Hymn to Soma
Rigveda IX.23 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 swift-flowing soma hath surged in streams of honeyed joy, rushing forth toward all our songs and lays.
The ancient Āyus have set their feet upon a newer path— they have brought forth the sun, that it might shine upon the world.
Come unto us, thou self-cleansing one, and bring the wealth of the ungodly stranger into our hands.
Let there be refreshment, and let there be offspring.
The soma and the Āyus cleanse themselves anew, turning to a draught of gladness, toward the vessel that drippeth with honeyed dew.
Steadily doth soma run, drawing unto itself the strength of Indra, granting bold sons and warding off all curses.
Thou dost cleanse thyself, O Soma, for Indra and the gods, to be their common delight.
O drop divine, thou strivest to win the meed.
When Indra drank thy gladdening draughts, he shattered all that none could withstand— and so shall he shatter them again.
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.23
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.
somā asṛgram āśavo madhor madasya dhārayā |
abhi viśvāni kāvyā || 1 ||
anu pratnāsa āyavaḥ padaṁ navīyo akramuḥ |
ruce jananta sūryam || 2 ||
ā pavamāna no bharāryo adāśuṣo gayam |
kṛdhi prajāvatīr iṣaḥ || 3 ||
abhi somāsa āyavaḥ pavante madyam madam |
abhi kośam madhuścutam || 4 ||
somo arṣati dharṇasir dadhāna indriyaṁ rasam |
suvīro abhiśastipāḥ || 5 ||
indrāya soma pavase devebhyaḥ sadhamādyaḥ |
indo vājaṁ siṣāsasi || 6 ||
asya pītvā madānām indro vṛtrāṇy aprati |
jaghāna jaghanac ca nu || 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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