Shining New Light on the Rig Veda (Part 3): Who is King Indra?

We now come to the Rig Veda's fourth Sukta, the first of many presumably addressed to Indra, the king of the gods and Heaven. As explained in my last post, Indra personifies the Supreme Power of Divine Love -- the thought-force of the Divine Idea God extended "in His own likeness of mind" to bring the Sonship into being. As such, Indra represents the most powerful force not only in the universe, but in the whole of Creation as well -- the reason he rules supreme.

And yet, there are no temples to Indra in India for reasons we'll discuss further along.

For now, let's explore some of the symbols associated with King Indra. In the iconographic image topping this post, he is red in color, rides a white elephant "vahana," and is accompanied by two attendants. The attendant in front carries a spear, while the one in the rear holds a chatra or "holy umbrella" over his master's head. In one of his four hands, King Indra holds the thunderbolt-throwing mace called vajra (meaning "strengthening radiance"), which was fashioned for him by Tvashta, the maker of divine instruments (for the At-one-ment Powers). In the Hindu lore, King Indra uses his all-powerful vajra to defeat Vritra, the chief heaven-invading demon, who took the form of a snake.

Sound familiar?

In this depiction, Indra also holds the sword called kaakam, which, like the sword in the Biblical Book of Revelation, symbolizes the Word of God. The third weapon he holds isn't easily identifiable. It might be his celestial bow, vijaya (meaning "victory"), or his net, jala (meaning "sanctifying waters"). The net, I suspect, represents the shared-mind "network," "web," "divine matrix," "covenant," or Holy Relationship (choose your preferred term) through which we give and receive the Living Water during our meditative yajna offerings.

King Indra and his wife or consort, Indrani or Shachi (meaning "grace"), riding in a "howdah" atop Airavata.

Lord Indra is most often depicted astride his elephant vahana, but also sometimes rides a seven-headed white horse or, like Surya-dev, drives a chariot drawn by seven white horses. The elephant, Airavata (meaning "belonging to Iravati"), is described as having four tusks, seven trunks, and a white complexion. Best known as "king of the elephants," Airavata also is sometimes called "elephant of the clouds" (Abhramatanga), "the fighting elephant" (Nagamalla), and "brother of the sun" (Arkasodara).

The encyclopedic descriptions of this "divine elephant" tell us 1) Iravati ("she who possesses God's Wind or Breath") is his mother and 2) he was born from the churning of the Ocean of Milk (as were Lakshmi and Amrita, the elixir of immortality). Based on these "clues," I strongly suspect Airavata represents either the Miracle, the Om vibration, or the Holy Instant -- and possibly all three rolled into one pale paranormal pachyderm.

Let's turn now to the Rig Veda's fourth Sukta, which, like the preceding three, takes the form of a narrative spiritual teaching. In transliterated Sanskrit, the first line reads: surūpa-kṛtnum ūtaye sudughām iva go-duhe juhūmasi dyavi-dyavi.

For the sake of comparison, H. H. Wilson translated the line thusly:

Day by day we invoke the doer of good works for our protection, as a good cow for the milking (is called by the milker).

Based on my research and intuitive guidance, the line should read closer to this:

Holiness forms the mechanism connecting all living beings to the pure communications of God (the Holy Milk Sarasvati provides) in the manner of a cow-milker to expedite remembering the sword in the heavens.

My word-for-word definitions:

Su-rupa = Holiness forms
krtnum = the mechanism
utaye = connecting all living beings
su-dugham = to the pure communications of God (the Holy Milk)
iva = in the manner of
go-duhe = a cow-milker 
ju-hum-asi = to expedite remembering the sword
dyavi-dyavi = in the heavens

The symbolic "sword in the heaven(s)" referenced herein also is mentioned in the Old Testament Book of Isaiah (34:5-8). Unfortunately, the passage has only ever been translated (insofar as I'm aware) through the Ego Mind's fearful filters. In the King James Bible, for example, the verse reads:

For my sword shall be bathed in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon Idumea, and upon the people of my curse, to judgment. The sword of the Lord is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness, and with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams: for the Lord hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Idumea. And the unicorns shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls; and their land shall be soaked with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness. For it is the day of the Lord's vengeance, and the year of recompenses for the controversy of Zion.

