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Dhammapada · narration sample

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Rig Veda · 286 of 1027

Mandala 3: HYMN LII. Indra.

1.INDRA, accept at break of day our Soma mixt with roasted corn, With groats with cake, with eulogies.

2.Accept, O Indra, and enjoy the well-dressed sacrificial cake: Oblations are poured forth to thee.

3.Consume our sacrificial cake, accept the songs of praise we sing, As he who woes accepts his bride.

4.Famed from of old, accept the cake at our libation poured at dawn, Forgreat, O Indra, is thy power.

5.Let roasted corn of our midday libation, and sacrificial cake here please thee, Indra, What time the lauding singer, keen of purpose and eager as a bull, with hymns implores thee.

6.At the third sacrifice, O thou whom many praise, give glory to the roasted corn and holy cake. With offered viands and with songs may we assist thee, Sage, whom Vāja and the Ṛbhus wait upon.

7.The groats have we prepared for thee with Pūṣan, corn for thee, Lord of Bay Steeds, with thy horses. Eat thou the meal-cake, banded with the Maruts, wise Hero, Vṛtra-slayer, drink the Soma.

8.Bring forth the roasted corn to meet him quickly, cake for the bravest Hero mid the heroes. Indra, may hymns accordant with thee daily strengthen thee, Bold One, for the draught of Soma.

Asked of Guide

Why do the hymns repeatedly offer roasted corn and sacrificial cake to Indra?

The chapter shows roasted corn and sacrificial cake as concrete gifts that sustain and honour Indra: verses ask him to “accept the cake” and “consume our sacrificial cake” while priests pour libations and sing. These offerings join food, song, and ritual timing (dawn, midday, third sacrifice) to secure Indra’s protection and his beneficence for the community.

The hymn frames Indra as a warrior and guest—“Vṛtra-slayer,” “Lord of Bay Steeds,” waited on by Vāja and the Ṛbhus—so feeding him binds his heroic power to the sacrificers’ wellbeing. This practical reciprocity echoes the gift-exchange logic found in Homeric hymns and in later Vedic ritual commentaries like Sāyaṇa’s, which treat offerings as means to engage a deity’s presence and favour.

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