Hymn to Soma

Rigveda IX.71 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. The forceful, able one is set loose; he goes to his seat, watchful, guarding against the deceit of demons. The tawny one makes himself a braid; cloud's milk he spreads beneath him in the two cups, the sacred word as his bright robe.

2. Like a slayer of tribes he goes forth, bellowing loud; he sheds down his lordly hue. He leaves behind his covering, goes to the father's appointed place; he makes for himself, in his extension, a robe drenched through.

3. Pressed by the stones, he purifies himself between the two hands; he plays the bull with the cloud, trembling in thought. He rejoices, he draws near, he succeeds through the song; he washes himself in the waters, and performs the rite in his full compass.

4. Around the heavenly one, strong through might, grown mighty on the mountain, the overpowerer of the stronghold, they pour the sweet drink. On whose head the cows, giving their good milk-offering, at the udder, prepare the foremost portion with their full streams.

5. Like a chariot they have driven him together with their two arms — the ten sisters, in the lap of Aditi. He goes forth, he hastens near to the hidden track of the cow, which the wise by their insight have brought forth for him.

6. Like a falcon to his nest, the god hastens to the golden seat, his home made by skill. They send the beloved one forth onto the sacred grass with song; like a horse, the one worthy of worship goes to the gods.

7. Manifested afar, ruddy, the poet of heaven, the bull with three ridges, he has won the cows. With a thousand courses, going forth, departing, like a singer he shines out over the many dawns.

8. He makes for himself a brilliant form, his own hue — there, where he has lain in the clashing of the stones, he wards off harm. By his own power he goes, dwelling in the waters, to the divine people; he joins with fair praise, together with the offering led by milk.

9. Like a bull going around the herds, he has bellowed; he has put on the splendors of the sun. The heavenly eagle has looked down upon the earth; Soma, with his wisdom, watches over all beings.

Translator's note: several words admit more than one reading. "Opaśa" (v.1) is a braid or headdress the pressed Soma is pictured wearing; "sridhaḥ" (v.8) can mean harm, error, or foes warded off; "goagrayā" (v.8) literally "led by the cow/milk," is rendered "milk-offering"; "yatiḥ" (v.7) is left as a participle "going forth" rather than read as the proper name Yati, since the surrounding syntax does not clearly support the latter.

Colophon

Rigveda IX.71 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.71

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 dakṣiṇā sṛjyate śuṣmy ā3sadaṁ veti druho rakṣasaḥ pāti jāgṛviḥ |
harir opaśaṁ kṛṇute nabhas paya upastire camvo3r brahma nirṇije || 1 ||

pra kṛṣṭiheva śūṣa eti roruvad asurya1ṁ varṇaṁ ni riṇīte asya tam |
jahāti vavrim pitur eti niṣkṛtam upaprutaṁ kṛṇute nirṇijaṁ tanā || 2 ||

adribhiḥ sutaḥ pavate gabhastyor vṛṣāyate nabhasā vepate matī |
sa modate nasate sādhate girā nenikte apsu yajate parīmaṇi || 3 ||

pari dyukṣaṁ sahasaḥ parvatāvṛdham madhvaḥ siñcanti harmyasya sakṣaṇim |
ā yasmin gāvaḥ suhutāda ūdhani mūrdhañ chrīṇanty agriyaṁ varīmabhiḥ || 4 ||

sam ī rathaṁ na bhurijor aheṣata daśa svasāro aditer upastha ā |
jigād upa jrayati gor apīcyam padaṁ yad asya matuthā ajījanan || 5 ||

śyeno na yoniṁ sadanaṁ dhiyā kṛtaṁ hiraṇyayam āsadaṁ deva eṣati |
e riṇanti barhiṣi priyaṁ girāśvo na devām̐ apy eti yajñiyaḥ || 6 ||

parā vyakto aruṣo divaḥ kavir vṛṣā tripṛṣṭho anaviṣṭa gā abhi |
sahasraṇītir yatiḥ parāyatī rebho na pūrvīr uṣaso vi rājati || 7 ||

tveṣaṁ rūpaṁ kṛṇute varṇo asya sa yatrāśayat samṛtā sedhati sridhaḥ |
apsā yāti svadhayā daivyaṁ janaṁ saṁ suṣṭutī nasate saṁ goagrayā || 8 ||

ukṣeva yūthā pariyann arāvīd adhi tviṣīr adhita sūryasya |
divyaḥ suparṇo 'va cakṣata kṣāṁ somaḥ pari kratunā paśyate jāḥ || 9 ||

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).