Hymn to Indra
Rigveda IX.48 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.
Thou who bearest thy manly might among the high thrones of heaven, we beseech thee for a thing most dear, through this fair rite well wrought.
Thou who hast snared the daring, and art worthy of song, whose charge is vast, whose joy is stirring— thou art swift to shatter a hundred strongholds.
From on high, from the heavens, the steadfast falcon bore thee, O king, to treasure, thou of firm will.
It was that all might behold the sun, that the bird bore thee forth to be held in common— the herdsman of truth, passing through the airy fields.
And lo, being stirred forth, he hath won a greatness yet higher, fitting for Indra— as the boundless begetter of might unmatched.
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.48
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.
taṁ tvā nṛmṇāni bibhrataṁ sadhastheṣu maho divaḥ |
cāruṁ sukṛtyayemahe || 1 ||
saṁvṛktadhṛṣṇum ukthyam mahāmahivratam madam |
śatam puro rurukṣaṇim || 2 ||
atas tvā rayim abhi rājānaṁ sukrato divaḥ |
suparṇo avyathir bharat || 3 ||
viśvasmā it svar dṛśe sādhāraṇaṁ rajasturam |
gopām ṛtasya vir bharat || 4 ||
adhā hinvāna indriyaṁ jyāyo mahitvam ānaśe |
abhiṣṭikṛd vicarṣaṇiḥ || 5 ||
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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