Hymn to Soma Pavamana
Rigveda IX.23 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 swift soma-drops have been poured out in a stream of the sweet intoxicating drink — toward all the sacred poems.
2. The ancient Āyus have stepped forward onto a newer path; to make radiance, they brought forth the sun.
3. O Pavamana, bring to us the wealth of the stranger who gives no offerings — make our food rich, generative, full of offspring.
4. The soma-drops of the Āyus purify themselves toward the intoxicating exhilaration, toward the vessel that drips with sweetness.
5. Soma the sustainer flows, bearing the sap that belongs to Indra — rich in strong sons, a guard against curses.
6. O Soma, you purify yourself for Indra, for the gods, fit to be shared at their common feast; O drop, you strive to win strength.
7. Having drunk of these exhilarating draughts, Indra struck down the Vṛtras that nothing could withstand — and he will strike again.
Translator's note: "prajāvatīr iṣaḥ" (3) is rendered "food… full of offspring" — a compressed Vedic idiom for nourishment that itself generates increase and progeny. "Abhiśastipāḥ" (5) is translated "a guard against curses," following its literal sense of protection (pā) against false accusation or imprecation (abhiśasti).
Colophon
Rigveda IX.23 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.
🌲
Source Text: ṛgveda IX.23
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.
somā asṛgram āśavo madhor madasya dhārayā |
abhi viśvāni kāvyā || 1 ||
anu pratnāsa āyavaḥ padaṁ navīyo akramuḥ |
ruce jananta sūryam || 2 ||
ā pavamāna no bharāryo adāśuṣo gayam |
kṛdhi prajāvatīr iṣaḥ || 3 ||
abhi somāsa āyavaḥ pavante madyam madam |
abhi kośam madhuścutam || 4 ||
somo arṣati dharṇasir dadhāna indriyaṁ rasam |
suvīro abhiśastipāḥ || 5 ||
indrāya soma pavase devebhyaḥ sadhamādyaḥ |
indo vājaṁ siṣāsasi || 6 ||
asya pītvā madānām indro vṛtrāṇy aprati |
jaghāna jaghanac ca nu || 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).