
Indra in the Rig-Veda - Book I

HYMN V. Indra.
1 O COME ye hither, sit ye down: to Indra sing
ye forth, your song,
companions, bringing hymns of praise.
2 To him the richest of the rich, the Lord of treasures excellent,
Indra, wi th Soma juice outpoured.
3 May he stand by us in
our need and in abundance for our wealth:
May he come nigh
us with his strength.
4 Whose pair of tawny horses yoked
in battles foemen challenge not:
To him, to Indra sing your
song.
5 Nigh to the Soma-drinker come, for his enjoyment,
these pure drops,
The Somas mingled with the curd.
6 Thou,
grown at once to perfect strength, wast born to drink the Soma
juice,
Strong Indra, for preeminence.
7 O Indra, lover
of the song, may these quick Somas enter thee:
May they bring
bliss to thee the Sage.
8 Our chants of praise have strengthened
thee, O Satakratu, and our lauds
So strengthen thee the songs
we sing.
9 Indra, whose succour never fails, accept these
viands thousandfold,
Wherein all manly powers abide.
10
O Indra, thou who lovest song, let no man hurt our bodies, keep
Slaughter far from us, for thou canst.
HYMN VI. Indra.
1 They who stand round him as he moves harness
the bright, the ruddy Steed
The lights are shining in the
sky.
2 On both sides to the car they yoke the two bay coursers
dear to him,
Bold, tawny, bearers of the Chief.
3 Thou,
making light where no light was, and form, O men: where form
was not,
Wast born together with the Dawns.
4 Thereafter
they, as is their wont, threw off the state of' babes unborn,
Assuming sacrificial names.
5 Thou, Indra, with the Tempest-Gods,
the breakers down of what is firm '
Foundest the kine even
in the cave.
6 Worshipping even as they list, singers laud
him who findeth wealth,
The far-renowned, the mighty One.
7 Mayest thou verily be seen coming by fearless Indra's side:
Both joyous, equal in your sheen.
8 With Indra's well beloved
hosts, the blameless, hastening to heaven,
The sacrificer
cries aloud.
9 Come from this place, O Wanderer, or downward
from the light of heaven:
Our songs of praise all yearn for
this.
10 Indra we seek to give us help, from here, from heaven
above the earth,
Or from the spacious firmament.
HYMN VII. Indra.
1 INDRA the singers with high praise, Indra reciters
with their lauds,
Indra the choirs have glorified.
2 Indra
hath ever close to him his two bay steeds and word-yoked car,
Indra the golden, thunder-armed.
3 Indra hath raised the
Sun on high in heaven, that he may see afar:
He burst the
mountain for the kine.
4 Help us, O Indra, in the frays,
yea, frays, where thousand spoils are gained,
With awful
aids, O awful One.
5 In mighty battle we invoke Indra, Indra
in lesser fight,
The Friend who bends his bolt at fiends.
6 Unclose, our manly Hero, thou for ever bounteous, yonder cloud,
For us, thou irresistible.
7 Still higher, at each strain
of mine, thunder-armed Indra's praises rise:
I find no laud
worthy of him.
8 Even as the bull drives on the herds, he
drives the people with his might,
The Ruler irresistible:
9 Indra who rules with single sway men, riches, and the fivefold
race
Of those who dwell upon the earth.
10 For your sake
from each side we call Indra away from other men:
Ours, and
none others', may he be.
HYMN VIII. Indra.
1 INDRA, bring wealth that gives delight, the
victor's ever-conquering wealth,
Most excellent, to be our
aid;
2 By means of which we may repel our foes in battle
hand to hand,
By thee assisted with the car.
3 Aided by
thee, the thunder-armed, Indra, may we lift up the bolt,
And conquer all our foes in fight.
4 With thee, O India,
for ally with missile-darting heroes, may
We conquer our
embattled foes.
5 Mighty is Indra, yea supreme; greatness
be his, the Thunderer:
Wide as the heaven extends his power
6 Which aideth those to win them sons, who come as heroes to
the fight,
Or singers loving holy thoughts.
7 His belly,
drinking deepest draughts of Soma, like an ocean swells,
Like wide streams from the cope of heaven.
8 So also is his
excellence, great, vigorous, rich in cattle, like
A ripe
branch to the worshipper.
9 For verily thy mighty powers,
Indra, are saving helps at once
Unto a worshipper like me.
10 So are his lovely gifts; let lauds and praises be to Indra
sung,
That he may drink the Soma juice.
HYMN IX. Indra.
1 COME, Indra, and delight thee with the juice
at all the Soma feasts,
Protector, mighty in thy strength.
2 To Indra pour ye forth thejuice, the active gladdening juice
to him
Ile gladdening, oinnific God.
3 O Lord of all men,
fair of cheek, rejoice thee in the gladdening lauds,
Present
at these drink-offerings.
4 Songs have outpoured themselves
to thee, Indra, the strong, the guardian Lord,
And raised
themselves unsatisfied.
5 Send to us bounty manifold, O Indra,
worthy of' our wish,
For power supreme is only thine.
6 O Indra, stimulate thereto us emulously fain for wealth,
And glorious, O most splendid One.
7 Give, Indra, wide and
lofty fame, wealthy in cattle and in strength,
Lasting our
life-time, failing not.
8 Grant us high fame, O Indra, grant
riches bestowing thousands, those
Fair fruits of earth borne
home in wains.
9 Praising with songs the praise-worthy who
cometh to our aid, we call
Indra, the Treasure-Lord of wealth.
10 To lofty Indra, dweller by each libation, the pious man
Sings forth aloud a strengthening hymn.
HYMN X. Indra.
1 THE chanters hymn thee, they who say the word
of praise magnify thee.
The priests have raised thee up on
high, O Satakratu, like a pole.
2 As up he clomb from ridge
to ridge and looked upon the toilsome task,
Indra observes
this wish of his, and the Rain hastens with his troop.
3
Harness thy pair of strong bay steeds, long-maned, whose bodies
fill the girths,
And, Indra, Soma-drinker, come to listen
to our songs of praise.
4 Come hither, answer thou the song,
sing in approval, cry aloud.
Good Indra, make our prayer
succeed, and prosper this our sacrifice.
5 To Indra must
a laud be said, to strengthen him who freely gives,
That
Sakra may take pleasure in our friendship and drink-offerings.
6 Him, him we seek for friendship, him for riches and heroic
might.
For Indra, he is Sakra, he shall aid us while he gives
us wealth.
7 Easy to turn and drive away, Indra, is spoil
bestowed by thee.
Unclose the stable of the kine, and give
us wealth O Thunder-armed
8 The heaven and earth contain
thee not, together, in thy wrathful mood.
Win us the waters
of the sky, and send us kine abundantly.
9 Hear, thou whose
ear is quick, my call; take to thee readily my songs
O Indra,
let this laud of mine come nearer even than thy friend.
10
We know thee mightiest of all, in battles hearer of our cry.
Of thee most mighty we invoke the aid that giveth thousandfold.
11 O Indra, Son of Kusika, drink our libation with delight.
Prolong our life anew, and cause the seer to win a thousand
gifts.
12 Lover of song, may these our songs on every side
encompass thee:
Strengthening thee of lengthened life, may
they be dear delights to thee.
HYMN XI. Indra.
1 ALL sacred songs have magnified Indra expansive
as the sea,
The best of warriors borne on cars, the Lord,
the very Lord of strength.
2 Strong in thy friendship, Indra,
Lord of power and might, we have no fear.
We glorify with
praises thee, the never-conquered conqueror.
3 The gifts
of Indra from of' old, his saving succours, never fail,
When
to the praise-singers he gives the boon of substance rich in
kine.
4 Crusher of forts, the young, the wise, of strength
unmeasured, was he born
Sustainer of each sacred rite, Indra,
the Thunderer, much-extolled.
5 Lord of the thunder, thou
didst burst the cave of Vala rich in cows.
The Gods came
pressing to thy side, and free from terror aided thee,
6
I, Hero, through thy bounties am come to the flood addressing
thee.
Song-lover, here the singers stand and testify to thee
thereof.
7 The wily Susna, Indra! thou o'er-threwest with
thy wondrous powers.
The wise beheld this deed of thine:
now go beyond their eulogies.
8 Our songs of praise have
glorified Indra who ruleth by his might,
Whose precious gifts
in thousands come, yea, even more abundantly.
HYMN XVI. Indra.
1 LET thy Bay Steeds bring thee, the Strong,
hither to drink the Soma draught-
Those, Indra, who are bright
as suns.
2 Here are the grains bedewed with oil: hither let
the Bay Coursers bring
Indra upon his easiest car.
3 Indra
at early morn we call, Indra in course of sacrifice,
Indra
to drink the Soma juice.
4 Come hither, with thy long-maned
Steeds, O Indra, to- the draught we pour
We call thee wher,
the juice is shed.
5 Come thou to this our song of praise,
to the libation poured for thee
Drink of it like a stag athirst.
6 Here are the drops of Soma juice expressed on sacred grass:
thereof
Drink, Indra, to increase thy might.
7 Welcome
to thee be this our hymn, reaching thy heart, most excellent:
Then drink the Soma juice expressed.
8 To every draught of
pressed-out juice Indra, the Vrtra-slayer, comes,
To drink
the Soma for delight.
9 Fulfil, O Satakratu, all our wish
with horses and with kine:
With holy thoughts we sing thy
praise.
HYMN XXI. Indra-Agni.
1 INDRA and Agni I invoke fain are we for their
song of praise
Chief Soma-drinkers are they both.
2 Praise
ye, O men, and glorify Indra-Agni in the holy rites:
Sing
praise to them in sacred songs.
3 Indra and Agni we invite,
the Soma-drinkers, for the fame
Of Mitra, to the Soma-draught.
4 Strong Gods, we bid them come to this libation that stands
ready here:
Indra and Agni, come to us.
5 Indra and Agni,
mighty Lords of our assembly, crush the fiends:
Childless
be the devouring ones.
6 Watch ye, through this your truthfulness,
there in the place of spacious view
Indra and Agni, send
us bliss.
HYMN XXVIII Indra, Etc.
1 THERE where the broad-based stone raised on
high to press the juices out,
O Indra, drink with eager thirst
the droppings which the mortar sheds.
2 Where, like broad
hips, to hold the juice the platters of the press are laid,
O Indra, drink with eager thirst the droppings which the mortar
sheds.
3 There where the woman marks and leans the pestle's
constant rise and fall,
O Indra, drink with eager thirst
the droppings which the mortar sheds.
4 Where, as with reins
to guide a horse, they bind the churning-staff with cords,
O Indra, drink with eager thirst the droppings which the mortar
sheds.
5 If of a truth in every house, O Mortar thou art
set for work,
Here give thou forth thy clearest sound, loud
as the drum of conquerors.
6 O Sovran of the Forest, as the
wind blows soft in front of thee,
Mortar, for Indra press
thou forth the Soma juice that he may drink.
7 Best strength-givers,
ye stretch wide jaws, O Sacrificial Implements,
Like two
bay horses champing herbs.
8 Ye Sovrans of the Forest, both
swift, with swift pressers press to-day
Sweet Soma juice
for Indra's drink.
9 Take up in beakers what remains: the
Soma on the filter pour,
and on the ox-hide set the dregs.
HYMN XXIX. Indra.
1 O SOMA DRINKER, ever true, utterly hopeless
though we be,
Do thou, O Indra, give us hope of beauteous
horses and of kine,
In thousands, O most wealthy One.
2 O Lord of Strength, whose jaws are strong, great deeds are
thine, the powerful:
Do thou, O Indra, give us hope of beauteous
horses and of kine,
In thousands, O most wealthy One.
3 Lull thou asleep, to wake no more, the pair who on each other
look
Do thou, O Indra, give us, help of beauteous horses
and of kine,
In thousands, O most wealthy One.
4 Hero,
let hostile spirits sleep, and every gentler genius wake:
Do thou, O Indra,. give us hope of beauteous horses and of kine,
In thousands, O most wealthy One.
5 Destroy this ass, O Indra,
who in tones discordant brays to thee:
Do thou, O Indra,
give us hope of beauteous horses and of kine,
In thousands,
O most wealthy One.
6 Far distant on the forest fall the
tempest in a circling course!
Do thou, O Indra, give us hope
of beauteous horses and of kine,
In thousands, O most wealthy
One.
7 Slay each reviler, and destroy him who in secret injures
us:
Do thou, O Indra, give us hope of beauteous horses and
of kine
In thousands, O most wealthy One.
HYMN XXX. Indra.
