Hymn to Indra
Rigveda IX.77 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.
This honeyed one hath cried aloud within the pail—Indra’s own mace, more wondrous than all marvels.
The fair milkers of truth, oozing with ghee, come lowing in haste unto him, as milk-cows come laden with their milk.
The first-born purifieth himself—he whom the falcon, driven through the airy vast, stole down from the heights of heaven.
Trembling, with heart afeared of Kṛśānu the bowman, it bindeth the sweetness upon its wing.
Let these drops—those that lead and those that lag—run swift toward a mighty meed of kine for us, these drops that are fair to behold, beloved as fruitful cows, delighting in each hallowed utterance, in each poured gift.
This one, with craft, shall overcome those who strive to overcome— the drop lauded of many with mind full-steeled, who hath conceived the seed within the seat of might, and hurtleth toward the wide-flung pen of kine.
The quick and potent draught of the sky doth cleanse himself, like great Varuṇa, who is not beguiled by any wanderer.
Pressed is he, meet for the rite, as Mitra in the sacred stead, forever neighing as a charger that playeth the bull among the herd.
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.77
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.
eṣa pra kośe madhumām̐ acikradad indrasya vajro vapuṣo vapuṣṭaraḥ |
abhīm ṛtasya sudughā ghṛtaścuto vāśrā arṣanti payaseva dhenavaḥ || 1 ||
sa pūrvyaḥ pavate yaṁ divas pari śyeno mathāyad iṣitas tiro rajaḥ |
sa madhva ā yuvate vevijāna it kṛśānor astur manasāha bibhyuṣā || 2 ||
te naḥ pūrvāsa uparāsa indavo mahe vājāya dhanvantu gomate |
īkṣeṇyāso ahyo3 na cāravo brahma-brahma ye jujuṣur havir-haviḥ || 3 ||
ayaṁ no vidvān vanavad vanuṣyata induḥ satrācā manasā puruṣṭutaḥ |
inasya yaḥ sadane garbham ādadhe gavām urubjam abhy arṣati vrajam || 4 ||
cakrir divaḥ pavate kṛtvyo raso mahām̐ adabdho varuṇo hurug yate |
asāvi mitro vṛjaneṣu yajñiyo 'tyo na yūthe vṛṣayuḥ kanikradat || 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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