Hymn to Soma Pavamana
Rigveda IX.15 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. This hero moves with insight through the fine filter, on swift chariots, journeying toward Indra's meeting place.
2. This one turns his mind to many things for the great gathering of the gods, where the immortal ones sit enthroned.
3. Set in motion, he is led forth within, along the bright path, when the eager ones drive him on.
4. This bull of the herd, shaking his horns, sharpens himself, holding his manly powers ready in strength.
5. This racer moves with the shining golden stalks, becoming lord of the rivers.
6. This one, swollen with treasures, having passed beyond the joints of the stalk, goes down into the resting-places.
7. The people of Āyu groom this one who is to be groomed, at the wooden vats, he who brings forth great streams of nourishment.
8. Ten fingers and seven thoughts groom this one, well-armed, most exhilarating.
Translator's note: verse 6 turns on the obscure form "pibdanā" and the sense of "paruṣā" (the stalk's joints/knots); the rendering above is conservative rather than confident. "śādeṣu" is read as the resting-places or seats into which the pressed Soma settles (the wooden vessels/filter), following the vat-imagery of the surrounding verses.
Colophon
Rigveda IX.15 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.15
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.
eṣa dhiyā yāty aṇvyā śūro rathebhir āśubhiḥ |
gacchann indrasya niṣkṛtam || 1 ||
eṣa purū dhiyāyate bṛhate devatātaye |
yatrāmṛtāsa āsate || 2 ||
eṣa hito vi nīyate 'ntaḥ śubhrāvatā pathā |
yadī tuñjanti bhūrṇayaḥ || 3 ||
eṣa śṛṅgāṇi dodhuvac chiśīte yūthyo3 vṛṣā |
nṛmṇā dadhāna ojasā || 4 ||
eṣa rukmibhir īyate vājī śubhrebhir aṁśubhiḥ |
patiḥ sindhūnām bhavan || 5 ||
eṣa vasūni pibdanā paruṣā yayivām̐ ati |
ava śādeṣu gacchati || 6 ||
etam mṛjanti marjyam upa droṇeṣv āyavaḥ |
pracakrāṇam mahīr iṣaḥ || 7 ||
etam u tyaṁ daśa kṣipo mṛjanti sapta dhītayaḥ |
svāyudham madintamam || 8 ||
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).