Hymn to Soma Pavamana
Rigveda IX.66 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 clear, you who belong to all peoples, toward all poetic powers — a friend worthy of praise among friends.
2. By those two realms which stand facing each other, O purifying Soma, you rule over all.
3. You, Soma, encompass on every side the abodes that are yours, O purifying seer, in due season.
4. Flow clear, generating nourishment, toward all things to be desired — a friend to friends, for their help.
5. Your bright rays spread out on the ridge of heaven, O Soma, through the filter, in your forms.
6. These seven rivers of yours flow at your command, O Soma; for you the milk-cows run.
7. Go forth in a stream, O Soma, pressed out, exhilarating for Indra, winning imperishable fame.
8. The seven kindred, urging you on, cried out to you together with their thoughts — the inspired one, in Vivasvant's contest.
9. The unwed maidens groom you together on the swift fleece, amid the sound, when you, the roarer, are anointed in the wooden vat.
10. Your streams, O purifying seer, O winner of the prize, have been let loose like racehorses eager for glory.
11. They have been poured toward the honey-dripping cask, onto the woolen filter; the thoughts cried out.
12. The drops have gone toward the sea, like milk-cows homeward; they have gone to the womb of truth.
13. For our great joy, O drop, the waters, the rivers, flow forth, when you will array yourself with milk.
14. Desiring gain in this friendship of yours, with you as our helper, O drop, we long for your companionship.
15. Flow clear, O Soma, for the winning of cattle, for the great one with the manly gaze — enter Indra's belly.
16. You are great, O Soma, foremost, mightiest of the mighty, O drop; being a warrior, you have won continually.
17. Who is mightier than the mighty, more heroic than heroes, more generous than the generous givers.
18. You, Soma, are this very sun, in the winning of offspring and of our own persons; we choose you for friendship, we choose you for partnership.
19. O Agni, purify our lifespans; bestow on us strength and nourishment; drive misfortune far away.
20. Agni, the purifying seer, the household priest of the five tribes — him we entreat, the one of great abundance.
21. O Agni, skillful worker, purify for us splendor and valor, bestowing wealth, and in me increase.
22. The purifying one flows past all mishaps toward the fine hymn of praise, visible to all like the sun.
23. Being groomed by the Āyus, rich in delight, set toward enjoyment, the drop — a discerning steed.
24. The purifying one has generated the vast truth, the bright light, striking down the black darknesses.
25. Of the purifying, smiting, tawny one, the shining swift drops have poured out, swift of flame.
26. The purifying one, best of charioteers, most brilliantly praised among the bright ones, golden-gleaming, with the Maruts as his troop.
27. The purifying one, greatest winner of the prize, shall spread with his rays, bestowing valor on his praiser.
28. The pressed drop has flowed forth through the woolen filter; the purifying drop, to Indra.
29. This Soma plays with the pressing stones upon the ox-hide, calling Indra again and again to his exhilaration.
30. O purifying one, with that splendid milk of yours brought from heaven, be gracious to us, that we may live.
Translator's note: The hymn's primary deity is Pavamana Soma (the Soma juice purifying itself through the wool filter), but verses 19–21 shift to address Agni directly ("agne," "agnir ṛṣiḥ pavamānaḥ") — a known feature of this hymn, likely reflecting the traditional identification of Soma's purifying brightness with Agni's flame. Verse 2's "dhāmanī" (two abodes) is left untranslated as a specific pair of realms, since the Sanskrit does not name them; verse 9's "agruvaḥ" (unwed maidens/fingers) keeps the hymn's literal image rather than resolving it to "fingers," a common but not certain reading. Verse 18's "sūra eṣas" ("you are this sun") is rendered literally rather than expanded.