1 WE seeking strength with Soma-drops fill full
your Indra like a well,
Most liberal, Lord of Hundred Powers,
2 Who lets a hundred of the pure, a thousand of the milk-blent
draughts
Flow, even as down a depth, to him;
3 When for
the strong, the rapturous joy he in this manner hath made room
Within his belly, like the sea.
4 This is thine own. Thou
drawest near, as turns a pigeon to his mate:
Thou carest
too for this our prayer.
5 O Hero, Lord of Bounties, praised
in hymns, may power and joyfulness
Be his who sings the laud
to thee.
6 Lord of a Hundred Powers, stand up to lend us
succour in this fight
In others too let us agree.
7 In
every need, in every fray we call as friends to succour us
Indra the mightiest of all.
8 If he will hear us let him
come with succour of a thousand kinds,
And all that strengthens,
to our call.
9 I call him mighty to resist, the Hero of our
ancient home,
Thee whom my sire invoked of old.
10 We
pray to thee, O much-invoked, rich in all prccious gifts, O
Friend,
Kind God to those who sing thy praise.
11 O Soma-drinker,
Thunder-armed, Friend of our lovely-featured dames
And of
our Soma-drinking friends.
12 Thus, Soma-drinker, may it
be; thus, Friend, who wieldest thunder, act
To aid each wish
as we desire.
13 With Indra splendid feasts be ours, rich
in all strengthening things wherewith,
Wealthy in food, we
may rejoice.
14 Like thee, thyself, the singers' Friend,
thou movest, as it were, besought,
Bold One, the axle of
the car.
15 That, Satakratu, thou to grace and please thy
praisers, as it were,
Stirrest the axle with thy strength.
16 With champing, neighing loudly-snorting horses Indra hath
ever won himself great treasures
A car of gold hath he whose
deeds are wondrous received from us, and let us too receive
it.
17 Come, Asvins, with enduring strength wealthy in horses
and in kine,
And gold, O ye of wondrous deeds.
18 Your
chariot yoked for both alike, immortal, ye of mighty acts,
Travels, O Aivins, in the sea.
19 High on the forehead of
the Bull one chariot wheel ye ever keep,
The other round
the sky revolves.
20 What mortal, O immortal Dawn, enjoyeth
thee? Where lovest thou?
To whom, O radiant, dost thou go?
21 For we have had thee in our thoughts whether anear or far
away,
Red-hued and like a dappled mare.
22 Hither, O Daughter
of the Sky, come thou with these thy strengthenings,
And
send thou riches down to us.
HYMN XXXII. Indra.
1 I WILL declare the manly deeds of Indra, the
first that he achieved, the Thunder-wielder.
He slew the
Dragon, then disclosed the waters, and cleft the channels of
the mountain torrents.
2 He slew the Dragon lying on the
mountain: his heavenly bolt of thunder Tvastar fashioned.
Like lowing kine in rapid flow descending the waters glided
downward to the ocean.
3 Impetuous as a bull, he chose the
Soma and in three sacred beakers drank the juices.
Maghavan
grasped the thunder for his weapon, and smote to death this
firstborn of the dragons.
4 When, Indra, thou hadst slain
the dragon's firstborn, and overcome the charms of the enchanters,
Then, giving life to Sun and Dawn and Heaven, thou foundest
not one foe to stand against thee.
5 Indra with his own great
and deadly thunder smote into pieces Vrtra, worst of Vrtras.
As trunks of trees, what time the axe hath felled them, low
on the earth so lies the prostrate Dragon.
6 He, like a mad
weak warrior, challenged Indra, the great impetuous many-slaying
Hero.
He. brooking not the clashing of the weapons, crushed-Indra's
foe-the shattered forts in falling.
7 Footless and handless
still he challenged Indra, who smote him with his bolt between
the shoulders.
Emasculate yet claiming manly vigour, thus
Vrtra lay with scattered limbs dissevered.
8 There as he
lies like a bank-bursting river, the waters taking courage flow
above him.
The Dragon lies beneath the feet of torrents which
Vrtra with his greatness had encompassed.
9 Then humbled
was the strength of Vrtra's mother: Indra hath cast his deadly
bolt against her.
The mother was above, the son was under
and like a cow beside her calf lay Danu.
10 Rolled in the
midst of never-ceasing currents flowing without a rest for ever
onward.
The waters bear off Vrtra's nameless body: the foe
of Indra sank to during darkness.
11 Guarded by Ahi stood
the thralls of Dasas, the waters stayed like kine held by the
robber.
But he, when he had smitten Vrtra, opened the cave
wherein the floods had been imprisoned.
12 A horse's tail
wast thou when he, O Indra, smote on thy bolt; thou, God without
a second,
Thou hast won back the kine, hast won the Soma;
thou hast let loose to flow the Seven Rivers.
13 Nothing
availed him lightning, nothing thunder, hailstorm or mist which
had spread around him:
When Indra and the Dragon strove in
battle, Maghavan gained the victory for ever.
14 Whom sawest
thou to avenge the Dragon, Indra, that fear possessed thy heart
when thou hadst slain him;
That, like a hawk affrighted through
the regions, thou crossedst nine-and-ninety flowing rivers?
15 Indra is King of all that moves and moves not, of creatures
tame and horned, the Thunder-wielder.
Over all living men
he rules as Sovran, containing all as spokes within the felly.
HYMN XXXIII. Indra.
1 Come, fain for booty let us seek to Indra:
yet more shall he increase his care that guides us.
Will
not the Indestructible endow us with perfect knowledge of this
wealth, of cattle?
2 I fly to him invisible Wealth-giver
as flies the falcon to his cherished eyrie,
With fairest
hymns of praise adoring Indra, whom those who laud him must
invoke in battle.
3 Mid all his host, he bindeth on the quiver
he driveth cattle from what foe he pleaseth:
Gathering up
great store of riches, Indra. be thou no trafficker with us,
most mighty.
4 Thou slewest with thy bolt the wealthy Dasyu,
alone, yet going with thy helpers, Indra!
Far from the floor
of heaven in all directions, the ancient riteless ones fled
to destruction.
5 Fighting with pious worshippers, the riteless
turned and fled, Indra! with averted faces.
When thou, fierce
Lord of the Bay Steeds, the Stayer, blewest from earth and heaven
and sky the godless.
6 They met in fight the army of the
blameless. then the Navagvas put forth all their power.
They,
like emasculates with men contending, fled, conscious, by steep
paths from Indra, scattered.
7 Whether they weep or laugh,
thou hast o'erthrown them, O Indra, on the sky's extremest limit.
The Dasyu thou hast burned from heaven, and welcomed the prayer
of him who pours the juice and lauds thee.
8 Adorned with
their array of gold and jewels, they o'er the earth a covering
veil extended.
Although they hastened, they o'ercame not
Indra: their spies he compassed with the Sun of morning.
9 As thou enjoyest heaven and earth, O Indra, on every side
surrounded with thy greatness,
So thou with priests bast
blown away the Dasyu, and those who worship not with those who
worship.
10 They who pervaded earth's extremest limit subdued
not with their charms the Wealth-bestower:
Indra, the Bull,
made his ally the thunder, and with its light milked cows from
out the darkness.
11 The waters flowed according to their
nature; he raid the navigable streams waxed mighty.
Then
Indra, with his spirit concentrated, smote him for ever with
his strongest weapon.
12 Indra broke through Ilibisa's strong
castles, and Suspa with his horn he cut to pieces:
Thou,
Maghavan, for all his might and swiftness, slewest thy fighting
foeman with thy thunder
13 Fierce on his enemies fell Indra's
weapon: with. his sharp bull he rent their forts in pieces.
He with his thunderbolt dealt blows on Vrtra; and conquered,
executing all his purpose.
14 Indra, thou helpest Kutsa whom
thou lovedst, and guardedst brave Dagadyu when he battled,
The dust of trampling horses rose to heaven, and Svitri's son
stood up again for conquest.
15 Svitra's mild steer, O Maghavan
thou helpest in combat for the land, mid Tugra's houses.
Long stood they there before the task was ended: thou wast the
master of the foemen's treasure.
HYMN LI. Indra.
1 MAKE glad with songs that Ram whom many men
invoke, worthy of songs of praise, Indra, the sea of wealth;
Whose gracious deeds for men spread like the heavens abroad:
sing praise to him the Sage, most liberal for our good.
2
As aids the skilful Rbhus yearned to Indra strong to save, who
fills mid-air, encompassed round with might,
Rushing in rapture;
and -o'er Satakratu came the gladdening shout that urged him
on to victory.
3 Thou hast disclosed the kine's stall for
the Angirases, and made a way for Atri by a hundred doors.
On Vimada thou hast bestowed both food and wealth, making thy
bolt dance in the sacrificer's fight.
4 Thou hast unclosed
the prisons of the waters; thou hast in the mountain seized
the treasure rich in gifts.
When thou hadst slain with might
the dragon Vrtra, thou, Indra, didst raise the Sun in heaven
for all to see.
5 With wondrous might thou blewest enchanter
fiends away, with powers celestial those who called on thee
in jest.
Thou, hero-hearted, hast broken down Pipru's forts,
and helped Rjisvan when the Dasyus were struck dead.
6 Thou
savedst Kutsa when Susna was smitten down; to Atithigva gavest
Sambara for a prey.
E'en mighty Arbuda thou troddest under
foot: thou from of old wast born to strike the Dasyus dead.
7 All power and might is closely gathered up in thee; thy bounteous
spirit joys in drinking Soma juice.
Known is the thunderbolt
that lies within thine arms: rend off therewith all manly prowess
of our foe.
8 Discern thou well Aryas and Dasyus; punishing
the lawless give them up to him whose grass is strewn.
Be
thou the sacrificer's strong encourager all these thy deeds
are my delight at festivals.
9 Indra gives up the lawless
to the pious man, destroying by the Strong Ones those who have
no strength.
Vamra when glorified destroyed the gathered
piles of the still waxing great one who would reach the heaven.
10 The might which Usana hath formed for thee with might rends
in its greatness and with strength both worlds apart.
O Hero-souled,
the steeds of Vata, yoked by thought, have carried thee to fame
while thou art filled with power.
11 When Indra hath rejoiced
with Kavya Usana, he mounts his steeds who swerve wider and
wider yet.
The Strong hath loosed his bolt with the swift
rush of rain, and he hath rent in pieces Susna's firm-built
forts.
12 Thou mountest on thy car amid strong Soma draughts:
Saryata brought thee those in which thou hast delight.
Indra,
when thou art pleased with men whose Soma flows thou risest
to unchallenged glory in the sky.
13 To old Kaksivin, Soma-presser,
skilled in song, O Indra, thou didst give the youthful Vrcaya.
Thou, very wise, wast Mena, Vrsanaiva's child: those deeds of
thine must all be told at Soma feasts.
14 The good man's
refuge in his need is Indra, firm as a doorpost, praised among
the Pajras.
Indra alone is Lord of wealth, the Giver, lover
of riches, chariots, kine, and horses.
15 To him the Mighty
One, the self-resplendent, verily strong and great, this praise
is uttered.
May we and all the heroes, with the princes,
be, in this fray, O Indra, in thy keeping.
HYMN LII. Indra.
1 I GLORIFY that Ram who finds the light of heaven,
whose hundred nobly-natured ones go forth with him.
With
hymns may I turn hither Indra to mine aid,-the Car which like
a strong steed hasteth to the call.
2 Like as a mountain
on firm basis, unremoved, he, thousandfold protector, waxed
in mighty strength,
When Indra, joying in the draughts of
Soma juice, forced the clouds, slaying Vrtra stayer of their
flow.
3 For he stays e'en the stayers, spread o'er laden
cloud, rooted in light, strengthened in rapture by the wise.
Indra with thought, with skilled activity, I call, most liberal
giver, for he sates him with the juice.
4 Whom those that
flow in heaven on sacred grass, his own assistants, nobly-natured,
fill full like the sea,-
Beside that Indra when he smote
down Vrtra stood his helpers, straight in form, mighty, invincible.
5 To him, as in wild joy he fought with him who stayed the rain,
his helpers sped like swift streams down a slope,
When Indra,
thunder-armed, made bold by Soma draughts, as Trta cleaveth
Vala's fences, cleft him through.
6 Splendour encompassed
thee, forth shone thy warrior might: the rain-obstructer lay
in mid-air's lowest deep,
What time, O Indra, thou didst
cast thy thunder down upon the jaws of Vritra hard to be restrained.
7 The hymns which magnify thee, Indra, reach to thee even as
water-brooks flow down and fill the lake.
Tvastar gave yet
more force to thine appropriate strength, and forged thy thunderbolt
of overpowering might.
