Hymn to Soma Pavamana

Rigveda IX.1 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) from Maṇḍala 9 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. Maṇḍala 9 consists entirely of hymns to Soma Pavamana — the soma-juice as it is purified through the woolen strainer — and IX.1 opens the book.

1. Flow purified, O Soma, in your sweetest, most intoxicating stream, pressed out for Indra to drink.

2. Slayer of demons, seen by all peoples, he has settled onto the iron-wrought vessel, his shared resting place, borne by the wood.

3. Be the best granter of open room, most generous, greatest slayer of Vṛtra; carry across to us the bounty of the generous ones.

4. Stream toward the feast of the great gods with your juice; stream toward the prize, and toward fame.

5. We go toward you for this very purpose, day after day; O drop, our hopes are set in you.

6. The daughter of Sūrya purifies your flowing soma, with the unfailing strainer, in an unbroken stream.

7. The slender ones seize him in the contest — the ten maidens, sisters, on the decisive day.

8. The unwed maidens drive him on; they blow the roaring skin-bag, the threefold, potent sweetness.

9. And the inviolable cows prepare him, their own young one, the soma, for Indra to drink.

10. In the intoxications of this soma, Indra strikes down all the obstacles; the hero also bestows his gifts.

Translator's note: "the ten maidens" (v.7) and "the unwed maidens" (v.8) are the ten fingers of the priest pressing the soma, a standard Rigvedic figure; rendered literally here rather than glossed. "The iron-wrought vessel" (v.2) and "the wood" refer to the metal pressing-stone/vat and the wooden soma-vessel.

Colophon

Rigveda IX.1 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 IX.1

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.

svādiṣṭhayā madiṣṭhayā pavasva soma dhārayā |
indrāya pātave sutaḥ || 1 ||

rakṣohā viśvacarṣaṇir abhi yonim ayohatam |
druṇā sadhastham āsadat || 2 ||

varivodhātamo bhava maṁhiṣṭho vṛtrahantamaḥ |
parṣi rādho maghonām || 3 ||

abhy arṣa mahānāṁ devānāṁ vītim andhasā |
abhi vājam uta śravaḥ || 4 ||

tvām acchā carāmasi tad id arthaṁ dive-dive |
indo tve na āśasaḥ || 5 ||

punāti te parisrutaṁ somaṁ sūryasya duhitā |
vāreṇa śaśvatā tanā || 6 ||

tam īm aṇvīḥ samarya ā gṛbhṇanti yoṣaṇo daśa |
svasāraḥ pārye divi || 7 ||

tam īṁ hinvanty agruvo dhamanti bākuraṁ dṛtim |
tridhātu vāraṇam madhu || 8 ||

abhī3mam aghnyā uta śrīṇanti dhenavaḥ śiśum |
somam indrāya pātave || 9 ||

asyed indro madeṣv ā viśvā vṛtrāṇi jighnate |
śūro maghā ca maṁhate || 10 ||

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).