Hymn to Soma

Rigveda VIII.48 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) from Maṇḍala 8 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. Wise, I have tasted the sweet vigor of the well-disposed one, the best finder of freedom — whom all the gods and mortals too, calling him honey, gather around.

2. You have entered within, and become Aditi, the averter of divine violence. O drop, enjoying friendship with Indra, swiftly, along the course — may you prosper us toward wealth.

3. We have drunk soma, we have become immortal; we have gone to the light, we have found the gods. What now can hostility do to us, and what can the malice of a mortal do, O immortal one?

4. Be well-being for us, drunk into the heart, O drop; like a father, kind to his son, O Soma. Like a friend to a friend, widely praised, wise one — extend our lifespan, O Soma, so that we may live.

5. These glorious, freedom-granting drops, drunk by me, have bound themselves at my joints, as oxen are bound to a chariot. Let them protect me from falling apart as I move, and let the drops keep me from failing.

6. Kindle me bright like fire churned into flame; make me shine forth; make us more prosperous. For then indeed, in your exhilaration, O Soma, I think — go forth toward abundance, like a wealthy man advancing toward increase.

7. With eager mind may we partake of your pressed juice, as of ancestral wealth. O King Soma, extend our lifespans, as the sun extends the days.

8. O King Soma, be gracious to us for our well-being; we belong to you, we are bound to your ordinance — know this. Skill and passion arise, O drop; do not hand us over to the will of the rival.

9. For you, O Soma, are the guardian of our bodies; you sit in limb after limb, watching over men. Whatever of your ordinances we fail to keep, be gracious to us for that, good friend, greater god.

10. May I keep company, in friendship, with the gentle one who, drunk, does not harm me, O bearer of tawny horses. This soma that has been placed within us — for that I go on, extending life, toward Indra.

11. Those breathless afflictions have departed; the fearsome darknesses have fled trembling, terrified. Soma, spreading wide, has mounted upon us; we have gone to where they extend life.

12. O fathers, the drop that, drunk, has entered our hearts — immortal into mortals — to that Soma let us offer worship with oblation; may we stand in his mercy and his favor.

13. You, O Soma, in accord with the fathers, have stretched yourself along heaven and earth. To you, O drop, let us offer worship with oblation; may we become lords of riches.

14. O protecting gods, speak on our behalf; let neither sleep nor idle chatter rule over us. May we, forever dear to Soma, rich in strong sons, speak forth at the assembly.

15. You, O Soma, are the giver of vigor to us from every side; you, finder of the world of light, enter in, watching over men. You, O drop, joined with your aid, guard us from behind and also from before.

Translator's note: a few terms resist a single clean English equivalent. Verse 1's varivovittarasya ("best finder of freedom/room/relief") is rendered "best finder of freedom." Verse 10's dharyaśva ("having tawny/bay horses," a standing epithet elsewhere used for Indra) is kept literal as "bearer of tawny horses" rather than resolved to a single addressee, since the verse itself shifts between Soma and Indra. ṛdūdara ("gentle- or straight-bellied," an epithet of Soma) is rendered simply "the gentle one."

Colophon

Rigveda VIII.48 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 VIII.48

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.

svādor abhakṣi vayasaḥ sumedhāḥ svādhyo varivovittarasya |
viśve yaṁ devā uta martyāso madhu bruvanto abhi saṁcaranti || 1 ||

antaś ca prāgā aditir bhavāsy avayātā haraso daivyasya |
indav indrasya sakhyaṁ juṣāṇaḥ śrauṣṭīva dhuram anu rāya ṛdhyāḥ || 2 ||

apāma somam amṛtā abhūmāganma jyotir avidāma devān |
kiṁ nūnam asmān kṛṇavad arātiḥ kim u dhūrtir amṛta martyasya || 3 ||

śaṁ no bhava hṛda ā pīta indo piteva soma sūnave suśevaḥ |
sakheva sakhya uruśaṁsa dhīraḥ pra ṇa āyur jīvase soma tārīḥ || 4 ||

ime mā pītā yaśasa uruṣyavo rathaṁ na gāvaḥ sam anāha parvasu |
te mā rakṣantu visrasaś caritrād uta mā srāmād yavayantv indavaḥ || 5 ||

agniṁ na mā mathitaṁ saṁ didīpaḥ pra cakṣaya kṛṇuhi vasyaso naḥ |
athā hi te mada ā soma manye revām̐ iva pra carā puṣṭim accha || 6 ||

iṣireṇa te manasā sutasya bhakṣīmahi pitryasyeva rāyaḥ |
soma rājan pra ṇa āyūṁṣi tārīr ahānīva sūryo vāsarāṇi || 7 ||

soma rājan mṛḻayā naḥ svasti tava smasi vratyā3s tasya viddhi |
alarti dakṣa uta manyur indo mā no aryo anukāmam parā dāḥ || 8 ||

tvaṁ hi nas tanvaḥ soma gopā gātre-gātre niṣasatthā nṛcakṣāḥ |
yat te vayam pramināma vratāni sa no mṛḻa suṣakhā deva vasyaḥ || 9 ||

ṛdūdareṇa sakhyā saceya yo mā na riṣyed dharyaśva pītaḥ |
ayaṁ yaḥ somo ny adhāyy asme tasmā indram pratiram emy āyuḥ || 10 ||

apa tyā asthur anirā amīvā nir atrasan tamiṣīcīr abhaiṣuḥ |
ā somo asmām̐ aruhad vihāyā aganma yatra pratiranta āyuḥ || 11 ||

yo na induḥ pitaro hṛtsu pīto 'martyo martyām̐ āviveśa |
tasmai somāya haviṣā vidhema mṛḻīke asya sumatau syāma || 12 ||

tvaṁ soma pitṛbhiḥ saṁvidāno 'nu dyāvāpṛthivī ā tatantha |
tasmai ta indo haviṣā vidhema vayaṁ syāma patayo rayīṇām || 13 ||

trātāro devā adhi vocatā no mā no nidrā īśata mota jalpiḥ |
vayaṁ somasya viśvaha priyāsaḥ suvīrāso vidatham ā vadema || 14 ||

tvaṁ naḥ soma viśvato vayodhās tvaṁ svarvid ā viśā nṛcakṣāḥ |
tvaṁ na inda ūtibhiḥ sajoṣāḥ pāhi paścātād uta vā purastāt || 15 ||

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).