Hymn to Indra
Rigveda IX.85 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.
O Soma, being well-pressed, flow thou round for Indra’s sake.
Let all affliction pass away, and every devilish craft be driven out.
Let not the double-hearted draw nigh to thy gladdening sap; but let the wealth-bearing drops be gathered here.
Stir us forth into the fray, O self-cleansing one; for thou art the craft of the gods, their cherished and rousing draught.
Break the foe asunder; come unto them that crave thy grace.
Drink thou, Indra, of the Soma—lay low the proud for our sake.
Thou, unfoolable, dost cleanse thyself as most gladsome; thou becomest the very breath of Indra, fountain of height.
The seers of kindled thought cry aloud unto thee; they seek the King of this shaped world.
With a thousand runlets and a hundred streams, the unerring drop— the sweet-desired honey—purifieth itself for Indra.
Gaining a dwelling, winning the waters, speed thou on; make for us a broad and open path, O Soma the Giver of Reward.
Ever roaring, thou art poured with kine into the vat; thou rushest o’er the fleece of sheep in one great flood.
Like a steed groomed for victory, ever tended, O Soma, thou hast wholly flowed into Indra’s belly.
Cleanse thyself, sweet to the heavenly host, sweet to Indra whose name is pleasant upon the tongue, sweet to Mitra, to Varuṇa, to Vāyu and to Bṛhaspati— thou honeyed one who canst not be beguiled.
The ten fingers groom the courser in the vat; the thoughts and songs of seers press boldly forth.
Being made pure, they hasten to the fair-sung hymn; the joy-bringing drops pass into Indra.
Wash thyself pure and speed to the haunts of heroes, to broad pastures, to vast and ample refuge.
Let no tight hold constrain this Soma of ours.
With thee, O drop, may we win prize on prize.
The wide-seeing Bull hath mounted to the sky; the poet hath made the shining courts of heaven to blaze.
The king goeth ever bellowing through the filter; they that bear man’s eye draw the milk of heaven for themselves.
In the roof of the sky the seekers milk the honey-tongued, never-spent streams from the Ox that dwelleth on the mount— the drop that waxeth strong in the waters and the deep, the honeyed one in the river’s swell, in the sieve.
The eagle that soared to the vault above— him the many songs of the seekers did long for.
The thoughts do lick the babe of wonder evermore— the golden bird that standeth upon the earth.
The Gandharva hath taken his stand upon the vault, beholding all his forms in their glory.
Light hath leapt forth in a blaze of splendour; the burning one hath made the two world-mothers to shine.
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.85
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.
indrāya soma suṣutaḥ pari sravāpāmīvā bhavatu rakṣasā saha |
mā te rasasya matsata dvayāvino draviṇasvanta iha santv indavaḥ || 1 ||
asmān samarye pavamāna codaya dakṣo devānām asi hi priyo madaḥ |
jahi śatrūm̐r abhy ā bhandanāyataḥ pibendra somam ava no mṛdho jahi || 2 ||
adabdha indo pavase madintama ātmendrasya bhavasi dhāsir uttamaḥ |
abhi svaranti bahavo manīṣiṇo rājānam asya bhuvanasya niṁsate || 3 ||
sahasraṇīthaḥ śatadhāro adbhuta indrāyenduḥ pavate kāmyam madhu |
jayan kṣetram abhy arṣā jayann apa uruṁ no gātuṁ kṛṇu soma mīḍhvaḥ || 4 ||
kanikradat kalaśe gobhir ajyase vy a1vyayaṁ samayā vāram arṣasi |
marmṛjyamāno atyo na sānasir indrasya soma jaṭhare sam akṣaraḥ || 5 ||
svāduḥ pavasva divyāya janmane svādur indrāya suhavītunāmne |
svādur mitrāya varuṇāya vāyave bṛhaspataye madhumām̐ adābhyaḥ || 6 ||
atyam mṛjanti kalaśe daśa kṣipaḥ pra viprāṇām matayo vāca īrate |
pavamānā abhy arṣanti suṣṭutim endraṁ viśanti madirāsa indavaḥ || 7 ||
pavamāno abhy arṣā suvīryam urvīṁ gavyūtim mahi śarma saprathaḥ |
mākir no asya pariṣūtir īśatendo jayema tvayā dhanaṁ-dhanam || 8 ||
adhi dyām asthād vṛṣabho vicakṣaṇo 'rūrucad vi divo rocanā kaviḥ |
rājā pavitram aty eti roruvad divaḥ pīyūṣaṁ duhate nṛcakṣasaḥ || 9 ||
divo nāke madhujihvā asaścato venā duhanty ukṣaṇaṁ giriṣṭhām |
apsu drapsaṁ vāvṛdhānaṁ samudra ā sindhor ūrmā madhumantam pavitra ā || 10 ||
nāke suparṇam upapaptivāṁsaṁ giro venānām akṛpanta pūrvīḥ |
śiśuṁ rihanti matayaḥ panipnataṁ hiraṇyayaṁ śakunaṁ kṣāmaṇi sthām || 11 ||
ūrdhvo gandharvo adhi nāke asthād viśvā rūpā praticakṣāṇo asya |
bhānuḥ śukreṇa śociṣā vy adyaut prārūrucad rodasī mātarā śuciḥ || 12 ||
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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