Sukta 86

Mantra 1

वि हि सोतोरसृक्षत नेन्द्रं देवममंसत । यत्रामदद्वृषाकपिरर्यः पुष्टेषु मत्सखा विश्वस्मादिन्द्र उत्तरः ॥

The pressings have flowed out, yet they did not satisfy Indra the god. For where Vṛṣākapi exulted—noble, amid the plenitudes, my comrade—there Indra rose beyond all: the higher force seeking the true intoxication.

Mantra 2

परा हीन्द्र धावसि वृषाकपेरति व्यथिः । नो अह प्र विन्दस्यन्यत्र सोमपीतये विश्वस्मादिन्द्र उत्तरः ॥

Away indeed you run, O Indra, driven beyond measure by Vṛṣākapi’s disturbance. Yet you will not find elsewhere the true drinking of Soma; for Indra must rise beyond all only by the right delight, not by restless scattering.

Mantra 3

किमयं त्वां वृषाकपिश्चकार हरितो मृगः । यस्मा इरस्यसीदु न्वर्यो वा पुष्टिमद्वसु विश्वस्मादिन्द्र उत्तरः ॥

What has this Vṛṣākapi, this tawny force of the life-nature, done to you? For whom do you burn with jealousy? Is it for the noble who bears the wealth of increase? Yet Indra—the master of luminous power—stands higher than all that is.

Mantra 4

यमिमं त्वं वृषाकपिं प्रियमिन्द्राभिरक्षसि । श्वा न्वस्य जम्भिषदपि कर्णे वराहयुर्विश्वस्मादिन्द्र उत्तरः ॥

This Vṛṣākapi whom you cherish and guard, O Indra—now even the hound snaps at him, biting at the ear. Let the boar-driven impulse be mastered: Indra stands higher than every restless movement.

Mantra 5

प्रिया तष्टानि मे कपिर्व्यक्ता व्यदूदुषत् । शिरो न्वस्य राविषं न सुगं दुष्कृते भुवं विश्वस्मादिन्द्र उत्तरः ॥

The dear, well-fashioned powers in me—the kapi-force—have become manifest and have shaken loose what was bound. Yet I have bruised his head: for wrong-doing there is no easy path. Indra stands higher than all, to set the energies into right measure.

Mantra 6

न मत्स्त्री सुभसत्तरा न सुयाशुतरा भुवत् । न मत्प्रतिच्यवीयसी न सक्थ्युद्यमीयसी विश्वस्मादिन्द्र उत्तरः ॥

No woman is more richly seated in well-being than I, none more swift to attain the good. None can outmatch me, none can lift the thigh against me in contest; for Indra is higher than all—and his power upholds my victorious poise.

Mantra 7

उवे अम्ब सुलाभिके यथेवाङ्ग भविष्यति । भसन्मे अम्ब सक्थि मे शिरो मे वीव हृष्यति विश्वस्मादिन्द्र उत्तरः ॥

O Mother, O easily-granting one, so indeed it will be: my seat is firm, my thigh is firm; my head too exults as if widened into freedom—because Indra is higher than all.

Mantra 8

किं सुबाहो स्वङ्गुरे पृथुष्टो पृथुजाघने । किं शूरपत्नि नस्त्वमभ्यमीषि वृषाकपिं विश्वस्मादिन्द्र उत्तरः ॥

Why, O fair-armed one, well-limbed, broad-backed, broad-hipped—why, O wife of the Hero, do you assail Vṛṣākapi? Indra is higher than all: let the higher light judge the lower impulses.

Mantra 9

अवीरामिव मामयं शरारुरभि मन्यते । उताहमस्मि वीरिणीन्द्रपत्नी मरुत्सखा विश्वस्मादिन्द्र उत्तरः ॥

This restless one thinks of me as if I were without a hero-force. But I am a bearer of heroic power—the wife of Indra, companion of the Maruts. Indra is higher than all: therefore my strength cannot be diminished.

Mantra 10

संहोत्रं स्म पुरा नारी समनं वाव गच्छति । वेधा ऋतस्य वीरिणीन्द्रपत्नी महीयते विश्वस्मादिन्द्र उत्तरः ॥

Formerly the woman went to the common rite, to the shared assembly of the offering. But now Indra’s heroic Shakti is magnified—she is the disposer of the Truth (ṛta). Indra is higher than all: by his height the rite becomes an inner union.

Mantra 11

इन्द्राणीमासु नारिषु सुभगामहमश्रवम् । नह्यस्या अपरं चन जरसा मरते पतिर्विश्वस्मादिन्द्र उत्तरः ॥

Among women I have heard of Indrāṇī as the most fortunate: for her husband does not wither away with age—no other surpasses this. Indra is higher than all: in the soul’s alliance with him, the force does not decay.

