HYMN XLL Indra.
1. COME gracious to our sacrifice, O Indra: pressed Soma-drops are purified to please thee.
As cattle seek their home, so Thunderwielder, come, Indra, first of those who claim our worship.
2. With that well-formed most wide-extending palate, wherewith thou ever drinkest streams of sweetness,
Drink thou; the Adhvaryu standeth up before thee: let thy spoil-winning thunderbolt attend thee.
3. This drop, steer-strong and omniform, the Soma, hath been made ready for the Bull, for India.
Drink this, Lord of the Bays, thou Strong Supporter, this that is thine of old, thy food for ever.
4. Soma when pressed excels the unpressed Soma, better, for one who knows, to give him pleasure.
Come to this sacrifice of ours, O Victor replenish all thy powers with this libation.
5. We call on thee, O Indra: come thou hither: sufficient be the Soma for thy body.
Rejoice thee, Satakratu! in the juices guard us in wars, guard us among our people.
HYMN XLII- Indra.
1. BRING sacrificial gifts to him, Omniscient, for he longs to drink,
The Wanderer who comes with speed, the Hero ever in the van.
2. With Soma go ye nigh to him chief drinker of the Soma’s juice:
With beakers to the Impetuous God, to Indra with the drops effused.
3. What time, with Soma, with the juice effused, ye come before the God,
Full wise he knows the hope of each, and, Bold One, strikes this foe and that.
4. To him, Adhvaryu! yea, to him give offerings of the juice expressed.
Will he not keep us safely from the spiteful curse of each presumptuous high-born foe?
HYMN XLIII. Indra
1. IN whose wild joy thou madest once Sambara Divodasa’s prey,
This Soma is pressed out for thee, O Indra: drink!
2. Whose gladdening draught, shed from the points, thou guardest in the midst and end,
This Soma is pressed out for thee, O Indra drink!
3. In whose wild joy thou settest free the kine held fast within the rock,
This Soma is pressed out for thee, O Indra: drink!
4. This, in whose juice delighting thou gainest the might of Maghavan,
This Soma is pressed out for thee, O Indra drink!
HYMN XLIV. Indra.
1. THAT which is wealthiest, Wealthy God in splendoursmost illustrious,
Soma is pressed: thy gladdening draught, Indra! libation’s Lord! is this.
2. Effectual, Most Effectual One! thine, as bestowing wealth of hymns,
Soma is pressed: thy gladdening draught, Indra! libation’s Lord! is this.
3. Wherewith thou art increased in strength, and conquerest with thy proper aids,
Soma is pressed: thy gladdening draught, Indra! libation’s Lord! is this.
4. Him for your sake I glorify as Lord of Strength who wrongeth none,
The Hero Indra, conquering all, Most Bounteous, God of all the tribes.
5. Those Goddesses, both Heaven and Earth, revere the power and might of him,
Him whom our songs increase in strength, the Lord of bounty swift to come.
6. To seat your Indra, I will spread abroad with power this song of praise.
The saving succours that abide in him, like songs, extend and grow.
7. A recent Friend, he found the skilful priest: he drank, and showed forth treasure from the Gods.
He conquered, borne by strong all-shaking mares, and was with far-spread power his friends’ Protector.
8. In course of Law the sapient juice was quaffed: the Deities to glory turned their mind.
Winning through hymns a lofty title, he, the Lovely, made his beauteous form apparent.
9. Bestow on us the most illustrious strength ward off men’s manifold malignities.
Give with thy might abundant vital force, and aid us graciously in gaining riches.
10. We turn to thee as Giver, liberal Indra. Lord of the Bay Steeds, be not thou ungracious.
No friend among mankind have we to lookto: why have men called thee him who spurs the niggard?
11. Give us not up, Strong Hero! to the hungry: unharmed be we whom thou, so rich, befriendest.
Full many a boon hast thou for men demolish those who present no gifts nor pour oblations.
12. As Indra thundering impels the rain-clouds, so doth he send us store of kine and horses.
Thou art of old the Cherisher of singers let not the rich who bring no gifts deceive thee.
