Hymn to Soma Pavamana

Rigveda IX.69 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. Like an arrow set upon the bow, my thought is aimed; like a calf it is loosed to the mother's udder. As a broad-streaming cow is milked, coming forth first — within his ordinances Soma too is set in motion.

2. My thought is mingled near, the sweetness is poured; the gladdening tongue stirs within the mouth. The self-purifying stream, unbroken, like beaters driving on a herd — the honeyed drop flows around the fleece.

3. Seeking a bride, he purifies himself upon the fleece; Aditi's granddaughters loosen their robes for him as he goes to the rite. The tawny, worshipful, gathered exhilarating drink has roared; whetting his manly strength, he shines like a buffalo.

4. The bull bellows, the milk-cows come toward him; the goddesses approach the god's meeting place. He has stepped past the bright woolen fleece; Soma has wrapped himself around like a garment newly washed.

5. With an unblemished, shining garment the tawny immortal has clothed and wrapped himself. By his might he made heaven's ridge his robe, spreading a covering of mist in the two bowls.

6. Like the sun's rays that rouse things to motion, the exhilarating drops rise together from their rest. The swift streams flow round the outstretched filter-thread; without Indra, Soma purifies no domain at all.

7. Like swift streams down a river's slope, the exhilarating drops, stirred by the bull, have found their course. May it go well for our two-footed and our four-footed at their resting-place; let strength, O Soma, and our people stand firm with us.

8. Flow for us wealth rich in goods, in gold, in horses, in cattle, in barley, and manly vigor. For you, O Soma-drops, are my fathers, the heads of heaven, sent forth, makers of my strength.

9. These purifying Soma-drops have gone forth to Indra like chariots, toward the prize. Pressed out, they pass through the woolen filter; casting off their covering, the tawny ones move toward the rain.

10. O drop, purify yourself for great Indra, gracious, blameless, destroyer of foes. Bring shining wealth to the singer who praises you. O Heaven and Earth, together with the gods, protect us.

Translator's note: verse 2's "mandrājanī" (the pleasant/gladdening one active within the mouth) is read here as referring to the tongue at the pressing-rite; verse 10's "riśādāḥ" is a stock epithet of contested sense, rendered conservatively as "destroyer of foes."

Colophon

Rigveda IX.69 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.69

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.

iṣur na dhanvan prati dhīyate matir vatso na mātur upa sarjy ūdhani |
urudhāreva duhe agra āyaty asya vrateṣv api soma iṣyate || 1 ||

upo matiḥ pṛcyate sicyate madhu mandrājanī codate antar āsani |
pavamānaḥ saṁtaniḥ praghnatām iva madhumān drapsaḥ pari vāram arṣati || 2 ||

avye vadhūyuḥ pavate pari tvaci śrathnīte naptīr aditer ṛtaṁ yate |
harir akrān yajataḥ saṁyato mado nṛmṇā śiśāno mahiṣo na śobhate || 3 ||

ukṣā mimāti prati yanti dhenavo devasya devīr upa yanti niṣkṛtam |
aty akramīd arjunaṁ vāram avyayam atkaṁ na niktam pari somo avyata || 4 ||

amṛktena ruśatā vāsasā harir amartyo nirṇijānaḥ pari vyata |
divas pṛṣṭham barhaṇā nirṇije kṛtopastaraṇaṁ camvor nabhasmayam || 5 ||

sūryasyeva raśmayo drāvayitnavo matsarāsaḥ prasupaḥ sākam īrate |
tantuṁ tatam pari sargāsa āśavo nendrād ṛte pavate dhāma kiṁ cana || 6 ||

sindhor iva pravaṇe nimna āśavo vṛṣacyutā madāso gātum āśata |
śaṁ no niveśe dvipade catuṣpade 'sme vājāḥ soma tiṣṭhantu kṛṣṭayaḥ || 7 ||

ā naḥ pavasva vasumad dhiraṇyavad aśvāvad gomad yavamat suvīryam |
yūyaṁ hi soma pitaro mama sthana divo mūrdhānaḥ prasthitā vayaskṛtaḥ || 8 ||

ete somāḥ pavamānāsa indraṁ rathā iva pra yayuḥ sātim accha |
sutāḥ pavitram ati yanty avyaṁ hitvī vavriṁ harito vṛṣṭim accha || 9 ||

indav indrāya bṛhate pavasva sumṛḻīko anavadyo riśādāḥ |
bharā candrāṇi gṛṇate vasūni devair dyāvāpṛthivī prāvataṁ naḥ || 10 ||

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).