Hymn to the Ṛtus — the Priestly Cups of the Soma-Rite
Rigveda II.36 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) from Maṇḍala 2 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. The hymn calls the pressed Soma into the sequence of ritual cups — Hotṛ, Potṛ, Agnīdh, Brahman, Praśāstṛ — inviting Indra, Tvaṣṭṛ, and the officiating powers each to drink in turn.
1. For you, urged onward, he has willed it; the men have milked out the cows and the waters, with fleece and with pressing-stones. Drink, Indra, the Soma offered with the cry "svāhā," made ready with "vaṣaṭ," from the Hotṛ's cup — you who are first, who hold the mastery.
2. Mingled with the sacrifices, dappled, with spears, bright upon the journey and dear in their adornments — having sat down on the sacred grass, sons of Bharata, drink the Soma from the Potṛ's cup, O men of heaven.
3. Like coming home, easy to call upon, do come indeed; sit down upon the sacred grass, and rejoice. Then be exhilarated, enjoying the draught, O Tvaṣṭṛ, together with the gods and their wives, joined with your troop.
4. Bring the gods here, O inspired Hotṛ, and worship — eager, sit down in the three seats. Receive the offered Soma-sweetness; drink from the Agnīdh's cup — be satisfied with your share.
5. This is that [Soma] of your body, the strengthener of manly power, together with might, placed of old in your two arms. For you it is pressed, O bounteous one, for you it is brought — drink of it from the Brahman's cup until you are satisfied.
6. May you two enjoy the sacrifice; take notice of my call — the Hotṛ, seated, chanting according to the ancient nivid-formulas. To the two kings homage goes, returning again; drink the Soma-sweetness from the Praśāstṛ's cup.
Translator's note: verse 1's "vasiṣṭa" and verse 2's "bharatasya sūnavaḥ" ("sons of Bharata") are terse and admit more than one reading; they are rendered here conservatively, close to the Sanskrit word order, rather than resolved into a confident paraphrase. "The two kings" in verse 6 likely refers to Mitra and Varuṇa, invoked alongside the priestly cups, but the Sanskrit does not name them explicitly.
Colophon
Rigveda II.36 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.
🌲
Source Text: ṛgveda II.36
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.
tubhyaṁ hinvāno vasiṣṭa gā apo 'dhukṣan sīm avibhir adribhir naraḥ |
pibendra svāhā prahutaṁ vaṣaṭkṛtaṁ hotrād ā somam prathamo ya īśiṣe || 1 ||
yajñaiḥ sammiślāḥ pṛṣatībhir ṛṣṭibhir yāmañ chubhrāso añjiṣu priyā uta |
āsadyā barhir bharatasya sūnavaḥ potrād ā somam pibatā divo naraḥ || 2 ||
ameva naḥ suhavā ā hi gantana ni barhiṣi sadatanā raṇiṣṭana |
athā mandasva jujuṣāṇo andhasas tvaṣṭar devebhir janibhiḥ sumadgaṇaḥ || 3 ||
ā vakṣi devām̐ iha vipra yakṣi cośan hotar ni ṣadā yoniṣu triṣu |
prati vīhi prasthitaṁ somyam madhu pibāgnīdhrāt tava bhāgasya tṛpṇuhi || 4 ||
eṣa sya te tanvo nṛmṇavardhanaḥ saha ojaḥ pradivi bāhvor hitaḥ |
tubhyaṁ suto maghavan tubhyam ābhṛtas tvam asya brāhmaṇād ā tṛpat piba || 5 ||
juṣethāṁ yajñam bodhataṁ havasya me satto hotā nividaḥ pūrvyā anu |
acchā rājānā nama ety āvṛtam praśāstrād ā pibataṁ somyam madhu || 6 ||
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).