Hymn to Soma Pavamāna (the Purifying Soma)
Rigveda IX.63 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. Flow pure, O Soma, bring us wealth in the thousands, rich in strong sons; establish fame in us.
2. You swell with nourishment and strength, most intoxicating for Indra; you settle down into the cups.
3. Pressed for Indra and Vishnu, the soma has flowed into the jar; let it be sweet as honey for Vayu.
4. These swift brown drops have streamed across the crooked paths, in the stream of truth.
5. Strengthening Indra, crossing the waters, making all things noble, driving off the stingy.
6. The pressed brown drops flow toward their own realm, the drops going toward Indra.
7. Flow pure by this same stream by which you made the sun shine, setting in motion the waters of mortals.
8. Purifying himself, he has yoked Etasha, the sun's steed, before Manu, to journey through the midspace.
9. And he has yoked those ten tawny mares of the sun for the journey, the drop crying, "To Indra!"
10. Pour, with songs, into the woolen filter the soma pressed for Vayu, exhilarating for Indra.
11. O purifying Soma, win for us wealth unsurpassable, wealth unreachable by the hostile rival.
12. Flow toward thousandfold wealth rich in cattle and horses, toward strength-prize and fame.
13. The god Soma, like the sun, pressed by the stones, flows pure, placing his sap into the jar.
14. These bright drops, by the stream of truth, have flowed to the Aryan realms, toward the prize rich in cattle.
15. Pressed for Indra the mace-wielder, the somas mixed with curds have flowed through the filter.
16. Flow forth, O Soma, sweetest, into the filter, toward wealth — the intoxicant that most invites the gods.
17. The Āyus cleanse him, the tawny, vigorous one, in the rivers — the drop that gladdens Indra.
18. Flow pure, O Soma, bringing gold, horses, and strong sons; bring the prize rich in cattle.
19. Pour it around into the woolen filter — like a horse racing for the prize — the sweetest draught for Indra.
20. The inspired ones, seeking help, cleanse with their thoughts the poet-sage worthy of cleansing; the bull flows on, bellowing.
21. To the bull who crosses through their thoughts, to Soma in the stream of truth, the inspired ones have cried out together with their hymn.
22. Flow pure, with the god-seeking Āyus; let your intoxicating drink go to Indra; ascend to Vayu according to due order.
23. O purifying Soma, you pour down wealth worthy of renown; beloved one, enter the ocean.
24. Driving away the scornful foes, you flow pure, knowing your purpose, exhilarating Soma; drive off the people who do not seek the gods.
25. The purifying, bright soma-drops have streamed forth, toward all works of poetic wisdom.
26. The purifying, swift, bright drops have streamed forth, driving off all hatreds.
27. Purifying, they have streamed from the sky, from the midair, down onto the surface of the earth.
28. Purifying yourself, O Soma, O drop, by your stream drive away all harms; smite the demons, O wise one.
29. Driving away the demons, O Soma, flow forth roaring, toward the most radiant, supreme power.
30. Establish in us, O Soma, treasures both heavenly and earthly, O drop — all things to be desired.
Translator's note: "Āyus" (verses 17, 22) refers to the descendants of Āyu, an ancestral figure associated with the human line and, by extension, with the priests performing the ritual; the word is left untranslated as a proper name rather than rendered generically as "men." "Etasha" (verse 8) is a mythic horse associated with the sun. Verse 22's "devāyuṣak" is a compressed compound (roughly "joined with those who long for the gods") rendered conservatively as "with the god-seeking Āyus."
Colophon
Rigveda IX.63 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.63
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.
ā pavasva sahasriṇaṁ rayiṁ soma suvīryam |
asme śravāṁsi dhāraya || 1 ||
iṣam ūrjaṁ ca pinvasa indrāya matsarintamaḥ |
camūṣv ā ni ṣīdasi || 2 ||
suta indrāya viṣṇave somaḥ kalaśe akṣarat |
madhumām̐ astu vāyave || 3 ||
ete asṛgram āśavo 'ti hvarāṁsi babhravaḥ |
somā ṛtasya dhārayā || 4 ||
indraṁ vardhanto apturaḥ kṛṇvanto viśvam āryam |
apaghnanto arāvṇaḥ || 5 ||
sutā anu svam ā rajo 'bhy arṣanti babhravaḥ |
indraṁ gacchanta indavaḥ || 6 ||
ayā pavasva dhārayā yayā sūryam arocayaḥ |
hinvāno mānuṣīr apaḥ || 7 ||
ayukta sūra etaśam pavamāno manāv adhi |
antarikṣeṇa yātave || 8 ||
uta tyā harito daśa sūro ayukta yātave |
indur indra iti bruvan || 9 ||
parīto vāyave sutaṁ gira indrāya matsaram |
avyo vāreṣu siñcata || 10 ||
pavamāna vidā rayim asmabhyaṁ soma duṣṭaram |
yo dūṇāśo vanuṣyatā || 11 ||
abhy arṣa sahasriṇaṁ rayiṁ gomantam aśvinam |
abhi vājam uta śravaḥ || 12 ||
somo devo na sūryo 'dribhiḥ pavate sutaḥ |
dadhānaḥ kalaśe rasam || 13 ||
ete dhāmāny āryā śukrā ṛtasya dhārayā |
vājaṁ gomantam akṣaran || 14 ||
sutā indrāya vajriṇe somāso dadhyāśiraḥ |
pavitram aty akṣaran || 15 ||
pra soma madhumattamo rāye arṣa pavitra ā |
mado yo devavītamaḥ || 16 ||
tam ī mṛjanty āyavo hariṁ nadīṣu vājinam |
indum indrāya matsaram || 17 ||
ā pavasva hiraṇyavad aśvāvat soma vīravat |
vājaṁ gomantam ā bhara || 18 ||
pari vāje na vājayum avyo vāreṣu siñcata |
indrāya madhumattamam || 19 ||
kavim mṛjanti marjyaṁ dhībhir viprā avasyavaḥ |
vṛṣā kanikrad arṣati || 20 ||
vṛṣaṇaṁ dhībhir apturaṁ somam ṛtasya dhārayā |
matī viprāḥ sam asvaran || 21 ||
pavasva devāyuṣag indraṁ gacchatu te madaḥ |
vāyum ā roha dharmaṇā || 22 ||
pavamāna ni tośase rayiṁ soma śravāyyam |
priyaḥ samudram ā viśa || 23 ||
apaghnan pavase mṛdhaḥ kratuvit soma matsaraḥ |
nudasvādevayuṁ janam || 24 ||
pavamānā asṛkṣata somāḥ śukrāsa indavaḥ |
abhi viśvāni kāvyā || 25 ||
pavamānāsa āśavaḥ śubhrā asṛgram indavaḥ |
ghnanto viśvā apa dviṣaḥ || 26 ||
pavamānā divas pary antarikṣād asṛkṣata |
pṛthivyā adhi sānavi || 27 ||
punānaḥ soma dhārayendo viśvā apa sridhaḥ |
jahi rakṣāṁsi sukrato || 28 ||
apaghnan soma rakṣaso 'bhy arṣa kanikradat |
dyumantaṁ śuṣmam uttamam || 29 ||
asme vasūni dhāraya soma divyāni pārthivā |
indo viśvāni vāryā || 30 ||
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).