8 When, Indra, thou whose power is
linked with thy Bay Steeds hadst smitten Vrtra, causing floods
to flow for man,
Thou heldst in thine arms the metal thunderbolt,
and settest in the heaven the Sun for all to see.
9 In fear
they raised the lofty self-resplendent hymn, praise giving and
effectual, leading up to heaven,
When Indra's helpers fighting
for the good of men, the Maruts, faithful to mankind, joyed
in the light.
10 Then Heaven himself, the mighty, at that
Dragon's roar reeled back in terror when, Indra, thy thunderbolt
In the wild joy of Soma had struck off with might the head of
Vrtra, tyrant of the earth and heaven.
11 O Indra, were this
earth extended forth tenfold, and men who dwell therein multiplied
day by day,
Still here thy conquering might, Maghavan, would
be famed: it hath waxed vast as heaven in majesty and power.
12 Thou, bold of heart, in thine own native might, for help,
upon the limit of this mid-air and of heaven,
Hast made the
earth to be the pattern of thy strength: embracing flood and
light thou reachest to the sky.
13 Thou art the counterpart
of earth, the Master of lofty heaven with all its mighty Heroes:
Thou hast filled all the region with thy greatness: yea, of
a truth there is none other like thee.
14 Whose amplitude
the heaven and earth have not attained, whose bounds the waters
of mid-air have never reached,-
Not, when in joy he fights
the stayer of the rain: thou, and none else, hast made all things
in order due.
15 The Maruts sang thy praise in this encounter,
and in thee all the Deities delighted,
What time thou, Indra,
with thy spiky weapon, thy deadly bolt, smotest the face of
Vrtra.
HYMN LIII. Indra.
I WE will present fair praise unto the Mighty
One, our hymns to Indra in Vivasvdn's dwelling-place;
For
he hath ne'er found wealth in those who seem to sleep: those
who give wealth to men accept no paltry praise.
2 Giver of
horses, Indra, giver, thou, of kine, giver of barley, thou art
Lord and guard of wealth:
Man's helper from of old, not disappointing
hope, Friend of our friends, to thee ,as such we sing this praise.
3 Indra, most splendid, powerful, rich in mighty deeds, this
treasure spread around is known to be thine own.
Gather therefrom,
O Conqueror, and bring to us: fail not the hope of him who loves
and sings to thee.
4 Well pleased with these bright flames
and with these Soma drops, take thou away our poverty with seeds
and kine.
With Indra scattering the Dasyu through these drops,
freed from their hate may we obtain abundant food.
5 Let
us obtain, O Indra, plenteous wealth and food, with strength
exceeding glorious, shining to the sky:
May we obtain the
Goddess Providence, the strength of heroes, special source of
cattle, rich in steeds.
6 These our libations strength-inspiring,
Soma draughts, gladdened thee in the fight with Vrtra, Hero
Lord,
What time thou slewest for the singer with trimmed
grass ten thousand Vrtras, thou resistless in thy might.
7 Thou goest on from fight to fight intrepidly, destroying castle
after castle here with strength.
Thou, Indra, with thy friend
who makes the foe bow down, slewest from far away the guileful
Namuci.
8 Thou hast struck down in death Karanja, Parnaya,
in Atithigva's very glorious going forth.
Unyielding, when
Rjisvan compassed them with siege, thou hast destroyed the hundred
forts of Vangrida.
9 With all-outstripping chariot-wheel,
O Indra, thou far-famed, hast overthrown the twice ten Kings
of men,
With sixty thousand nine-and-ninety followers, who
came in arms to fight with friendless Susravas.
10 Thou hast
protected Susravas with succour, and Turvayana with thine aid,
O Indra.
Thou madest Kutsa, Atithigva, Ayu, subject unto
this King, the young, the mighty.
11 May we protected by
the Gods hereafter remain thy very prosperous friends, O Indra.
Thee we extol, enjoying through thy favour life long and joyful
and with store of heroes.
HYMN LIV. Indra.
1 URGE us not, Maghavan, to this distressful
fight, for none may comprehend the limit of thy strength.
Thou with fierce shout hast made the woods and rivers roar:
did not men run in crowds together in their fear?
2 Sing
hymns of praise to Sakra, Lord of power and might; laud thou
and magnify Indra who hearcth thee,
Who with his daring might,
a Bull exceeding strong in strength, maketh him master of the
heaven and earth.
3 Sing forth to lofty Dyaus a strength-bestowing
song, the Bold, whose resolute mind hath independent sway.
High glory hath the Asura, compact of strength, drawn on by
two Bay Steeds: a Bull, a Car is he.
4 The ridges of the
lofty heaven thou madest shake; thou, daring, of thyself smotest
through Sambara,
When bold with gladdening juice, thou warredst
with thy bolt, sharp and twoedged, against the banded sorcerers.
5 When with a roar that fills the woods, thou forcest down on
wind's head the stores which 8usga kept confined,
Who shall
have power to stay thee firm and eager-souled from doing still
this day what thou of old hast done?
6 Thou helpest Narya,
Turvasa, and Yadu, and Vayya's son Turviti, Satakratu!
Thou
helpest horse and car in final battle thou breakest down the
nine-and-ninety castles.
7 A hero-lord is he, King of a mighty
folk, who offers free oblations and promotes the Law,
Who
with a bounteous guerdon welcomes hymns of praise: for him flows
down the abundant stream below the sky.
8 His power is matchless,
matchless is his wisdom; chief, through their work, be some
who drink the Soma,
Those, Indra, who increase the lordly
power, the firm heroic strength of thee the Giver.
9 Therefore
for thee are these abundant beakers Indra's drink, stone-pressed
juices held in ladles.
Quaff them and satisfy therewith thy
longing; then fix thy mind upon bestowing treasure.
10 There
darkness stood, the vault that stayed the waters' flow: in Vrtra's
hollow side the rain-cloud lay concealed.
But Indra smote
the rivers which the obstructer stayed, flood following after
flood, down steep declivitics.
11 So give us, Indra, bliss-increasing
glory give us great sway and strength that conquers people.
Preserve our wealthy patrons, save our princes; vouchsafe us
wealth and food with noble offspring.
HYMN LV. Indra.
1 THOUGH e'en this heaven's wide space and earth
have spread them out, nor heaven nor earth may be in greatness
Indra's match.
Awful and very mighty, causing woe to men,
he whets his thunderbolt for sharpness, as a bull.
2 Like
as the watery ocean, so doth he receive the rivers spread on
all sides in their ample width.
He bears him like a bull
to drink of Soma juice, and will, as Warrior from of old, be
praised for might.
3 Thou swayest, Indra, all kinds of great
manly power, so as to bend, as't were, even that famed mountain
down.
Foremost among the Gods is he through hero might, set
in the van, the Strong One, for each arduous deed.
4 He only
in the wood is praised by worshippers, when he shows forth to
men his own fair Indra-power.
A friendly Bull is he, a Bull
to be desired when Maghavan auspiciously sends forth his voice.
5 Yet verily the Warrior in his vigorous strength stirreth up
with his might great battles for mankind;
And men have faith
in Indra, the respIendent One, what time he hurleth down his
bolt, his dart of death.
6 Though, fain for glory, and with
strength increased on earth, he with great might destroys the
dwellings made with art,
He makes the lights of heaven shine
forth secure, he bids, exceeding wise, the floods flow for his
worshipper.
7 Drinker of Soma, let thy heart incline to give;
bring thy Bays hitherward, O thou who hearest praise.
Those
charioteers of' thine, best skilled to draw the rein, the rapid
sunbeams, Indra, lead thee not astray.
8 Thou bearest in
both hands treasure that never fails; the famed One in his body
holds unvanquished might.
O Indra, in thy members many powers
abide, like wells surrounded by the ministering priests.
HYMN LVI. Indra.
I FOR this man's full libations held in ladles,
he hath roused him, eager, as a horse to meet the mare.
He
stays his golden car, yoked with Bay Horses, swift, and drinks
the Soma juice which strengthens for great deeds.
2 To him
the guidance-following songs of praise flow full, as those who
seek gain go in company to the flood.
To him the Lord of
power, the holy synod's might, as to a hill, with speed, ascend
the loving ones.
3 Victorious, great is he; in manly battle
shines, unstained with dust, his might, as shines a mountain
peak;
Wherewith the iron one, fierce e'en against the strong,
in rapture, fettered wily Sushna fast in bonds.
4 When Strength
the Goddess, made more strong for help by thee, waits upon Indra
as the Sun attends the Dawn,
Then. he who with his might
unflinching kills the gloom stirs up the dust aloft, with joy
and triumphing.
5 When thou with might, upon the framework
of the heaven, didst fix, across, air's region firmly, unremoved,
In the light-winning war, Indra, in rapturous joy, thou smotest
Vrtra dead and broughtest floods of rain.
6 Thou with thy
might didst grasp,the holder-up of heaven, thou who art mighty
also in the seats of earth.
Thou, gladdened by the juice,
hast set the waters free, and broken Vrtra's stony fences through
and through.
HYMN LVII. Indra.
I To him most liberal, lofty Lord of lofty wealth,
verily powerful and strong, I bring my hymn,-
Whose checkless
bounty, as of waters down a slope, is spread abroad for all
that live, to give them strength.
2 Now all this world, for
worship, shall come after thee-the offerer's libations like
floods to the depth,
When the well-loved one seems to rest
upon the hill, the thunderbolt of Indra, shatterer wrought of
gold.
3 To him the terrible, most meet for lofty praise,
like bright Dawn, now bring gifts with reverence in this rite,
Whose being, for renown, yea, Indra-power and light, have been
created, like bay steeds, to move with speed.
4 Thine, Indra,
praised by many, excellently rich! are we who trusting in thy
help draw near to thee.
Lover of praise, none else but thou
receives our laud: as earth loves all her creatures, love thou
this our hymn.
5 Great is thy power, O Indra, we are thine.
Fulfil, O Maghavan, the wish of this thy worshipper.
After
thee lofty heaven hath measured out its strength: to thee and
to thy power this earth hath bowed itself.
6 Thou, who hast
thunder for thy weapon, with thy bolt hast shattered into pieces
this broad massive cloud.
Thou hast sent down the obstructed
floods that they may flow: thou hast, thine own for ever, all
victorious might.
HYMN LXI Indra.
1 EVEN to him, swift, strong and high. exalted,
I bring my song of praise as dainty viands,
My thought to
him resistless, praise-deserving, prayers offered most especially
to Indra.
2 Praise, like oblation, I present, and utter aloud
my song, my fair hymn to the Victor.
For Indra, who is Lord
of old, the singers have decked their lauds with heart and mind
and spirit.
3 To him then with my lips mine adoration, winning
heaven's light, most excellent, I offer,
To magnify with
songs of invocation and with fair hymns the Lord, most bounteous
Giver.
4 Even for him I frame a laud, as fashions the wright
a chariot for the man who needs it,-
Praises to him who gladly
hears our praises, a hymn well-formed, all-moving, to wise Indra.
5 So with my tongue I deck, to please that Indra, my hymn, as
'twere a horse, through love of glory,
To reverence the Hero,
bounteous Giver, famed far and wide, destroyer of the castles.
6 Even for him hath Tvastar forged the thunder, most deftly
wrought, celestial, for the battle,
Wherewith he reached
the vital parts of Vrtra, striking-the vast, the mighty with
the striker.
7 As soon as, at libations of his mother, great
Visnu had drunk up the draught, he plundered.
The dainty
cates, the cooked mess; but One stronger transfixed the wild
boar, shooting through the mountain.
8 To him, to Indra,
when he slew the Dragon, the Dames, too, Consorts of the Goda,
wove praises.
The mighty heaven and earth hath he encompassed:
thy greatness heaven and earth, combined, exceed not.
9 Yea,
of a truth, his magnitude surpasseth the magnitude of earth,
mid-air, and heaven.
Indra, approved by all men, self-resplendent,
waxed in his home, loud-voiced and strong for battle.
10
Through his own strength Indra with bolt of thunder cut piece-meal
Vrtra, drier up of waters.
He let the floods go free, like
cows imprisoned, for glory, with a heart inclined to bounty.
11 The rivers played, through his impetuous splendour, since
with his bolt he compassed them on all sides.
Using his might
and favouring him who worshipped, he made a ford, victorious,
for Turviti.
12 Vast, with thine ample power, with eager
movement, against this Vrtra cast thy bolt of thunder.
Rend
thou his joints, as of an ox, dissevered, with bolt oblique,
that floods of rain may follow.