As explained in my last post, the Holy Spirit never provides frightening messages or visions -- so, the KJV translation can't be right. Based on my assessment of the original Hebrew, the verse should read more along these lines:

The sword of abundant water in the Upper World will descend upon those gathered in Edom (the world of doing) in devotion to God and to share divine ideas about right-minded justice. The sword of Yahweh (the Name of God) is filled with red anointing fat, the lifeblood of the lamb (or ram), to prepare the altar of the mind to strengthen Yahweh's offerings, to gather together, and to grow in spiritual stature to slaughter the beast in Edom. And a re'em will descend as a calf, powerful and mighty, to the earth to make full the lifeblood of the dust (the physical body) by anointing with fat.

The Day (the Greater Light) of Yahweh (the Name of God) upholds God's right-minded judgment to change requital (giving in kind) from bodily striving to striving (for justice, righteousness, and harmony) through the covenant relationship in Zion (the Holy Mountain in Jerusalem representing the Resting Place). 

That's what I make of it, anyway. The fat thing is a little odd, but Strong's explains that animal fat was used to fuel fires on sacred altars during offerings in those days. So, fat represents the anointing oils of the atonement, basically.

Interestingly, the mysterious word "re'em" appears in this group of verses. What is a re'em? A mysterious "creature" mentioned seven times in the Old Testament (in Job 39:9-10, Deuteronomy 33:17, Numbers 23:22 and 24:8, Psalms 22:21, 29:6, and 92:10, and Isaiah 34:7). Described as having one or more great horns reaching toward heaven (the Upper World), the "re'em" is generally presumed to be some type of wild ox, unicorn, or rhinoceros. These are just guesses, however, because the word has no root in either Hebrew or Greek. 

In Arabic, "r'imm" (pronounced "reem") is an antelope, gazelle, or oryx -- and the Arabic name "Reem" means "pure white antelope." And, since Vayu rides an antelope vahana -- and antelopes pull the chariot of Soma/Chandra -- I suspect the "re'em" of the Bible is an antelope or oryx rather than a wild ox or mythical beast of some sort. Or, rather, the "re'em" of the Bible symbolizes what Vayu and Soma's vahanas symbolize. And baby antelopes are indeed called calves, so all the pieces fit.

An Arabian oryx or "r'imm" with two great horns reaching toward heaven.

We'll explore the "re'em" in more depth in a future post. For now, let's proceed to the Rik's second line. According to Muller, the line reads: upa naḥ savanā gahi somasya somapāḥ piba godā id revato madaḥ.

Wilson's translation:

Drinker of the Soma juice, come to our (daily) rites, and drink of the libation; the satisfaction of (you who are) the bestower of riches, is verily (the cause of) the gift of cattle.

My translation:

Join together in the Resting Place of God, in the family name belonging to Soma and protecting Soma, to drink the sacred offering disappearing all the layers of (ego) self-intoxication. 

My word-for-word definitions, along with how each should break:

Upanah = join together
savana = in the resting place
a = of God
gahi = in the family name
somasya = belonging to Soma
somapah = and protecting Soma
piba = to drink
go-dah = the sacred offering
it = disappearing
revatah = all the layers of
madah = self-intoxication

The Sukta's third line reads: athā te antamānāṃ vidyāma sumatīnām mā no ati khya ā gahi.

Wilson's translation:

We recognize you in the midst of the right-minded, who are nearest to you; come to us; pass us not by to reveal (yourself to others).

My very different result:

In the now-moment (the Holy Instant), the Self dwells in the peace of the Presence the Holy Mind produces in Wholeness at the zenith of the ethereal power of God's family name.

