Hymn to Soma
Rigveda IX.16 is a sūkta (hymn of praise) from Maṇḍala 9 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.
The pressers drive thy sap through their arms, O Soma, for rapture's fire.
Etaśa doth storm like the swelling sea.
With set will we follow the skilled charioteer, who doth robe himself in water and stalk, the bringer of kine, where the fair wool tufts are spread.
Send thou the Soma, surging, into the strainer, he who outstrippeth all in the flood, though no maiden’s hand prepare him.
Cleanse him for Indra's draught.
With heed doth Soma haste into the strainer of the one being made pure; with firm intent, he hath taken his seat.
To thee, O Indra, the drops—
the Soma’s flow—have streamed in reverence, for the great share of the victorious one.
Made pure in the shape of the sheep, he rusheth unto all that is splendid;
like a champion, he taketh his stand among the kine.
Swollen like heaven’s broad back, the stream of the pressed knower of rites speedeth of its own will unto the strainer.
Thou, O Soma, hearkening to the voice of song, art cleansed in full among the Āyus; through the sheep’s wool thou runnest in strength.
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 IX.16
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.
pra te sotāra oṇyo3 rasam madāya ghṛṣvaye |
sargo na takty etaśaḥ || 1 ||
kratvā dakṣasya rathyam apo vasānam andhasā |
goṣām aṇveṣu saścima || 2 ||
anaptam apsu duṣṭaraṁ somam pavitra ā sṛja |
punīhīndrāya pātave || 3 ||
pra punānasya cetasā somaḥ pavitre arṣati |
kratvā sadhastham āsadat || 4 ||
pra tvā namobhir indava indra somā asṛkṣata |
mahe bharāya kāriṇaḥ || 5 ||
punāno rūpe avyaye viśvā arṣann abhi śriyaḥ |
śūro na goṣu tiṣṭhati || 6 ||
divo na sānu pipyuṣī dhārā sutasya vedhasaḥ |
vṛthā pavitre arṣati || 7 ||
tvaṁ soma vipaścitaṁ tanā punāna āyuṣu |
avyo vāraṁ vi dhāvasi || 8 ||
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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