Hymn to Soma
Rigveda III.36 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) from Maṇḍala 3 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.
O Indra, thou generous lord! Thy hand is ever open to those who worship thee with sincere hearts. The cattle-herds that follow thy banner grow fat and multiplied. The granaries of those who pour thee soma overflow with grain. The women of thy people bear children strong as warriors, and their sons make names for themselves in battle.
Thou art the giver of bounty, O golden one! When a man calleth upon thee with proper ritual and pours the juice of soma into the sacred fire, thou dost hear his prayer. Thou dost bless his herds, that they may increase beyond counting. Thou dost grant him cattle — the wealth of the ancient peoples — and his kine shall know no sickness.
We sing of thy gifts, O mighty Indra! Thou hast given to our people the soma plant itself, the drink of the immortals. Through the soma, we mortals taste delight divine; through the soma, we commune with the gods. And thou, having drunk deeply of this sacred draught, art moved to generosity toward all who honor thee.
The Maruts, thy companions, dance attendance upon thy kindness. The Aśvins, the physicians of the gods, carry thy blessings to the sick and infirm. The Apsarases sing thy praises in the celestial courts. And we, thy mortals, do the same here upon the earth.
Grant us, O lord of abundance, the wealth of cattle and the wealth of sons. Let our enemies perish, lean and wasted, while we grow rich in herds and fields. Let the enemy's women bear only weaklings; let his warriors fall in battle. But for us, O generous one, let the rains come in their season, and let our families prosper for all the generations yet unborn!
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 III.36
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.
imām ū ṣu prabhṛtiṁ sātaye dhāḥ śaśvac-chaśvad ūtibhir yādamānaḥ |
sute-sute vāvṛdhe vardhanebhir yaḥ karmabhir mahadbhiḥ suśruto bhūt || 1 ||
indrāya somāḥ pradivo vidānā ṛbhur yebhir vṛṣaparvā vihāyāḥ |
prayamyamānān prati ṣū gṛbhāyendra piba vṛṣadhūtasya vṛṣṇaḥ || 2 ||
pibā vardhasva tava ghā sutāsa indra somāsaḥ prathamā uteme |
yathāpibaḥ pūrvyām̐ indra somām̐ evā pāhi panyo adyā navīyān || 3 ||
mahām̐ amatro vṛjane virapśy u1graṁ śavaḥ patyate dhṛṣṇv ojaḥ |
nāha vivyāca pṛthivī canainaṁ yat somāso haryaśvam amandan || 4 ||
mahām̐ ugro vāvṛdhe vīryāya samācakre vṛṣabhaḥ kāvyena |
indro bhago vājadā asya gāvaḥ pra jāyante dakṣiṇā asya pūrvīḥ || 5 ||
pra yat sindhavaḥ prasavaṁ yathāyann āpaḥ samudraṁ rathyeva jagmuḥ |
ataś cid indraḥ sadaso varīyān yad īṁ somaḥ pṛṇati dugdho aṁśuḥ || 6 ||
samudreṇa sindhavo yādamānā indrāya somaṁ suṣutam bharantaḥ |
aṁśuṁ duhanti hastino bharitrair madhvaḥ punanti dhārayā pavitraiḥ || 7 ||
hradā iva kukṣayaḥ somadhānāḥ sam ī vivyāca savanā purūṇi |
annā yad indraḥ prathamā vy āśa vṛtraṁ jaghanvām̐ avṛṇīta somam || 8 ||
ā tū bhara mākir etat pari ṣṭhād vidmā hi tvā vasupatiṁ vasūnām |
indra yat te māhinaṁ datram asty asmabhyaṁ tad dharyaśva pra yandhi || 9 ||
asme pra yandhi maghavann ṛjīṣinn indra rāyo viśvavārasya bhūreḥ |
asme śataṁ śarado jīvase dhā asme vīrāñ chaśvata indra śiprin || 10 ||
śunaṁ huvema maghavānam indram asmin bhare nṛtamaṁ vājasātau |
śṛṇvantam ugram ūtaye samatsu ghnantaṁ vṛtrāṇi saṁjitaṁ dhanānām || 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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