Hymn to Soma
Rigveda IV.28 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) from Maṇḍala 4 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.
When Indra and Soma unite, the cosmos trembleth with joy. These two — the god of power and the sacred drink — are bound together by ties more ancient than the mountains. Neither existeth fully without the other. They are like two horses yoked to a single chariot, pulling together toward victory.
Soma giveth unto Indra the ecstasy necessary to accomplish his mightiest deeds. When he drinketh of the sacred juice, his eyes open wide to perceive the hidden nature of all things. His mind expandeth beyond the normal limits of thought. His body swelleth with divine force. In that state, he performeth miracles impossible in his ordinary condition.
And Indra, in turn, giveth unto Soma its power and its purpose. What is Soma but a plant, growing in the mountains, without consciousness or will? But when Indra drinketh it, transformeth the drink into something transcendent. The fluid becometh liquid divinity. It carriaeth within it the power of the cosmos itself.
Together they accomplish what neither could accomplish alone. Indra without Soma would be merely a mighty warrior, strong and brave but lacking the transcendent vision necessary to maintain the cosmic order. Soma without Indra would be merely a plant, valuable but powerless, unable to manifest the divinity dormant within it.
The union of these two is sacred. When the priests press the soma and offer it to Indra, they participate in this ancient covenant. They become part of the sacred bond that linketh the god of power with the drink of immortality.
In that moment of offering, something miraculous occurs. The boundary between mortal and divine grows thin. The priest who poureth the soma becometh a conduit for cosmic force. The god who drinketh the soma gaineth renewed power for his eternal labors.
This bond endureth forever. From the beginning of time until the end of all ages, Indra and Soma shall remain united, partners in the maintenance of cosmic order, allies in the endless battle against chaos and darkness.
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 IV.28
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.
tvā yujā tava tat soma sakhya indro apo manave sasrutas kaḥ |
ahann ahim ariṇāt sapta sindhūn apāvṛṇod apihiteva khāni || 1 ||
tvā yujā ni khidat sūryasyendraś cakraṁ sahasā sadya indo |
adhi ṣṇunā bṛhatā vartamānam maho druho apa viśvāyu dhāyi || 2 ||
ahann indro adahad agnir indo purā dasyūn madhyaṁdinād abhīke |
durge duroṇe kratvā na yātām purū sahasrā śarvā ni barhīt || 3 ||
viśvasmāt sīm adhamām̐ indra dasyūn viśo dāsīr akṛṇor apraśastāḥ |
abādhethām amṛṇataṁ ni śatrūn avindethām apacitiṁ vadhatraiḥ || 4 ||
evā satyam maghavānā yuvaṁ tad indraś ca somorvam aśvyaṁ goḥ |
ādardṛtam apihitāny aśnā riricathuḥ kṣāś cit tatṛdānā || 5 ||
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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