Hymn to Soma
Rigveda VIII.80 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.
At every sacrifice, O Indra, thou art present. Thou failest not those who call upon thy name; thou abandonest not thy worshippers. When the soma is pressed and offered, thou dost come to the feast and makest merry.
Faithful is thy presence, constant is thy aid. Whether in prosperity or in adversity, thou art the friend who never forsaketh. The singer who hath called upon thee knoweth that thou wilt answer; the worshipper who hath honored thee trusteth in thy protection.
The soma riseth sweetly scented unto thee. The priests arrange the ritual with care; the hymns are chanted with joy. All things are prepared for thy coming; the feast awaiteth thy arrival.
O Indra, drink of the juice that we press for thee. Let the soma enter thy being and magnify thy strength. As thou drinkest, thy power shall increase; as the ritual proceedeth, thy favor shall descend upon us.
We offer unto thee the finest of our possessions. The soma is the gift of our labor, the fruit of our devotion. When thou acceptest this offering, thou dost acknowledge the faith of thy worshippers and confirmest thy covenant with us.
The worshipper who honoreth thee shall not be deprived. He shall receive the gifts that he desireth; his herds shall multiply; his children shall flourish. Thy bounty shall flow to him like a river that hath burst its banks.
We trust in thy unfailing aid, O mighty one. When danger approacheth, we cry out to thee, and thou dost deliver us. When sorrow weigheth upon us, we turn to thee, and thy comfort doth ease our pain.
Thy friendship is the greatest treasure that a mortal can possess. More precious than gold, more valuable than all the wealth of the earth, is the knowledge that Indra standeth by thy side.
Never doth thy kindness grow weary. Never dost thou turn away from those who love thee. As long as we remain faithful, so too shalt thou remain faithful unto us. This is the eternal covenant between the god and his worshippers.
O Indra, accept our worship with favor. Come unto us as thou hast come unto our fathers and the fathers of our fathers. Drink of the soma that we offer; feast upon our sacrifice. Be our protector now and forever.
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.80
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.
nahy a1nyam baḻākaram marḍitāraṁ śatakrato |
tvaṁ na indra mṛḻaya || 1 ||
yo naḥ śaśvat purāvithāmṛdhro vājasātaye |
sa tvaṁ na indra mṛḻaya || 2 ||
kim aṅga radhracodanaḥ sunvānasyāvited asi |
kuvit sv indra ṇaḥ śakaḥ || 3 ||
indra pra ṇo ratham ava paścāc cit santam adrivaḥ |
purastād enam me kṛdhi || 4 ||
hanto nu kim āsase prathamaṁ no rathaṁ kṛdhi |
upamaṁ vājayu śravaḥ || 5 ||
avā no vājayuṁ rathaṁ sukaraṁ te kim it pari |
asmān su jigyuṣas kṛdhi || 6 ||
indra dṛhyasva pūr asi bhadrā ta eti niṣkṛtam |
iyaṁ dhīr ṛtviyāvatī || 7 ||
mā sīm avadya ā bhāg urvī kāṣṭhā hitaṁ dhanam |
apāvṛktā aratnayaḥ || 8 ||
turīyaṁ nāma yajñiyaṁ yadā karas tad uśmasi |
ād it patir na ohase || 9 ||
avīvṛdhad vo amṛtā amandīd ekadyūr devā uta yāś ca devīḥ |
tasmā u rādhaḥ kṛṇuta praśastam prātar makṣū dhiyāvasur jagamyāt || 10 ||
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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