Hymn to Soma
Rigveda IX.79 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. Let the drops flow for us unbidden, the tawny ones pressed forth toward the lofty heaven. Let them reach us as nourishment; let no stranger's hostility reach us; may our thoughts win the prize.
2. Let the drops flow forth for us, shaken loose by rapture — the drops by which we drive our racing steeds toward the prize. Past the deceit of any mortal, may we carry off the riches, always.
3. By his own malice he is indeed an enemy; by another's malice he is indeed a wolf. Let thirst, as in a waste land, overtake them — strike down the ill-intentioned, O Soma, O purifying one.
4. In heaven is your highest navel, which is grasped; on the ridge of the earth your fingers have spread. The stones gnaw you upon the cow's hide; the wise ones have milked you with their hands into the waters.
5. So, O drop, the foremost companions press out your excellent, well-adorned sap. O purifying one, may you overcome every scorn; may your strength, your beloved rapture, stand revealed.
Translator's note: "navel" (nābha) in verse 4 renders a term for Soma's highest point or source, here located in heaven while his "fingers" — the pressed streams — spread across the earth; "stones" are the pressing-stones that crush the soma stalks on the ox-hide filter.
Colophon
Rigveda IX.79 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.
🌲
Source Text: ṛgveda IX.79
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.
acodaso no dhanvantv indavaḥ pra suvānāso bṛhaddiveṣu harayaḥ |
vi ca naśan na iṣo arātayo 'ryo naśanta saniṣanta no dhiyaḥ || 1 ||
pra ṇo dhanvantv indavo madacyuto dhanā vā yebhir arvato junīmasi |
tiro martasya kasya cit parihvṛtiṁ vayaṁ dhanāni viśvadhā bharemahi || 2 ||
uta svasyā arātyā arir hi ṣa utānyasyā arātyā vṛko hi ṣaḥ |
dhanvan na tṛṣṇā sam arīta tām̐ abhi soma jahi pavamāna durādhyaḥ || 3 ||
divi te nābhā paramo ya ādade pṛthivyās te ruruhuḥ sānavi kṣipaḥ |
adrayas tvā bapsati gor adhi tvacy a1psu tvā hastair duduhur manīṣiṇaḥ || 4 ||
evā ta indo subhvaṁ supeśasaṁ rasaṁ tuñjanti prathamā abhiśriyaḥ |
nidaṁ-nidam pavamāna ni tāriṣa āvis te śuṣmo bhavatu priyo madaḥ || 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).