Hymn to Soma Pavamana
Rigveda IX.6 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. Maṇḍala 9 is devoted almost entirely to Soma Pavamana — the Soma juice addressed in the act of being pressed and filtered pure. This hymn speaks to the Soma directly as it streams through the wool strainer toward Indra.
1. O Soma, purify yourself, bull, with your delightful stream — seeking the gods, seeking us, through the hairs of the sheep's fleece.
2. Flow, O drop, toward that intoxicating rapture, toward Indra; flow toward the prize-winning steeds.
3. Being pressed, flow into the filter toward that ancient rapture, toward strength and toward fame.
4. The drops, the Soma-drops, have run on like waters flowing down a slope; being purified, they have reached Indra.
5. Whom, like a prize-winning steed, ten maidens groom, as he plays in the wooden vat, beyond the sheep's fleece.
6. Mix that bull-like sap with milk, for rapture, for the feast of the gods — the pressed Soma, bring it and pour it together.
7. The god, pressed, purifies himself in a stream for the god, for Indra, when his milk has swelled with abundance.
8. The very self of the sacrifice, pressed, purifies himself swiftly as he flows; he guards the ancient wisdom of the seers.
9. Thus purifying yourself, seeking Indra, O most intoxicating one, for the feast — you hold the songs of praise even in hidden places.
Translator's note: verse 2's "indra iti kṣara" is an idiom meaning "flow toward/unto Indra," rendered here as "flow ... toward Indra." Verse 5's "atyavim" (beyond/past the ewe) refers to the wool strainer through which the Soma is filtered; verse 8's "kāvyam" (poetic/sagely wisdom) is rendered as "the ancient wisdom of the seers."
Colophon
Rigveda IX.6 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.6
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.
mandrayā soma dhārayā vṛṣā pavasva devayuḥ |
avyo vāreṣv asmayuḥ || 1 ||
abhi tyam madyam madam indav indra iti kṣara |
abhi vājino arvataḥ || 2 ||
abhi tyam pūrvyam madaṁ suvāno arṣa pavitra ā |
abhi vājam uta śravaḥ || 3 ||
anu drapsāsa indava āpo na pravatāsaran |
punānā indram āśata || 4 ||
yam atyam iva vājinam mṛjanti yoṣaṇo daśa |
vane krīḻantam atyavim || 5 ||
taṁ gobhir vṛṣaṇaṁ rasam madāya devavītaye |
sutam bharāya saṁ sṛja || 6 ||
devo devāya dhārayendrāya pavate sutaḥ |
payo yad asya pīpayat || 7 ||
ātmā yajñasya raṁhyā suṣvāṇaḥ pavate sutaḥ |
pratnaṁ ni pāti kāvyam || 8 ||
evā punāna indrayur madam madiṣṭha vītaye |
guhā cid dadhiṣe giraḥ || 9 ||
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).