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Dhammapada · narration sample

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Rig Veda · 337 of 1027

Mandala 4: HYMN XLI. Indra-Varuṇa.

1.WHAT laud, O Indra-Varuṇa, with oblation, hath like the Immortal Priest obtained your favour? Hath our effectual laud, addressed with homage, touched you, O Indra-Varuṇa, in spirit?

2.He who with dainty food hath won you, Indra and Varuṇa, Gods, as his allies to friendship, Slayeth the Vṛtras and his foes in battles, and through your mighty favours is made famous.

3.Indra and Varuṇa are most liberal givers of treasure to the men who toil to serve them, When they, as Friends inclined to friendship, honoured with dainty food, delight in flowing Soma.

4.Indra and Varuṇa, ye hurl, O Mighty, on him your strongest flashing bolt of thunder Who treats us ill, the robber and oppressor: measure on him your overwhelming vigour.

5.O Indra-Varuṇa, be ye the lovers of this my song, as steers who love the milch-Cow. Milk may it yield us as, gone forth to pasture, the great Cow pouring out her thousand rivers.

6.For fertile fields, for worthy sons and grandsons, for the Sun’s beauty and for steer-like vigour, May Indra-Varuṇa with gracious favours work marvels for us in the stress of battle.

7.For you, as Princes, for your ancient kindness, good comrades of the man who seeks for booty, We choose to us for the dear bond of friendship, most liberal Heroes bringing bliss like parents.

8.Showing their strength, these hymns for grace, Free-givers I have gone to you, devoted, as to battle. For glory have they gone, as milk to Soma, to Indra-Varuṇa my thoughts and praises.

9.To Indra and to Varuṇa, desirous of gaining wealth have these my thoughts proceeded. They have come nigh to you as treasure-lovers, like mares, fleet-footed, eager for the glory.

10.May we ourselves be lords of during riches, of ample sustenance for car and hones. So may the Twain who work with newest succours bring yoked teams hitherward to us and riches.

11.Come with your mighty succours, O ye Mighty; come, Indra-Varuṇa, to us in battle. What time the flashing arrows play in combat, may we through you be winners in the contest.

Asked of Guide

Why do the poets address Indra and Varuṇa together as a single pair so often in this hymn?

The hymn repeatedly names Indra-Varuṇa to present them as a united divine team who grant victory, wealth and protection; lines such as “Indra and Varuṇa are most liberal givers of treasure” and the plea “Come with your mighty succours, O ye Mighty; come, Indra-Varuṇa, to us in battle” treat their powers as complementary and jointly effective. The couplet frames both storm‑warrior and cosmic sovereign roles so the worshipper asks once for both thunderous might and moral order when facing foes.

Pairing gods like this appears elsewhere in the Vedas where allied deities are invoked together for a single purpose; compare Rig Veda Mandala 1 hymns that group Agni and Soma or Mitra and Varuṇa to secure combined benefits. The technique binds qualities—force, law, bounty—into a single petition so the ritual offering aims at complete divine support.

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