Hymn to Soma Pavamāna
Rigveda IX.26 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 inspired poets have cleansed him, the vigorous one, upon Aditi's lap, with subtle insight.
2. The cows have lowed toward him, the imperishable one of a thousand streams — the drop, the upholder, reaching to heaven.
3. With wisdom they have driven him onward — the ordainer, the purifying one on high, the sustainer, rich in nourishment.
4. With the skill of their two hands they have driven him onward, wrapping himself in Vivasvant's garment — the lord of speech, whom none can deceive.
5. Upon the ridge the sister fingers drive him, the tawny one, with the stones — the lovely one, who sees with many eyes.
6. The wise ones drive you onward, O purifying one, grown strong through song — O drop, the exhilarating one, for Indra.
Translator's note: "bhurijoḥ dhiyā" (v. 4) literally reads "by the thought/skill of the two arms," taken here as the pressing priest's two hands at work; "saṃvasānam vivasvataḥ" ("clothing himself, of Vivasvant") is kept conservative, as the exact sense of Soma's relation to Vivasvant here is not fully certain.
Colophon
Rigveda IX.26 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.26
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.
tam amṛkṣanta vājinam upasthe aditer adhi |
viprāso aṇvyā dhiyā || 1 ||
taṁ gāvo abhy anūṣata sahasradhāram akṣitam |
induṁ dhartāram ā divaḥ || 2 ||
taṁ vedhām medhayāhyan pavamānam adhi dyavi |
dharṇasim bhūridhāyasam || 3 ||
tam ahyan bhurijor dhiyā saṁvasānaṁ vivasvataḥ |
patiṁ vāco adābhyam || 4 ||
taṁ sānāv adhi jāmayo hariṁ hinvanty adribhiḥ |
haryatam bhūricakṣasam || 5 ||
taṁ tvā hinvanti vedhasaḥ pavamāna girāvṛdham |
indav indrāya matsaram || 6 ||
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).