Hymn to the Pressing Stones
Rigveda X.76 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. At the breaking of dawn's light, I reach out to you for strength. Anoint Indra, the Maruts, and the two world-halves, so that both day and night, joined as companions, may make room for us at every dwelling, bursting it open.
2. Press out that finest pressing. Like a racehorse guided by hand, so is the stone in the presser's hand. For it finds the overpowering manly strength of the noble lord — by which, like a steed's, it wins through to great wealth.
3. This indeed is its work, this pressing, as it once made a path for Manu — to the flood of cattle at Tvaṣṭar's house, adorned with horses. In the rites, they have joined rite upon rite.
4. Strike away the crooked demons. Hold Ruin fast, drive off folly. Press out for us wealth rich in all our sons. Bring forth, you stones, the chant that reaches the gods.
5. To you — more forceful than Heaven itself, more skilled at work than Vibhvan, more eager for soma than Vāyu, better providers of food than Agni — sing!
6. Let the glorious stones bestir themselves for us, pressing the soma-stalk, with a voice that strikes the sky, bright as the sky. There the men milk out the sweet, desired draught, calling aloud all around, pressing against one another.
7. The stones press the soma like charioteers; eager for cattle, they milk out its juice. They milk the udder for the libation, like men who cleanse the offerings with their lips.
8. You have proved yourselves skillful workers, you stones who press the soma for Indra. Every choice thing of yours goes to the heavenly realm; every good thing of yours goes to the earthly presser.
Translator's note: the hymn addresses the Grāvāṇaḥ, the stones used to press the soma stalks, treating them as active agents who work, milk, and sing like men. Several words are compact and image-laden (e.g. "vibhvanā," a proper name of uncertain identity; "bhaṅgurāvataḥ," rendered here as "crooked," from a root meaning to break or bend); renderings favor the plainest sense supported by the roots.
Colophon
Rigveda X.76 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.76
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.
ā va ṛñjasa ūrjāṁ vyuṣṭiṣv indram maruto rodasī anaktana |
ubhe yathā no ahanī sacābhuvā sadaḥ-sado varivasyāta udbhidā || 1 ||
tad u śreṣṭhaṁ savanaṁ sunotanātyo na hastayato adriḥ sotari |
vidad dhy a1ryo abhibhūti pauṁsyam maho rāye cit tarute yad arvataḥ || 2 ||
tad id dhy asya savanaṁ viver apo yathā purā manave gātum aśret |
goarṇasi tvāṣṭre aśvanirṇiji prem adhvareṣv adhvarām̐ aśiśrayuḥ || 3 ||
apa hata rakṣaso bhaṅgurāvataḥ skabhāyata nirṛtiṁ sedhatāmatim |
ā no rayiṁ sarvavīraṁ sunotana devāvyam bharata ślokam adrayaḥ || 4 ||
divaś cid ā vo 'mavattarebhyo vibhvanā cid āśvapastarebhyaḥ |
vāyoś cid ā somarabhastarebhyo 'gneś cid arca pitukṛttarebhyaḥ || 5 ||
bhurantu no yaśasaḥ sotv andhaso grāvāṇo vācā divitā divitmatā |
naro yatra duhate kāmyam madhv āghoṣayanto abhito mithasturaḥ || 6 ||
sunvanti somaṁ rathirāso adrayo nir asya rasaṁ gaviṣo duhanti te |
duhanty ūdhar upasecanāya kaṁ naro havyā na marjayanta āsabhiḥ || 7 ||
ete naraḥ svapaso abhūtana ya indrāya sunutha somam adrayaḥ |
vāmaṁ-vāmaṁ vo divyāya dhāmne vasu-vasu vaḥ pārthivāya sunvate || 8 ||
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).