Hymn to Soma
Rigveda X.25 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) from Maṇḍala 10 of the Rigveda, one of the 1,028 hymns organized within the ten books of the oldest Veda. The Rigveda was composed approximately 1700–1100 BCE in Vedic Sanskrit and preserved through oral transmission across millennia.
This is a Good Works Translation produced for the Good Works Library from the Sanskrit of the Śākala recension.
1. Waft toward us an auspicious mind, skill, and purpose. Then, Soma, in friendship with your draught, in the rapture you give, may they take joy — like cows in the pasture — for you who long to speak.
2. Your heart-touching powers dwell in all your realms, O Soma. Then these desires of mine, longing for riches, spread out in the rapture you give, for you who long to speak.
3. And your ordinances, Soma, I transgress through my own foolishness. Then, as a father to a son, be gracious to us in the rapture you give — shield us even from the deadly blow — for you who long to speak.
4. My thoughts stream forth together, like torrents rushing to wells. Sustain our purpose, Soma, that we may live — in the rapture you give — filling it as with a flowing stream, like cups, for you who long to speak.
5. By your powers, Soma, those eager ones unbar — the wise, mighty men of the skilled poet — in the rapture you give, the pen full of cattle and horses, for you who long to speak.
6. You guard our livestock, Soma, and the moving world scattered in many places. You gather them together that we may live, in the rapture you give, beholding all the worlds, for you who long to speak.
7. Be our herdsman on every side, unassailable, O Soma. Drive away our failures, O king, in the rapture you give — let no slanderer hold power over us — for you who long to speak.
8. You, Soma, of good purpose, watch over us for the giving of vital strength. Knowing the ground better than any man, in the rapture you give, protect us from treachery and from distress, for you who long to speak.
9. You, best slayer of Vṛtra, are Indra's kindly friend, O drop of Soma — when men call upon him in the clash of battle, in the rapture you give, fighting to win offspring, for you who long to speak.
10. This indeed is that swift, dear exhilaration, waxing for Indra. This draught of great Kakṣīvant, in the rapture you give, strengthened the thought of the inspired poet, for you who long to speak.
11. This Soma sends prizes rich in cattle to the pious, inspired man. This, in the rapture you give, grants a boon to the seven, and has carried the blind man and the lame across, for you who long to speak.
Translator's note: The phrase "vi vo made" (rendered here as "in the rapture you give") and the closing word "vivakṣase" ("for you who long to speak," a dative addressed to Soma, and likely also a play on the name of the hymn's seer, Vivakṣas) recur as a woven refrain built into nearly every verse's meter rather than as a separate repeated line, so each verse's syntax has been kept continuous around them instead of setting them off as a chorus. Verse 10 names the sage Kakṣīvant directly. "The seven" in verse 11 (saptabhyaḥ) is left unglossed, as the Sanskrit itself does not specify which group of seven is meant.
Colophon
Rigveda X.25 is drawn from the Śākala recension of the Rigveda, composed approximately 1700–1100 BCE. This is a Good Works Translation rendered verse by verse from the Sanskrit text printed below. Prepared for the Good Work Library by the Tianmu Anglican Church with AI-assisted translation.
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Source Text: ṛgveda X.25
Sanskrit source text from the Aufrecht edition (1877) via GRETIL (Van Nooten & Holland input). Presented here for reference, study, and verification alongside the English translation above.
bhadraṁ no api vātaya mano dakṣam uta kratum |
adhā te sakhye andhaso vi vo made raṇan gāvo na yavase vivakṣase || 1 ||
hṛdispṛśas ta āsate viśveṣu soma dhāmasu |
adhā kāmā ime mama vi vo made vi tiṣṭhante vasūyavo vivakṣase || 2 ||
uta vratāni soma te prāham mināmi pākyā |
adhā piteva sūnave vi vo made mṛḻā no abhi cid vadhād vivakṣase || 3 ||
sam u pra yanti dhītayaḥ sargāso 'vatām̐ iva |
kratuṁ naḥ soma jīvase vi vo made dhārayā camasām̐ iva vivakṣase || 4 ||
tava tye soma śaktibhir nikāmāso vy ṛṇvire |
gṛtsasya dhīrās tavaso vi vo made vrajaṁ gomantam aśvinaṁ vivakṣase || 5 ||
paśuṁ naḥ soma rakṣasi purutrā viṣṭhitaṁ jagat |
samākṛṇoṣi jīvase vi vo made viśvā sampaśyan bhuvanā vivakṣase || 6 ||
tvaṁ naḥ soma viśvato gopā adābhyo bhava |
sedha rājann apa sridho vi vo made mā no duḥśaṁsa īśatā vivakṣase || 7 ||
tvaṁ naḥ soma sukratur vayodheyāya jāgṛhi |
kṣetravittaro manuṣo vi vo made druho naḥ pāhy aṁhaso vivakṣase || 8 ||
tvaṁ no vṛtrahantamendrasyendo śivaḥ sakhā |
yat sīṁ havante samithe vi vo made yudhyamānās tokasātau vivakṣase || 9 ||
ayaṁ gha sa turo mada indrasya vardhata priyaḥ |
ayaṁ kakṣīvato maho vi vo made matiṁ viprasya vardhayad vivakṣase || 10 ||
ayaṁ viprāya dāśuṣe vājām̐ iyarti gomataḥ |
ayaṁ saptabhya ā varaṁ vi vo made prāndhaṁ śroṇaṁ ca tāriṣad vivakṣase || 11 ||
Source Colophon
Sanskrit text of the Rigveda, Śākala recension. The standard scholarly edition is the Bombay Oriental (Vishva Bandhu, 5 vols., 1963–66). IAST transliteration available from GRETIL (Göttingen Register of Electronic Texts in Indian Languages) and Vedaweb (University of Cologne). Both sources are open access. IAST transliteration from the Aufrecht edition (1877) via GRETIL (Van Nooten & Holland input, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).