Hymn to Soma
Rigveda IX.28 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.
This one—the prize-bearer, urged by men, and all-knowing as the lord of thought— runneth swift through the wool of the sheep.
This one hath flowed unto the strainer, the soma pressed for the gods, and passeth into all their dwelling-places.
This one, a god undying, decketh himself within his womb; he breaketh all hindrance, and followeth best after the gods.
This one, the ever-roaring bull, held fast by the ten brethren, hasteneth unto the wooden beakers.
This one, self-cleansing and measureless, hath made the sun to shine, being all-knowing, beholding each realm.
This one—Soma the wild, whom no lie may beguile— runneth in his cleansing, chasing the gods, and smiting the evil of tongue.
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.28
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.
eṣa vājī hito nṛbhir viśvavin manasas patiḥ |
avyo vāraṁ vi dhāvati || 1 ||
eṣa pavitre akṣarat somo devebhyaḥ sutaḥ |
viśvā dhāmāny āviśan || 2 ||
eṣa devaḥ śubhāyate 'dhi yonāv amartyaḥ |
vṛtrahā devavītamaḥ || 3 ||
eṣa vṛṣā kanikradad daśabhir jāmibhir yataḥ |
abhi droṇāni dhāvati || 4 ||
eṣa sūryam arocayat pavamāno vicarṣaṇiḥ |
viśvā dhāmāni viśvavit || 5 ||
eṣa śuṣmy adābhyaḥ somaḥ punāno arṣati |
devāvīr aghaśaṁsahā || 6 ||
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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