Hymn to Soma Pavamana
Rigveda IX.37 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. He, the virile Soma, pressed out for drinking, rushes into the filter, striking down the demons, seeking the gods.
2. He, the far-seeing tawny one, rushes into the filter, steadfast, bellowing toward his source.
3. He, the vigorous one, purifying himself, races through the shining realms of heaven, the demon-slayer, through the woolen strainer.
4. He, purifying himself on the ridge of Trita, made the sun shine forth together with his kindred.
5. He, the slayer of Vṛtra, the bull, pressed out, finding open room, unassailable — Soma has rushed forth like one racing for a prize.
6. He, the god, urged on by the sage, runs toward the wooden vats — the drop, generously, for Indra.
Translator's note: verse 4's "kindred" (jāmibhiḥ) likely refers to the waters or sister-streams that accompany Soma in the purification; the phrase "on the ridge of Trita" refers to the deity Trita Āptya, associated in the Rigveda with Soma's purification.
Colophon
Rigveda IX.37 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.37
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.
sa sutaḥ pītaye vṛṣā somaḥ pavitre arṣati |
vighnan rakṣāṁsi devayuḥ || 1 ||
sa pavitre vicakṣaṇo harir arṣati dharṇasiḥ |
abhi yoniṁ kanikradat || 2 ||
sa vājī rocanā divaḥ pavamāno vi dhāvati |
rakṣohā vāram avyayam || 3 ||
sa tritasyādhi sānavi pavamāno arocayat |
jāmibhiḥ sūryaṁ saha || 4 ||
sa vṛtrahā vṛṣā suto varivovid adābhyaḥ |
somo vājam ivāsarat || 5 ||
sa devaḥ kavineṣito3 'bhi droṇāni dhāvati |
indur indrāya maṁhanā || 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).