My word-syllable definitions:

atha = in the now-moment or Holy Instant
te = the Self
ant-amanam = dwells in the peace
vidyama = of the Presence
su-matinam = the Holy Mind
ma = produces
nah = in wholeness
ati = at the zenith of
kh-yah = the ethereal power
a = of God's
gahi = family name 

Contrary to Max Muller's poetic reconstruction, the Rik's fourth line should read: parehi vigram astṛtam indram pṛcchā vipaścitam yah te sakhibhya ā. "Varam" -- the word Miller tacked on the end -- means "the Bridegroom," which makes no sense when the words are translated right-mindedly. Like many Sanskrit dictionaries, Wilson erroneously translates "varam" as "the best (of blessings)." And that's not the only word he gets wrong, as you'll see.

Wilson's translation:  

Go, worshipper, to the wise and uninjured Indra, who bestows the best (of blessings) on your friends, and ask him of the (fitness of the) learned (priest who recites his praise).

My translation:

Advance this consciousness of peace, the divine weapon of the Supreme Spirit of Indra proceeding from the pure inspiration-consciousness by which you acquire the ability to send forth the light and strength of God.

My word-syllable definitions:

par-ehi = advance this

vig-ram = consciousness of peace

astr(a)-tam = the divine weapon of the Supreme Spirit

indram = of Indra (or equipped with the power of peace)

proc-cha = proceeding from the pure

vipah-citam = inspiration-consciousness

yah = by which

te = you

sak-hi-bh(a)-yah = acquire the ability to send forth the light and strength  

a = of God

This brings us to the Rik's fifth line, which Muller also "metered" inaccurately. By my calculations, Rv 1.4.5 should read: varam uta bruvantu nah nido nir anyataś cid ārata dadhānā. I'm not completely certain that's right, but I'm pretty sure the last three words (indre id duvah), which Muller assigned to this line, belong at the start of the next one.

Here's what Wilson made of Muller's wording:

Let our ministers, earnestly performing his worship, exclaim, "Depart your revilers from hence and every other (where he is adored)."

And here's what the line actually communicates:

The Bridegroom at the Wellspring speaks for the power of love in the stillness of the Resting Place, free from the difference-consciousness destroying the right-minded giving supporting the growth of Wholeness.

My word-syllable definitions are as follows:

varam = The Bridegroom (at)
uta (uda) = the wellspring or fountain
bru-vantu = speaks for the power of love
nas = in the stillness
nidah = of the resting place
nih = free from
anyata = the difference
cit = consciousness
arata = destroying the righteous (right-minded)
da-dha-nah = giving supporting the growth of wholeness

Like I said, I'm pretty sure this is right because Bible-Jesus a) discusses "the Bridegroom at the Wellspring" in the parable of the ten virgins in Matthew 25:1-13; b) enacts the "Bridegroom at the Wellspring" in John 4:1-42; and c) identifies himself as "the Bridegroom" and supplier of the mind-purifying "Living Water" more than once in the New Testament gospels.

Jesus, the embodied Christ Mind or Vishwapurusha, enacting "the Bridegroom at the Wellspring" in John 4:1-42. 

The terms "bridegroom," "wellspring," and "fountain" don't appear in the Course, but Jesus does use the phrase "Living Water" once -- in the following passage from the Text:  

The Thought of God surrounds your little kingdom, waiting at the barrier you built to come inside and shine upon the barren ground. See how life springs up everywhere! The desert becomes a garden, green and deep and quiet, offering rest to those who lost their way and wander in the dust. Give them a place of refuge, prepared by love for them where once a desert was. And everyone you welcome will bring love with him from Heaven for you. They enter one by one into this holy place, but they will not depart as they had come, alone. The love they brought with them will stay with them, as it will stay with you. And under its beneficence your little garden will expand, and reach out to everyone who thirsts for Living Water, but has grown too weary to go on alone. (ACIM, T-18.VIII.9:1-8)

 
Note how closely this passage from the Course parallels the Vedic teaching under discussion. The similarities in phrasing between the Bible, the Rig Veda, and the Course are, in fact, nothing short of miraculous -- or seem to be, at least, to our time-perceiving intellects. But, as we are told in Isaiah 55:8-9:

"My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," saith the Lord. "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts."

