Hymn to Indra
Rigveda IX.111 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) from Maṇḍala 9 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.
Baptized in aureate light he yokes his own swift stallions and rides clean over every quarrel, even as the Sun drives forth his self-harnessed team. Within the surging flood of the press he flashes ruddy-gold and tawny, wheeling through all his changing shapes on the breath of the seven-mouthed singers whose verse is motion and fire.
He hath uncovered the hidden treasure the Paṇis withheld, and in his own bright dwelling—midst his milk-mothers—he tends it by the clear lights of truth. As a distant strain of music draws the heart, so do keen insights take their pleasure there. From the threefold red kine he hath drawn new life; he shineth, and in that shining his vigor is reborn.
Keeping the ancient eastward course, he drives on, watchful ever; he settles to the reins, ray-like, a chariot fair to behold—a sky-born car of splendor. Then rise the hymns, the manly powers; they rouse great Indra to his triumph, while thou, O Soma, and his iron mace stand firm, unshaken in the shock of battle.
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 IX.111
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.
ayā rucā hariṇyā punāno viśvā dveṣāṁsi tarati svayugvabhiḥ sūro na svayugvabhiḥ |
dhārā sutasya rocate punāno aruṣo hariḥ |
viśvā yad rūpā pariyāty ṛkvabhiḥ saptāsyebhir ṛkvabhiḥ || 1 ||
tvaṁ tyat paṇīnāṁ vido vasu sam mātṛbhir marjayasi sva ā dama ṛtasya dhītibhir dame |
parāvato na sāma tad yatrā raṇanti dhītayaḥ |
tridhātubhir aruṣībhir vayo dadhe rocamāno vayo dadhe || 2 ||
pūrvām anu pradiśaṁ yāti cekitat saṁ raśmibhir yatate darśato ratho daivyo darśato rathaḥ |
agmann ukthāni pauṁsyendraṁ jaitrāya harṣayan |
vajraś ca yad bhavatho anapacyutā samatsv anapacyutā || 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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