Hymn to Soma
Rigveda IX.19 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.
O Soma, whatever shining good, whether of the heavens or of the earth, is meet for song— bring thou that hither as thou art made pure.
For thou and Indra both are lords of light and kine; show forth thy mastery, and cause our sight to grow.
The bull, made pure among the folk of life, doth thunder o’er the sacred grass— though as a pale bay steed, he hath taken rest upon his womb.
Our far-seeing words have roared across the seed of the bull, as the mothers have over their calf, their son.
Shall he indeed plant seed in those dames who long for a bull, as he is being made pure— in those who yield the shining milk?
Win thou the hearts of those who stand apart, but lay dread upon our foes.
O self-cleansing one, find us wealth.
Soma, break the bull-strength of our foe—his stormful wrath, his might— be he far off or near at hand.
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.19
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.
yat soma citram ukthyaṁ divyam pārthivaṁ vasu |
tan naḥ punāna ā bhara || 1 ||
yuvaṁ hi sthaḥ svarpatī indraś ca soma gopatī |
īśānā pipyataṁ dhiyaḥ || 2 ||
vṛṣā punāna āyuṣu stanayann adhi barhiṣi |
hariḥ san yonim āsadat || 3 ||
avāvaśanta dhītayo vṛṣabhasyādhi retasi |
sūnor vatsasya mātaraḥ || 4 ||
kuvid vṛṣaṇyantībhyaḥ punāno garbham ādadhat |
yāḥ śukraṁ duhate payaḥ || 5 ||
upa śikṣāpatasthuṣo bhiyasam ā dhehi śatruṣu |
pavamāna vidā rayim || 6 ||
ni śatroḥ soma vṛṣṇyaṁ ni śuṣmaṁ ni vayas tira |
dūre vā sato anti vā || 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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