13 Sing with new lauds his
exploits wrought aforetime, the deeds of him, yea, him who moveth
swiftly,
When, hurling forth his weapons in the battle, he
with impetuous wrath lays low the foemen.
14 When he, yea,
he, comes forth the firm. Set mountains and the whole heaven
and earth, tremble for terror.
May Nodhas, ever praising
the protection of that dear Friend, gain quickly strength heroic.
15 Now unto him of these things hath been given what he who
rules alone o'er much, electeth.
Indra hath helped Etasa,
Soma-presser, contending in the race of steeds with Sarya.
16 Thus to thee, Indra, yoker of Bay Coursers, the Gotamas have
brought their prayers to please thee.
Bestow upon them thought,
decked with all beauty. May he, enriched with prayer, come soon
and early.
HYMN LXII. Indra.
1. LIKE Angiras a gladdening laud we ponder to
him who loveth song, exceeding mighty.
Let us sing glory
to the far-famed Hero who must be praised with fair hymns by
the singer.
2 Unto the great bring ye great adoration, a
chant with praise to him exceeding mighty,
Through whom our
sires, Angirases, singing praises and knowing well the places,
found the cattle.
3 When Indra and the Angirases desired
it, Sarama found provision for her offipring.
Brhaspati cleft
the mountain, found the cattle: the heroes shouted with the
kine in triumph.
4 Mid shout, loud shout, and roar, with
the Navagvas, seven singers, hast thou, heavenly, rent the mountain;
Thou hast, with speeders, with Dasagvas, Indra, Sakra, with
thunder rent obstructive Vala.
5 Praised by Angirases, thou,
foe-destroyer, hast, with the Dawn, Sun, rays, dispellcd the
darkness.
Thou Indra, hast spread out the earths high ridges,
and firmly fixed the region under heaven.
6 This is the deed
most worthy of all honour, the fairest marvel of the Wonder-Worker,
That, nigh where heaven bends down, he made four rivers flow
full with waves that carry down sweet water.
7 Unwearied,
won with lauding hymns, he parted of old the ancient Pair, united
ever.
In highest sky like Bhaga, he the doer of marvels set
both Dames and earth and heaven.
8 Still born afresh, young
Dames, each in her manner, unlike in hue, the Pair in alternation
Round heaven and earth from ancient time have travelled, Night
with her dark limbs, Dawn with limbs of splendour.
9 Rich
in good actions, skilled in operation, the Son with might maintains
his perfect friendship.
Thou in the raw cows, black of hue
or ruddy, storest the ripe milk glossy white in colour.
10
Their paths, of old connected, rest uninjured; they with great
might preserve the immortal statutes.
For many thousand holy
works the Sisters wait on the haughty Lord like wives and matrons.
11 Thoughts ancient, seeking wealth, with adoration, with newest
lauds have sped to thee, O Mighty.
As yearning wives cleave
to their yearning husband, so cleave our hymns to thee, O Lord
most potent.
12 Strong God, the riches which thy hands have
holden from days of old have perished not nor wasted.
Splendid
art thou, O Indra, wise, unbending:strengthen us with might,
O Lord of Power.
13 O mighty Indra, Gotama's son Nodhas hath
fashioned this new prayer to thee Eternal,
Sure leader, yoker
of the Tawny Coursers. May he, enriched with prayer, come soon
and early.
HYMN LXIII. Indra.
1. THOU art the Mighty One; when born, O Indra,
with power thou tcrrifiedst earth and heaven -
When, in their
fear of thee, all firm-set mountains and monstrous creatures
shook like dust before thee.
2 When thy two wandering Bays
thou drawest hither, thy praiser laid within thine arms the
thunder,
Wherewith, O Much-invoked, in will resistless, thou
smitest foemen down and many a castle.
3 Faithful art thou,
these thou defiest, Indra; thou art the Rbhus' Lord, heroic,
victor.
Thou, by his side, for young and glorious Kutsa,
with steed and car in battle slewest Susna,
4 That, as a
friend, thou furtheredst, O Indra, when, Thundcrer, -strong
in act, thou crushedst Vrtra;
When, Hero, thou, great-souled,
with easy conquest didst rend the Dasyus in their
distant
dwelling.
5 This doest thou, and art not harmed, O Indra,
e'en in the anger of the strongest mortal.
Lay thou the race-course
open for our horses: as with a club, slay, Thunderarmed 1 our
foemen.
6 Hence men invoke thee, Indra, in the tumult of
battle, in the light-bestowing conflict.
This aid of thine,
O Godlike One, was ever to be implored in deeds of might in
combat.
7 Warring for Purukutsa thou, O Indra, Thunder-armed
I breakest down the seven castles;
Easily, for Sudis, like
grass didst rend them, and out of need, King, broughtest gain
to Puru.
8 O Indra, God who movest round about us, feed us
with varied food plenteous as water-
Food wherewithal, O
Hero, thou bestowest vigour itself to flow to us for ever.
9 Prayers have been made by Gotamas, O Indra, addressed to thee,
with laud for thy Bay Horses.
Bring us in noble shape abundant
riches. May he, enriched with prayer, come soon and early.
HYMN LXXX. Indra.
1. THUS in the Soma, in wild joy the Brahman
hath exalted thee:
Thou, mightiest It thunder-armed, hast
driven by force he Dragon from the earth, lauding thine own
imperial sway.
2 The mighty flowing Soma-draught, brought
by the Hawk, hath gladdened thee,
That in thy strength, O
Thunderer, thou hast struck down Vrtra from the floods, lauding
thine own imperial sway.
3 Go forward, meet the foe, be bold;
thy bolt of thunder is not checked.
Manliness, Indra, is
thy might: stay Vrtra, make the waters thine, lauding thine
own imperial sway.
4 Thou smotest Vrtra from the earth, smotest
him, Indra, from the sky.
Let these life-fostering waters
flow attended by the Marut host, lauding thine own imperial
sway.
5 The wrathful Indra with his bolt of thunder rushing
on the foe,
Smote fierce on trembling Vrtra's back, and loosed
the waters free to run, lauding his own imperial sway.
6
With hundred-jointed thunderbolt Indra hath struck him on the
back,
And, while rejoicing in the juice, seeketh prosperity
for friends, lauding his own imperial sway.
7 Indra, unconquered
might is thine, Thunderer, Caster of the Stone;
For thou
with thy surpassing power smotest to death the guileful beast,
lauding thine own imperial sway.
8 Far over ninety spacious
floods thy thunderbolts were cast abroad:
Great, Indra, is
thy hero might, and strength is seated in thine arms, lauding
thine own imperial sway.
9 Laud him a thousand all at once,
shout twenty forth the hymn of praise.
Hundreds have sung
aloud to him, to Indra hath the prayer been raised, lauding
his own imperial sway.
10 Indra hath smitten down the power
of Vrtra,-might with stronger might.
This was his manly exploit,
he slew Vrtra and let loose the floods, lauding his own imperial
sway.
11 Yea, even this great Pair of Worlds trembled in
terror at thy wrath,
When, Indra, Thunderer, Marut-girt,
thou slewest Vrtra in thy strength, lauding thine own imperial
sway.
12 But Vrtra scared not Indra with his shaking or his
thunder roar.
On him that iron thunderbolt fell fiercely
with its thousand points, lauding his own imperial sway.
13 Whenwith the thunder thou didst make thy dart and Vrtra meet
in war,
Thy might, O Indra, fain to slay the Dragon, was
set firm in heaven, lauding thine own imperial sway.
14 When
at thy shout, O Thunder-armed, each thing both fixed and moving
shook,
E'en Tvastar trembled at thy wrath and quaked with
fear because of thee, lauding thine own imperial sway.
15
There is not, in our knowledge, one who passeth Indra in his
strength:
In him the Deities have stored manliness, insight,
power and might, lauding his own imperial sway.
16 Still
as of old, whatever rite Atharvan, Manus sire of all,
Dadhyach
performed, their prayer and praise united in that Indra meet,
lauding his own imperial sway.
HYMN LXXXI. Indra.
1. THE men have lifted Indra up, the Vrtra slayer,
to joy and strength:
Him, verily, we invocate in battles
whether great or small: be he our aid in deeds of might.
2 Thou, Hero, art a warrior, thou art giver of abundant spoil.
Strengthening e'en the feeble, thou aidest the sacrificer, thou
givest the offerer ample wealth.
3 When war and battles are
on foot, booty is laid before the bold.
Yoke thou thy wildly-rushing
Bays. Whom wilt thou slay and whom enrich? Do thou, O Indra,
make us rich.
4 Mighty through wisdom, as he lists, terrible,
he hath waxed in strength.
Lord of Bay Steeds, strong-jawed,
sublime, he in joined hands for glory's sake hath grasped his
iron thunderbolt.
5 He filled the earthly atmosphere and
pressed against the lights in heaven.
None like thee ever
hath been born, none, Indra, will be born like thee. Thou hast
waxed mighty over all.
6 May he who to the offerer gives
the foeman's man-sustaining food,
May Indra lend his aid
to us. Deal forth -abundant is thy wealth-that in thy bounty
1 may share.
7 He, righteous-hearted, at each time of rapture
gives us herds of kine.
Gather in both thy hands for us treasures
of many hundred sorts. Sharpen thou us, and bring us wealth.
8 Refresh thee, Hero, with the juice outpoured for bounty and
for strength.
We know thee Lord of ample store, to thee have
sent our hearts' desires: be therefore our Protector thou.
9 These people, Indra, keep for thee all that is worthy of thy
choice.
Discover thou, as Lord, the wealth of men who offer
up no gifts: bring thou to us this wealth of theirs.
HYMN LXXXII. Indra.
1. GRACIOUSLY listen to our songs, Maghavan,
be not negligent.
As thou hast made us full of joy and lettest
us solicit thee, now, Indra, yoke thy two Bay Steeds.
2 Well
have they eaten and rejoiced; the friends have risen and passed
away.
The sages luminous in themselves have. praised thee
with their latest hymn. Now, Indra, yoke thy two Bay Steeds.
3 Maghavan, we will reverence thee who art so fair to look upon.
Thus praised, according to our wish come now with richly laden
car. Now, Indra, yoke thy two Bay Steeds.
4 He will in very
truth ascend the powerful car that finds the kine,
Who thinks
upon the well-filled bowl, the Tawny Coursers' harnesser. Now,
Indra, yoke thy two Bay Steeds.
5 Let, Lord of Hundred Powers,
thy Steeds be harnessed on the right and left.
Therewith
in rapture of the juice, draw near to thy beloved Spouse. Now,
Indra, yoke thy two Bay Steeds.
6 With holy prayer I yoke
thy long-maned pair of Bays: come hitherward; thou holdest them
in both thy hands.
The stirring draughts of juice outpoured
have made thee glad: thou, Thunderer, hast rejoiced with Pusan
and thy Spouse.
HYMN LXXXIII. Indra.
1. INDRA, the mortal man well guarded by thine
aid goes foremost in the wealth of horses and of kine.
With
amplest wealth thou fillest him, as round about the waters clearly
seen afar fill Sindhu full.
2 The heavenly Waters come not
nigh the priestly bowl: they but look down and see how far mid-air
is spread:
The Deities conduct the pious man to them: like
suitors they delight in him who loveth prayer.
3 Praiseworthy
blessing hast thou laid upon the pair who with uplifted ladle
serve thee, man and wife.
Unchecked he dwells and prospers
in thy law: thy power brings blessing to the sacrificer pouring
gifts.
4 First the Angirases won themselves vital power,
whose fires were kindled through good deeds and sacrifice.
The men together found the Pani's hoarded wealth, the cattle,
and the wealth in horses and in kine.
5 Atharvan first by
sacrifices laid the paths then, guardian of the Law, sprang
up the loving Sun.
Usana Kavya straightway hither drove the
kine. Let us with offerings honour Yama's deathless birth.
6 When sacred grass is trimmed to aid the auspicious work, or
the hymn makes its voice of praise sound to the sky.
Where
the stone rings as'twere a singer skilled in laud, --Indra in
truth delights when these come near to him.
HYMN LXXXIV. Indra.
1. The Soma hath been pressed for thee, O Indra;
mightiest, bold One, come.
May Indra-vigour fill thee full,
as the Sun fills mid-air with rays.
2 His pair of Tawny Coursers
bring Indra of unresisted might
Hither to Rsis' songs of
praise and sacrifice performed by men.
3 Slayer of Vrtra,
mount thy car; thy Bay Steeds have been yoked by prayer.
May, with its voice, the pressing-stone draw thine attention
hitherward.
4 This poured libation, Indra, drink, immortal,
gladdening, excellent.
Streams of the bright have flowed
to thee here at the seat of holy Law.
