Listen

Dhammapada · narration sample

A one-minute narration sample. Every book in the library is narrated end to end — hear the rest in the app.

Rig Veda · 714 of 1027

Mandala 9: HYMN II. Indra.

1.SAKRA I praise, to win his aid, far-famed, exceeding bountiful, Who gives, as ’twere in thousands, precious wealth to him who sheds the juice and worships him.

2.Arrows with hundred points, unconquerable, are this Indra’s mighty arms in war. He streams on liberal worshippers like a hill with springs, when juices poured have gladdened him.

3.What time the flowing Soma-drops have gladdened with their taste the Friend, Like water, gracious Lord! were my libations made, like milch-kine to the worshipper.

4.To him the peerless, who is calling you to give you aid, forth flow the drops of pleasant meath. The Soloa-drops which call on thee, O gracious Lord, have brought thee to our hymn of praise.

5.He rushes hurrying like a steed to Soma that adorns our rite, Which hymns make sweet to thee, lover of pleasant food. The call to Paura thou dost love.

6.Praise the strong, grasping Hero, winner of the spoil, ruling supreme oer mighty wealth. Like a full spring, O Thunderer, from thy store hast thou poured on the worshipper evermore.

7.Now whether thou be far away, or in the heavens, or on the earth, O Indra, mighty- thoughted, harnessing thy Bays, come Lofty with the Lofty Ones.

8.The Bays who draw thy chariot, Steeds who injure none, surpass the wind’s impetuous strength- With whom thou silencest the enemy of man, with whon; thou goest round the sky.

9.O gracious Hero, may we learn anew to know thee as thou art: As in decisive fight thou holpest Etaśa, or Vaśa ’gainst Dasavraja,

10.As, Maghavan, to Kaṇva at the sacred feast, to Dirghanitha thine home-friend, As to Gosarya thou, Stone-darter, gavest wealth, give me a gold-bright stall of kine.

Asked of Guide

Why does the hymn keep praising Indra with Soma and libations?

The hymn connects Indra’s favor directly to Soma libations: the poet says the “flowing Soma-drops have gladdened” Indra and that the drops “have brought thee to our hymn of praise,” so praise and sacrifice are presented as the means by which wealth, protection, and victory arrive. The ritual pouring and hymns make Indra “stream on liberal worshippers like a hill with springs,” portraying the god’s generosity as a reciprocal response to devotion.

The poem also insists on Indra’s active power once invoked: he comes “hurrying like a steed to Soma,” silences enemies with his chariot-steeds, and grants concrete gifts to named patrons (Kaṇva, Dirghanitha). If you want the same outcomes—wealth, protection, aid—the chapter says offer Soma, sing the hymns, and call him by those remembered deeds; this mirrors how other Rigveda hymns link ritual offering to divine reciprocity.

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.