Hymn to Indra
Rigveda IX.9 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.
The poet of the heavens maketh the round of his own lifebreath, driven betwixt his two granddaughters, even as he is pressed—he whose heart is bent to song.
Thou, delight of the praiseworthy dwelling, drawest ever onward toward the guileless kindred of the gods, pursuing them in thy sweetest chase.
He, their blazing son, made his two mothers to shine— he newborn, and they likewise new-born, he mighty, and they mighty, waxing through the power of truth.
Urged by seven wise stirrings of mind, he awakened the guileless rivers,
they who upheld him as the single eye.
They set up the youth as ruler and unbreaking among the great ones; they set the drop, O Indra, under thy charge.
The deathless steed beholdeth the seven as he draweth; Krivi hath gladdened the goddesses with his gift.
Lend us thy hand in our holy rites, O strong one.
The shades of night must be withstood, O Soma.
Thou shalt go on smiting them, thou who art ever made pure.
Now make the ways of our newer and newer song to find their mark. Kindle the lights again as in times of old.
Thou who cleansest thyself, grant great renown, the cow and the horse with warriors at their side.
Win thou wisdom—win thou the sun.
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.9
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.
pari priyā divaḥ kavir vayāṁsi naptyor hitaḥ |
suvāno yāti kavikratuḥ || 1 ||
pra-pra kṣayāya panyase janāya juṣṭo adruhe |
vīty arṣa caniṣṭhayā || 2 ||
sa sūnur mātarā śucir jāto jāte arocayat |
mahān mahī ṛtāvṛdhā || 3 ||
sa sapta dhītibhir hito nadyo ajinvad adruhaḥ |
yā ekam akṣi vāvṛdhuḥ || 4 ||
tā abhi santam astṛtam mahe yuvānam ā dadhuḥ |
indum indra tava vrate || 5 ||
abhi vahnir amartyaḥ sapta paśyati vāvahiḥ |
krivir devīr atarpayat || 6 ||
avā kalpeṣu naḥ pumas tamāṁsi soma yodhyā |
tāni punāna jaṅghanaḥ || 7 ||
nū navyase navīyase sūktāya sādhayā pathaḥ |
pratnavad rocayā rucaḥ || 8 ||
pavamāna mahi śravo gām aśvaṁ rāsi vīravat |
sanā medhāṁ sanā svaḥ || 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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