Hymn to Soma
Rigveda VIII.28 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) from Maṇḍala 8 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.
Come hither, all ye gods, come to this sacred place where the soma floweth free and fair. We summon you with voice and heart, come ye to take your share.
The wood is made alive with flame, the altar standeth bright, the butter smoketh up to heaven, the offering is prepared. Come ye, O Viśvedevas, come and join the feast.
The prayer hath been recited, the hymn is sung on high, the offering made with reverence and with skill. All ye who dwell in heaven and on the earth below, come ye to bless this worshipper and all that he doth hold.
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 VIII.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.
ye triṁśati trayas paro devāso barhir āsadan |
vidann aha dvitāsanan || 1 ||
varuṇo mitro aryamā smadrātiṣāco agnayaḥ |
patnīvanto vaṣaṭkṛtāḥ || 2 ||
te no gopā apācyās ta udak ta itthā nyak |
purastāt sarvayā viśā || 3 ||
yathā vaśanti devās tathed asat tad eṣāṁ nakir ā minat |
arāvā cana martyaḥ || 4 ||
saptānāṁ sapta ṛṣṭayaḥ sapta dyumnāny eṣām |
sapto adhi śriyo dhire || 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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