Let's return to the Living Water and Wellspring -- two widely used scriptural symbols defined in the Old Testament Book of Jeremiah. In Jeremiah 2:13, Yahweh (the Great I Am) says to the prophet, "My people have committed two harms: They left the fountain [maqowr in Hebrew] of the waters [mayim in Hebrew] of life [hayyim in Hebrew], and have hewn their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water."

Somewhere along the line, the Hebrew phrase mayim-hayyim became "Living Water," but the literal translation is "Waters of Life." And in this critical passage from the Book of Jeremiah, Yahweh tells the prophet that we have committed two errors that harmed our own Self (not "sins," as reported in the KJV Bible). Our first mistake was abandoning the maqowr supplying the mayim-hayyim, and our second was hewing cisterns or man-made "thought-tanks" that cannot hold mayim-hayyim. The fear-and-form-producing Ego Mind can't, in other words, hold the Living Water supplied to us by Yahweh.

According to Strong's Concordance, the word maqowr occurs at least ten times in the Hebrew Old Testament. Generally, it's translated into English as "fountain," but the word also is sometimes rendered as "wellspring" or "spring." Metaphorically, the word more specifically means "the source of life, joy, and purification of the (spiritual) eye, from which flows the blood of birth (i.e., the Red Ray of Perfect Love, the Lifeblood of Christ and/or Creation).

The metaphorical definition tells us, unequivocally, that the "Water(s) of Life" springing from that maqowr is, in essence, the Blood of Christ and/or "Amrita" -- the elixir of immortality recovered for humankind's salvation through the churning of the Ocean of Milk.

Now, compare this definition to what Jesus tells the Samaritan woman at Jacob's Well in John 4:14:

"Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life."

"The water that I shall give him," at the maqowr -- the source of life, joy, and purification of the (spiritual) eye -- is the Lifeblood of Creation. And that "Lifeblood of Creation" or "Blood of Christ" is the Logos, Thought of God, and/or first Red Ray of Perfect Love God extended "in the beginning" to create the Sonship. And that is what King Indra personifies in Hinduism, why he reigns supreme among the devas, and also (apparently) the reason he is no longer worshipped in Hinduism.

Yes, as I learned from this interesting YouTube video, King Indra is no longer worshipped (i.e., has no Temples) in India because he delegated his authority way back when to Lord Krishna (the Holy Spirit).

King Indra delegated his power and authority to Lord Krishna because, as explained in my series on Creation, a thunderbolt of full-strength Agape would have ended the dream of earth abruptly, thereby stripping us of our free will. So God divided that wake-up "thunderbolt" into two gentler "aspect" rays of Peace and Joy, which could end the dream more gently and gradually to preserve the Sonship's free will.

King Indra surrendering his power and authority to Lord Krishna and his "miracle cow."

As I understand things, those two "Great Rays" shine down into the Temple sanctuary (the Middle World) through the Golden Egg (the Upper World), under the authority of the Holy Spirit or Vishwapurusha (symbolized by Jesus, Vishnu, and/or Krishna). That Golden Egg also serves as the "Bridge of the Return" (in Course terms), which transports our increasingly purified Souls from the fourth "mansion" or "chakra" to the seventh, where King Indra (the Logos) sits upon the "throne of God." And that is why Jesus tells us, in the Bible and the Course, that no one "comes unto the Father" except through him. He means that, in order to return to Heaven-proper -- the realm of Creating (as God intended) through the extension of Agape -- we first must pass through the Body of Christ and/or Golden Egg -- the realm of healing separation-sickness by restoring Wholeness through reciprocal Miracles of Grace.

Does that make sense? I hope so, because I believe the next verse expresses similar ideas.

Let's proceed to that verse (Rv 1.4.6), which reads: indre duvah id uta naḥ subhagām̐ arir voceyur dasma kṛṣṭayaḥ syāmed indrasya śarmaṇi. 

