Hymn to Soma Pavamana

Rigveda IX.74 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 a newborn child he has roared down into the wooden vat, when the ruddy racer seeks to win the sun. He joins with heaven's seed, growing strong with milk; we beseech him, with good will, for far-spreading shelter.

2. He who is the pillar of heaven, its sustainer, far-extended — the brimming stalk goes round on every side. Wrapped about, he shall reach these two great world-halves; the sage has gathered food and refreshment for the joined pair.

3. Great is the well-wrought sweetness and delight of Soma; wide is Aditi's pasture-ground for him who walks in truth. He rules over the rain — the ruddy bull from here, leader of the waters, worthy of praise, whose help reaches us from here.

4. The living cloud is milked of ghee and milk; the navel of truth, the immortal draught, is born. The bountiful ones, joined together, gladden him; the swollen men pour down what has been set in place.

5. The stalk has cried out, joined with the wave; for man he swells the hide that reaches the gods. He lays the seed in Aditi's lap, by which we gain both children and offspring.

6. In the thousand-streamed strainer, below, may those unfailing streams, rich in offspring, be in the third realm. The four hidden springs, set beneath heaven, bear the oblation — the immortal, dripping ghee.

7. He makes himself a white, shining form when he seeks to win. Soma, the bountiful lord, knows abundance. By insight he joins the ritual task; down heaven's slope he shall burst open the water-laden cask.

8. Then to the white vat, anointed with milk, the racehorse, victorious, has stepped up at the finish-post. Those devoted to the gods speed him on with their thought — a hundred cows for Kakṣīvant of a hundred winters.

9. O Soma, mingling with the waters, your juice runs through the sheep's fleece, O purifying one. Being cleansed by the poets, O most gladdening one, make yourself sweet, O purifying one, for Indra to drink.

Translator's note: verse 7's "kavandham" (a headless trunk or cask) is read as the water-filled cloud-vessel that Soma, in his bull/rain aspect, bursts open — a recurring Pavamana image of the pressed Soma releasing the rain-waters. Verse 8's "kārṣman" (finish-line/goal-post) and the racehorse imagery for the pressed Soma-stalk are kept literal rather than smoothed into metaphor.

Colophon

Rigveda IX.74 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.74

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.

śiśur na jāto 'va cakradad vane sva1r yad vājy aruṣaḥ siṣāsati |
divo retasā sacate payovṛdhā tam īmahe sumatī śarma saprathaḥ || 1 ||

divo yaḥ skambho dharuṇaḥ svātata āpūrṇo aṁśuḥ paryeti viśvataḥ |
seme mahī rodasī yakṣad āvṛtā samīcīne dādhāra sam iṣaḥ kaviḥ || 2 ||

mahi psaraḥ sukṛtaṁ somyam madhūrvī gavyūtir aditer ṛtaṁ yate |
īśe yo vṛṣṭer ita usriyo vṛṣāpāṁ netā ya itaūtir ṛgmiyaḥ || 3 ||

ātmanvan nabho duhyate ghṛtam paya ṛtasya nābhir amṛtaṁ vi jāyate |
samīcīnāḥ sudānavaḥ prīṇanti taṁ naro hitam ava mehanti peravaḥ || 4 ||

arāvīd aṁśuḥ sacamāna ūrmiṇā devāvya1m manuṣe pinvati tvacam |
dadhāti garbham aditer upastha ā yena tokaṁ ca tanayaṁ ca dhāmahe || 5 ||

sahasradhāre 'va tā asaścatas tṛtīye santu rajasi prajāvatīḥ |
catasro nābho nihitā avo divo havir bharanty amṛtaṁ ghṛtaścutaḥ || 6 ||

śvetaṁ rūpaṁ kṛṇute yat siṣāsati somo mīḍhvām̐ asuro veda bhūmanaḥ |
dhiyā śamī sacate sem abhi pravad divas kavandham ava darṣad udriṇam || 7 ||

adha śvetaṁ kalaśaṁ gobhir aktaṁ kārṣmann ā vājy akramīt sasavān |
ā hinvire manasā devayantaḥ kakṣīvate śatahimāya gonām || 8 ||

adbhiḥ soma papṛcānasya te raso 'vyo vāraṁ vi pavamāna dhāvati |
sa mṛjyamānaḥ kavibhir madintama svadasvendrāya pavamāna pītaye || 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).