Hymn to Soma Pavamāna, the Self-Purifying
Rigveda IX.67 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, O Soma, are the sustainer, the joyous one, mightiest at the rite. Flow clear, bestowing wealth.
2. Pressed, gladdening men, having run your course, most intoxicating — a patron for Indra with your juice.
3. Pressed by the stones, flow forth roaring, toward the highest brilliant power.
4. The drop, impelled, flows through the sheep's-wool filter-strands; the tawny one has roared for the prize.
5. O drop, you flow through the fleece — fame, good fortune, and prizes rich in cattle flow with you, O Soma.
6. Bring us, O drop, wealth hundredfold, rich in cattle and horses, O Soma, thousandfold.
7. The self-purifying drops, swift through the filter, have reached Indra on their courses.
8. The eminent soma-sap, the drop, primal, for Indra — the living one purifies itself for the living.
9. The ruddy ones impel the bright one, purifying, dripping with sweetness; with song they have sung out together.
10. Pūṣan, whose steeds are goats, is our protector on every journey; may he grant us our share among maidens.
11. This Soma purifies itself like ghee, like honey, for the braided-haired one; may he grant us our share among maidens.
12. This pressed Soma purifies itself pure as ghee for you, O radiant one; may he grant us our share among maidens.
13. Offspring of the poets' speech, purify yourself in a stream, O Soma; among the gods you are the bestower of treasure.
14. He runs into the vats; the falcon plunges through the armor, roaring toward the wooden troughs.
15. Your sap, O Soma, pressed, has been poured forth into the vat; it flows like a falcon shot from the bow.
16. Purify yourself, O Soma, gladdening Indra, sweetest of all.
17. They have been let loose for the gods' feast, racing like chariots for the prize.
18. Those pressed drops, most intoxicating, bright, have sped forth to Vāyu.
19. Struck by the pressing-stone, praised, you go to the filter, O Soma, bestowing on your singer fine strength of heroes.
20. This one, struck, praised, plunges through the woolen strainer — the demon-slayer.
21. Whatever fear is near, whatever is far, that finds me here — strike it away, O purifying one.
22. May he, purifying today, active and far-seeing, through the filter — he who is the purifier — purify us.
23. Your filter, O Agni, stretched within your flame — with that, and with the sacred word, purify us.
24. Your radiant, flame-bearing filter, O Agni — with that purify us; purify us with the impulses of sacred speech.
25. With both, O god Savitar — with the filter and with your impelling power — purify me wholly.
26. With three highest powers, you, god Savitar; O Soma, with your domains; O Agni, with your skills — purify us.
27. Let the divine folk purify me, let the Vasus purify me with insight; All-Gods, purify me; O Jātavedas, purify me.
28. Swell forth, flow forth, O Soma, with all your stalks, as the highest offering for the gods.
29. We have approached the dear, admired youth, who waxes strong through offerings, bearing our homage.
30. The axe of Alāyya has vanished; bring it back, O god Soma, by your purifying flow — and the rat too, O god Soma.
31. Whoever recites the Pavamāna verses — the sap gathered by the seers — he partakes wholly of it, purified, sweetened by Mātariśvan.
32. Whoever recites the Pavamāna verses — the sap gathered by the seers — for him Sarasvatī milks forth milk, ghee, honey, and water.
Translator's note: Verse 30 (alāyyasya paraśur nanāśa ... ākhuṁ cid eva) is one of the most obscure verses in the Rigveda. "Alāyya" and the mention of a lost axe and a rat or mole (ākhu) have no agreed explanation among traditional or modern interpreters; the rendering above stays close to the words themselves rather than supplying a speculative narrative. In verses 11–12, "kapardine" and "āghṛṇe" are epithets (braided-haired one; radiant one) most often read as referring to Pūṣan, continuing from verse 10, though the Sanskrit does not repeat his name.