Wilson translated Muller's contrived "chandas" in this odd, fill-in-the-blanks manner:

Destroyer of foes, let our enemies say we are prosperous; let men (congratulate us); may we ever abide, in the felicity (derived from the favour) of Indra.

My translation:

The supreme power uniting the two born from the wellspring in Wholeness, the song of holiness brings into the world the Eternal Word bestowing the miraculous Christ-power of the black-colored one (the black horse and/or Lord Krishna) yoking what belongs to King Indra with the peace of God.

My definitions: 

indre = The supreme power
it or id = uniting
du-vah = the two born from
uta = the wellspring or fountain
nah = in wholeness
subhagan = the sound of holiness
ar-ih = brings into this world 
voce-yuh = vak-yuh = the Eternal Word bestowing
dasma = the miraculous 
krsta-yah = Christ-power
syama = of the black-colored one = the black horse or Lord Krishna
it = yoking
indrasya = what belongs to King Indra
sarmani = with the peace
a = of God

Like many Sanskrit words, "subhagan" can be interpreted in various nuanced ways, depending on how it's divided. As "su-bhagan," for example, it means "holiness shared" or "holiness divided"; as "subh-agan(a)," it means "the splendor or auspiciousness obtained through song"; as "subha-gan" it means "the collective holiness"; and as "subhag-an," it means "the song of holiness." So, the word basically describes the vibratory song of the Wholeness of Creation, divided among each of our embodied Souls or Divine Sparks (that which belongs to Indra, the Logos). To end the dream, we all have to sing that song together again as one united voice, the way we did before the perceived separation. We must, in other words, add our voice once more to the Celestial Chorus singing the glorious Song of Creation.

Course-Jesus says the same thing many times. I won't post all he says on the subject, much as I'm tempted, but I will share the citation below to make my point. 

Where sin once was perceived will rise a world that will become an altar to the truth, and you will join the lights of Heaven there, and sing their song of gratitude and praise. And as they come to you to be complete, so will you go with them. For no one hears the song of Heaven and remains without a voice that adds its power to the song, and makes it sweeter still. And each one joins the singing at the altar that was raised within the tiny spot that sin proclaimed to be its own. And what was tiny then has soared into a magnitude of song in which the universe has joined with but a single voice. (ACIM, T-26.IV.5:1-5)

As the Vedic verse under discussion explains, that song is the power reuniting the Great Rays of Peace and Joy in the Wholeness of Perfect Love. This verse also solves the mystery of the yoke held by the rider of the black horse in the Book of Revelations. That yoke represents the Living Water, which reunites all the scattered sparks of King Indra, the Red Ray of God's Perfect Love, in the Holy Instant of the Eternal Now. 

The yoke referenced here and in Revelations is, I believe, the same one Bible-Jesus mentions in Matthew 11:28-30, wherein he says:

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest [in the Resting Place]. Take my yoke [the Living Water] upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your Souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden [message, according to Course-Jesus] is light.

Or, as Course-Jesus so eloquently puts it:  

Could you but realize for a single instant the power of healing that the reflection of God, shining in you, can bring to all the world, you could not wait to make the mirror of your mind clean to receive the image of the holiness that heals the world. The image of holiness that shines in your mind is not obscure, and will not change. Its meaning to those who look upon it is not obscure, for everyone perceives it as the same. All bring their different problems to its healing light, and all their problems find but healing there. (ACIM, T-14.IX.7:1-4)

 

We've now reached the fourth Rik's seventh line, which reads: em āśum āśave bhara yajñaśriyaṃ nṛmādanam patayan mandayatsakham.

Wilson's translation:

Offer to Indra, the pervader (of every rite of libation), the juice that is present (at the three ceremonies), the grace of the sacrifice, the exhilarator of mankind, the perfecter of the act, the favourite of (that Indra) who gives happiness (to the offerer).

My translation:

In the now-moment of eternal holiness, the Living Water yokes the thought-offering of grace (the Miracle) with Nara, the Love of God protecting the peace producing the essence coming from the Upper World.

