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Dhammapada · narration sample

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Rig Veda · 981 of 1027

Mandala 10: HYMN CXLIV. Indra.

1.THIS deathless Indu, like a steed, strong and of full vitality, Belongs to thee, the Orderer.

2.Here, by us, for the worshipper, is the wise bolt that works with skill. It brings the bubbling beverage as a dexterous man brings the effectual strong drink.

3.Impetuous Ahīśuva, a bull among cows of his, looked down upon the restless Hawk.

4.That the strong-pinioned Bird hath brought, Child of the Falcon, from afar, What moves upon a hundred wheels along the female Dragon’s path.

5.Which, fair, unrobbed, the Falcon brought thee in his foot, the red-hued dwelling of the juice; Through this came vital power which lengthens out our days, and kinship through its help awoke.

6.So Indra is by lndu’s power; e’en among Gods will it repel great treachery. Wisdom, Most Sapient One, brings force that lengthens life. May wisdom bring the juice to us.

Asked of Guide

Who or what is 'Indu' in this hymn—drink, deity, or something else?

Indu is the sacred, enlivening juice—the channeled beverage that bestows vitality. The hymn calls it “deathless Indu” and describes it as a red-hued dwelling of the juice brought by the Falcon, a life-lengthening power that makes Indra mighty.

The poem treats Indu as both a ritual substance and a source of divine force: it confers kinship, wisdom, and strength to the worshipper and to Indra. This matches other Rig Veda passages where Soma (often called Indu) is simultaneously drink, ritual agent, and a divine energizer, as in many hymns of Mandala 8 and 9.

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