5 Sing glory now to
Indra, say to him your solemn eulogies.
The drops poured
forth have made him glad: pay reverence to his might supreme.
6 When, Indra, thou dost yoke thy Steeds, there is no better
charioteer:
None hath surpassed thee in thy might, none with
good steeds o'ertaken thee.
7 He who alone bestoweth on mortal
man who offereth gifts,
The ruler of resistless power, is
Indra, sure.
8 When will he trample, like a weed, the man
who hath no gift for him?
When, verily, will Indra hear our
songs of praise?
9 He who with Soma juice prepared amid the
many honours thee,-
Verily Indra gains thereby tremendous
might.
10 The juice of Soma thus diffused, sweet to the taste,
the bright cows drink,
Who for the sake of splendour close
to mighty Indra's side rejoice, good in their own supremacy.
11 Craving his touch the dappled kine mingle the Soma with their
milk.
The milch-kine dear to Indra send forth his death-dealing
thunderbolt, good in their own supremacy.
12 With veneration,
passing wise, honouring his victorious might,
They follow
close his many laws to win them due preeminence, good in their
own supremacy.
13 With bones of Dadhyac for his arms, Indra,
resistless in attack,
Struck nine-and-ninety Vrtras dead.
14 He, searching for the horse's head, removed among the mountains,
found
At Suryanavan what he sought.
15 Then verily they
recognized the essential form of Tvastar's Bull,
Here in
the mansion of the Moon.
16 Who yokes to-day unto the pole
of Order the strong and passionate steers of checkless spirit,
With shaft-armed mouths, heart-piercing, health-bestowing?
Long shall he live who richly pays their service.
17 Who
fleeth forth? who suffereth? who feareth? Who knoweth Indra
present, Indra near us?
Who sendeth benediction on his offspring,
his household, wealth and person, and the People?
18 Who
with poured oil and offering honours Agni, with ladle worships
at appointed seasons?
To whom to the Gods bring oblation
quickly? What offerer, God-favoured, knows him thoroughly?
19 Thou as a God, O Mightiest, verily blessest mortal man.
O Maghavan, there is no comforter but thou: Indra, I speak my
words to thee.
20 Let not thy bounteous gifts, let not thy
saving help fail us, good Lord, at any time;
And measure
out to us, thou lover of mankind, all riches hitherward from
men.
HYMN C. Indra.
1. MAY he who hath his home with strength, the
Mighty, the King supreme of earth and spacious heaven,
Lord
of true power, to he invoked in battles,-may Indra, girt by
Maruts, be our succour.
2 Whose way is unattainable like
Surya's: he in each fight is the strong Vrtra-slayer,
Mightiest
with his Friends in his own courses. May Indra, girt by Maruts,
be our succour.
3 Whose paths go forth in their great might
resistless, forthmilking, as it were, heaven's genial moisture.
With manly strength triumphant, foe-subduer,-may Indra, girt
by Maruts, be our succour.
4 Among Angirases he was the chiefest,
a Friend with friends, mighty amid the mighty.
Praiser mid
praisers, honoured most of singers. May Indra, girt by Maruts,
be our succour.
5 Strong with the Rudras as with his own
children, in manly battle conquering his foemen '
With his
close comrades doing deeds of glory,-may Indra, girt by Maruts,
be our succour.
6 Humbler of pride, exciter of the conflict,
the Lord of heroes, God invoked of many,
May he this day
gain with our men the sunlight. May Indra, girt by Maruts, be
oursuccour.
7 His help hath made him cheerer in the battle,
the folk have made him guardian of their comfort.
Sole Lord
is he of every holy service. May Indra, girt by Maruts, be our
succour.
8 To him the Hero, on high days of prowess, heroes
for help and booty shall betake them.
He hath found light
even in the blinding darkness. May Indra, girt by Maruts, be
our succour.
9 He with his left hand checketh even the mighty,
and with his righthand gathereth up the booty.
Even with
the humble he acquireth riches. May Indra, girt by Maruts, be
our succour.
10 With hosts on foot and cars he winneth treasures:
well is he known this day by all the people.
With manly might
he conquereth those who hate him. May Indra, girt by Maruts,
be our succour.
11 When in his ways with kinsmen or with
strangers he speedeth to the fight, invoked of many,
For
gain of waters, and of sons and grandsons, may Indra, girt by
Maruts, be our succour.
12 Awful and fierce, fiend-slayer,
thunder-wielder, with boundless knowledge, hymned by hundreds,
mighty,
In strength like Soma, guard of the Five Peoples,
may Indra, girt by Maruts, be our succour.
13 Winning the
light, hitherward roars his thunder like the terrific mighty
voice of Heaven.
Rich gifts and treasures evermore attend
him. May Indra, girt by Maruts, be our succour.
14 Whose
home eternal through his strength surrounds him on every side,
his laud, the earth and heaven,
May he, delighted with our
service, save us. May Indra, girt by Maruts, be our succour.
15 The limit of whose power not Gods by Godhead, nor mortal
men have reached, nor yet the Waters.
Both Earth and Heaven
in vigour he surpasseth. May Indra, girt by Maruts, he our succour.
16 The red and tawny mare, blaze-marked, high standing, celestial
who, to bring Rjrasva riches,
Drew at the pole the chariot
yoked with stallions, joyous, among the hosts of men was noted.
17 The Varsagiras unto thee, O Indra, the Mighty One, sing forth
this laud to please thee,
Rjrasva with his fellows, Ambarisa,
Suradhas, Sahadeva, Bhayamana.
18 He, much invoked, hath
slain Dasyus and Simyus, after his wont, and laid them low with
arrows.
The mighty Thunderer with his fair-complexioned friends
won the land, the sunlight, and the waters.
19 May Indra
evermore be our protector, and unimperilled may we win the booty.
This prayer of ours may Varuna grant, and Mitra, and Aditi and
Sindhu, Earth and Heaven.
HYMN CI. Indra.
1. SING, with oblation, praise to him who maketh
glad, who with Rjisvan drove the dusky brood away.
Fain for
help, him the strong whose right hand wields the bolt, him girt
by Maruts we invoke to be our Friend.
2 Indra, who with triumphant
wrath smote Vyamsa down, and Sambara, and Pipru the unrighteous
one;
Who extirpated Susna the insatiate, him girt by Maruts
we invoke to be our Friend.
3 He whose great work of manly
might is heaven and earth, and Varuna and Surya keep his holy
law;
Indra, whose law the rivers follow as they flow,-him
girt by Maruts we invoke to be our Friend.
4 He who is Lord
and Master of the steeds and kine, honoured -the firm and sure-
at every holy act;
Stayer even of the strong who pours no
offering out, -him girt by Maruts we invoke to be our Friend.
5 He who is Lord of all the world that moves and breathes, who
for the Brahman first before all found the Cows;
Indra who
cast the Dasyus down beneath his feet,-him girt by Maruts we
invoke to be our Friend.
6 Whom cowards must invoke and valiant
men of war, invoked by those who conquer and by those who flee;
Indra, to whom all beings turn their constant thought,-him girt
by Maruts we invoke to be our Friend.
7 Refulgent in the
Rudras' region he proceeds, and with the Rudras through the
wide space speeds the Dame.
The hymn of praise extols Indra
the far-renowned: him girt by Maruts we invoke to be our Friend.
8 O girt by Maruts, whether thou delight thee in loftiest gathering-place
or lowly dwelling,
Come thence unto our rite, true boon-best-ower:
through love of thee have we prepared oblations.
9 We, fain
for thee, strong Indra, have pressed Soma, and, O thou sought
with prayer, have made oblations.
Now at this sacrifice,
with all thy Maruts, on sacred grass, O team-borne God, rejoice
thee.
10 Rejoice thee with thine own Bay Steeds, O Indra,
unclose thy jaws and let thy lips be open.
Thou with the
fair cheek, let thy Bay Steeds bring thee: gracious to us, he
pleased with our oblation.
11 Guards of the camp whose praisers
are the Maruts, may we through Indra, get ourselves the booty.
This prayer of ours may Varuna grant, and Mitra, and Aditi and
Sindhu, Earth and Heaven.
HYMN CII. Indra.
1. To thee the Mighty One I bring this mighty
hymn, for thy desire hath been gratified by my laud.
In Indra,
yea in him victorious through his strength, the Gods have joyed
at feast and when the Soma flowed.
2 The Seven Rivers bear
his glory far and wide, and heaven and sky and earth display
his comely form.
The Sun and Moon in change alternate run
their course, that we, O Indra, may behold and may have faith.
3 Maghavan, grant us that same car to bring us spoil, thy conquering
car in which we joy in shock of fight.
Thou, Indra, whom
our hearts praise highly in the war, grant shelter, Maghavan,
to us who love thee well.
4 Encourage thou our side in every
fight: may we, with thee for our ally, conquer the foeman's
host.
Indra, bestow on us joy and felicity break down, O
Maghavan, the vigour of our foes.
5 For here in divers ways
these men invoking thee, holder of treasures, sing hymns to
win thine aid.
Ascend the car that thou mayest bring spoil
to us, for, Indra, thy fixt winneth the victory.
6 His arms
win kine, his power is boundless in each act best, with a hundred
helps waker of battle's din
Is Indra: none may rival him
in mighty strength. Hence, eager for the spoil the people call
on him.
7 Thy glory, Maghavan, exceeds a hundred yea, more
than a hundred, than a thousand mid the folk,
The great bowl
hath inspirited thee boundlessly: so mayst thou slay the Vrtras
breaker-down of forts!
8 Of thy great might there is a three
counterpart, the three earths, Lord men and the three realms
of light.
Above this whole world, Indra, thou hast waxen
great: without a foe art thou, nature, from of old.
9 We
invocate thee first among the Deities: thou hast become a mighty
Conquer in fight.
May Indra fill with spirit this our singer's
heart, and make our car impetuous, foremost in attack.
10
Thou hast prevailed, and hast not kept the booty back, in trifling
battles in those of great account.
We make thee keen, the
Mighty One, succour us: inspire us, Maghavan, when we defy the
foe.
11 May Indra evermore be our Protector, and unimperilled
may we win the booty.
This prayer of ours may Vartuna grant
and Mitra, and Aditi and Sindhu, Earth and Heaven.
HYMN CIII. Indra.
1. THAT highest Indra-power of thine is distant:
that which is here sages possessed aforetime.
This one is
on the earth, in heaven the other, and both unite as flag with
flag in battle.
2 He spread the wide earth out and firmly
fixed it, smote with his thunderbolt and loosed the waters.
Maghavan with his puissance struck down Ahi, rent Rauhipa to
death and slaughtered Vyarnsa.
3 Armed with his bolt and
trusting in his prowess he wandered shattering the forts of
Dasas.
Cast thy dart, knowing, Thunderer, at the Dasyu; increase
the Arya's might and glory, Indra.
4 For him who thus hath
taught these human races, Maghavan, bearing a fame-worthy title,
Thunderer, drawing nigh to slay the Dasyus, hath given himself
the name of Son for glory.
5 See this abundant wealth that
he possesses, and put your trust in Indra's hero vigour.
He found the cattle, and he found the horses, he found the plants,
the forests and the waters.
6 To him the truly strong, whose
deeds are many, to him the strong Bull let us pour the Soma.
The Hero, watching like a thief in ambush, goes parting the
possessions of the godless.
7 Well didst thou do that hero
deed, O Indra, in waking with thy bolt the slumbering Ahi.
in thee, delighted, Dames divine rejoiced them, the flying Maruts
and all Gods were joyful.
8 As thou hast smitten Susna, Pipru,
Vrtra and Kuyava, and Sambara's forts O Indra.
This prayer
of ours may Varuna grant, and Mitra, and Aditi and Sindhu, Earth
and Heaven.
HYMN CIV. Indra.
1. THE altar hath been made for thee to rest
on: come like a panting courser and be seated.
Loosen thy
flying Steeds, set free thy Horses who bear thee swiftly nigh
at eve and morning.
2 These men have come to Indra for assistance:
shall he not quickly come upon these pathways?
May the Gods
quell the fury of the Dasa, and may they lead our folk to happy
fortune.
3 He who hath only wish as his possession casts
on himself, casts foam amid the waters.
Both wives of Kuyava
in milk have bathed them: may they be drowned within the depth
of Sipha.
4 This hath his kinship checked who lives beside
us: with ancient streams forth speeds and rules the Hero, Anjasi,
Kulisi, and Virapatni, delighting him, bear milk upon their
waters.
5 Soon as this Dasyu's traces were discovered, as
she who knows her home, he sought the dwelling.
