Hymn to Soma
Rigveda VIII.48 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.
We have drunk the Soma! We have become immortal!
We have touched the gods! Behold us now, for we are transformed! The mortal flesh falleth away, and the divine essence shineth forth.
The draught entereth the belly, and lo, the whole world is illuminated! The mountains are made of gold; the sky is a sea of light. Every creature doth glow with an inner fire; every stone doth sing a secret song.
We feel within us the strength of a thousand men. The weakness that bound us doth fall away like chains cast from the wrist. Our limbs are mighty, our hearts are brave, our minds are clear as the sky before dawn.
Who among us is still merely mortal? Not one! We have all been lifted up; we have all been made divine. The priests, the singers, the worshippers—all are joined together in a single, luminous being.
The universe is within us, and we are within the universe. There is no boundary, no separation. All that was separate hath become one. All that was dark hath been made radiant.
Taste the sweetness of this draught, O Soma! Thou who art pressed from the sacred plant, thou who dost contain the very essence of the gods themselves. When we drink of thee, we drink of immortality itself.
The nectar floweth into the vessel; the color is like unto liquid gold. The fragrance riseth upward, sweet beyond all telling. Who can describe what it is like to know that one shall never die, that one shall exist forever and ever?
Our vision is opened! We see the hidden things! The innermost secrets of the earth are revealed; the mysteries of the stars are laid bare. We perceive what the ordinary man cannot perceive. We hear what the deaf cannot hear. We touch what the blind cannot touch.
All around us the gods are dancing! Indra doth ride forth upon the thunder; Agni burneth bright with a thousand flames; Soma himself floweth through our veins, singing songs of ecstasy and joy.
The belly is filled with bliss. The heart overfloweth with rapture. Every fiber of the body vibrates with a divine music. The feet wish to dance, the hands wish to gesture, the mouth wisheth to speak in languages unknown.
This is the experience that the seers speak of—the union with the divine, the touching of immortality, the becoming one with the eternal. It is not a dream; it is more real than reality itself.
We are one with Indra in his battles! We share his victory over the demons. We ride upon his bay horses; we hurl his thunderbolts. The enemies of the gods do flee before us.
We are one with Agni in his sacred fire! The flames consume our impurities; they carry our prayers upward to the heavens. Everything that burneth away is renewed, purified, made wholly new.
The body may return to its ordinary state; the intoxication may fade. But we shall never be the same again. We have known the divine; we have tasted immortality. This knowledge cannot be taken from us; this memory cannot be erased.
Every moment of ordinary life shall be illuminated by this knowledge. When we eat, we shall taste the divine. When we sleep, we shall dream the dreams of the gods. When we wake, we shall see the world through transfigured eyes.
O Soma, thou blessed draught, thou gift beyond all price! We give unto thee our eternal gratitude. Thou hast lifted us up; thou hast transformed us. Thou hast shown us what lies beyond the veil of flesh.
Come to us again, O Soma. Come with thy rapture, thy vision, thy transformation. Let us drink and drink again, until we are wholly given over to thee, until we are no longer ourselves but wholly thyself, wholly divine, wholly immortal, wholly one with the eternal.
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.
🌲
Source Text: ṛgveda VIII.48
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.
svādor abhakṣi vayasaḥ sumedhāḥ svādhyo varivovittarasya |
viśve yaṁ devā uta martyāso madhu bruvanto abhi saṁcaranti || 1 ||
antaś ca prāgā aditir bhavāsy avayātā haraso daivyasya |
indav indrasya sakhyaṁ juṣāṇaḥ śrauṣṭīva dhuram anu rāya ṛdhyāḥ || 2 ||
apāma somam amṛtā abhūmāganma jyotir avidāma devān |
kiṁ nūnam asmān kṛṇavad arātiḥ kim u dhūrtir amṛta martyasya || 3 ||
śaṁ no bhava hṛda ā pīta indo piteva soma sūnave suśevaḥ |
sakheva sakhya uruśaṁsa dhīraḥ pra ṇa āyur jīvase soma tārīḥ || 4 ||
ime mā pītā yaśasa uruṣyavo rathaṁ na gāvaḥ sam anāha parvasu |
te mā rakṣantu visrasaś caritrād uta mā srāmād yavayantv indavaḥ || 5 ||
agniṁ na mā mathitaṁ saṁ didīpaḥ pra cakṣaya kṛṇuhi vasyaso naḥ |
athā hi te mada ā soma manye revām̐ iva pra carā puṣṭim accha || 6 ||
iṣireṇa te manasā sutasya bhakṣīmahi pitryasyeva rāyaḥ |
soma rājan pra ṇa āyūṁṣi tārīr ahānīva sūryo vāsarāṇi || 7 ||
soma rājan mṛḻayā naḥ svasti tava smasi vratyā3s tasya viddhi |
alarti dakṣa uta manyur indo mā no aryo anukāmam parā dāḥ || 8 ||
tvaṁ hi nas tanvaḥ soma gopā gātre-gātre niṣasatthā nṛcakṣāḥ |
yat te vayam pramināma vratāni sa no mṛḻa suṣakhā deva vasyaḥ || 9 ||
ṛdūdareṇa sakhyā saceya yo mā na riṣyed dharyaśva pītaḥ |
ayaṁ yaḥ somo ny adhāyy asme tasmā indram pratiram emy āyuḥ || 10 ||
apa tyā asthur anirā amīvā nir atrasan tamiṣīcīr abhaiṣuḥ |
ā somo asmām̐ aruhad vihāyā aganma yatra pratiranta āyuḥ || 11 ||
yo na induḥ pitaro hṛtsu pīto 'martyo martyām̐ āviveśa |
tasmai somāya haviṣā vidhema mṛḻīke asya sumatau syāma || 12 ||
tvaṁ soma pitṛbhiḥ saṁvidāno 'nu dyāvāpṛthivī ā tatantha |
tasmai ta indo haviṣā vidhema vayaṁ syāma patayo rayīṇām || 13 ||
trātāro devā adhi vocatā no mā no nidrā īśata mota jalpiḥ |
vayaṁ somasya viśvaha priyāsaḥ suvīrāso vidatham ā vadema || 14 ||
tvaṁ naḥ soma viśvato vayodhās tvaṁ svarvid ā viśā nṛcakṣāḥ |
tvaṁ na inda ūtibhiḥ sajoṣāḥ pāhi paścātād uta vā purastāt || 15 ||
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).
🌲