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Dhammapada · narration sample

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Rig Veda · 879 of 1027

Mandala 10: HYMN XLII. Indra.

1.EVEN as an archer shoots afar his arrow, offer the laud to him with meet adornment. Quell with your voice the wicked’s voice, O sages. Singer, make Indra rest beside the Soma.

2.Draw thy Friend to thee like a cow at milking: O Singer, wake up Indra as a lover. Make thou the Hero haste to give us riches even as a vessel filled brimful with treasure.

3.Why, Maghavan, do they call thee Bounteous; Giver? Quicken me: thou, I hear, art he who quickens. Śakra, let my intelligence be active, and bring us luck that finds great wealth, O Indra.

4.Standing, in battle for their rights, together, the people, Indra, in the fray invoke thee. Him who brings gifts the Hero makes his comrade: with him who pours no juice he seeks not friendship.

5.Whoso with plenteous food for him expresses strong Somas as much quickly-coming treasure, For him he overthrows in early morning his swift well-weaponed foes, and slays the tyrant.

6.He unto whom we offer praises, Indra, Maghavan, who hath joined to ours his wishes,— Before him even afar the foe must tremble: low before him must bow all human glories.

7.With thy fierce bolt, O God invoked of many, drive to a distance from afar the foeman. O Indra, give us wealth in corn and cattle, and make thy singer’s prayer gain strength and riches.

8.Indra, the swallower of strong libations rich in the boons they bring, the potent Somas, He, Maghavan, will not restrict his bounty he brings much wealth unto the Soma-presser.

9.Yea, by superior play he wins advantage, when he, a gambler, piles his gains in season. Celestial-natured, he o’erwhelms with riches the devotee who keeps not back his treasure.

10.O Much-invoked, may we subdue all famine and evil want with store of grain and cattle. May we allied, as first in rank, with princes obtain possessions by our own exertion.

11.Bṛhaspati protect us from the rearward, and from above, and from below, from sinners! May Indra from the front, and from the centre, as Friend to friends, vouchsafe us room and freedom.

Asked of Guide

Why do they call Indra 'Maghavan' and praise him for giving wealth?

They call Indra “Maghavan” because this hymn portrays him as a lavish bestower: lines repeat that he “brings much wealth” and is the “Giver,” pouring out corn, cattle and treasures to his devotees. The singers link his drinking of Soma and his victorious, bolt-bearing might to generosity—he wins riches like a gambler who “piles his gains in season.”

The poem treats generosity as the central divine power: Indra’s valor defeats foes and thus secures material abundance for worshippers, so praise functions as a ritual claim on his largesse. This theme echoes the Bhagavad Gita’s insistence on action and devotion producing reward, where devotion channels divine power into worldly results.

Guide is the guide inside the Gnosis app, where every book on these shelves is free to read. Guide is the part you pay for — your guide has read all of them, and answers about the passage you’re actually on. Ask your guide your own question.