Now think
thou of us, Maghavan, nor cast us away as doth a profligate
his treasure.
6 Indra, as such, give us a share of sunlight,
of waters, sinlessness, and reputation.
Do thou no harm to
our yet unborn offspring: our trust is in thy mighty Indra-power.
7 Now we, I think, in thee as such have trusted: lead us on,
Mighty One, to ample riches.
In no unready house give us,
O Indra invoked of many, food and drink when hungry.
8 Slay
us not, Indra; do not thou forsake us: steal not away the joys
which we delight in.
Rend not our unborn brood, strong Lord
of Bounty! our vessels with the life that is within them.
9 Come to us; they have called thee Soma-lover: here is the
pressed juice. Drink thereof for rapture.
Widely-capacious,
pour it down within thee, and, invocated, hear us like a Father.
HYMN CVIII. Indra-Agni.
1. ON that most wondrous car of yours, O Indra
and Agni, which looks round on all things living,
Take ye
your stand and come to us together, and drink libations of the
flowing Soma.
2 As vast as all this world is in its compass,
deep as it is, with its far-stretching surface,
So let this
Soma be, Indra and Agni, made for your drinking till your soul
be sated.
3 For ye have won a blessed name together: yea,
with one aim ye strove, O Vrtra-slayers.
So Indra-Agni, seated
here together, pour in, ye Mighty Ones, the mighty Soma.
4 Both stand adorned, when fires are duly kindled, spreading
the sacred grass, with lifted ladles.
Drawn by strong Soma
juice poured forth around us, come, Indra-Agni, and display
your favour.
5 The brave deeds ye have done, Indra and Agni,
the forms ye have displayed and mighty exploits,
The ancient
and auspicious bonds of friendship,-for sake of these drink
of the flowing Soma.
6 As first I said when choosing you,
in battle we must contend with Asuras for this Soma.
So came
ye unto this my true conviction, and drank libations of the
flowing Soma.
7 If in your dwelling, or with prince or Brahman,
ye, Indra-Agni, Holy Ones, rejoice you,
Even frorn thence,
ye mighty Lords, come hither, and drink libation of the flowing
Soma.
8 If with, the Yadus, Turvasas, ye sojourn, with Druhyus,
Anus, Purus, Indra-Agni!
Even from thence, ye mighty Lords,
come hither, and drink libations of the flowing Soma.
9 Whether,
O Indra-Agni, ye be dwelling in lowest earth, in central, or
in highest.
Even from thence, ye mighty Lords, come hither,
and drink libations of the flowing Soma.
10 Whether, O Indra-Agni,
ye be dwelling in highest earth, in central, or in lowest,
Even from thence, ye mighty Lords, come hither, and drink libations
of the flowing Soma.
11 Whether ye be in heaven, O Indra-Agni,
on earth, on mountains, in the herbs, or waters,
Even from
thence, ye mighty Lords, come hither, and drink libations of
the flowing Soma.
12 If, when the Sun to the mid-heaven hath
mounted, ye take delight in food, O Indra-Agni,
Even from
thence, ye mighty Lords, come hither, and drink libations of
the flowing Soma.
13 Thus having drunk your fill of our libation,
win us all kinds of wealth, Indra and Agni.
This prayer of
ours may Varuna grant, and Mitra, and Aditi and Sindhu, Earth
and Heaven.
HYMN CIX. Indra-Agni.
1. LONGING for weal I looked around, in spirit,
for kinsmen, Indra-Agni, or for brothers.
No providence but
yours alone is with me so have I wrought for you this hymn for
succour.
2 For I have heard that ye give wealth more freely
than worthless son-in-law or spouse's brother.
So offering
to you this draught of Soma, I make you this new hymn, Indra
and Agni,
3 Let us not break the cords: with this petition
we strive to gain the powers of our forefathers.
For Indra-Agni
the strong drops are joyful-, for here in the bowl's lap are
both the press-stones.
4 For you the bowl divine, Indra and
Agni, presses the Soma gladly to delight you.
With hands
auspicious and fair arms, ye Asvins, haste, sprinkle it with
sweetness in the waters.
5 You, I have heard, were mightiest,
Indra-Agni, when Vrtra fell and when the spoil was parted.
Sit at this sacrifice, ye ever active, on the strewn grass,
and with the juice delight you.
6 Surpassing all men where
they shout for battle, ye Twain exceed the earth and heaven
in greatness.
Greater are ye than rivers and than mountains,
O Indra-Agni, and all things beside them.
7 Bring wealth
and give it, ye whose arms wield thunder: Indra and Agni, with
your powers protect us.
Now of a truth these be the very
sunbeams wherewith our fathers were of old united.
8 Give,
ye who shatter forts, whose hands wield thunder: Indra and Agni,
save us in our battles.
This prayer of ours may Varuna grant,
and Mitra, and Aditi and Sindhu, Earth and Heaven.
HYMN CXXI, Indra.
1. WHEN Will men's guardians hasting hear with
favour the song of Angiras's pious
childern?
When to the
people of the home he cometh he strideth to the sacrifice, the
Holy.
2 He stablished heaven; he poured forth, skilful worker,
the wealth of kine, for strength, that nurtures heroes.
The
Mighty One his self-born host regarded, the horse's mate, the
mother of the heifer.
3 Lord of red dawns, he came victorious,
daily to the Angirases' former invocation.
His bolt and team
hath he prepared, and stablished the heaven for quadrupeds and
men two-footed.
4 In joy of this thou didst restore, for
worship, the lowing company of hidden cattle.
When the three-pointed
one descends with onslaught he opens wide the doors that cause
man trouble.
5 Thine is that milk which thy swift-moving
Parents brought down, a strengthening genial gift for conquest;
When the pure treasure unto thee they offered, the milk shed
from the cow who streameth nectar.
6 There is he born. May
the Swift give us rapture, and like the Sun shine forth from
yonder dawning,
Indu, even us who drank, whose toils are
offerings, poured from the spoon, with praise, upon the altar.
7 When the wood-pile, made of good logs, is ready, at the Sun's
worship to bind fast the Bullock,
Then when thou shinest
forth through days of action for the Car-borne, the Swift, tile
Cattle-seeker.
8 Eight steeds thou broughtest down from mighty
heaven, when fighting for the well that giveth splendour,
That men might press with stones the gladdening yellow, strengthened
with milk, fermenting, to exalt thee.
9 Thou hurledst forth
from heaven the iron missile, brought by the Skilful, from the
sling of leather,
When thou, O Much-invoked, assisting Kutsa
with endless deadly darts didst compass Susna.
10 Bolt-armed,
ere darkness overtook the sunlight, thou castest at the veiling
cloud thy weapon,
Thou rentest, out of heaven, though firmly
knotted, the might of Susna that was thrown around him.
11
The mighty Heaven and Earth, those bright expanses that have
no wheels, joyed, Indra, at thine exploit.
Vrtra, the boar
who lay amid the waters, to sleep thou sentest with thy mighty
thunder.
12 Mount Indra, lover of the men thou guardest,
the well-yoked horses of the wind, best bearers.
The bolt
which Kavya Usana erst gave thee, strong, gladdening, Vrtra-slaying,
hath he fashioned *
13 The strong Bay Horses of the Sun thou
stayedst: this Etasa drew not the wheel, O Indra.
Casting
them forth beyond the ninety rivers thou dravest down into the
pit the godless.
14 Indra, preserve thou us from this affliction
Thunder-armed, save us from the misery near us.
Vouchsafe
us affluence in chariots, founded on horses, for our food and
fame and gladness.
15 Never may this thy loving-kindness
fail us; mighty in strength, may plenteous food surround us.
Maghavan, make us share the foeman's cattle: may we be thy most
liberal feast companions.
HYMN CXXIX Indra.
1. THE car which Indra, thou, for service of
the Gods though it be far away, O swift One, bringest near,
which, Blameless One, thou bringest near,
Place swiftly nigh
us for our help: be it thy will that it be strong.
Blameless
and active, hear this speech of orderers, this speech of us
like orderers.
2 Hear, Indra, thou whom men in every fight
must call to show thy strength, for cry of battle with the men,
with men of war for victory.
He who with heroes wins the
light, who with the singers gains the prize,
Him the rich
seek to gain even as a swift strong steed, even as a courser
fleet and strong.
3 Thou, Mighty, pourest forth the hide
that holds the rain, thou keepest far away, Hero, the wicked
man, thou shuttest out the wicked man.
Indra, to thee I sing,
to Dyaus, to Rudra glorious in himself,
To Mitra, Varuna
I sing a far-famed hymn to the kind God a far-famed hymn.
4 We. wish our Indra here that he may further you, the Friend,
beloved of all, the very strong ally, in wars the very strong
ally
In all encounters strengthen thou our prayer to be a
help to us.
No enemy-whom thou smitest downsubdueth thee,
no enemy, whom thou smitest down.
5 Bow down the overweening
pride of every foe with succour like to kindling-wood in fiercest
flame, with mighty succour, Mighty One.
Guide us, thou Hero,
as of old, so art thou counted blameless still.
Thou drivest,
as a Priest, all sins of man away, as Priest, in person, seeking
us.
6 This may I utter to the present Soma-drop, which, meet
to be invoked, with power, awakes the prayer, awakes the demon-slaying
prayer.
May he himself with darts of death drive far from
us the scorner's hate.
Far let him flee away who speaketh
wickedness and vanish like a mote of dust.
7 By thoughtful
invocation this may we obtain, obtain great wealth, O Wealthy
One, with Hero sons, wealth that is sweet with hero sons.
Him who is wroth we pacify with sacred food and eulogies,
Indra the Holy with our calls inspired and true, the Holy One
with calls inspired.
8 On, for your good and ours, come Indra
with the aid of his own lordliness to drive the wicked hence,
to rend the evilhearted ones!
The weapon which devouring
fiends cast at us shall destroy themselves.
Struck down,
it shall not reach the mark; hurled forth, the fire-brand shall
not strike.
9 With riches in abundance, Indra, come to us,
come by an unobstructed path, come by a path from demons free.
Be with us when we stray afar, be with us when our home is nigh.
Protect us with thy help both near and far away: protect us
ever with thy help.
10 Thou art our own, O Indra, with victorious
wealth: let might accompany thee, the Strong, to give us aid,
like Mitra, to give mighty aid.
O strongest saviour, helper
thou, Immortal! of each warrior's car.
Hurt thou another
and not us, O Thunderarmed, one who would hurt, O Thunder-armed!
11 Save us from injury, thou who art well extolled: ever the
warder-off art thou of wicked ones, even as a God, of wicked
ones;
Thou slayer of the evil fiend, saviour of singer such
as I.
Good Lord, the Father made thee slayer of the fiends,
made thee, good Lord, to slay the fiends.
HYMN CXXX. Indra.
1. Come to us, Indra, from afar, conducting us
even as a lord of heroes to the gatherings, home, like a King,
his heroes' lord.
We come with gifts of pleasant food, with
juice poured forth, invoking thee,
As sons invite a sire,
that thou mayst get thee strength thee, bounteousest, to get
thee strength.
2 O Indra, drink the Soma juice pressed out
with stones. poured from the reservoir, as an ox drinks the
spring, a very thirsty bull the spring.
For the sweet draught
that gladdens thee, for mightiest freshening of thy strength.
Let thy Bay Horses bring thee hither as the Sun, as every day
they bring the Sun.
3 He found the treasure brought from
heaven that lay concealed, close-hidden, like the nestling of
a bird, in rock, enclosed in never-enffing rock.
Best Angiras,
bolt-armed, he strove to win, as 'twere, the stall of kine;
So Indra hath disclosed the food concealed, disclosed the doors,
the food that lay concealed.
4 Grasping his thunderbolt with
both hands, Indra made its edge most keen, for hurling, like
a carving-knife for Ahi's slaughter made it keen.
Endued
with majesty and strength, O Indra, and with lordly might,
Thou crashest down the trees, as when a craftsman fells, crashest
them down as with an axe.
5 Thou, Indra, without effort hast
let loose the floods to run their free course down,
like
chariots, to the sea, like chariots showing forth their strength.
They, reaching hence away, have joined their strength for one
eternal end,
Even as the cows who poured forth every thing
for man, Yea, poured forth all thing- for mankind.
6 Eager
for riches, men have formed for thee this song, like as a skilful
craftsman fashioneth a car, so have they wrought thee to their
bliss;
Adorning thee, O Singer, like a generous steed for
deeds of might,
Yea, like a steed to show his strength and
win the prize, that he may bear each prize away.
7 For Puru
thou hast shattered, Indra ninety forts, for Divodasa thy boon
servant with thy bolt, O Dancer, for thy worshipper.
