Hymn to Indra
Rigveda IX.112 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.
Truly, our conceits are many and the duties of folk diverse:
the wright mendeth the sundered plank, the leech restoreth the broken limb, the holy mixer seeketh him that presseth the Soma.
O shining Drop, circle wide for Indra.
With sere herbs, with birds’ bright quills, with steadfast stones from dawn to dusk, the smith laboreth, still desiring the man whose hands hold gold.
O shining Drop, circle wide for Indra.
I am a bard; good Father is a healer; dear Mother driveth the pounding pestle.
Our thoughts diverge, yet all pursue the bounty, following after it as kine their pasture.
O shining Drop, circle wide for Indra.
The coursing steed longeth for a smooth-rolling car; the jester for a jest; the staff of desire seeketh the moss-grown cleft; the croaking frog, the cooling pool.
O shining Drop, circle wide for Indra.
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 IX.112
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.
nānānaṁ vā u no dhiyo vi vratāni janānām |
takṣā riṣṭaṁ rutam bhiṣag brahmā sunvantam icchatīndrāyendo pari srava || 1 ||
jaratībhir oṣadhībhiḥ parṇebhiḥ śakunānām |
kārmāro aśmabhir dyubhir hiraṇyavantam icchatīndrāyendo pari srava || 2 ||
kārur ahaṁ tato bhiṣag upalaprakṣiṇī nanā |
nānādhiyo vasūyavo 'nu gā iva tasthimendrāyendo pari srava || 3 ||
aśvo voḻhā sukhaṁ rathaṁ hasanām upamantriṇaḥ |
śepo romaṇvantau bhedau vār in maṇḍūka icchatīndrāyendo pari srava || 4 ||
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).
🌲