Hymn to Indra
Rigveda VIII.81 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.
Come, mighty Indra, thou whose arm is strongest of all the gods. Thy might is invincible; no demon dare withstand thy charge. Thy hand, O thunderer, holdeth the terrible bolt—yea, thy weapon shaketh the very heavens when thou dost draw it forth.
Thou art the friend of the singers who call upon thee with soma poured. Thy ear is ever turned toward those who praise thee. Accept our libation, O generous one; let the sweet draught gladden thy heart, and come thou speedily to aid us in our need.
The demons fled before thee in terror, their fortresses crumbled like dust. No foe can stand against thee when thou art roused to battle. The Vritra himself bowed before thy might; the mountains split asunder at the sound of thy voice. Thou art the breaker of all bonds, the slayer of all malice.
With thee we are secure, O Indra. Thy strength is as the strength of a thousand bulls. When thou ridest forth upon the wind, the earth trembleth beneath thy chariot wheels. The rain falleth at thy command; the rivers flow at thy word. All things obey thee, O mightiest of gods.
We mortals, O lord, are weak and frail. Our enemies assail us on every side. We have no strength save what thou givest; we have no hope save in thy mercy. Hear thou our prayer, O strong one. Turn thy face toward us. Lend us thy terrible power, that we may overcome our foes.
Strike them down, O thunderer! Let thy bolts rain upon them like hail. Scatter them as the wind scattereth chaff. Make their strength to fail; take away the courage from their hearts. And when the battle is finished, let us stand victorious upon the field, giving thanks to thee with songs of praise.
Thou art the king of gods, O Indra, the mightiest among all beings. The heavens are thy throne; the earth is thy footstool. All creatures bow before thee and acknowledge thy supremacy. We mortals cry out to thee in our distress, knowing that thou alone canst save us from destruction.
With soma in our vessels, we approach thy altar with trembling hearts. Accept our offering, O merciful one. Do not turn away from us in our hour of need. Rather, come swiftly to our aid, clothed in thy terrible majesty, that we may see thy glory and be saved by thy mighty hand.
Yea, thou art Indra, master of the thunderbolt, slayer of the dragon, friend of all who call upon thee with pure hearts and genuine devotion. We praise thee with all the strength that is in us. We sing thy name in joy and gratitude. Be thou forever our protector and our guide, O mighty king of gods.
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.
🌲
Source Text: ṛgveda VIII.81
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.
ā tū na indra kṣumantaṁ citraṁ grābhaṁ saṁ gṛbhāya |
mahāhastī dakṣiṇena || 1 ||
vidmā hi tvā tuvikūrmiṁ tuvideṣṇaṁ tuvīmagham |
tuvimātram avobhiḥ || 2 ||
nahi tvā śūra devā na martāso ditsantam |
bhīmaṁ na gāṁ vārayante || 3 ||
eto nv indraṁ stavāmeśānaṁ vasvaḥ svarājam |
na rādhasā mardhiṣan naḥ || 4 ||
pra stoṣad upa gāsiṣac chravat sāma gīyamānam |
abhi rādhasā jugurat || 5 ||
ā no bhara dakṣiṇenābhi savyena pra mṛśa |
indra mā no vasor nir bhāk || 6 ||
upa kramasvā bhara dhṛṣatā dhṛṣṇo janānām |
adāśūṣṭarasya vedaḥ || 7 ||
indra ya u nu te asti vājo viprebhiḥ sanitvaḥ |
asmābhiḥ su taṁ sanuhi || 8 ||
sadyojuvas te vājā asmabhyaṁ viśvaścandrāḥ |
vaśaiś ca makṣū jarante || 9 ||
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).
🌲