For
Atithigva he, the Strong, brought Sambara. from the mountain
down,
Distributing the mighty treasures with his strength,
parting all treasures with his strength.
8 Indra in battles
help his Aryan worshipper, he who hath hundred helps at hand
in every fray, in frays that win the light of heaven.
Plaguing
the lawless he gave up to Manu's seed the dusky skin;
Blazing,
'twere, he burns each covetous man away, he burns, the tyrannous
away.
9 Waxed strong in might at dawn he tore the Sun's wheel
off. Bright red, he steals away their speech, the Lord of Power,
their speech he steals away from them,
As thou with eager
speed, O Sage, hast come from far away to hel
As winning
for thine own all happiness of men, winning all happiness each
day.
10 Lauded with our new hymns, O vigorous in deed, save
us with strengthening help, thou Shatterer of the Forts!
Thou, Indra, praised by Divodasa's clansmen, as heaven grows
great with days, shalt wax in glory.
HYMN CXXXI. Indra.
1. To Indra Dyaus the Asura hath bowed him down,
to Indra mighty Earth with wide-extending tracts, to win the
light, with wide-spread tracts.
All Gods of one accord have
set Indra in front preeminent.
For Indra all libations must
be set apart, all man's libations set apart.
2 In all libations
men with hero spirit urge the Universal One, each seeking several
light, each fain to win the light apart.
Thee, furthering
like a ship, will we set to the chariot-pole of strength,
As men who win with sacrifices Indra's thought, men who win
Indra with their lauds.
3 Couples desirous of thine aid are
storming thee, pouring their presents forth to win a stall of
kine, pouring gifts, Indra, seeking thee.
When two men seeking
spoil or heaven thou bringest face to face in war,
Thou showest,
Indra, -then the bolt thy constant friend, the Bull that ever
waits on thee.
4 This thine heroic power men of old time
have known, wherewith thou breakest down, Indra, autumnal forts,
breakest them down with conquering might.
Thou hast chastised,
O Indra, Lord of Strength, the man who worships not,
And
made thine own this great earth and these water-floods; with
joyous heart these waterfloods.
5 And they have bruited far
this hero-might when thou, O Strong One, in thy joy helpest
thy suppliants, who sought to win thee for their Friend.
Their battle-cry thou madest sound victorious in the shocks
of war.
One stream after another have they gained from thee,
eager for glory have they gained.
6. Also this morn may he
be well inclined to us, mark at our call our offerings and our
song of praise, our call that we may win the light.
As thou,
O Indra Thunder-armed, wilt, as the Strong One, slay the foe,
Listen thou to the prayer of me a later sage, hear thou a later
sage's prayer.
7 O Indra, waxen strong and well-inclined
to us, thou very mighty, slay the man that is our foe, slay
the man, Hero! with thy bolt.
Slay thou the man who injures
us: hear thou, as readiest, to hear.
Far be malignity, like
mischief on the march, afar be all malignity.
HYMN CXXXII. Indra.
1. HELPED, Indra Maghavan, by thee in war of
old, may we subdue in fight the men who strive with us, conquer
the men who war with us.
This day that now is close at hand
bless him who pours the Soma juice.
In this our sacrifice
may we divide the spoil, showing our strength, the spoil of
war.
2 In war which wins the light, at the freegiver's call,
at due oblation of the early-rising one, oblation of the active
one,
Indra slew, even as we know-whom each bowed head must
reverence.
May all thy bounteous gifts be gathered up for
us, yea, the good gifts of thee the Good.
3 This food glows
for thee as of old at sacrifice, wherein they made thee chooser
of the place , for thou choosest the place of sacrifice.
Speak thou and make it known to us they see within with beams
of light.
Indra, indeed, is found a seeker after spoil, spoil-seeker
for his own allies.
4 So now must thy great deed be lauded
as of old, when for the Angirases thou openedst the stall, openedst,
giving aid, the stall.
In the same manner for us here fight
thou and be victorious:
To him who pours the juice give up
the lawless man, the lawless who is wroth with us.
5 When
with wise plan the Hero leads the people forth, they conquer
in the ordered battle, seeking fame, press, eager, onward seeking
fame.
To him in time of need they sing for life with offspring
and with strength.
Their hymns with Indra find a welcome
place of rest: the hynins go forward to the Gods.
6 Indra
and Parvata, our champions in the fight, di ive ye away each
man who fain would war with us, drive him far from us with the
bolt.
Welcome to him concealed afar shall he the lair that
he hath found.
So may the Render rend our foes on every side,
rend them, O Hero, everywhere.
HYMN CXXXIII. Indra.
1. WITH sacrifice I purge both earth and heaven:
I burn up great she-fiends who serve not Indra,
Where throttled
by thy hand the foes were slaughtered, and in the pit of death
lay pierced and mangled.
2 O thou who castest forth the stones
crushing the sorceresses' heads,
Break them with thy wide-spreading
foot, with thy wide-spreading mighty foot.
3 Do thou, O Maghavan,
beat off these sorceresses' daring strength.
Cast them within
the narrow pit. within the deep and narrow pit.
4 Of whom
thou hast ere now destroyed thrice-fifty with thy fierce attacks.
That deed they count a glorious deed, though small to thee,
a glorious deed.
5 O Indra, crush and bray to bits the fearful
fiery-weaponed fiend:
Strike every demon to the ground.
6 Tear down the mighty ones. O Indra, hear thou us. For heaven
hath glowed like earth in fear, O nunder-armed, as dreading
fierce heat, Thunder-armed!
Most Mighty mid the Mighty Ones
thou speedest with strong bolts of death,
Not slaying men,
unconquered Hero with the brave, O Hero, with the thrice-seven
brave.
7 The pourer of libations gains the home of wealth,
pouring his gift conciliates hostilities, yea, the hostilities
of Gods.
Pouring, he strives, unchecked and strong, to win
him riches thousandfold.
Indra gives lasting wealth to him
who pours forth gifts, yea, wealth he gives that long shall
last.
HYMN CXXXV. Vayu, Indra-Vayu.
1. STREWN is the sacred grass; come Vayu, to
our feast, with team of thousands, come, Lord of the harnessed
team, with hundreds, Lord of harnessed steeds!
The drops
divine are lifted up for thee, the God, to drink them first.
The juices rich in sweets have raised thern for thy joy, have
raised themselves to give thee strength.
2 Purified by the
stones the Soma flows for thee, clothed with its lovely splendours,
to the reservoir, flows clad in its refulgent light.
For
thee the Soma is poured forth, thy portioned share mid. Gods
and men.
Drive thou thy horses, Vayu, come to us with love,
come well-inclined and loving us.
3 Come thou with hundreds,
come with thousands in thy team to this our solemn rite, to
taste the sacred food, Vayu, to taste the offerings.
This
is thy seasonable share, that comes co-radiant with the Sun.
Brought by attendant priests pure juice is offered up, Vayu,
pure juice is offered up.
4 The chariot with its team of
horses bring you both, to guard us and to taste the well-appointed
food, Vayu, to taste the offerings!
Drink of the pleasant
-flavoured juice the first draught is assigned to you.
O
Vayu, with your splendid bounty come ye both, Indra, with bounty
come ye both.
5 May our songs bring you hither to our solemn
rites: these drops of mighty vigour have they beauti fied, like
a swift veed of mighty strength.
Drink of them well-inclined
to us, come hitherward to be our help.
Drink, Indra-Vayu,
of these Juices pressed with stones, Strength-givers! till they
gladden you.
6 These Soma juices pressed for you in waters
here, borne by attendant priests, are oficredup to you: bright,
Vayu, are they offered up.
Swift through the strainer have
they flowed, and here are shed for both ofyou,
Soma-drops,
fain for you, over the wether's fleece, Somas over the wether's
fleece.
7 O Vayu, pass thou over all the,slumberers, and
where the press-stone rings enter ye both that house, yea, Indra,
go ye both within.
The joyous Maiden is beheld, the butter
flows. With richly laden team come to our solemn rite, yea,
Indra, come ye to the rite.
8 Ride hither to the offering
of the pleasant juice, the holy Fig-tree which victorious priests
surround: victorious be they still for us.
At once the cows
yield milk, the barleymeal is dressed. For thee,
O Vayu,
never shall the cows grow thin, never for thee shall they be
dry.
9 These Bulls of thine, O Vayu with the arm of strength,
who swiftly fly within the current of thy stream, the Bulls
increasing in their might,
Horseless, yet even through the
waste swift-moving, whom no shout can stay,
Hard to be checked
are they, like sunbeams, in their course. hard to be checked
by both the hands.
HYMN CLXV. Indra. Maruts.
1. WITH what bright beauty are the Maruts jointly
invested, peers in age, who dwell together?
From what place
have they come? With what intention? Sing they their strength
through love of wealth, these Heroes?
2 Whose prayers have
they, the Youthful Ones, accepted? Who to his sacrifice hath
turned the Maruts?
We will delay them on their journey sweeping-with
what high spirit!-through the air like eagles.
3 Whence comest
thou alone, thou who art mighty, Indra, Lord of the Brave? What
is thy purpose?
Thou greetest us when meeting us the Bright
Ones. Lord of Bay Steeds, say what thou hast against us.
4 Mine are devotions, hymns; sweet are libations. Strength stirs,
and hurled forth is my bolt of thunder.
They call for me,
their lauds are longing for me. These my Bay Steeds bear me
to these oblations.
5 Therefore together with our strong
companions, having adorned our bodies, now we harness,
Our
spotted deer with might, for thou, O Indra, hast learnt and
understood our Godlike nature.
6 Where was that nature then
of yours, O Maruts, that ye charged me alone to slay the Dragon?
For I in truth am fierce and strong and mighty. I bent away
from every foeman's weapons.
7 Yea, much hast thou achieved
with us for comrades, with manly valour like thine own, thou
Hero.
Much may we too achieve, O mightiest Indra, with our
great power, we Maruts, when we will it.
8 Vrtra I slew by
mine own strength, O Maruts, having waxed mighty in mine indignation.
I with the thunder in my hand created for man these lucid softly
flowing waters.
9 Nothing, O Maghavan, stands firm before
thee; among the Gods not one is found
thine equal.
None
born or springing into life comes nigh thee. Do what thou hast
to do, exceeding mighty?
10 Mine only be transcendent power,
whatever I, daring in my spirit, may accomplish.
For I am
known as terrible, O Maruts I, Indra, am the Lord of what I
ruined.
11 Now, O ye Maruts, hath your praise rejoiced me,
the glorious hymn which ye have made me, Heroes!
For me,
for Indra, champion strong in battle, for me, yourselves, as
lovers for a lover.
12 Here, truly, they send forth their
sheen to meet me, wearing their blameless glory and their vigour.
When I have seen you, Matuts, in gay splendour, ye have delighted
me, so now delight me.
13 Who here hath magnified you, O
ye Maruts? speed forward, O ye lovers, to your lovers.
Ye
Radiant Ones, assisting their devotions, of these my holy rites
he ye regardful.
14 To this hath Minya's wisdom brought us,
so as to aid, as aids the poet him who worships.
Bring hither
quick! On to the sage, ye Maruts! These prayers for you the
singer hath recited.
15 May this your praise, may this your
song, O Maruts, sung by the poet, Mana's son, Mandarya,
Bring
offspring for ourselves with food to feed us. May we find strengthening
food in full abundance!
HYMN CLXVII. Indra. Maruts.
1. A THOUSAND are thy helps for us, O Indra:
a thousand, Lord of Bays, thy choice refreshments.
Wealth
of a thousand sorts hast thou to cheer us: may precious goods
come nigh to us in thousands.
2 May the most sapient Maruts,
with protection, with best boons brought from lofty heaven,
approach us,
Now when their team of the most noble horses
speeds even on the sea's extremest limit.
3 Close to them
clings one moving in seclusion, like a man's wife, like a spear
carried rearward,
Well grasped, bright, decked with gold
there is Vak also, like to a courtly, eloquent dame, among them.
4 Far off the brilliant, never-weary Maruts cling to the young
Maid as a joint possession.
The fierce Gods drave not Rodasi
before them, but wished for her to grow their friend and fellow.
5 When chose immortal Rodasi to follow- she with loose tresses
and heroic spirit-
She climbed her servant's chariot, she
like Surya with cloud-like motion and refulgent aspect.
6
Upon their car the young men set the Maiden wedded to glory,
mighty in assemblies,
When your song, Maruts, rose, and,
with oblation, the Soma-pourer sang his hymn in worship.
