Hymn to Soma Pavamana
Rigveda IX.75 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. Delighting, he flows toward his dear names, the mighty one, growing great among them. The far-seeing, great one has mounted the chariot of great Surya, that turns every way.
2. The tongue of truth, he purifies the dear sweetness — speaker, lord of this insight, undeceivable. The son sets a hidden name upon his two parents, and a third in the light-realm of heaven.
3. Shining, he has roared down into the vats, guided by the priests' hands into the golden vessel. The milk-streams of truth have roared toward him; three-ridged, he shines out, ruling over the dawns.
4. Pressed by the stones, delighted by our hymns, the pure one makes his two mothers, the world-halves, shine forth. He runs evenly through the strands of wool, the stream of sweetness swelling day by day.
5. Run forth on every side, O Soma, for our well-being; purified by the priests, clothe yourself in the milk mixture. With those exhilarating, potent, far-reaching draughts of yours, urge Indra on to give his bounty.
Translator's note: "the son sets a hidden name upon his two parents, and a third in heaven" (v.2) is a compact riddle-image whose precise referents are debated in the tradition; it is translated conservatively here, following the Sanskrit's own terms rather than resolving the riddle. "Three-ridged" (tripṛṣṭha, v.3) is likewise kept literal rather than expanded into an interpretive gloss.
Colophon
Rigveda IX.75 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.75
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.
abhi priyāṇi pavate canohito nāmāni yahvo adhi yeṣu vardhate |
ā sūryasya bṛhato bṛhann adhi rathaṁ viṣvañcam aruhad vicakṣaṇaḥ || 1 ||
ṛtasya jihvā pavate madhu priyaṁ vaktā patir dhiyo asyā adābhyaḥ |
dadhāti putraḥ pitror apīcya1ṁ nāma tṛtīyam adhi rocane divaḥ || 2 ||
ava dyutānaḥ kalaśām̐ acikradan nṛbhir yemānaḥ kośa ā hiraṇyaye |
abhīm ṛtasya dohanā anūṣatādhi tripṛṣṭha uṣaso vi rājati || 3 ||
adribhiḥ suto matibhiś canohitaḥ prarocayan rodasī mātarā śuciḥ |
romāṇy avyā samayā vi dhāvati madhor dhārā pinvamānā dive-dive || 4 ||
pari soma pra dhanvā svastaye nṛbhiḥ punāno abhi vāsayāśiram |
ye te madā āhanaso vihāyasas tebhir indraṁ codaya dātave magham || 5 ||
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).