Hymn to Soma
Rigveda IX.18 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.
Mountain-born Soma, being pressed, hath flowed about the filter.
Thou art he who bestoweth wholeness in the raptures of delight.
Thou art the seer, the wise poet, the honey sprung from the stalk.
Thou art he who bestoweth wholeness in the raptures of delight.
All the gods, in holy fellowship, have come to drink of thee.
Thou art he who bestoweth wholeness in the raptures of delight.
He who holdeth all fair and sought-for things in both his hands— Thou art he who bestoweth wholeness in the raptures of delight.
Who shall yield forth milk as these two great world-halves do, the twin mothers as one— Thou art he who bestoweth wholeness in the raptures of delight.
He who, in one day, doth course through both the worlds with the spoil of the fray— Thou art he who bestoweth wholeness in the raptures of delight.
He, wild with might in the vats, roared aloud as he was cleansed.
Thou art he who bestoweth wholeness in the raptures of delight.
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.18
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.
pari suvāno giriṣṭhāḥ pavitre somo akṣāḥ |
madeṣu sarvadhā asi || 1 ||
tvaṁ vipras tvaṁ kavir madhu pra jātam andhasaḥ |
madeṣu sarvadhā asi || 2 ||
tava viśve sajoṣaso devāsaḥ pītim āśata |
madeṣu sarvadhā asi || 3 ||
ā yo viśvāni vāryā vasūni hastayor dadhe |
madeṣu sarvadhā asi || 4 ||
ya ime rodasī mahī sam mātareva dohate |
madeṣu sarvadhā asi || 5 ||
pari yo rodasī ubhe sadyo vājebhir arṣati |
madeṣu sarvadhā asi || 6 ||
sa śuṣmī kalaśeṣv ā punāno acikradat |
madeṣu sarvadhā asi || 7 ||
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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