Hymn to Indra
Rigveda IX.91 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.
In billowy surge he is loosed, as at a course for chariots—the first and fire-kindled sage, keen of ken.
The ten sister-threads urge on the draught-steed that rideth the sheep’s broad back toward the sacred seats.
Chasing the heavenly race, the shining drop is pressed upon the fleece by poet-sons of Nahus.
Ever groomed to fare forth by mortal hands, the deathless drop is borne by sheep, by kine, by racing streams.
The Bull that roareth again and again unto the Bull, unto Indra—the healing herb, self-cleansed for him, hasteth to the cow’s bright, glistering milk.
A bard well-versed in speech, the Sun ranges far across the tender fleece, by a thousand stainless paths.
Rend even the deep-entrenched strongholds of the fiend. While thou art purged, O drop, lay bare the spoils of triumph.
Hew from on high with thy driving blade the leader who drew those foemen hither from afar and now made near.
As in ancient days, carve forward-facing ways for our new-born song, O thou fulfiller of all desires.
High treasures, hard for the grasping to snare—may we win them of thee, thou many-handed, master of myriad herds.
Thus refined, bestow on us the waters, the golden sun, and cattle; give us large progeny and posterity, Fortune, wide-flung lordship, and guiding lights, O Soma—grant that long we may behold the shining 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.91
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.
asarji vakvā rathye yathājau dhiyā manotā prathamo manīṣī |
daśa svasāro adhi sāno avye 'janti vahniṁ sadanāny accha || 1 ||
vītī janasya divyasya kavyair adhi suvāno nahuṣyebhir induḥ |
pra yo nṛbhir amṛto martyebhir marmṛjāno 'vibhir gobhir adbhiḥ || 2 ||
vṛṣā vṛṣṇe roruvad aṁśur asmai pavamāno ruśad īrte payo goḥ |
sahasram ṛkvā pathibhir vacovid adhvasmabhiḥ sūro aṇvaṁ vi yāti || 3 ||
rujā dṛḻhā cid rakṣasaḥ sadāṁsi punāna inda ūrṇuhi vi vājān |
vṛścopariṣṭāt tujatā vadhena ye anti dūrād upanāyam eṣām || 4 ||
sa pratnavan navyase viśvavāra sūktāya pathaḥ kṛṇuhi prācaḥ |
ye duḥṣahāso vanuṣā bṛhantas tām̐s te aśyāma purukṛt purukṣo || 5 ||
evā punāno apaḥ sva1r gā asmabhyaṁ tokā tanayāni bhūri |
śaṁ naḥ kṣetram uru jyotīṁṣi soma jyoṅ naḥ sūryaṁ dṛśaye rirīhi || 6 ||
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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