Hymn to Indra
Rigveda IX.21 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.
These run for Indra—these drops, these eager draughts of soma, they bring delight and find the sun in their rising.
They drive back foes, they win broad room for him who presses, and of themselves they quicken life within the songful heart.
With mirth they move, as they will, unto one seat; the drops have flowed by many ways into the river’s swell.
Self-cleansing are they, and have seized all things of worth, spurred onward as a team yoked fast upon a chariot.
O ye drops, set the tawny seeker here within him— that he may teach the man who giveth naught to us.
As a craftsman fits a wheel anew upon a chariot, so bend your will to chasten him; make pure your flood till it gleameth bright.
These drops have bellowed loud; the steeds that win the prize have crossed the line— and stirred the mind of him who dwelleth truly here.
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.21
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.
ete dhāvantīndavaḥ somā indrāya ghṛṣvayaḥ |
matsarāsaḥ svarvidaḥ || 1 ||
pravṛṇvanto abhiyujaḥ suṣvaye varivovidaḥ |
svayaṁ stotre vayaskṛtaḥ || 2 ||
vṛthā krīḻanta indavaḥ sadhastham abhy ekam it |
sindhor ūrmā vy akṣaran || 3 ||
ete viśvāni vāryā pavamānāsa āśata |
hitā na saptayo rathe || 4 ||
āsmin piśaṅgam indavo dadhātā venam ādiśe |
yo asmabhyam arāvā || 5 ||
ṛbhur na rathyaṁ navaṁ dadhātā ketam ādiśe |
śukrāḥ pavadhvam arṇasā || 6 ||
eta u tye avīvaśan kāṣṭhāṁ vājino akrata |
sataḥ prāsāviṣur matim || 7 ||
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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