Hymn to Soma
Rigveda IX.17 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.
Like rivers rushing headlong down the slope, breaking all that bars their way, the swift soma streams have been loosed in tumult and speed.
As they are crushed, the shining drops fall like rain upon the earth, and all their flood floweth to Indra, the god of might.
The draught of rapture, the gladdening soma, runneth to the straining-cloth beyond the surge of waves, cleaving the fiends asunder, ever yearning toward the gods.
He darteth into the tubs; he is cast round the sieve, waxing strong through hymn and rite in the holy feasts.
Thou burnest past the three bright realms, as the sun that riseth to the heights, O Soma.
Thou sendest speech abroad and stirrest it onward like the sun’s own beam.
The seers, the song-smiths, have lifted their voice before the altar’s flame, ever gazing upon their dear delight.
The men of vision, seeking aid, do smooth and deck thee, prize-gaining steed, with their wise craft, for the council of the gods.
Flow thou in sweetness, after the honeyed course.
Thou, keen of edge, hast taken thy seat— a joy to drink for the sake of truth.
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.17
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 nimneneva sindhavo ghnanto vṛtrāṇi bhūrṇayaḥ |
somā asṛgram āśavaḥ || 1 ||
abhi suvānāsa indavo vṛṣṭayaḥ pṛthivīm iva |
indraṁ somāso akṣaran || 2 ||
atyūrmir matsaro madaḥ somaḥ pavitre arṣati |
vighnan rakṣāṁsi devayuḥ || 3 ||
ā kalaśeṣu dhāvati pavitre pari ṣicyate |
ukthair yajñeṣu vardhate || 4 ||
ati trī soma rocanā rohan na bhrājase divam |
iṣṇan sūryaṁ na codayaḥ || 5 ||
abhi viprā anūṣata mūrdhan yajñasya kāravaḥ |
dadhānāś cakṣasi priyam || 6 ||
tam u tvā vājinaṁ naro dhībhir viprā avasyavaḥ |
mṛjanti devatātaye || 7 ||
madhor dhārām anu kṣara tīvraḥ sadhastham āsadaḥ |
cārur ṛtāya pītaye || 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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