Rig Veda · 345 of 1027
Mandala 4: HYMN XLIX. Indra-Bṛhaspati.
1.DEAR is this offering in your mouth, O Indra and Bṛhaspati: Famed is the laud, the gladdening draught.
2.This lovely Soma is effused, O Indra and Bṛhaspati, For you, to drink it and rejoice.
3.As Soma-drinkers to our house come, Indra and Bṛhaspati-and Indra-to drink Soma juice.
4.Vouchsafe us riches hundredfold, O Indra, and Bṛhaspati, With store of horses, thousandfold.
5.O Indra. and Bṛhaspati, we call you when the meath is shed, With songs, to drink the Soma juice.
6.Drink, Indra and Bṛhaspati, the Soma in the giver’s house: Delight yourselves abiding there.
Asked of Guide
Why does the hymn call both Indra and Bṛhaspati to drink the Soma together?
The hymn summons Indra and Bṛhaspati together because both embody complementary powers the ritual seeks: Indra as the warrior-deity who consumes Soma to gain strength, and Bṛhaspati as the priestly lord who sanctifies the offering. Lines like “Dear is this offering in your mouth” and “Drink, Indra and Bṛhaspati, the Soma in the giver’s house” cast them as joint guests whose shared presence blesses the sacrificer and the community.
Inviting both deities also models the ritual’s social aim: divine favor produces material abundance—“Vouchsafe us riches hundredfold…With store of horses, thousandfold”—and their combined drinking turns the sacrificial juice into enacted prosperity. This pairing echoes other hymns where gods and priests cooperate to transform offering into reward, similar to the collaborative roles described elsewhere in the Rig Veda.
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