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Dhammapada · narration sample

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Rig Veda · 9 of 1027

Mandala 1: 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 the juice, the active gladdening juice to him The gladdening, omnific 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.

Asked of Guide

Why does this hymn keep asking Indra for wealth, fame, and soma so insistently?

The hymn treats Indra as the community’s protector and source of worldly goods: each request—wealth, fame, cattle, and the soma feast—frames Indra as “Treasure-Lord” whose power makes those goods appear. The repeated imperatives and images of libation and song show ritual dependency: worshipers invoke Indra’s presence at the drink-offerings so he will “send to us bounty manifold.”

This is practical devotion tied to social survival rather than abstract theology; the hymn links ritual performance to measurable returns. See the same economy of exchange in the Atharva Veda, where petitions pair specific rites with promised outcomes for family prosperity and protection.

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