
The Rig Veda, Book 1, Verses 80 to 89

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 LXXXV. Maruts.
1. THEY who are glancing forth, like women, on their way,
doers of mighty deeds, swift racers, Rudra's Sons,
The Maruts
have made heaven and earth increase and grow: in sacrifices
they delight, the strong and wild.
2 Grown to their perfect
strength greatness have they attained; the Rudras have established
their abode in heaven.
Singing their song of praise and generating
might, they have put glory on, the Sons whom Prani bare.
3 When, Children of the Cow, they shine in bright attire, and
on their fair limbs lay their golden ornaments,
They drive
away each adversary from their path, and, following their traces,
fatness floweth down,
4 When, mighty Warriors, ye who glitter
with your spears, o'erthrowing with your strength e'en what
is ne'er o'erthrown,
When, O ye Maruts, ye the host that
send the rain, had harnessed to your cars the thought-fleet
spotted deer.
5 When ye have harnessed to your cars the spotted
deer, urging the thunderbolt, O Maruts, to the fray,
Forth
rush the torrents of the dark red stormy cloud, and moisten,
like a skin, the earth with water-floods.
6 Let your swift-gliding
coursers bear you hitherward with their fleet pinions. Come
ye forward with your arms.
Sit on the grass; a wide scat
hath been made for you: delight yourselves, O Maruts, in the
pleasant food.
7 Strong in their native strength to greatness
have they grown, stepped to the firmament and made their dwelling
wide.
When Visnu saved the Soma bringing wild delight, the
Maruts sate like birds on their dear holy grass.
8 In sooth
like heroes fain for fight they rush about, like combatants
fame-seeking have they striven in war.
Before the Maruts
every creature is afraid: the men are like to Kings, terrible
to behold.
9 When Tyastar deft of hand had turned the thunderbolt,
golden, with thousand edges, fashioned more skilfully,
Indra
received it to perform heroic deeds. Vrtra he slew, and forced
the flood of water forth.
10 They with their vigorous strength
pushed the well up on high, and clove the cloud in twain though
it was passing strong.
The Maruts, bounteous Givers, sending
forth their voice, in the wild joy of Soma wrought their glorious
deeds.
11 They drave the cloud transverse directed hitherward,
and poured the fountain forth for thirsting Gotama.
Shining
with varied light they come to him with help: they with their
might fulfilled the longing of the sage.
12 The shelters
which ye have for him who lauds you, bestow them threefold on
the man who offers.
Extend the same boons unto us, ye Maruts.
Give us, O Heroes, wealth with noble offipring.
HYMN LXXXVI. Maruts.
1. THE best of guardians hath that man within whose dwelling
place ye drink,
O Maruts, giants of the sky.
2 Honoured
with sacrifice or with the worship of the sages' hymns,
O
Maruts, listen to the call.
3 Yea, the strong man to whom
ye have vouchsafed to give a sage, shall move
Into a stable
rich in kine.
4 Upon this hero's sacred grass Soma is poured
in daily rites:
Praise and delight are sung aloud.
5 Let
the strong Maruts hear him, him surpassing all men: strength
be his
That reaches even to the Sun.
6 For, through the
swift Gods' loving help, in many an autumn, Maruts, we
Have
offered up our sacrifice.
7 Fortunate shall that mortal be,
O Maruts most adorable,
Whose offerings ye bear away.
8 O Heroes truly strong, ye know the toil of him who sings your
praise,
The heart's desire of him who loves.
9 O ye of
true strength, make this thing manifest by your greatness -
strike
The demon with your thunderbolt.
10 Conceal the
horrid darkness, drive far from us each devouring fiend.
Create the light for which we long.
HYMN LXXXVII Maruts.
1. LOUD Singers, never humbled, active, full of strength,
immovable, impetuous, manliest, best-beloved,
They have displayed
themselves with glittering ornaments, a few in number only,
like the heavens with stars.
2 When, Maruts, on the steeps
ye pile the moving cloud, ye are like birds on whatsoever path
it be.
Clouds everywhere shed forth the rain upon your cars.
