaṁ suṣirām iva || 12 ||
yo vyatīm̐r aphāṇayat suyuktām̐ upa dāśuṣe |
takvo netā tad id vapur upamā yo amucyata || 13 ||
atīd u śakra ohata indro viśvā ati dviṣaḥ |
bhinat kanīna odanam pacyamānam paro girā || 14 ||
arbhako na kumārako 'dhi tiṣṭhan navaṁ ratham |
sa pakṣan mahiṣam mṛgam pitre mātre vibhukratum || 15 ||
ā tū suśipra dampate rathaṁ tiṣṭhā hiraṇyayam |
adha dyukṣaṁ sacevahi sahasrapādam aruṣaṁ svastigām anehasam || 16 ||
taṁ ghem itthā namasvina upa svarājam āsate |
arthaṁ cid asya sudhitaṁ yad etava āvartayanti dāvane || 17 ||
anu pratnasyaukasaḥ priyamedhāsa eṣām |
pūrvām anu prayatiṁ vṛktabarhiṣo hitaprayasa āśata || 18 ||
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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