Hymn to Soma Pavamāna
Rigveda IX.20 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. The seer flows forth through the fleece of the sheep, toward the feast of the gods, having overcome all who stood against him.
2. He indeed sends to the singers a reward rich in cattle, a thousandfold reward, as he, the Purifying One, flows on.
3. With your mind you grasp all things all around; you purify yourself through our hymn of thought. Soma, find fame for us.
4. Stream toward great glory, toward lasting wealth, for our bounteous patrons; bring nourishment to the praisers.
5. Like a dutiful king, you have entered the songs, O Soma — purifying yourself, O wondrous carrier.
6. That carrier, hard to overcome, in the waters, groomed by the two hands of the priest — Soma settles in the bowls.
7. Playful, generous like a festive giver, you go to the filter, O Soma, bestowing heroic strength on the praiser.
Translator's note: "kavi" (v.1, literally "poet" or "seer") and "vahni" (vv.5–6, literally "carrier" or "conveyer") are traditional epithets of Soma himself, not of a human priest; both are rendered literally above. "makha" (v.7) is an obscure term associated with festive or sacrificial abundance and is rendered conservatively as "festive giver."
Colophon
Rigveda IX.20 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.20
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.
pra kavir devavītaye 'vyo vārebhir arṣati |
sāhvān viśvā abhi spṛdhaḥ || 1 ||
sa hi ṣmā jaritṛbhya ā vājaṁ gomantam invati |
pavamānaḥ sahasriṇam || 2 ||
pari viśvāni cetasā mṛśase pavase matī |
sa naḥ soma śravo vidaḥ || 3 ||
abhy arṣa bṛhad yaśo maghavadbhyo dhruvaṁ rayim |
iṣaṁ stotṛbhya ā bhara || 4 ||
tvaṁ rājeva suvrato giraḥ somā viveśitha |
punāno vahne adbhuta || 5 ||
sa vahnir apsu duṣṭaro mṛjyamāno gabhastyoḥ |
somaś camūṣu sīdati || 6 ||
krīḻur makho na maṁhayuḥ pavitraṁ soma gacchasi |
dadhat stotre suvīryam || 7 ||
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).