My word-for-word definitions: 

em or im = in the now-moment
a-sum = of eternal holiness
asave = the Living Water
bhara = yokes
yajna-sriyam = the thought-offering of grace (the Miracle)
nr-madanam = (with) Nara, the Love of God
pat-ayan = protecting the peace
manda-yatsa-kham = producing the essence coming from the sky (the Upper World) 

Assuming my translation of "asave" is right, this verse further confirms that the "yoke" Jesus mentions in Matthew 11, as well as the one carried by the rider of the black horse in Revelations, is the Living Water. And it is also that "yoke" to which the word "yoga" refers. Thus, it is the Living Water that "yokes" our mind to God's -- through the Miracle of the Holy Instant.

Or, as Course-Jesus explains:

Time is your friend, if you leave it to the Holy Spirit to use. He needs but very little to restore God’s whole power to you. He Who transcends time for you understands what time is for. Holiness lies not in time, but in eternity. There never was an instant in which God’s Son could lose his purity. His changeless state is beyond time, for his purity remains forever beyond attack and without variability. Time stands still in his holiness, and changes not. And so it is no longer time at all. For caught in the single instant of the eternal sanctity of God’s creation, it is transformed into forever. Give the eternal instant, that eternity may be remembered for you, in that shining instant of perfect release. Offer the miracle of the holy instant through the Holy Spirit, and leave His giving it to you to Him. (ACIM, T-15.I.15:1-11)

Before we move on, I want to mention something I discovered while translating this verse. Many Sanskrit dictionaries erroneously define the word or name Nara as "man" or "mankind," when Nara is, in fact, one of the many names the Vedas assign to the Blood Ray. Likewise, the word "madanam" is defined as "the god of love," who is believed to be Kamadeva (the Hindu equivalent of Cupid or Eros). But, just as "Agni" means "Fire of God," rather than "god of fire," "madanam" means "Love of God." And, as the Red Ray, Nara is indeed the Love of God at work in the realm of Samsara-Maya.

According to Muller, the Sukta's eighth line reads: asya pītvā śatakrato ghano vṛtrāṇām abhavaḥ prāvo vājeṣu vājinam.

Wilson's translation:

Having drunk, Śatakratu, of this (Soma juice), you became the slayer of the Vṛtras; you defend the warrior in battle.

My translation:

To drink the essence of King Indra (the Thought of God), the destroyer of the demon-identity, call down the stream of holy vibration belonging to the horses of God.

My word-for-word definitions are these:

pi-tva = To drink the essence of
satakrato =  King Indra (the Thought of God)
ghano = the destroyer of
vrtra-nam = the demon-identity
abhavah = call down
pravah = the stream
vajesu = of holy vibration
vajinam = belonging to the horses of God

The name "Satakratu" is an epithet for King Indra; the word "satakrato" translates as "the true Thought of God," more or less. So, I'm right about what King Indra actually represents in Hindu theology. 

Moreover, Course-Jesus says much the same thing in the fourth Workbook Review, whose unifying theme is "My mind holds only what I think with God." In the introduction to that weeklong review of Lessons 141 - 150, he says of this central theme:

That is a fact, and represents the truth of What you are and What your Father is. It is this thought by which the Father gave creation to the Son, establishing the Son as co-creator with Himself. It is this thought that fully guarantees salvation to the Son. For in his mind no thoughts can dwell but those his Father shares. Lack of forgiveness blocks this thought from his awareness. Yet it is forever true. (ACIM, W-rIV.in.2:3–4:4)

With that out of the way, let's discuss the word "vajesu," which occurs more than once in the Vedas. While the Sanskrit dictionaries offer no definitions, I found what I needed at Sikhi-Wiki, on a page explaining the meaning of "Waheguru." The word "vaje" was included in a mantra at the bottom of the page. Titled "Vahiguru," the mantra is attributed to Manvir Singh Khalsa, who is described elsewhere on the Internet as "a spiritual Gurbani artist in the UK." Gurbani (I later learned) is an umbrella-term for the body of texts, sayings, and experiences of Sikh gurus.

