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Dhammapada · narration sample

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Rig Veda · 276 of 1027

Mandala 3: HYMN XLII. Indra.

1.COME to the juice that we have pressed, to Soma, Indra, bleat with milk: Come, favouring us, thy Bay-drawn car!

2.Come, Indra, to this gladdening drink, placed on the grass, pressed out with stones: Wilt thou not drink thy fill thereof?

3.To Indra have my songs of praise gone forth, thus rapidly sent hence, To turn him to the Soma-draught.

4.Hither with songs of praise we call Indra to drink the Soma juice: Will he not come to us by lauds?

5.Indra, these Somas are expressed. Take them within thy belly, Lord Of Hundred Powers, thou Prince of Wealth.

6.We know thee winner of the spoil, and resolute in battles, Sage! Therefore thy blessing we implore.

7.Borne hither by thy Stallions, drink, Indra, this juice which we have pressed, Mingled with barley and with milk.

8.Indra, for thee, in thine own place, I urge the Soma for thy draught: Deep in thy heart let it remain,

9.We call on thee, the Ancient One, Indra, to drink the Soma juice, We Kuśikas who seek thine aid.

Asked of Guide

Why do the hymns keep urging Indra to drink the Soma so insistently?

The hymn treats Soma-drinking as the ritual moment that secures Indra’s active presence: repeated calls — “Come… to the Soma-draught,” “Hither with songs of praise we call Indra” — frame the drink as the hinge that brings the god down into the rite. The priests press Soma, mix it with barley and milk, and invite Indra by name so his power and blessings will “remain… deep in thy heart.”

This chapter makes praise and offering into a practical technique to enlist a deity’s agency; its language about winning spoil and being “resolute in battles” ties the ritual to tangible benefits. The dynamic is like the guest-invitation in the Upanishads’ sacrificial passages where ritual action summons presence and effect.

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