Hymn to Soma Pavamana
Rigveda IX.29 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. Forth flow the streams of the bull, the pressed Soma, by his own strength, as he attends on the gods.
2. The wise ones cleanse the courser, the singers praising him with their voice — the light now born, worthy of the hymn.
3. Those gifts of yours, Soma, are easily won for you as you purify yourself, lord of abundant wealth. Swell the sea that is worthy of praise.
4. Winning all goods, flow pure, Soma, in your stream; drive off all hostilities together.
5. Guard us well from the very sound of the one who gives nothing, whoever he may be — the place where we may be freed from reproach.
6. Bright drop, flowing pure in your stream, bring the wealth of earth and of heaven; bring us your shining, stormy might.
Translator's note: "saptim" (v. 2) is literally a draft-horse or courser, a standard image for the Soma stream in this maṇḍala; rendered here as "the courser." "Samudram" (v. 3), literally "the sea/ocean," is a recurring Pavamana-hymn image for the vessel or gathering-place of the purified Soma, kept literal here. "Nidaḥ" (v. 5), "reproach/scorn," is rendered as "reproach."
Colophon
Rigveda IX.29 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.29
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.
prāsya dhārā akṣaran vṛṣṇaḥ sutasyaujasā |
devām̐ anu prabhūṣataḥ || 1 ||
saptim mṛjanti vedhaso gṛṇantaḥ kāravo girā |
jyotir jajñānam ukthyam || 2 ||
suṣahā soma tāni te punānāya prabhūvaso |
vardhā samudram ukthyam || 3 ||
viśvā vasūni saṁjayan pavasva soma dhārayā |
inu dveṣāṁsi sadhryak || 4 ||
rakṣā su no araruṣaḥ svanāt samasya kasya cit |
nido yatra mumucmahe || 5 ||
endo pārthivaṁ rayiṁ divyam pavasva dhārayā |
dyumantaṁ śuṣmam ā bhara || 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).