Drop fatness, honey-hued, for him who sings your praise.
3 Earth at their racings trembles as if weak and worn, when
on their ways they yoke their cars for victory.
They, sportive,
loudly roaring, armed with glittering spears, shakers of all,
themselves admire their mightiness.
4 Self-moving is that
youthful band, with spotted steeds; thus it hath lordly sway,
endued with power and might.
Truthful art thou, and blameless,
searcher out of sin: so thou, Strong Host, wilt be protector
of this prayer.
5 We speak by our descent from our primeval
Sire; our tongue, when we behold the Soma, stirs itself.
When, shouting, they had joined Indra in toil of fight, then
only they obtained their sacrificial names.
6 Splendours
they gained for glory, they who wear bright rings; rays they
obtained, and men to celebrate their praise.
Armed with their
swords, impetuous and fearing naught, they have possessed the
Maruts' own beloved home.
HYMN LXXXVIII. Maruts.
1. COME hither, Maruts, on your lightning laden cars, sounding
with sweet songs, armed with lances, winged with steeds.
Fly unto us with noblest food, like birds, O ye of mighty power.
2 With their red-hued or, haply, tawny coursers which speed
their chariots on, they come for glory.
Brilliant like gold
is he who holds the thunder. Earth have they smitten with the
chariot's felly.
3 For beauty ye have swords upon your bodies.
As they stir woods so may they stir our spirits.
For your
sake, O ye Maruts very mighty and well-born, have they set the
stone, in motion.
4 The days went round you and came back
O yearners, back, to this prayer and to this solemn worship.
The Gotamas making their prayer with singing have pushed the
well's lid up to drink the water.
5 No hymn way ever known
like this aforetime which Gotama sang forth for you, O Maruts,
What time upon your golden wheels he saw you, wild boars rushing
about with tusks of iron.
6 To you this freshening draught
of Soma rusheth, O Maruts, like the voice of one who prayeth.
It rusheth freely from our hands as these. libations wont to
flow.
HYMN LXXXIX. Visvedevas.
1. MAY powers auspicious come to us from every side, never
deceived, unhindered, and victorious,
That the Gods ever
may be with us for our gain, our guardians day by day unceasing
in their care.
2 May the auspicious favour of the Gods be
ours, on us descend the bounty of the righteous Gods.
The
friendship of the Gods have we devoutly sought: so may the Gods
extend our life that we may live.
3 We call them hither with
a hymn of olden time, Bhaga, the friendly Daksa, Mitra, Aditi,
Aryaman, Varuna, Soma, the Asvins. May Sarasvati, auspicious,
grant felicity.
4 May the Wind waft to us that pleasant medicine,
may Earth our Mother give it, and our Father Heaven,
And
the joy-giving stones that press the Soma's juice. Asvins, may
ye, for whom our spirits long, hear this.
5 Him we invoke
for aid who reigns supreme, the Lord of all that stands or moves,
inspirer of the soul,
That Pusan may promote the increase
of our wealth, our keeper and our guard infallible for our good.
6 Illustrious far and wide, may Indra prosper us: may Pusan
prosper us, the Master of all wealth.
May Tarksya with uninjured
fellies prosper us: Brhaspati vouchsafe to us prosperity.
7 The Maruts, Sons of Prani, borne by spotted steeds, moving
in glory, oft visiting holy rites,
Sages whose tongue is
Agni, brilliant as the Sun,-hither let all the Gods for our
protection come.
8 Gods, may we with our ears listen to what
is good, and with our eyes see what is good, ye Holy Ones.
With limbs and bodies firm may we extolling you attain the term
of life appointed by the Gods.
9 A hundred autumns stand
before us, O ye Gods, within whose space ye bring our bodies
to decay;
Within whose space our sons become fathers in turn.
Break ye not in the midst our course of fleeting life.
10
Aditi is the heaven, Aditi is mid-air, Aditi is the Mother and
the Sire and Son.
Aditi is all Gods, Aditi five-classed men,
Aditi all that hath been bom and shall be born.
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.