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Dhammapada · narration sample

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Rig Veda · 6 of 1027

Mandala 1: HYMN VI. Indra.

1.They who stand round him as he moves harness the bright, the ruddy Steed The lights are shining in the sky.

2.On both sides to the car they yoke the two bay coursers dear to him, Bold, tawny, bearers of the Chief.

3.Thou, making light where no light was, and form, O men: where form was not, Wast born together with the Dawns.

4.Thereafter they, as is their wont, threw off the state of babes unborn, Assuming sacrificial names.

5.Thou, Indra, with the Tempest-Gods, the breakers down of what is firm, Foundest the kine even in the cave.

6.Worshipping even as they list, singers laud him who findeth wealth, The far-renowned, the mighty One.

7.Mayest thou verily be seen coming by fearless Indra’s side: Both joyous, equal in your sheen.

8.With Indra’s well beloved hosts, the blameless, hastening to heaven, The sacrificer cries aloud.

9.Come from this place, O Wanderer, or downward from the light of heaven: Our songs of praise all yearn for this.

10.Indra we seek to give us help, from here, from heaven above the earth, Or from the spacious firmament.

Asked of Guide

Why does the hymn call Indra both 'maker of light' and 'finder of the kine'?

The hymn praises Indra as creator and as warrior: “making light where no light was” asserts his role in bringing order and form, a cosmogonic power tied to the Dawns. Calling him the one who “foundest the kine even in the cave” credits him with recovering wealth and prosperity—kine are cosmic treasure and social livelihood in the Rig Veda.

These two images belong together in Vedic thought: creation and heroic retrieval are aspects of sovereignty. This pairing echoes later hymns where Indra’s slaying of foes and the recovery of cattle secure cosmic order, a theme continued across Mandala 1 and in other hymns to Indra.

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