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Dhammapada · narration sample

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Rig Veda · 209 of 1027

Mandala 2: HYMN XVIII. Indra

1.THE rich new car hath been equipped at morning; four yokes it hath, three whips, seven reins to guide it: Ten-sided, friendly to mankind, light-winner, that must be urged to speed with prayers and wishes.

2.This is prepared for him the first, the second, and the third time: he is man’s Priest and Herald. Others get offspring of another parent he goeth, as a noble Bull, with others.

3.To Indra’s car the Bay Steeds have I harnessed, that new well-spoken words may bring him hither. Here let not other worshippers detain thee, for among us are many holy singers.

4.Indra, come hitherward with two Bay Coursers, come thou with four, with six when invocated. Come thou with eight, with ten, to drink the Soma. Here is the juice, brave Warrior: do not scorn it.

5.O Indra, come thou hither having harnessed thy car with twenty, thirty, forty horses. Come thou with fifty well trained coursers, Indra, sixty or seventy, to drink the Soma.

6.Come to us hitherward, O Indra, carried by eighty, ninety, or an hundred horses. This Soma juice among the Śunahotras hath been poured out, in love, to glad thee, Indra.

7.To this my prayer, O Indra, come thou hither: bind to thy car’s pole all thy two Bay Coursers. Thou art to be invoked in many places Hero, rejoice thyself in this libation.

8.Ne’er be my love from Indra disunited still may his liberal Milch-cow yield us treasure. So may we under his supreme protection, safe in his arms, succeed in each forth-going.

9.Now may that wealthy Cow Of thine, O Indra, give in return a boon to him who lauds thee. Give to thy praisers: let not fortune fail us. Loud may we speak, with heroes, in assembly.

Asked of Guide

Why does the hymn keep calling for Indra to arrive with ever more horses and chariots?

The hymn repeats increasing numbers of steeds and chariots to stage an ever-grander summons: lines list two, four, six…up to a hundred horses so the ritual picture swells until Indra’s presence feels unavoidable. The accumulation dramatizes abundance and hospitality, framing the Soma offering as lavish enough to compel the god to accept the libation.

This piling up also signals poetic prayer: each added team affirms the worshippers’ devotion and desire for Indra’s protection and rewards—“may his liberal Milch-cow yield us treasure” (verse 8). The technique mirrors other Rigveda hymns that use numerical excess to represent cosmic power, as in many verses of Mandala 1.

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