Hymn to Soma
Rigveda IX.22 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. These swift soma-juices have rushed forward like racing chariots; loosed as streams, they have surged.
2. Like wide winds, like the rains of Parjanya, like the flickering flames of fire, they roam freely.
3. These purified, inspired soma-juices, mixed with curds, have through inspiration filled our thoughts.
4. These polished, immortal ones, though running on, have not grown weary, pressing toward the paths of the airy region.
5. As they go forth, these have reached the surfaces of the two world-halves, and also this highest region.
6. Along the slopes they have reached the highest thread as it stretches out, and this uppermost point.
7. You, Soma, seized from the Paṇis the wealth of cattle; you roared out over the outstretched thread.
Translator's note: "rajaḥ" (vv. 4–5) denotes the airy/atmospheric region between earth and heaven, rendered here as "region" or "sky." The "thread" (tantu) in verses 6–7 is a recurring Rigvedic image for the stretched course or path the soma-stream follows; its exact referent is debated and left literal rather than resolved.
Colophon
Rigveda IX.22 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.22
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.
ete somāsa āśavo rathā iva pra vājinaḥ |
sargāḥ sṛṣṭā aheṣata || 1 ||
ete vātā ivoravaḥ parjanyasyeva vṛṣṭayaḥ |
agner iva bhramā vṛthā || 2 ||
ete pūtā vipaścitaḥ somāso dadhyāśiraḥ |
vipā vy ānaśur dhiyaḥ || 3 ||
ete mṛṣṭā amartyāḥ sasṛvāṁso na śaśramuḥ |
iyakṣantaḥ patho rajaḥ || 4 ||
ete pṛṣṭhāni rodasor viprayanto vy ānaśuḥ |
utedam uttamaṁ rajaḥ || 5 ||
tantuṁ tanvānam uttamam anu pravata āśata |
utedam uttamāyyam || 6 ||
tvaṁ soma paṇibhya ā vasu gavyāni dhārayaḥ |
tataṁ tantum acikradaḥ || 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).