Hymn to Indra
Rigveda IX.13 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.
As he is cleansed, Soma doth rush in a thousand streams beyond the fleece, to meet with Vāyu and with Indra in holy haste.
Ye who seek aid, lift up your song unto the self-cleansing seer, the one pressed forth to chase the gods.
The thousand-sided Soma-draughts do cleanse themselves to win the boon, with hymns upon them laid, they chase the gods.
And that we too may gain the prize, purify thyself, O drop, and bring us lofty draughts of strength, a heaven-lit throng of mighty men.
Let them, by self-cleansing, yield us wealth a thousandfold, and host on host of heroes—O god-born drops now pressed.
As fleet-foot steeds are urged by charioteers, so have they surged to seize the prize— full swift across the fleecèd path.
Lowing like kine unto their calf, the sacred drops do rush; they run betwixt the priestly hands.
Glad to Indra, stirring joy, ever roaring in their course— O thou that cleansest thyself, smite down all hate.
Smite the giftless, shine forth as the sun, and purifying still, be seated on the womb of truth.
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.13
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.
somaḥ punāno arṣati sahasradhāro atyaviḥ |
vāyor indrasya niṣkṛtam || 1 ||
pavamānam avasyavo vipram abhi pra gāyata |
suṣvāṇaṁ devavītaye || 2 ||
pavante vājasātaye somāḥ sahasrapājasaḥ |
gṛṇānā devavītaye || 3 ||
uta no vājasātaye pavasva bṛhatīr iṣaḥ |
dyumad indo suvīryam || 4 ||
te naḥ sahasriṇaṁ rayim pavantām ā suvīryam |
suvānā devāsa indavaḥ || 5 ||
atyā hiyānā na hetṛbhir asṛgraṁ vājasātaye |
vi vāram avyam āśavaḥ || 6 ||
vāśrā arṣantīndavo 'bhi vatsaṁ na dhenavaḥ |
dadhanvire gabhastyoḥ || 7 ||
juṣṭa indrāya matsaraḥ pavamāna kanikradat |
viśvā apa dviṣo jahi || 8 ||
apaghnanto arāvṇaḥ pavamānāḥ svardṛśaḥ |
yonāv ṛtasya sīdata || 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).
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