Hymn to Soma Pavamana
Rigveda IX.11 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. Sing to him, you men, to the self-purifying drop — he seeks to reach the gods.
2. The sons of Atharvan have mixed your milk with honey: a god, eager for the gods, made ready for the god.
3. Purify yourself for us: good for the cow, good for the people, good for the horse, good for the plants, O king.
4. Now sing a song to the tawny one, strong in himself, the ruddy one who touches the sky — to Soma.
5. Purify the pressed Soma with stones moved by hand; run honey into honey.
6. Sit down before him with homage, mix him with curds; place the drop within Indra.
7. Slayer of enemies, all-seeing, purify yourself, Soma, for the good of the cow, doing what pleases the gods.
8. For Indra to drink, Soma, for his exhilaration, you are poured out all around — you who are lord of mind, even of thought itself.
9. Purifying one, pour out for us wealth in good sons and strength, O drop, with Indra as our ally.
Translator's note: verse 2's "devayu" (eager for/seeking the gods) could describe either the Atharvans or the god Soma himself; the syntax allows either reading, and the rendering above keeps that ambiguity open rather than resolving it. Verse 8's closing phrase "manaścin manasas patiḥ" is elliptical — literally "even mind, lord of mind" — rendered here as "lord of mind, even of thought itself."
Colophon
Rigveda IX.11 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.11
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.
upāsmai gāyatā naraḥ pavamānāyendave |
abhi devām̐ iyakṣate || 1 ||
abhi te madhunā payo 'tharvāṇo aśiśrayuḥ |
devaṁ devāya devayu || 2 ||
sa naḥ pavasva śaṁ gave śaṁ janāya śam arvate |
śaṁ rājann oṣadhībhyaḥ || 3 ||
babhrave nu svatavase 'ruṇāya divispṛśe |
somāya gātham arcata || 4 ||
hastacyutebhir adribhiḥ sutaṁ somam punītana |
madhāv ā dhāvatā madhu || 5 ||
namased upa sīdata dadhned abhi śrīṇītana |
indum indre dadhātana || 6 ||
amitrahā vicarṣaṇiḥ pavasva soma śaṁ gave |
devebhyo anukāmakṛt || 7 ||
indrāya soma pātave madāya pari ṣicyase |
manaścin manasas patiḥ || 8 ||
pavamāna suvīryaṁ rayiṁ soma rirīhi naḥ |
indav indreṇa no yujā || 9 ||
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).