
The Rig Veda, Book 1, Verses 1 - 10

HYMN I. Agni.
1 I Laud Agni, the chosen Priest, God, minister
of sacrifice,
The hotar, lavishest of wealth.
2 Worthy
is Agni to be praised by living as by ancient seers.
He shall
bring. hitherward the Gods.
3 Through Agni man obtaineth
wealth, yea, plenty waxing day by day,
Most rich in heroes,
glorious.
4 Agni, the perfect sacrifice which thou encompassest
about
Verily goeth to the Gods.
5 May Agni, sapient-minded
Priest, truthful, most gloriously great,
The God, come hither
with the Gods.
6 Whatever blessing, Agni, thou wilt grant
unto thy worshipper,
That, Angiras, is indeed thy truth.
7 To thee, dispeller of the night, O Agni, day by day with prayer
Bringing thee reverence, we come
8 Ruler of sacrifices, guard
of Law eternal, radiant One,
Increasing in thine own abode.
9 Be to us easy of approach, even as a father to his son:
Agni, be with us for our weal.
HYMN II. Vayu.
1 BEAUTIFUL Vayu, come, for thee these Soma drops
have been prepared:
Drink of them, hearken to our call.
2 Knowing the days, with Soma juice poured forth, the singers
glorify
Thee, Vayu, with their hymns of praise.
3 Vayu,
thy penetrating stream goes forth unto the worshipper,
Far-spreading
for the Soma draught.
4 These, Indra-Vayu, have been shed;
come for our offered dainties' sake:
The drops are yearning
for you both.
5 Well do ye mark libations, ye Vayu and Indra,
rich in spoil
So come ye swiftly hitherward.
6 Vayu and
Indra, come to what the Soma. presser hath prepared:
Soon,
Heroes, thus I make my prayer.
7 Mitra, of holy strength,
I call, and foe-destroying Varuna,
Who make the oil-fed rite
complete.
8 Mitra and Varuna, through Law, lovers and cherishers
of Law,
Have ye obtained your might power
9 Our Sages,
Mitra-Varuna, wide dominion, strong by birth,
Vouchsafe us
strength that worketh well.
HYMN III. Asvins
1 YE Asvins, rich in treasure, Lords of splendour,
having nimble hands,
Accept the sacrificial food.
2 Ye
Asvins, rich in wondrous deeds, ye heroes worthy of our praise,
Accept our songs with mighty thought.
3 Nisatyas, wonder-workers,
yours arc these libations with clipt grass:
Come ye whose
paths are red with flame.
4 O Indra marvellously bright,
come, these libations long for thee,
Thus by fine fingers
purified.
5 Urged by the holy singer, sped by song, come,
Indra, to the prayers,
Of the libation-pouring priest.
6 Approach, O Indra, hasting thee, Lord of Bay Horses, to the
prayers.
In our libation take delight.
7 Ye Visvedevas,
who protect, reward, and cherish men, approach
Your worshipper's
drink-offering.
8 Ye Visvedevas, swift at work, come hither
quickly to the draught,
As milch-kine hasten to their stalls.
9 The Visvedevas, changing shape like serpents, fearless, void
of guile,
Bearers, accept the sacred draught
10 Wealthy
in spoil, enriched with hymns, may bright Sarsavad desire,
With eager love, our sacrifice.
11 Inciter of all pleasant
songs, inspirer o all gracious thought,
Sarasvati accept
our rite
12 Sarasvati, the mighty flood,- she with be light
illuminates,
She brightens every pious thought.
HYMN IV. Indri
1 As a good cow to him who milks, we call the
doer of fair deeds,
To our assistance day by day.
2 Come
thou to our libations, drink of Soma; Soma-drinker thou!
The rich One's rapture giveth kine.
3 So may we be acquainted
with thine innermost benevolence:
Neglect us not, come hitherward.
4 Go to the wise unconquered One, ask thou of Indra, skilled
in song,
Him who is better than thy friends.
5 Whether
the men who mock us say, Depart unto another place,
Ye who
serve Indra and none else;
6 Or whether, God of wondrous
deeds, all our true people call us blest,
Still may we dwell
in Indra's care.
7 Unto the swift One bring the swift, man-cheering,
grace of sacrifice,
That to the Friend gives wings and joy.
8 Thou, Satakratu, drankest this and wast the Vrtras' slayer;
thou
Helpest the warrior in the fray.
9 We strengthen,
Satakratu, thee, yea, thee the powerful in fight,
That, Indra,
we may win us wealth.
10 To him the mighty stream of wealth,
prompt friend ot'him who pours the juice,
yea, to this Indra
sing your song.
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.
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.