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Dhammapada · narration sample

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Rig Veda · 709 of 1027

Mandala 8: HYMN LXXXIX. Indra. Vāk.

1.I MOVE before thee here present in person, and all the Deities follow behind me. When, Indra, thou securest me my portion, with me thou shalt perform heroic actions.

2.The food of meath in foremost place I give thee, thy Soma shall be pressed, thy share appointed. Thou on my right shalt be my friend and comrade: then shall we two smite dead full many a foeman.

3.Striving for strength bring forth a laud to Indra, a truthful hymn if he in truth existeth. One and another say, There is no Indra. Who hath beheld him? Whom then shall we honour?

4.Here am I, look upon me here, O singer. All that existeth 1 surpass in greatness. The Holy Law’s commandments make me mighty. Rending with strength I rend the worlds asunder.

5.When the Law’s lovers mounted and ap. proached me as 1 sate lone upon the dear sky’s summit. Then spake my spirit to the heart within me, My friends have cried unto me with their children.

6.All these thy deeds must be declared at Soma-feasts, wrought, Indra, Bounteous Lord, for him who sheds the juice, When thou didst open wealth heaped up by many, brought from far away to Sarablia, the Ṛṣi’s kin.

7.Now run ye forth your several ways: he is not here who kept you back. For hath not Indra sunk his bolt deep down in Vṛtra’s vital part?

8.On-rushing with the speed of thought within the iron fort he pressed: The Falcon went to heaven and brought the Soma to the Thunderer.

9.Deep in the ocean lies the bolt with waters compassed round about, And in continuous onward flow the floods their tribute bring to it.

10.When, uttering words which no one comprehended, Vāk, Queen of Gods, the Gladdener, was seated, The heaven’s four regions drew forth drink and vigour: now whither hath her noblest portion vanished?

11.The Deities generated Vāk the Goddess, and animals of every figure speak her. May she, the Gladdener, yielding food and vigour, the Milch-cow Vāk, approach us meetly lauded.

12.Step forth with wider stride, my comrade Viṣṇu; make room, Dyaus, for the leaping of the lightning. Let us slay Vṛtra, let us free the rivers let them flow loosed at the command of Indra.

Asked of Guide

Why does the speaker call Vāk both 'Queen of Gods' and 'Milch-cow'?

The chapter treats Vāk as both divine person and life-giving power: “Vāk, Queen of Gods, the Gladdener” emphasizes her sovereignty and role in granting vigour, while “the Milch-cow Vāk” names her as the nourishing source that gives food and strength. The hymn locates speech as a primal creative force that yields Soma and sustenance, so motherhood and majesty are two ways of naming the same productive power.

This conflation of regal and maternal images echoes Upanishadic and later Vedic texts where speech or Brahman appears as creative, nourishing reality; see the Upanishads’ treatment of vac and brahman as the originative word that sustains the world. The poem insists on praise and ritual at Soma-feasts because invoking Vāk restores that generative flow—speech as sovereignly life-giving.

Guide is the guide inside the Gnosis app, where every book on these shelves is free to read. Guide is the part you pay for — your guide has read all of them, and answers about the passage you’re actually on. Ask your guide your own question.