7 I will declare the greatness of these Maruts, their real greatness,
worthy to be lauded,
How, with them, she though firm, strong-minded,
haughty, travels to women happy in their fortune.
8 Mitra
and Varuna they guard from censure: Aryaman too, discovers worthless
sinners Firm things are overthrown that ne'er were shaken: he
prospers, Maruts, who gives choice oblations.
9 None of us,
Maruts, near or at a distance, hath ever reached the limit of
your vigour.
They in courageous might still waxing boldly
have compassed round their foemen like an ocean.
10 May we
this day be dearest friends of Indra, and let us call on him
in fight to-morrow.
So were we erst. New might attend us
daily! So be with us! Rbhuksan of the Heroes!
11 May this
your laud, may this your song, O Maruts, sung by the poet, Mana's
son, Mandarya,
Bring offspring for ourselves with. food to
feed us. May we find strengthening food in full abundance.
HYMN CLXIX. Indra.
1. As, Indra, from great treason thou protectest,
yea, from great treachery these who approach us,
So, marking
well, Controller of the Maruts grant us their blessings, for
they are thy dearest.
2 The various doings of all mortal
people by thee are ordered, in thy wisdom, Indra.
The host
of Marutg goeth forth exulting to win the light-bestowing spoil
of battle.
3 That spear of thine sat firm for us, O Indra:
the Maruts set their whole dread power in motion.
E'en Agni
shines resplendent in the brush-wood: the viands hold him as
floods hold an island.
4 Vouchsafe us now that opulence,
O Indra, as guerdon won by mightiest donation.
May hymns
that please thee cause the breast of Vayu to swell as with the
mead's refreshing sweetness.
5 With thee, O Indra, are most
bounteous riches that further every one who lives uprightly.
Now may these Maruts show us loving-kindness, Gods who of old
were ever prompt to help us.
6 Bring forth the Men who rain
down boons, O Indra: exert thee in the great terrestrial region;
For their broad-chested speckled deer are standing like a King's
armies on the field of battle.
7 Heard is the roar of the
advancing Maruts, terrific, glittering, and swiftly moving,
Who with their rush o'erthrow as 'twere a sinner the mortal
who would fight with those who love him
8 Give to the Manas,
Indra with Maruts, gifts universal, gifts of cattle foremost.
Thou, God, art praised with Gods who must be lauded. May we
find strengthening food in full abundance.
HYMN CLXX. Indra. Maruts.
1. NAUGHT is to-day, to-morrow naught. Who comprehends
the mystery?
We must address ourselves unto another's thought,
and lost is then the hope we formed.
2 The Maruts are thy
brothers. Why, O Indra, wouldst thou take our lives?
Agree
with them in friendly wise, and do not slay us in the fight.
3 Agastya, brother, why dost thou neglect us, thou who art our
friend?
We know the nature of thy mind. Verity thou wilt
give us naught.
4 Let them prepare the altar, let them kindle
fire in front: we two
Here will spread sacrifice for thee,
that the Immortal may observe.
5 Thou, Lord of Wealth, art
Master of all treasures, thou, Lord of friends, art thy
friends'
best supporter.
O Indra, speak thou kindly with the Maruts,
and taste oblations in their proper season.
HYMN CLXXIII. Indra.
1. THE praise-song let him sing forth bursting
bird-like: sing we that hymn which like heaven's light expandeth,
That the milk-giving cows may, unimpeded call to the sacred
grass the Gods' assembly.
2 Let the Bull sing with Bulls
whose toil is worship, with a loud roar like some wild beast
that hungers.
Praised God! the glad priest brings his heart's
devotion; the holy youth presents twofold oblation.
3 May
the Priest come circling the measured stations, and with him
bring the earth's autumnal fruitage.
Let the Horse neigh
led near, let the Steer bellow: let the Voice go between both
worlds as herald,
4 To him we offer welcomest oblations,
the pious bring their strength-inspiring praises.
May Indra,
wondrous in his might, accept them, car-borne and swift to move
like the Nasatyas.
5 Praise thou that Indra who is truly
mighty, the car-borne Warrior, Maghavan the Hero;
Stronger
in war than those who fight against him, borne by strong steeds,
who kills enclosing darkness;
6 Him who surpasses heroes
in his greatness: the earth and heavens suffice not for his
girdles.
Indra endues the earth to be his garment, and, God-like,
wears the heaven as 'twere a frontlet,
7 Thee, Hero, guardian
of the brave in battles, who roamest in the van,-to draw thee
hither,
Indra, the hosts agree beside the Soma, and joy,
for his great actions, in the Chieftain.
8 Libations in the
sea to thee are pleasant, when thy divine Floods come to cheer
these people.
To thee the Cow is sum of all things grateful
when with the wish thou seekest men and princes.
9 So may
we in this One be well befriended, well aided as it were through
praise of chieftains,
That Indra still may linger at our
worship, as one led swift to work, to hear our praises.
10
Like men in rivalry extolling princes, our Friend be Indra,
wielder of the thunder.
Like true friends of some city's
lord within them held in good rule with sacrifice they help
him.
11 For every sacrifice makes Indra stronger, yea, when
he goes around angry in spirit;
As pleasure at the ford invites
the thirsty, as the long way brings him who gains his object.
12 Let us not here contend with Gods, O Indra, for here, O Mighty
One, is thine own portion,
The Great, whose Friends the bounteous
Maruts honour, as with a stream, his song who pours oblations.
13 Addressed to thee is this our praise, O Indra: Lord of Bay
Steeds, find us hereby advancement.
So mayst thou lead us
on, O God, to comfort. May we find strengthening food in full
abundance.
HYMN CLXXIV. Indra.
1. THOU art the King of all the Gods, O Indra:
protect the men, O Asura, preserve us.
Thou Lord of Heroes,
Maghavan, our saver, art faithful, very rich, the victory-giver.
2 Indra, thou humbledst tribes that spake with insult by breaking
down seven autumn forts, their refuge.
Thou stirredst, Blameless!
billowy floods, and gavest his foe a prey to youthful Purukutsa.
3 With whom thou drivest troops whose lords are heroes, and
bringest daylight now, much worshipped Indra,
With them guard
lion-like wasting active Agni to dwell in our tilled fields
and in our homestead.
4 They through the greatness of thy
spear, O Indra, shall, to thy praise, rest in this earthly station.
To loose the floods, to seek, for kine, the battle, his Bays
he mounted boldly seized the booty.
5 Indra, bear Kutsa,
him in whom thou joyest: the dark-red horses of the Wind are
docile.
Let the Sun roll his chariot wheel anear us, and
let the Thunderer go to meet the foemen.
6 Thou Indra, Lord
of Bays, made strong by impulse, hast slain the vexers of thy
friends, who give not.
They who beheld the Friend beside
the living were cast aside by thee as they rode onward.
7
Indra, the bard sang forth in inspiration: thou madest earth
a covering for the Dasa.
Maghavan made the three that gleam
with moisture, and to his home brought Kuyavac to slay him.
8 These thine old deeds new bards have sung, O Indra. Thou conqueredst,
boundest many tribes for ever.
Like castles thou hast crushed
the godless races, and bowed the godless scorner's deadly weapon.
9 A Stormer thou hast made the stormy waters flow down, O Indra,
like the running rivers.
When o'er the flood thou broughtest
them, O Hero, thou keptest Turvaga and Yadu safely.
10 Indra,
mayst thou be ours in all occasions, protector of the men, most
gentle-hearted,
Giving us victory over all our rivals. May
we find strengthening food in full abundance.
HYMN CLXXV. Indra.
1. GLAD thee: thy glory hath been quaffed, Lord
of Bay Steeds, as 'twere the bowl's enlivening mead.
For
thee the Strong there is strong drink, mighty, omnipotent to
win.
2 Let our strong drink, most excellent, exhilarating,
come to thee,
Victorious, Indra1 bringing gain, immortal
conquering in fight,
3 Thou, Hero, winner of the spoil, urgest
to speed the car of man.
Burn, like a vessel with the flame,
the lawless Dasyu, Conqueror!
4 Empowered by thine own might,
O Sage, thou stolest Sarya's chariot wheel.
Thou barest Kutsa
with the steeds of Wind to Susna as his death.
5 Most mighty
is thy rapturous joy, most splendid is thine active power,
Wherewith, foe-slaying, sending bliss, thou art supreme in gaining
steeds.
6 As thou, O Indra, to the ancient singers wast ever
joy, as water to the thirsty,
So unto thee I sing this invocation.
May we find strengthening food in full abundance.
HYMN CLXXVI. Indra.
1. CHEER thee with draughts to win us bliss:
Soma, pierce Indra in thy strength.
Thou stormest trembling
in thy rage, and findest not a foeman nigh.
2 Make our songs
penetrate to him who is the Only One of men;
For whom the
sacred food is spread, as the steer ploughs the barley in.
3 Within whose hands deposited all the Five Peoples' treasures
rest.
Mark thou the man who injures us and kill him like
the heavenly bolt.
4 Slay everyone who pours no gift, who,
hard to reach, delights thee not.
Bestow on us what wealth
he hath: this even the worshipper awaits.
5 Thou helpest
him the doubly strong whose hymns were sung unceasingly.
When Indra fought, O Soma, thou helpest the mighty in the fray.
6 As thou, O Indra, to the ancient singers wast ever joy, like
water to the thirsty,
So unto thee I sing this invocation.
May we find strengthenifig food in full abundance.
HYMN CLXXVII. Indra.
1. THE Bull of men, who cherishes all people,
King of the Races, Indra, called of many,
Fame-loving, praised,
hither to me with succour turn having yoked both vigorous Bay
Horses!
2 Thy mighty Stallions, yoked by prayer, O Indra,
thy. Coursers to thy mighty chariot harnessed,-
Ascend thou
these, and borne by them come hither: with Soma juice out. poured,
Indra, we call thee.
3 Ascend thy mighty car: the mighty
Soma is poured for thee and sweets are sprinkled round us.
Come down to us-ward, Bull of human races,come, having harnessed
them, with strong Bay Horses.
4 Here is God-reaching sacrifice,
here the victim; here, Indra,are the prayers, here is the Soma.
Strewn is thesacred grass: come hither, Sakra; seatthee and
drink: unyoke thy two Bay Coursers.
5 Come to us, Indra,
come thou highly lauded to the devotions of the singer Mana.
Singing, may we find early through thy succour, may we find
strengthening food in full abundance.
HYMN CLXXVIII. Indra.
1. IF, Indra, thou hast given that gracious hearing
where with thou helpest those who sang thy praises.
Blast
not the wish that would exalt us may I gain all from thee, and
pay all man's devotions.
2 Let not the Sovran Indra disappoint
us in what shall bring both Sisters to our dwelling.
To him
have run the quickly flowing waters.May Indra come to us with
life and friendship.
3 Victorious with the men, Hero in battles,
Indra, who hearsthe singer's supplication,
Will bring his
car nigh to the man who offers, if he himself upholds the songs
that praise him.
4 Yea,Indra, with the men, through love
of gloryconsumes the sacred food which friends have offered.
The ever-strengthening song of him who worships is sung in fight
amid the clash of voices.
5Aided by thee, O Maghavan, O Indra,
may we subdue our foes who count them mighty.
Be our protector,
strengthen and increase us.May we find strengthening food in
full abundance.
Suggestions for Further Reading
- The Rig Veda translation by Griffith, Introduction
- Hymns of the Sama veda translated by Ralph T.H. Griffith
- Yajur Veda: The Veda Of The Black Yajus School
- Hymns Of The Atharva-Veda
- Anugita English Translation
- THE Sanatsugâtîya, A Spiritual Dialogue
- Dharmashastras, the Sacred Law Books of Hindus
- The Hindu Dharmashastras, Subject Index
- The Grihya Sutras, The Vedic Domestic Ritual Texts
- The Sankhya Sutras of Kapila, Index page
- Translation of Upanishads by Swami Paramananda, Index
- A History Of Indian Philosophy - Chapter Index
- The Upanishads translated by Max Muller
- Vedic Reader for Students
- The Bhagavad-gita in a nutshell
- Essays On Dharma
- Esoteric Mystic Hinduism
- Introduction to Hinduism
- Hindu Way of Life
- Essays On Karma
- Hindu Rites and Rituals
- The Origin of The Sanskrit Language
- Symbolism in Hinduism
- Essays on The Upanishads
- Concepts of Hinduism
- Essays on Atman
- Hindu Festivals
- Spiritual Practice
- Right Living
- Yoga of Sorrow
- Happiness
- Mental Health
- Concepts of Buddhism
- General Essays
Source: An English translation of the Vedas by Ralph T.H. Griffith, 1896.