Hymn to Soma
Rigveda X.107 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) from Maṇḍala 10 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 by the New Tianmu Anglican Church from the Sanskrit of the Śākala recension.
Their great largess hath been made known. All living things are loosed from the dark; the great light, gift of the forefathers, hath arisen. The broad way for the holy offering is now seen.
High in the heavens stand they who give the sacred gift.
They who grant steeds walk with the sun; they who give gold take part in deathless being; they who give raiment lengthen their days upon the earth, O Soma.
The holy gift is Heaven’s own portion, a thing set apart for the gods; it is not for the miser, for he doth not give.
Yet many give for dread of shame rather than love of good.
The keen of sight behold it as the wind, with a hundred streams; they see it as the song that findeth the sun, as the fire-fed offering.
They who give in the hallowed hall draw forth the holy gift with its seven mothers.
He who bringeth the sacred gift goeth first as the bidden guest; he taketh the foreplace as leader of men.
Methinks he alone is lord of the folk—he who first did seek out the sacred gift.
Men say of him: he is the seer, the maker of holy speech, the guide of the rite, the singer of the chant, the speaker of solemn words.
He knoweth the threefold body of the flame-born god—he who first did prosper by the sacred gift.
The sacred gift bringeth the horse, and bringeth the kine, and bringeth what is golden and bright.
The sacred gift winneth the food whereon our breath of life doth feed.
He who hath wisdom maketh the sacred gift his shield.
The givers are not dead, nor fallen into loss.
The givers are not undone, nor do they stumble.
This world in its fullness, and the sun itself, is the reward the sacred gift bestoweth.
The givers first did win the womb of sweet scent; they won the bride in her fair array.
They won the right to the inward draught of the cup; they prevailed o’er the unbidden who would thrust forth their hands.
For the giver the swift steed is made ready; for him the maiden doth wait in beauty adorned.
His dwelling is as a pond of lotuses, shining fair as the halls of the gods.
The well-yoked horses bear the giver onward; smoothly doth the chariot of the sacred gift roll.
O gods, uphold the giver in the strife; let him o’ercome his foes in the day of meeting.
Colophon
This hymn is drawn from the Śākala recension of the Rigveda, composed approximately 1700–1100 BCE. This is a Good Works Translation produced by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, translated independently from the Sanskrit. Reference translations consulted during original translation are to be documented during audit.
Compiled and formatted for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.
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Source Text: ṛgveda X.107
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.
āvir abhūn mahi māghonam eṣāṁ viśvaṁ jīvaṁ tamaso nir amoci |
mahi jyotiḥ pitṛbhir dattam āgād uruḥ panthā dakṣiṇāyā adarśi || 1 ||
uccā divi dakṣiṇāvanto asthur ye aśvadāḥ saha te sūryeṇa |
hiraṇyadā amṛtatvam bhajante vāsodāḥ soma pra tiranta āyuḥ || 2 ||
daivī pūrtir dakṣiṇā devayajyā na kavāribhyo nahi te pṛṇanti |
athā naraḥ prayatadakṣiṇāso 'vadyabhiyā bahavaḥ pṛṇanti || 3 ||
śatadhāraṁ vāyum arkaṁ svarvidaṁ nṛcakṣasas te abhi cakṣate haviḥ |
ye pṛṇanti pra ca yacchanti saṁgame te dakṣiṇāṁ duhate saptamātaram || 4 ||
dakṣiṇāvān prathamo hūta eti dakṣiṇāvān grāmaṇīr agram eti |
tam eva manye nṛpatiṁ janānāṁ yaḥ prathamo dakṣiṇām āvivāya || 5 ||
tam eva ṛṣiṁ tam u brahmāṇam āhur yajñanyaṁ sāmagām ukthaśāsam |
sa śukrasya tanvo veda tisro yaḥ prathamo dakṣiṇayā rarādha || 6 ||
dakṣiṇāśvaṁ dakṣiṇā gāṁ dadāti dakṣiṇā candram uta yad dhiraṇyam |
dakṣiṇānnaṁ vanute yo na ātmā dakṣiṇāṁ varma kṛṇute vijānan || 7 ||
na bhojā mamrur na nyartham īyur na riṣyanti na vyathante ha bhojāḥ |
idaṁ yad viśvam bhuvanaṁ svaś caitat sarvaṁ dakṣiṇaibhyo dadāti || 8 ||
bhojā jigyuḥ surabhiṁ yonim agre bhojā jigyur vadhva1ṁ yā suvāsāḥ |
bhojā jigyur antaḥpeyaṁ surāyā bhojā jigyur ye ahūtāḥ prayanti || 9 ||
bhojāyāśvaṁ sam mṛjanty āśum bhojāyāste kanyā3 śumbhamānā |
bhojasyedam puṣkariṇīva veśma pariṣkṛtaṁ devamāneva citram || 10 ||
bhojam aśvāḥ suṣṭhuvāho vahanti suvṛd ratho vartate dakṣiṇāyāḥ |
bhojaṁ devāso 'vatā bhareṣu bhojaḥ śatrūn samanīkeṣu jetā || 11 ||
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).
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