Colophon
Rigveda IX.67 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.67
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.
tvaṁ somāsi dhārayur mandra ojiṣṭho adhvare |
pavasva maṁhayadrayiḥ || 1 ||
tvaṁ suto nṛmādano dadhanvān matsarintamaḥ |
indrāya sūrir andhasā || 2 ||
tvaṁ suṣvāṇo adribhir abhy arṣa kanikradat |
dyumantaṁ śuṣmam uttamam || 3 ||
indur hinvāno arṣati tiro vārāṇy avyayā |
harir vājam acikradat || 4 ||
indo vy avyam arṣasi vi śravāṁsi vi saubhagā |
vi vājān soma gomataḥ || 5 ||
ā na indo śatagvinaṁ rayiṁ gomantam aśvinam |
bharā soma sahasriṇam || 6 ||
pavamānāsa indavas tiraḥ pavitram āśavaḥ |
indraṁ yāmebhir āśata || 7 ||
kakuhaḥ somyo rasa indur indrāya pūrvyaḥ |
āyuḥ pavata āyave || 8 ||
hinvanti sūram usrayaḥ pavamānam madhuścutam |
abhi girā sam asvaran || 9 ||
avitā no ajāśvaḥ pūṣā yāmani-yāmani |
ā bhakṣat kanyāsu naḥ || 10 ||
ayaṁ somaḥ kapardine ghṛtaṁ na pavate madhu |
ā bhakṣat kanyāsu naḥ || 11 ||
ayaṁ ta āghṛṇe suto ghṛtaṁ na pavate śuci |
ā bhakṣat kanyāsu naḥ || 12 ||
vāco jantuḥ kavīnām pavasva soma dhārayā |
deveṣu ratnadhā asi || 13 ||
ā kalaśeṣu dhāvati śyeno varma vi gāhate |
abhi droṇā kanikradat || 14 ||
pari pra soma te raso 'sarji kalaśe sutaḥ |
śyeno na takto arṣati || 15 ||
pavasva soma mandayann indrāya madhumattamaḥ || 16 ||
asṛgran devavītaye vājayanto rathā iva || 17 ||
te sutāso madintamāḥ śukrā vāyum asṛkṣata || 18 ||
grāvṇā tunno abhiṣṭutaḥ pavitraṁ soma gacchasi |
dadhat stotre suvīryam || 19 ||
eṣa tunno abhiṣṭutaḥ pavitram ati gāhate |
rakṣohā vāram avyayam || 20 ||
yad anti yac ca dūrake bhayaṁ vindati mām iha |
pavamāna vi taj jahi || 21 ||
pavamānaḥ so adya naḥ pavitreṇa vicarṣaṇiḥ |
yaḥ potā sa punātu naḥ || 22 ||
yat te pavitram arciṣy agne vitatam antar ā |
brahma tena punīhi naḥ || 23 ||
yat te pavitram arcivad agne tena punīhi naḥ |
brahmasavaiḥ punīhi naḥ || 24 ||
ubhābhyāṁ deva savitaḥ pavitreṇa savena ca |
mām punīhi viśvataḥ || 25 ||
tribhiṣ ṭvaṁ deva savitar varṣiṣṭhaiḥ soma dhāmabhiḥ |
agne dakṣaiḥ punīhi naḥ || 26 ||
punantu māṁ devajanāḥ punantu vasavo dhiyā |
viśve devāḥ punīta mā jātavedaḥ punīhi mā || 27 ||
pra pyāyasva pra syandasva soma viśvebhir aṁśubhiḥ |
devebhya uttamaṁ haviḥ || 28 ||
upa priyam panipnataṁ yuvānam āhutīvṛdham |
aganma bibhrato namaḥ || 29 ||
alāyyasya paraśur nanāśa tam ā pavasva deva soma |
ākhuṁ cid eva deva soma || 30 ||
yaḥ pāvamānīr adhyety ṛṣibhiḥ sambhṛtaṁ rasam |
sarvaṁ sa pūtam aśnāti svaditam mātariśvanā || 31 ||
pāvamānīr yo adhyety ṛṣibhiḥ sambhṛtaṁ rasam |
tasmai sarasvatī duhe kṣīraṁ sarpir madhūdakam || 32 ||
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).