Hymn to Soma Pavamana
Rigveda IX.106 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.
1. Let these pressed tawny drops go straight to Indra, the bull. The drops, born eager to obey, find the light of the sun.
2. This gain-winning Soma, pressed for Indra, flows clear for the winning. Soma shows itself as belonging to the victor, as is well known.
3. In the exhilaration of this Soma, Indra grasped the winning handful, and bore up the mighty mace — conqueror amid the waters.
4. Race forth, wakeful Soma; stream around for Indra, O drop. Bring here the shining strength that finds the sun.
5. Flow clear for Indra, mighty exhilaration, seen by all — you of a thousand courses, path-maker, far-seeing.
6. Best finder of the way for us, sweetest for the gods — travel by a thousand paths, roaring as you go.
7. Flow, O drop, for the gods' feast, with streams, with vigor. Honeyed Soma, settle into our vat.
8. Your drops, swimming in the waters, have strengthened Indra to exhilaration; the gods have gladly drunk you for immortality.
9. Pressed drops, being purified, hasten wealth to us — rain-bringers, streaming like water, finding the sun.
10. Soma, being purified, races with a wave through the woolen filter — at the head of the sacred word, self-purifying, roaring.
11. With their thoughts they speed the vigorous one, sporting in the wooden vat, past the fleece; the hymns have sounded together toward the three-backed one.
12. He has been loosed toward the vats like a prize-seeking steed in the contest; purifying himself, generating speech, he has streamed forth.
13. The desired tawny one flows clear, swiftly past the crooked places, streaming to the singers glory rich in sons and heroes.
14. By this way flow clear, seeking the gods — the streams of honey have been released. Roaring, you circle the filter on every side.
Translator's note: "the three-backed one" (tripṛṣṭham, v. 11) is an obscure epithet, possibly referring to Soma's triple pressing or a triple-ridged vessel; rendered literally rather than resolved. "Kam" in v. 8 is a Vedic particle of untranslatable nuance (contentment/eagerness), omitted from the English rather than guessed at.
Colophon
Rigveda IX.106 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.106
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.
indram accha sutā ime vṛṣaṇaṁ yantu harayaḥ |
śruṣṭī jātāsa indavaḥ svarvidaḥ || 1 ||
ayam bharāya sānasir indrāya pavate sutaḥ |
somo jaitrasya cetati yathā vide || 2 ||
asyed indro madeṣv ā grābhaṁ gṛbhṇīta sānasim |
vajraṁ ca vṛṣaṇam bharat sam apsujit || 3 ||
pra dhanvā soma jāgṛvir indrāyendo pari srava |
dyumantaṁ śuṣmam ā bharā svarvidam || 4 ||
indrāya vṛṣaṇam madam pavasva viśvadarśataḥ |
sahasrayāmā pathikṛd vicakṣaṇaḥ || 5 ||
asmabhyaṁ gātuvittamo devebhyo madhumattamaḥ |
sahasraṁ yāhi pathibhiḥ kanikradat || 6 ||
pavasva devavītaya indo dhārābhir ojasā |
ā kalaśam madhumān soma naḥ sadaḥ || 7 ||
tava drapsā udapruta indram madāya vāvṛdhuḥ |
tvāṁ devāso amṛtāya kam papuḥ || 8 ||
ā naḥ sutāsa indavaḥ punānā dhāvatā rayim |
vṛṣṭidyāvo rītyāpaḥ svarvidaḥ || 9 ||
somaḥ punāna ūrmiṇāvyo vāraṁ vi dhāvati |
agre vācaḥ pavamānaḥ kanikradat || 10 ||
dhībhir hinvanti vājinaṁ vane krīḻantam atyavim |
abhi tripṛṣṭham matayaḥ sam asvaran || 11 ||
asarji kalaśām̐ abhi mīḻhe saptir na vājayuḥ |
punāno vācaṁ janayann asiṣyadat || 12 ||
pavate haryato harir ati hvarāṁsi raṁhyā |
abhyarṣan stotṛbhyo vīravad yaśaḥ || 13 ||
ayā pavasva devayur madhor dhārā asṛkṣata |
rebhan pavitram pary eṣi viśvataḥ || 14 ||
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).