Colophon
Rigveda IX.66 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.66
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.
pavasva viśvacarṣaṇe 'bhi viśvāni kāvyā |
sakhā sakhibhya īḍyaḥ || 1 ||
tābhyāṁ viśvasya rājasi ye pavamāna dhāmanī |
pratīcī soma tasthatuḥ || 2 ||
pari dhāmāni yāni te tvaṁ somāsi viśvataḥ |
pavamāna ṛtubhiḥ kave || 3 ||
pavasva janayann iṣo 'bhi viśvāni vāryā |
sakhā sakhibhya ūtaye || 4 ||
tava śukrāso arcayo divas pṛṣṭhe vi tanvate |
pavitraṁ soma dhāmabhiḥ || 5 ||
taveme sapta sindhavaḥ praśiṣaṁ soma sisrate |
tubhyaṁ dhāvanti dhenavaḥ || 6 ||
pra soma yāhi dhārayā suta indrāya matsaraḥ |
dadhāno akṣiti śravaḥ || 7 ||
sam u tvā dhībhir asvaran hinvatīḥ sapta jāmayaḥ |
vipram ājā vivasvataḥ || 8 ||
mṛjanti tvā sam agruvo 'vye jīrāv adhi ṣvaṇi |
rebho yad ajyase vane || 9 ||
pavamānasya te kave vājin sargā asṛkṣata |
arvanto na śravasyavaḥ || 10 ||
acchā kośam madhuścutam asṛgraṁ vāre avyaye |
avāvaśanta dhītayaḥ || 11 ||
acchā samudram indavo 'staṁ gāvo na dhenavaḥ |
agmann ṛtasya yonim ā || 12 ||
pra ṇa indo mahe raṇa āpo arṣanti sindhavaḥ |
yad gobhir vāsayiṣyase || 13 ||
asya te sakhye vayam iyakṣantas tvotayaḥ |
indo sakhitvam uśmasi || 14 ||
ā pavasva gaviṣṭaye mahe soma nṛcakṣase |
endrasya jaṭhare viśa || 15 ||
mahām̐ asi soma jyeṣṭha ugrāṇām inda ojiṣṭhaḥ |
yudhvā sañ chaśvaj jigetha || 16 ||
ya ugrebhyaś cid ojīyāñ chūrebhyaś cic chūrataraḥ |
bhūridābhyaś cin maṁhīyān || 17 ||
tvaṁ soma sūra eṣas tokasya sātā tanūnām |
vṛṇīmahe sakhyāya vṛṇīmahe yujyāya || 18 ||
agna āyūṁṣi pavasa ā suvorjam iṣaṁ ca naḥ |
āre bādhasva ducchunām || 19 ||
agnir ṛṣiḥ pavamānaḥ pāñcajanyaḥ purohitaḥ |
tam īmahe mahāgayam || 20 ||
agne pavasva svapā asme varcaḥ suvīryam |
dadhad rayim mayi poṣam || 21 ||
pavamāno ati sridho 'bhy arṣati suṣṭutim |
sūro na viśvadarśataḥ || 22 ||
sa marmṛjāna āyubhiḥ prayasvān prayase hitaḥ |
indur atyo vicakṣaṇaḥ || 23 ||
pavamāna ṛtam bṛhac chukraṁ jyotir ajījanat |
kṛṣṇā tamāṁsi jaṅghanat || 24 ||
pavamānasya jaṅghnato hareś candrā asṛkṣata |
jīrā ajiraśociṣaḥ || 25 ||
pavamāno rathītamaḥ śubhrebhiḥ śubhraśastamaḥ |
hariścandro marudgaṇaḥ || 26 ||
pavamāno vy aśnavad raśmibhir vājasātamaḥ |
dadhat stotre suvīryam || 27 ||
pra suvāna indur akṣāḥ pavitram aty avyayam |
punāna indur indram ā || 28 ||
eṣa somo adhi tvaci gavāṁ krīḻaty adribhiḥ |
indram madāya johuvat || 29 ||
yasya te dyumnavat payaḥ pavamānābhṛtaṁ divaḥ |
tena no mṛḻa jīvase || 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).