13. Adbyaryu, hero, bring to mighty Indrafor he is King thereof-the pressed-out juices;
To him exalted by the hymns and praises, ancient and modern, of the singing Rsis.
14. In the wild joy of this hath Indra, knowing full many a form, struck down resistless Vrtras.
Proclaim aloud to him the savoury Soma so that the Hero, strong of jaw, may drink it.
15. May Indra drink this Soma poured to please him, and cheered therewith slay Vrtra with his thunder.
Come to our sacrifice even from a distance, good lover of our songs, the bard’s Supporter.
16. The cup whence Indra drinks the draught is present: the Amrta dear to Indra hath been drunken,
That it may cheer the God to gracious favour, and keep far from us hatred and affliction.
17. Therewith enraptured, Hero, slay our foemen, the unfriendly, Maghavan be they kin or strangers,
Those who still aim their hostile darts to smite us, turn them to flight, O Indra, crush and kill them.
18. O Indra Maghavan, in these our battles win easy paths for us and ample freedom.
That we may gain waters and seed and offspring, set thou our princes on thy side, O Indra.
19. Let thy Bay Stallions, harnessed, bring thee hither, Steeds with strong chariot and strong reins to hold them,
Strong Horses, speeding hither, bearing thunder, well-harnessed, for the strong exciting potion.
20. Beside the vat, Strong God! stand thy strong Horses, shining with holy oil, like waves exulting.
Indra, they bring to thee, the Strong and Mighty, Soma of juices shed by mighty press-stones.
21. Thou art the Bull of earth, the Bull of heaven, Bull of the rivers, Bull of standing waters.
For thee, the Strong, O Bull, hath Indu swollen. juice pleasant, sweet to drink, for thine election.
22. This God, with might, when first he had his being, with Indra for ally, held fast the Pani.
This Indu stole away the warlike weapons, and foiled the arts of his malignant father.
23. The Dawns he wedded to a glorious Consort, and set within the Sun the light that lights him.
He found in heaven, in the third lucid regions, the threefold Amrta in its close concealment.
24. He stayed and held the heaven and earth asunder: the chariot with the sevenfold reins he harnessed.
This Soma Set with power within the milch-kine a spring whose ripe contents ten fingers empty.
HYMN XLV. Indra.
1. THAT Indra is our youthful Friend, who with his trusty guidance led
Turvasa, Yadu from afar.
2. Even to the dull and uninspired Indra, gives vital power, and wins
Even with slow steed the offered prize.
3. Great are his ways of guiding us, and!nanilbld are Ins eulogies:
His kind protections never fail.
4. Friends, sing your psalm and offer praise to him to whom the prayer is brought:
For our great Providence is he.
5. Thou, Slaughterer of Vrtra, art Guardian and Friend of one and two,
Yea, of a man like one of us.
6. Beyond men’s hate thou leadest us, and givest cause to sing thy praise:
Good hero art thou called by men.
7. I call with hymns, as ’twere a cow to milk, the Friend who merits praise,
The Brahman who accepts the prayer.
8. Him in whose hands they say are stored all treasures from the days of old,
The Hero, conquering in the fight.
9. Lord of Strength, Caster of the Stone, destroy the firm forts built by men,
And foil their arts, unbending God!
10. Thee, thee as such, O Lord of Power, O Indra, Soma-drinker, true,
We, fain for glory, have invoked.
11. Such as thou wast of old, and art now to be called on when the prize
lies ready, listen to our call.
12. With hymns and coursers we will gain, Indra, through thee, both steeds and spoil
Most glorious, and the proffered prize.
13. Thou, Indra, Lover of the Song, whom men must stir to help, hast been
Great in the contest for the prize.
14. Slayer of foes, whatever aid of thine imparts the swiftest course,
With that impel our car to speed.
15. As skilfullest of those who drive the chariot, with our art and aim,
O Conqueror, win the proffered prize.
16. Praise him who, Matchless and Alone, was born the Lord of living men,
Most active, with heroic soul.
17. Thou who hast been the singers’ Friend, a Friend auspicious with thine aid,
As such, O Indra, favour us.
