Hymn to Soma
Rigveda IX.64 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. You are a bull, Soma, brilliant; a bull, god, whose ordinances are bull-like. As a bull you have set your laws in place.
2. Bull-like is your bull-power, bull; bull-like your delight, bull-like your rapture. Truly, bull, you are indeed a bull.
3. Like a horse you have neighed, bull. Gather cows for us, Indu, gather horses. Throw open the doors to wealth for us.
4. The vigorous Soma-juices have poured forth, seeking cows, seeking horses — bright, swift ones, seeking heroes.
5. Adorned by those devoted to truth, cleansed by their two hands, they purify themselves on the fleece of the sheep.
6. May these Somas, every treasure — heavenly, earthly, and of the mid-realm — flow pure for the one who makes offering.
7. All-knowing one, the streams of the purifying Soma have poured forth, like the rays of the sun.
8. Making yourself a beacon around the sky, you flow toward every form; you swell like the sea, Soma.
9. Being roused, you send forth speech, purifying one, in your own course; you have cried out like the sun-god.
10. The bright drop has purified itself, radiant, dear, by the poets' insight; he lets loose his steed like a charioteer.
11. Your wave, seeking the gods, has streamed round into the filter, settling into the womb of truth.
12. Flow for us into the filter, you rapture most welcome to the gods' feast, drop, for Indra to drink.
13. Purify yourself in a stream for our nourishment, being cleansed by the thoughtful; drop, go with your brightness toward the cows.
14. Being purified, grant us relief, give strength to the people, you who love the songs of praise; tawny one, pour yourself out mixed with milk.
15. Being purified for the gods' feast, go to Indra's appointed meeting place, shining, guided by the swift ones.
16. The drops, urged onward, swift, rush toward the sea; sped by insight, they have poured forth.
17. The drops, ever cleansing themselves, the lively ones, have freely gone to the sea; they have come to the womb of truth.
18. Come around us, favoring us, bringing every treasure with your strength; guard for us a shelter rich in heroes.
19. Etaśa the carrier bellows, his pace yoked by the singers, as he is set forth into the sea.
20. When the swift one settles into the golden womb of truth, he leaves the unperceiving behind.
21. The yearning ones have raised their cry to him; the wise pay him worship. The unwise sink down.
22. Purify yourself, drop, sweetest one, for Indra accompanied by the Maruts, to take your seat in the womb of truth.
23. The inspired ones, knowers of speech, the ordainers, fashion you all around; the people cleanse you thoroughly.
24. Your sap Mitra, Aryaman, and Varuṇa drink, sage; and the Maruts drink the sap of you, the self-purifying one.
25. You, Soma, being purified, send forth speech that is wise, drop — speech that carries a thousand gifts.
26. And bring us, Soma, that thousand-gift-bearing speech, eager for the feast, as you purify yourself, drop.
27. Being purified, drop, dear to these people who call on you often, enter the sea.
28. With flashing radiance, with resounding splendor, the bright Somas, mixed with milk, flow forth.
29. Urged on, guided by the drivers, the prize-winner has strode toward the prize, like rivals settling down eagerly.
30. Rightly, Soma, for our well-being, joined with heaven, the sage — purify yourself like the sun, to be seen.
Translator's note: verse 19 names Etaśa, a mythic steed/charioteer figure elsewhere associated with the sun's chariot; here the word (vahnir etaśaḥ, "the carrier Etaśa") is kept as a proper name rather than resolved into a common noun, since the mythological reference is uncertain outside its immediate context. In verse 21, venāḥ ("the yearning/loving ones") is rendered plainly rather than resolved to a technical term, since the word can denote either poet-seers or a more general longing.
Colophon
Rigveda IX.64 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.64
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.
vṛṣā soma dyumām̐ asi vṛṣā deva vṛṣavrataḥ |
vṛṣā dharmāṇi dadhiṣe || 1 ||
vṛṣṇas te vṛṣṇyaṁ śavo vṛṣā vanaṁ vṛṣā madaḥ |
satyaṁ vṛṣan vṛṣed asi || 2 ||
aśvo na cakrado vṛṣā saṁ gā indo sam arvataḥ |
vi no rāye duro vṛdhi || 3 ||
asṛkṣata pra vājino gavyā somāso aśvayā |
śukrāso vīrayāśavaḥ || 4 ||
śumbhamānā ṛtāyubhir mṛjyamānā gabhastyoḥ |
pavante vāre avyaye || 5 ||
te viśvā dāśuṣe vasu somā divyāni pārthivā |
pavantām āntarikṣyā || 6 ||
pavamānasya viśvavit pra te sargā asṛkṣata |
sūryasyeva na raśmayaḥ || 7 ||
ketuṁ kṛṇvan divas pari viśvā rūpābhy arṣasi |
samudraḥ soma pinvase || 8 ||
hinvāno vācam iṣyasi pavamāna vidharmaṇi |
akrān devo na sūryaḥ || 9 ||
induḥ paviṣṭa cetanaḥ priyaḥ kavīnām matī |
sṛjad aśvaṁ rathīr iva || 10 ||
ūrmir yas te pavitra ā devāvīḥ paryakṣarat |
sīdann ṛtasya yonim ā || 11 ||
sa no arṣa pavitra ā mado yo devavītamaḥ |
indav indrāya pītaye || 12 ||
iṣe pavasva dhārayā mṛjyamāno manīṣibhiḥ |
indo rucābhi gā ihi || 13 ||
punāno varivas kṛdhy ūrjaṁ janāya girvaṇaḥ |
hare sṛjāna āśiram || 14 ||
punāno devavītaya indrasya yāhi niṣkṛtam |
dyutāno vājibhir yataḥ || 15 ||
pra hinvānāsa indavo 'cchā samudram āśavaḥ |
dhiyā jūtā asṛkṣata || 16 ||
marmṛjānāsa āyavo vṛthā samudram indavaḥ |
agmann ṛtasya yonim ā || 17 ||
pari ṇo yāhy asmayur viśvā vasūny ojasā |
pāhi naḥ śarma vīravat || 18 ||
mimāti vahnir etaśaḥ padaṁ yujāna ṛkvabhiḥ |
pra yat samudra āhitaḥ || 19 ||
ā yad yoniṁ hiraṇyayam āśur ṛtasya sīdati |
jahāty apracetasaḥ || 20 ||
abhi venā anūṣateyakṣanti pracetasaḥ |
majjanty avicetasaḥ || 21 ||
indrāyendo marutvate pavasva madhumattamaḥ |
ṛtasya yonim āsadam || 22 ||
taṁ tvā viprā vacovidaḥ pari ṣkṛṇvanti vedhasaḥ |
saṁ tvā mṛjanty āyavaḥ || 23 ||
rasaṁ te mitro aryamā pibanti varuṇaḥ kave |
pavamānasya marutaḥ || 24 ||
tvaṁ soma vipaścitam punāno vācam iṣyasi |
indo sahasrabharṇasam || 25 ||
uto sahasrabharṇasaṁ vācaṁ soma makhasyuvam |
punāna indav ā bhara || 26 ||
punāna indav eṣām puruhūta janānām |
priyaḥ samudram ā viśa || 27 ||
davidyutatyā rucā pariṣṭobhantyā kṛpā |
somāḥ śukrā gavāśiraḥ || 28 ||
hinvāno hetṛbhir yata ā vājaṁ vājy akramīt |
sīdanto vanuṣo yathā || 29 ||
ṛdhak soma svastaye saṁjagmāno divaḥ kaviḥ |
pavasva sūryo dṛśe || 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).