Hymn to Indra
Rigveda IX.2 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.
Cleanse thyself swiftly through the sieve, O Soma, pursuing the gods in thy flight.
As a bull of might, enter into Indra, O golden drop.
Curl thyself toward great delight, O shining one, brightest bull beneath heaven’s roof.
Be steadfast upon thy mother’s womb.
The stream of the pressed, the wise in rite, hath milked its own sweet honey.
With firm will he hath clad himself in the waters.
The mighty waters, the rivers themselves, hasten after thee, O great one, when thou clothest thyself in the kine.
The sea is arrayed in the waters, that pillar and upholdment of heaven—
Soma through the filter, seeking our kind.
The tawny bull hath bellowed aloud;
the great one, fair as a friend to behold, shines forth with the sun in his path.
O drop, thy might doth groom the zealous songs— the songs that in turn do make thee fair, prepared for rapture.
We beseech thee, thou who makest the broad way, bring us the fire of delight.
To thee belongeth great song and praise.
For our sake, O drop, in thy search for Indra, cleanse thyself in a stream of honey, like Parjanya, the rain-bringer.
O drop, thou art bringer of kine, of men, of steeds, of spoil; thou art the ancient form of the holy gift.
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.2
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.
pavasva devavīr ati pavitraṁ soma raṁhyā |
indram indo vṛṣā viśa || 1 ||
ā vacyasva mahi psaro vṛṣendo dyumnavattamaḥ |
ā yoniṁ dharṇasiḥ sadaḥ || 2 ||
adhukṣata priyam madhu dhārā sutasya vedhasaḥ |
apo vasiṣṭa sukratuḥ || 3 ||
mahāntaṁ tvā mahīr anv āpo arṣanti sindhavaḥ |
yad gobhir vāsayiṣyase || 4 ||
samudro apsu māmṛje viṣṭambho dharuṇo divaḥ |
somaḥ pavitre asmayuḥ || 5 ||
acikradad vṛṣā harir mahān mitro na darśataḥ |
saṁ sūryeṇa rocate || 6 ||
giras ta inda ojasā marmṛjyante apasyuvaḥ |
yābhir madāya śumbhase || 7 ||
taṁ tvā madāya ghṛṣvaya u lokakṛtnum īmahe |
tava praśastayo mahīḥ || 8 ||
asmabhyam indav indrayur madhvaḥ pavasva dhārayā |
parjanyo vṛṣṭimām̐ iva || 9 ||
goṣā indo nṛṣā asy aśvasā vājasā uta |
ātmā yajñasya pūrvyaḥ || 10 ||
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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