The relevant portion of the mantra reads (in transliterated Sanskrit):

panche shabad vaje mat gurmat vaddbhaagee anhad vajiaa.

aanand mool raam sabh dekhiaa gur shabadee govind gajiaa.

According to the author, those words translate thusly:

The Panch Shabad, the Five Primal Sounds, vibrate ("vaje") with the Wisdom of the Guru's Teachings;

by great good fortune, the Unstruck Melody resonates and resounds.

I see the Lord, the Source of Bliss, everywhere; through the Word of the Guru's Shabad,

the Lord of the Universe is revealed.

Pretty cool, right? Know what's even cooler? The word "vajesu" (holy vibration) can also be divided as "va-jesu," meaning "the arms of Jesus."

While you contemplate that seeming impossibility, let's move on to the next-to-last verse, which also connects the words "vajesu" and "vajinam." According to Muller, the line reads: ataṃ tvā vājeṣu vājinaṃ vājayāmaḥ śatakrato dhanānām indra sātaye.

Wilson translated these words thusly:

We offer to you, Śatakratu, the mighty in battle, (sacrificial) food for the acquisition, Indra, of riches.

And I've translated them in this very different way (which closely echoes the Sikh mantra above):

From that essence, the holy vibration belonging to the horses of God strengthens the song of King Indra (the Thought of God) bestowing knowledge of the supreme power of that which is radiant in the eternal wholeness of the universal being.

These are my word-definitions:

atam = From that
tva = essence
vajesu = the holy vibration
vajinam = belonging to the horses of God
vaj-ayam-ah = strengthens the song
satakrato = of King Indra (the Thought of God)
dha-nanam = bestowing knowledge
ind-ra = of the supreme power of that which is radiant
sat-aye =  in the eternal wholeness of the universal Living Being

Now, at last, we come to the fourth Rik's final line, which reads: yo rāyo 'vanir mahān supāraḥ sunvataḥ sakhā tasmāi indrāya gāyata.

Wilson's translation:

Sing unto that Indra who is the protector of wealth, the mighty, the accomplisher of good deeds, the friend of the offerer of the libation.

My translation:

Great and powerful king of the Real World; time-destroying supreme sacred fire in all things; Word of God, moving in the ethers; unto Him, King Indra, we sing our praises.

 My word-definitions are these:

yah = Great and powerful
rayah = king
avanih = of the good earth (the Real World)
ma-han = time-destroying (or creator and destroyer)
suparah = supreme
su-nva-tah = sacred fire in all things
sa-kha = Word of God, moving in the ethers (or in the Upper World)
tasmai = unto Him
indraya = King Indra
gayata = we sing our praises

Wilson's translation of this line is infected with ego-promoted deceptions about the spiritual value of "wealth" and "good deeds." As Jesus explains in the Bible and the Course, wealth and good deeds hinder rather than accelerate our spiritual advancement.  Activity perpetuates karma, which binds us to the illusion through "gifts in kind," both good and bad. The True Path exists in our minds, my dreaming brother, NOT in the world perceived through the physical senses. I can't emphasize this GREAT TRUTH too often or too strongly.

Or, to quote Course-Jesus:

To do anything involves the body. And if you recognize you need do nothing, you have withdrawn the body’s value from your mind. Here is the quick and open door through which you slip past centuries of effort, and escape from time. This is the way in which sin loses all attraction RIGHT NOW. For here is time denied, and past and future gone. Who needs do nothing has no need for time. To do nothing is to rest, and make a place within you where the activity of the body ceases to demand attention. Into this place the Holy Spirit comes, and there abides. He will remain when you forget, and the body’s activities return to occupy your conscious mind.

Got it? Good.

Next time, we'll tackle the Rig Veda's fifth Sukta, which also is (allegedly) addressed to King Indra. Unless I decide to further investigate the mysterious "re'em." I do love a mystery, after all -- as the Holy Spirit well knows.

Until we meet again outside the true Holy Meeting Place, keep singing the song of Heaven.