O Indra, we celebrate thy greatness through the soma! The sacred juice floweth in thy veins, and by it thou art made mighty beyond all the gods. When thou drinkest deeply of the soma, thy power expandeth to fill all the heavens and all the worlds below. No foe can stand before thee when the soma hath awakened thy wrath.

The soma giveth thee clarity of thought and swiftness of action. It maketh thy muscles strong as iron, and thy blows become as the blows of thunder. With the soma within thee, thou hast the courage to face any enemy, no matter how fearsome or how great. Vṛtra himself, that dreadful serpent, could not withstand thee once the soma had entered thy belly.

We crush the soma with stone and with pressing-boards, according to the ancient rite. The juice floweth golden, like liquid sunlight. We mix it with water and with milk, and the color changeth to the hue of saffron. The smell riseth up, sweet and intoxicating, and the very air becometh thin and shimmering as if the worlds were dissolving into one another.

We pour the soma upon the sacred fires, and it crackles and smoketh, sending its essence upward to thee, O Indra! We drink of it ourselves, that we may taste a portion of thy strength. Our minds become clear; our bodies feel light as air; our hearts swell with courage and with joy. We seem to see beyond the veil that separateth the mortal realm from the realm of the immortals.

O Indra, soma-drinker, strength-giver, victorious one! Drink deeply of what we pour for thee, and in thy gladness and thy power, remember us. Grant us courage equal to our faith; grant us strength proportionate to our need. Let the soma work its magic in our hearts, that we too may taste immortality through thy favor!