Hymn to Soma Pavamāna
Rigveda IX.82 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. Soma has been pressed, the ruddy bull, tawny; like a wondrous king he has roared out toward the cows. Being purified, he goes around the woolen filter; like a falcon settling into his ghee-filled nest.
2. As a sage you circle round the greatness of the ritual-ordainer; like a groomed racehorse you rush toward the prize. Driving away misfortunes, Soma, be gracious; clothed in ghee as your robe, you go around.
3. Parjanya, father of the winged buffalo, has set his dwelling in the navel of the earth, upon the mountains. The sister waters have flowed forth to the cows as well; he joins with the pressing stones when the rite is welcomed.
4. Like a loving wife to her husband, you give generously. O child of Pajra, listen — I speak to you. Move forth among the sacred voices for good life; blameless Soma, stay watchful in the community.
5. As for those of old, unfailing, winning hundreds, winning thousands, you have circled the prize, O drop. So flow now for new well-being; the waters follow your ordinance.
Translator's note: "pajrāyā garbha" (v. 4) is rendered literally as "child of Pajra," a name associated with the seer Kakṣīvant's lineage; the exact sense of the epithet as applied to Soma here is uncertain. "vṛjane" (v. 4) can mean an enclosure, camp, or community — "community" is chosen as the more legible modern rendering.
Colophon
Rigveda IX.82 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.82
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.
asāvi somo aruṣo vṛṣā harī rājeva dasmo abhi gā acikradat |
punāno vāram pary ety avyayaṁ śyeno na yoniṁ ghṛtavantam āsadam || 1 ||
kavir vedhasyā pary eṣi māhinam atyo na mṛṣṭo abhi vājam arṣasi |
apasedhan duritā soma mṛḻaya ghṛtaṁ vasānaḥ pari yāsi nirṇijam || 2 ||
parjanyaḥ pitā mahiṣasya parṇino nābhā pṛthivyā giriṣu kṣayaṁ dadhe |
svasāra āpo abhi gā utāsaran saṁ grāvabhir nasate vīte adhvare || 3 ||
jāyeva patyāv adhi śeva maṁhase pajrāyā garbha śṛṇuhi bravīmi te |
antar vāṇīṣu pra carā su jīvase 'nindyo vṛjane soma jāgṛhi || 4 ||
yathā pūrvebhyaḥ śatasā amṛdhraḥ sahasrasāḥ paryayā vājam indo |
evā pavasva suvitāya navyase tava vratam anv āpaḥ sacante || 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).