Hymn to Pavamana Soma
Rigveda IX.24 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 soma drops have run forth, the self-purifying drops. Mixing themselves, they cleanse themselves in the waters.
2. The streams ran toward them, like waters flowing down a slope. Being purified, they reached Indra.
3. You run forth, O Purifying One, O Soma, for Indra to drink. Guided by men's hands, you are led onward.
4. You, O Soma, gladdener of men, purify yourself for him who overpowers the peoples — you the winner, who is to be exulted with.
5. O drop, when pressed by the stones, you run around the filter, fit for Indra's dwelling place.
6. Flow on, purifying, mightiest slayer of Vṛtra, to be exulted with by hymns of praise — bright, purifying, wondrous.
7. He is called bright and purifying, this Soma of the pressed sweetness — seeker of the gods, smiter of him who speaks evil.
Translator's note: "carṣaṇīsahe" (verse 4) is a standing epithet of Indra ("overpowerer of the peoples/tribes") rendered descriptively rather than as a proper name, since the Sanskrit itself uses the epithet, not "Indra." "sasniḥ" (verse 4) carries a sense of "winning, attaining, gaining" — rendered here as "the winner." "gāvaḥ" (verse 2), literally "cows," is used in this Soma-pavamana context for the milk or streams mixed with the soma; rendered as "streams" to keep the sense in modern English while noting the literal image.
Colophon
Rigveda IX.24 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.24
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 somāso adhanviṣuḥ pavamānāsa indavaḥ |
śrīṇānā apsu mṛñjata || 1 ||
abhi gāvo adhanviṣur āpo na pravatā yatīḥ |
punānā indram āśata || 2 ||
pra pavamāna dhanvasi somendrāya pātave |
nṛbhir yato vi nīyase || 3 ||
tvaṁ soma nṛmādanaḥ pavasva carṣaṇīsahe |
sasnir yo anumādyaḥ || 4 ||
indo yad adribhiḥ sutaḥ pavitram paridhāvasi |
aram indrasya dhāmne || 5 ||
pavasva vṛtrahantamokthebhir anumādyaḥ |
śuciḥ pāvako adbhutaḥ || 6 ||
śuciḥ pāvaka ucyate somaḥ sutasya madhvaḥ |
devāvīr aghaśaṁsahā || 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).