Hymn to Soma Pavamana
Rigveda IX.78 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 king, generating speech, has streamed forth; clothed in the waters, he seeks the cows.
The sheepskin's fleece takes on his impurity into her body; purified, he goes to the gods' appointed meeting-place.
2. For Indra, O Soma, you are poured out on every side by the men; watcher over men, a wave, a seer, you are pressed into the wood.
Many indeed are your courses to run; a thousand tawny horses sit in the cups.
3. The sea-born Apsarases, seated within, have flowed toward Soma the wise one.
They speed him on, breaker of the stronghold; they beg favor from the self-purifying, unfailing one.
4. Soma, winner of cattle for us, winner of chariots, winner of gold, winner of the sun, winner of waters, winner of a thousand things, purifies himself —
he whom the gods have taken as their draught to drink, the sweetest drop, ruddy, bringer of joy.
5. O Soma Pavamana, desiring us, making these riches real, you flow forth.
Strike down the enemy near and far; make for us a wide pasture and freedom from fear.
Translator's note: "niṣkṛtam" (1) denotes an appointed meeting-place or tryst; rendered here as "appointed meeting-place." "Camū" (2), the vessel into which Soma is poured, is rendered "cups." "Harmyasya sakṣaṇim" (3), literally "conqueror/companion of the stronghold [or house]," is rendered "breaker of the stronghold" as the closest sense conservative to the Sanskrit.
Colophon
Rigveda IX.78 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.78
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.
pra rājā vācaṁ janayann asiṣyadad apo vasāno abhi gā iyakṣati |
gṛbhṇāti ripram avir asya tānvā śuddho devānām upa yāti niṣkṛtam || 1 ||
indrāya soma pari ṣicyase nṛbhir nṛcakṣā ūrmiḥ kavir ajyase vane |
pūrvīr hi te srutayaḥ santi yātave sahasram aśvā harayaś camūṣadaḥ || 2 ||
samudriyā apsaraso manīṣiṇam āsīnā antar abhi somam akṣaran |
tā īṁ hinvanti harmyasya sakṣaṇiṁ yācante sumnam pavamānam akṣitam || 3 ||
gojin naḥ somo rathajid dhiraṇyajit svarjid abjit pavate sahasrajit |
yaṁ devāsaś cakrire pītaye madaṁ svādiṣṭhaṁ drapsam aruṇam mayobhuvam || 4 ||
etāni soma pavamāno asmayuḥ satyāni kṛṇvan draviṇāny arṣasi |
jahi śatrum antike dūrake ca ya urvīṁ gavyūtim abhayaṁ ca nas kṛdhi || 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).