Hymn to Soma Pavamana
Rigveda IX.99 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. For the desirable, bold one they draw the bow as a sign of manly power; the great ones weave a bright robe for the mighty lord, at the forefront of the inspired poets.
2. Then, prepared through the night, he plunges toward the prizes, when the insights of Vivasvant speed the tawny one on his way.
3. We cleanse him, this rapture that Indra drinks most of, whom the cows once received with their mouths, and now the patrons do as well.
4. With the ancient chant they have hymned him as he is purified, and the insights, bearing the gods' names, long for him.
5. They purify him, the steadfast one, growing strong upon the sheep's fleece; the wise ones direct him, like a messenger, toward first perception.
6. He, being purified, the most exhilarating, Soma settles in the vessels; placing seed as in livestock, the lord gives voice to insight.
7. He is groomed by the skillful ones, the god pressed out for the gods; it is known that, united with these waters, he plunges through the mighty streams.
8. Pressed, O Drop, guided by men onto the filter, you are led forth; most exhilarating for Indra, you settle down within the bowls.
Translator's note: "vājān" (verse 2) and "dharṇasim" (verse 5) are terse epithets of Soma with a range of possible senses (prize/food-power; the steadfast or sustaining one); rendered conservatively here. "vacasyate" (verse 6) — "gives voice to" — is likewise a compressed formation whose precise nuance (Soma making the sacrificer's speech eloquent, or Soma himself finding voice) is not fully certain.
Colophon
Rigveda IX.99 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.99
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.
ā haryatāya dhṛṣṇave dhanus tanvanti pauṁsyam |
śukrāṁ vayanty asurāya nirṇijaṁ vipām agre mahīyuvaḥ || 1 ||
adha kṣapā pariṣkṛto vājām̐ abhi pra gāhate |
yadī vivasvato dhiyo hariṁ hinvanti yātave || 2 ||
tam asya marjayāmasi mado ya indrapātamaḥ |
yaṁ gāva āsabhir dadhuḥ purā nūnaṁ ca sūrayaḥ || 3 ||
taṁ gāthayā purāṇyā punānam abhy anūṣata |
uto kṛpanta dhītayo devānāṁ nāma bibhratīḥ || 4 ||
tam ukṣamāṇam avyaye vāre punanti dharṇasim |
dūtaṁ na pūrvacittaya ā śāsate manīṣiṇaḥ || 5 ||
sa punāno madintamaḥ somaś camūṣu sīdati |
paśau na reta ādadhat patir vacasyate dhiyaḥ || 6 ||
sa mṛjyate sukarmabhir devo devebhyaḥ sutaḥ |
vide yad āsu saṁdadir mahīr apo vi gāhate || 7 ||
suta indo pavitra ā nṛbhir yato vi nīyase |
indrāya matsarintamaś camūṣv ā ni ṣīdasi || 8 ||
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).