Hymn to Soma Pavamana

Rigveda IX.87 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. Run forth, circle the vat, and settle in — purified by the hands of men, flow toward the prize. Like a prize-winning horse being groomed, they lead you by the reins to the sacred grass.

2. Well-armed, the god-drop clarifies himself, slayer of curses, guardian of the people's enclosure — father of the gods, their skillful begetter, pillar of heaven, support of the earth.

3. Seer, inspired poet, leader who goes before the people, wise as Ṛbhu, with the poetic craft of Uśanā — he alone found what lay hidden among them: the secret, concealed name of the cows.

4. This sweet Soma of yours, Indra, the bull, has flowed for the bull around the filter — winner of thousands, winner of hundreds, generous giver; the mighty one has taken his place on the sacred grass, as ever before.

5. These Soma-drops have streamed forth toward the thousandfold reward of cattle, toward great immortal strength, toward renown — purified through the filters, like glory-seeking steeds racing into battle.

6. For indeed, much-invoked, he flows among the peoples, and while being purified he has passed through every kind of nourishment. So bring delights now, falcon-borne one — driving wealth onward, flow toward the prize.

7. This Soma, being pressed, has raced around the filter like a stream let loose, like a running steed — sharpening his horns sharp as a buffalo's, seeking cattle like a warrior, like a champion in the charge.

8. She has come from deep within the farthest rock; wherever they lay hidden, she found the cows in their pen. Like lightning from the sky thundering amid the clouds, your stream of Soma purifies itself, Indra.

9. And indeed you circle the great herd of cows, Soma, purified on one chariot together with Indra. Grant your many great streams of nourishment, swift and generous one, mighty one — these are your songs of praise.

Translator's note: verse 8 shifts to a feminine subject ("she") not named in the verse itself — most naturally the Soma-stream (dhārā, grammatically feminine) described as finding the hidden cows, echoing the cattle-finding of verse 3. The feminine is kept literal here rather than resolved into "it" or "he."

Colophon

Rigveda IX.87 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.87

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 tu drava pari kośaṁ ni ṣīda nṛbhiḥ punāno abhi vājam arṣa |
aśvaṁ na tvā vājinam marjayanto 'cchā barhī raśanābhir nayanti || 1 ||

svāyudhaḥ pavate deva indur aśastihā vṛjanaṁ rakṣamāṇaḥ |
pitā devānāṁ janitā sudakṣo viṣṭambho divo dharuṇaḥ pṛthivyāḥ || 2 ||

ṛṣir vipraḥ puraetā janānām ṛbhur dhīra uśanā kāvyena |
sa cid viveda nihitaṁ yad āsām apīcya1ṁ guhyaṁ nāma gonām || 3 ||

eṣa sya te madhumām̐ indra somo vṛṣā vṛṣṇe pari pavitre akṣāḥ |
sahasrasāḥ śatasā bhūridāvā śaśvattamam barhir ā vājy asthāt || 4 ||

ete somā abhi gavyā sahasrā mahe vājāyāmṛtāya śravāṁsi |
pavitrebhiḥ pavamānā asṛgrañ chravasyavo na pṛtanājo atyāḥ || 5 ||

pari hi ṣmā puruhūto janānāṁ viśvāsarad bhojanā pūyamānaḥ |
athā bhara śyenabhṛta prayāṁsi rayiṁ tuñjāno abhi vājam arṣa || 6 ||

eṣa suvānaḥ pari somaḥ pavitre sargo na sṛṣṭo adadhāvad arvā |
tigme śiśāno mahiṣo na śṛṅge gā gavyann abhi śūro na satvā || 7 ||

eṣā yayau paramād antar adreḥ kūcit satīr ūrve gā viveda |
divo na vidyut stanayanty abhraiḥ somasya te pavata indra dhārā || 8 ||

uta sma rāśim pari yāsi gonām indreṇa soma saratham punānaḥ |
pūrvīr iṣo bṛhatīr jīradāno śikṣā śacīvas tava tā upaṣṭut || 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).