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Dhammapada · narration sample

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Rig Veda · 327 of 1027

Mandala 4: HYMN XXXI. Indra.

1.WITH what help will he come to us, wonderful, ever-waxing Friend; With what most mighty company?

2.What genuine and most liberal draught will spirit thee with juice to burst Open e’en strongly-guarded wealth?

3.Do thou who art Protector of us thy friends who praise thee With hundred aids approach us.

4.Like as a courser’s circling wheel, so turn thee hitherward to us, Attracted by the hymns of men.

5.Thou seekest as it were thine own stations with swift descent of powers: I share thee even with the Sun.

6.What time thy courage and his wheels together, Indra, run their course With thee and with the Sun alike,

7.So even, Lord of Power and Might, the people call thee Maghavan, Giver, who pauses not to think.

8.And verily to him who toils and presses Soma juice for thee Thou quickly givest ample wealth.

9.No, not a hundred hinderers can check thy gracious bounty’s flow, Nor thy great deeds when thou wilt act.

10.May thine assistance keep us safe, thy hundred and thy thousand aids: May all thy favours strengthen us.

11.Do thou elect us this place for friendship and prosperity, And great celestial opulence.

12.Favour us, Indra, evermore with overflowing store of wealth: With all thy succours aid thou us.

13.With new protections, Indra, like an archer, open thou for us The stables that are filled with kine.

14.Our chariot, Indra, boldly moves endued with splendour, ne’er repulsed, Winning for us both kine and steeds.

15.O Sūrya, make our fame to be most excellent among the Gods, Most lofty as the heaven on high.

Asked of Guide

Why does the hymn call Indra 'Maghavan' and praise his 'hundred and thousand aids'?

The hymn calls Indra “Maghavan” to name him as the free bestower of wealth: the word means “Giver,” and the verses link his generosity to Soma worship and heroic deeds. Lines like “the people call thee Maghavan, Giver” and promises that he “quickly givest ample wealth” show the poem treating Indra as the divine distributor who responds to praise and sacrifice.

The repeated images of many helpers—“hundred and thy thousand aids”—portray an unstoppable, manifold power that secures prosperity and victory for worshippers, whether in cattle, chariot, or fame. This handling of divine favor resembles other Rigveda hymns where Indra’s largesse follows sacrificial devotion and fuels social well-being, as in Mandala 1 hymns that celebrate his gifts after Soma is pressed.

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