Mantra 12

नाहमिन्द्राणि रारण सख्युर्वृषाकपेॠते । यस्येदमप्यं हविः प्रियं देवेषु गच्छति विश्वस्मादिन्द्र उत्तरः ॥

I do not delight, O Indrāṇī, in friendship apart from Vṛṣākapi—for his offering, born of the waters of life, goes dear among the gods. Yet Indra is higher than all: let every friendship be lifted into the truth of the higher will.

Mantra 13

वृषाकपायि रेवति सुपुत्र आदु सुस्नुषे । घसत्त इन्द्र उक्षणः प्रियं काचित्करं हविर्विश्वस्मादिन्द्र उत्तरः ॥

O Revati, O rich in luminous increase, O bearer of a good son—yes, O good daughter-in-law: may Indra, the virile Bull-force, consume for thee a dear and effective offering, and rise in us beyond all limiting powers.

Mantra 14

उक्ष्णो हि मे पञ्चदश साकं पचन्ति विंशतिम् । उताहमद्मि पीव इदुभा कुक्षी पृणन्ति मे विश्वस्मादिन्द्र उत्तरः ॥

For me they cook fifteen bulls together with twenty; and I too eat of the rich fatness—both my bellies are filled: thus Indra grows higher than all that limits.

Mantra 15

वृषभो न तिग्मशृङ्गोऽन्तर्यूथेषु रोरुवत् । मन्थस्त इन्द्र शं हृदे यं ते सुनोति भावयुर्विश्वस्मादिन्द्र उत्तरः ॥

Like a bull with sharp horns roaring amid the herds, so is thy churning, O Indra, a peace to the heart—this pressing which the awakener prepares for thee; thereby Indra becomes higher than all.

Mantra 16

न सेशे यस्य रम्बतेऽन्तरा सक्थ्या कपृत् । सेदीशे यस्य रोमशं निषेदुषो विजृम्भते विश्वस्मादिन्द्र उत्तरः ॥

He has no mastery whose furtive urge writhes between the thighs; but he has mastery whose shaggy strength, once seated, expands and awakens—thus Indra rises beyond all.

Mantra 17

न सेशे यस्य रोमशं निषेदुषो विजृम्भते । सेदीशे यस्य रम्बतेऽन्तरा सक्थ्या कपृद्विश्वस्मादिन्द्र उत्तरः ॥

He has no mastery whose shaggy force, though seated, only gapes; but he has mastery whose impulse moves between the thighs—thus (through the paradox of the dialogue) Indra rises beyond all.

Mantra 18

अयमिन्द्र वृषाकपिः परस्वन्तं हतं विदत् । असिं सूनां नवं चरुमादेधस्यान आचितं विश्वस्मादिन्द्र उत्तरः ॥

This Vṛṣākapi, O Indra, has found the slain Parasvant; he has taken the sword, the pressed Soma, the new cooked offering, and the cart piled with fuel—thus Indra rises beyond all.

Mantra 19

अयमेमि विचाकशद्विचिन्वन्दासमार्यम् । पिबामि पाकसुत्वनोऽभि धीरमचाकशं विश्वस्मादिन्द्र उत्तरः ॥

Now I go, shining with discernment, separating the dark-servile from the noble; I drink of the well-pressed Soma, and I shine toward the steadfast intelligence—thus Indra rises beyond all.

Mantra 20

धन्व च यत्कृन्तत्रं च कति स्वित्ता वि योजना । नेदीयसो वृषाकपेऽस्तमेहि गृहाँ उप विश्वस्मादिन्द्र उत्तरः ॥

How many leagues are those—across the open waste and the cut-through paths? Come nearer, O Vṛṣākapi; come home to the houses: thus Indra rises beyond all.

Mantra 21

पुनरेहि वृषाकपे सुविता कल्पयावहै । य एष स्वप्ननंशनोऽस्तमेषि पथा पुनर्विश्वस्मादिन्द्र उत्तरः ॥

Return again, O Vṛṣākapi; let us set in order the good going. For this is the path that destroys dream-delusion, by which thou goest home again—thus Indra rises beyond all.

Mantra 22

यदुदञ्चो वृषाकपे गृहमिन्द्राजगन्तन । क्व स्य पुल्वघो मृगः कमगञ्जनयोपनो विश्वस्मादिन्द्र उत्तरः ॥

When you two, going northward, O Vṛṣākapi, came to the home, O Indra—where is that beast, the dust-stirrer, the people-disturber; to whom has he gone? Thus Indra rises beyond all.

Mantra 23

पर्शुर्ह नाम मानवी साकं ससूव विंशतिम् । भद्रं भल त्यस्या अभूद्यस्या उदरमामयद्विश्वस्मादिन्द्र उत्तरः ॥

Parśu, the human woman, indeed brought forth twenty at once; a fortunate good came to her—she whose womb was afflicted—because Indra rose above all and bore her beyond the universal pressure.