Hymn to Soma
Rigveda II.16 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) from Maṇḍala 2 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.
Drink, O mighty Indra! The sweet draught awaits thee. We have pressed the Soma stems, and their golden juice floweth forth like the waters of spring. The ecstasy riseth in thy breast, and thou art unstoppable, invincible, clothed in power.
Thy strength was never matched. When thou drankest deeply at the sacrifice, the heavens trembled at thy roar. The demons fled before thee; the mountains bowed. With belly full of Soma, thou art the mightiest of all the gods.
We beseech thee: drink again at our offering. Let the sweet intoxication flood thy limbs. Let thy joy be absolute. For when Indra is filled with Soma, all his enemies scatter like dust. The asuras cannot stand against him. The very air crackles with his glory.
Thou art the one who drinketh and doth conquer. Thy victory is our salvation. We praise thee, O drinker of the pressed stalk! We honour thee with chant and flame. The Soma cup is raised to thee; the prayers ascend like smoke.
Come, O golden-armed lord! Accept our libation. Grow mighty through the sacred draught. Let thy power swell beyond measure. We who pour out this nectar do so in reverence and in hope—hope that thy drunken wrath shall fall upon our enemies, not upon us.
Hail, Indra! Thou art the unconquerable soma-drinker. Thy triumph is eternal. We sing thy praise, we invoke thy name, we pour the Soma for thee. Be pleased with our offering, O mighty one. Grant us victory, grant us wealth, grant us the strength that floweth from thy sacred intoxication.
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 II.16
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 vaḥ satāṁ jyeṣṭhatamāya suṣṭutim agnāv iva samidhāne havir bhare |
indram ajuryaṁ jarayantam ukṣitaṁ sanād yuvānam avase havāmahe || 1 ||
yasmād indrād bṛhataḥ kiṁ canem ṛte viśvāny asmin sambhṛtādhi vīryā |
jaṭhare somaṁ tanvī3 saho maho haste vajram bharati śīrṣaṇi kratum || 2 ||
na kṣoṇībhyām paribhve ta indriyaṁ na samudraiḥ parvatair indra te rathaḥ |
na te vajram anv aśnoti kaś cana yad āśubhiḥ patasi yojanā puru || 3 ||
viśve hy asmai yajatāya dhṛṣṇave kratum bharanti vṛṣabhāya saścate |
vṛṣā yajasva haviṣā viduṣṭaraḥ pibendra somaṁ vṛṣabheṇa bhānunā || 4 ||
vṛṣṇaḥ kośaḥ pavate madhva ūrmir vṛṣabhānnāya vṛṣabhāya pātave |
vṛṣaṇādhvaryū vṛṣabhāso adrayo vṛṣaṇaṁ somaṁ vṛṣabhāya suṣvati || 5 ||
vṛṣā te vajra uta te vṛṣā ratho vṛṣaṇā harī vṛṣabhāṇy āyudhā |
vṛṣṇo madasya vṛṣabha tvam īśiṣa indra somasya vṛṣabhasya tṛpṇuhi || 6 ||
pra te nāvaṁ na samane vacasyuvam brahmaṇā yāmi savaneṣu dādhṛṣiḥ |
kuvin no asya vacaso nibodhiṣad indram utsaṁ na vasunaḥ sicāmahe || 7 ||
purā sambādhād abhy ā vavṛtsva no dhenur na vatsaṁ yavasasya pipyuṣī |
sakṛt su te sumatibhiḥ śatakrato sam patnībhir na vṛṣaṇo nasīmahi || 8 ||
nūnaṁ sā te prati varaṁ jaritre duhīyad indra dakṣiṇā maghonī |
śikṣā stotṛbhyo māti dhag bhago no bṛhad vadema vidathe suvīrāḥ || 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).
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