Hymn to Indra
Rigveda IX.72 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.
They smooth the tawny one, the fallow bay, as though yoking a chestnut steed.
Soma is anointed with kine’s milk in the basin.
When his voice is lifted, the ring of many-hearted friends—howe’er many— speed him onward with the strength of their thought.
The many seers speak as one, their speech aflame, when they have poured the soma into Indra’s belly.
The deft-handed men adorn him—the sweet, longed-for honey— with the ten that spring from one nest.
He ceaseth not, but passeth beyond the strainer, to the kine, o’er the beloved low of the Sun-Maiden’s voice.
As he willed it, the vinaṃgr̥sa fastened it to him; he dwelleth among the twin-born, gentle sisters.
Washed by men, pressed by the stones, he resteth on the sacred grass—the kine’s own lord, from of old the drop of the rite’s season.
With Abundance beside him, and the blessing of Manu’s offering, shining, clear-seeing, he cleanseth himself for thee, O Indra.
Urged by the two arms of men, streaming forth in his own way, Soma purifieth himself for thee, O Indra.
He hath wrought their will; he hath seized the thought entire at the rite.
As a bird in the wood he sitteth, the tawny one, in the two beakers of drink.
They milk the roaring, deathless plant—
the god-sages draw forth the poet.
Kine and thoughts, a never-ending line, ever newborn, go unto him in the womb, the seat of truth.
On earth’s navel is the stanchion of the great heaven; in the water’s swell and midst the rivers he is bathed.
Indra’s mace he is, the bull rich in show and might— Soma, the rousing draught, doth purify himself in ways the heart doth love.
Cleanse thyself o’er the whole of this earth, as thou toilest for the singer and the rinsing hand, thou strong-hearted one.
Deal us not out from the share of thy good:
may golden wealth fall thick upon our halls.
Bring now, O drop, a hundredfold of steeds, a thousandfold of kine and gold.
Pour forth great draughts of height and richness.
Give heed to our song, O self-cleansing one.
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.72
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.
harim mṛjanty aruṣo na yujyate saṁ dhenubhiḥ kalaśe somo ajyate |
ud vācam īrayati hinvate matī puruṣṭutasya kati cit paripriyaḥ || 1 ||
sākaṁ vadanti bahavo manīṣiṇa indrasya somaṁ jaṭhare yad āduhuḥ |
yadī mṛjanti sugabhastayo naraḥ sanīḻābhir daśabhiḥ kāmyam madhu || 2 ||
aramamāṇo aty eti gā abhi sūryasya priyaṁ duhitus tiro ravam |
anv asmai joṣam abharad vinaṁgṛsaḥ saṁ dvayībhiḥ svasṛbhiḥ kṣeti jāmibhiḥ || 3 ||
nṛdhūto adriṣuto barhiṣi priyaḥ patir gavām pradiva indur ṛtviyaḥ |
puraṁdhivān manuṣo yajñasādhanaḥ śucir dhiyā pavate soma indra te || 4 ||
nṛbāhubhyāṁ codito dhārayā suto 'nuṣvadham pavate soma indra te |
āprāḥ kratūn sam ajair adhvare matīr ver na druṣac camvo3r āsadad dhariḥ || 5 ||
aṁśuṁ duhanti stanayantam akṣitaṁ kaviṁ kavayo 'paso manīṣiṇaḥ |
sam ī gāvo matayo yanti saṁyata ṛtasya yonā sadane punarbhuvaḥ || 6 ||
nābhā pṛthivyā dharuṇo maho divo3 'pām ūrmau sindhuṣv antar ukṣitaḥ |
indrasya vajro vṛṣabho vibhūvasuḥ somo hṛde pavate cāru matsaraḥ || 7 ||
sa tū pavasva pari pārthivaṁ rajaḥ stotre śikṣann ādhūnvate ca sukrato |
mā no nir bhāg vasunaḥ sādanaspṛśo rayim piśaṅgam bahulaṁ vasīmahi || 8 ||
ā tū na indo śatadātv aśvyaṁ sahasradātu paśumad dhiraṇyavat |
upa māsva bṛhatī revatīr iṣo 'dhi stotrasya pavamāna no gahi || 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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