18. Grasp in thine arms the thunderbolt, O Thunder-armed, to slay the fiends:
Mayst thou subdue the foemen’s host.
19. I call the ancient Friend, allied with wealth, who speeds the lowly man,
Him to whom chiefly prayer is brought.
20. For he alone is Lord of all the treasures of the earth: he speeds
Hither, chief Lover of the Song.
21. So with thy yoked teams satisfy our wish with power and wealth in steeds
And cattle, boldly, Lord of kine!
22. Sing this, what time the ‘ juice is pressed, to him your Hero, Much-invoked,
To please him as a mighty Steer.
23. He, Excellent, withholdeth not his gift of power and wealth in kine,
When he hath listened to our songs.
24. May he with might unclose for us the cow’s stall, whosesoe’er it be,
To which the Dasyu-slayer goes.
25. O Indra Satakratu, these our songs have called aloud to thee,
Like mother cows to meet their calves.
26. Hard is thy love to win: thou art a Steer to him who longs for steers:
Be to one craving steeds a Steed.
27. Delight thee with the juice we pour for thine own great munificence:
Yield not thy singer to reproach.
28. These songs with every draught we pour come, Lover of the Song, to thee,
As milch-kine hasten to their young
29. To thee most oft invoked, amid the many singers’ rivalry
Who beg with all their might for wealth.
30. Nearest and most attractive may our laud, O Indra come to thee.
Urge thou us on to ample wealth.
31. Brbu hath set himself above the Panis, o’er their highest head,
Like the wide bush on Ganga’s bank.
32. He whose good bounty, thousandfold, swift as the rushing of the wind,
Suddenly offers as a gift.
33. So all our singers ever praise the pious Brbu’s noble deed,
Chief, best to give his thousands, best to give a thousand liberal gifts.
HYMN XLVI. Indra.
1. THAT we may win us wealth and power we poets, verily, call on thee:
In war men call on thee, Indra, the hero’s Lord, in the steed’s race-course call on thee.
2. As such, O Wonderful, whose hand holds thunder, praised as mighty, Caster of the Stone!
Pour on us boldly, Indra, kine and chariotsteeds, ever to be the conqueror’s strength.
3. We call upon that Indra, who, most active, ever slays the foe:
Lord of the brave, Most Manly, with a thousand powers, help thou and prosper us in fight.
4. Rcisama, thou forcest men as with a bull, with anger, in the furious fray.
Be thou our Helper in the mighty battle fought for sunlight, water, and for life.
5. O Indra, bring us name and fame, enriching, mightiest, excellent,
Wherewith, O Wondrous God, fair-visored, thunder-armed, thou hast filled full this earth and heaven.
6. We call on thee, O King, Mighty amid the Gods, Ruler of men, to succour us.
All that is weak in us, Excellent God, make firm: make our foes easy to subdue.
7. All strength and valour that is found, Indra, in tribes of Nahusas, and all the splendid fame that the Five Tribes enjoy
Bring, yea, all manly powers at once.
8. Or, Maghavan, what vigorous strength in Trksi lay, in Druhyus or in Paru’s folk,
Fully bestow on us, that, in the conquering fray, we may subdue our foes in fight.
9. O Indra, grant a happy home, a triple refuge triply strong.
Bestow a dwelling-place on the rich lords and me, and keep thy dart afar from these.
10. They who with minds intent on spoil subdue the foe, boldly attack and smite him down,-
From these, O Indra Maghavan who lovest song, be closest guardian of our lives.
11. And now, O Indra, strengthen us: come near and aid us in the fight,
What time the feathered shafts are flying in the air, the arrows with their sharpened points.
12. Give us, where heroes strain their bodies in the fight, the shelter that our fathers loved.
To us and to our sons give refuge: keep afar all unobserved hostility.
13. When, Indra, in the mighty fray thou urgest chargers to their speed,
On the uneven road and on a toilsome path, like falcons, eager for renown,
14. Speeding like rivers rushing down a steep descent, responsive to the urging call,
That come like birds attracted to the bait, held in by reins in both the driver’s hands.
