Hymn to Soma
Rigveda IX.29 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.
His streams break forth—the streams of the pressed bull, who in his might doth serve the gods in their due order.
The wise in rite yoke forth the team;
the song-weavers raise their voice to the one born in brightness, meet for praise.
These boons lie lightly beneath thy sway, as thou art cleansed, O Soma rich in gifts— swell thou the hymn-worthy sea.
Win all good things and cleanse thyself in the stream, O Soma; bring enmities to their end.
Shield us well from him who giveth not—
yea, from the bare sound of such a one,
when we have cast off the lash of shame.
O shining drop, as thou art washed in the stream, draw unto thee the wealth of earth and sky.
Bring hither thy bright and stormful might.
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.
🌲
Source Text: ṛgveda IX.29
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.
prāsya dhārā akṣaran vṛṣṇaḥ sutasyaujasā |
devām̐ anu prabhūṣataḥ || 1 ||
saptim mṛjanti vedhaso gṛṇantaḥ kāravo girā |
jyotir jajñānam ukthyam || 2 ||
suṣahā soma tāni te punānāya prabhūvaso |
vardhā samudram ukthyam || 3 ||
viśvā vasūni saṁjayan pavasva soma dhārayā |
inu dveṣāṁsi sadhryak || 4 ||
rakṣā su no araruṣaḥ svanāt samasya kasya cit |
nido yatra mumucmahe || 5 ||
endo pārthivaṁ rayiṁ divyam pavasva dhārayā |
dyumantaṁ śuṣmam ā bhara || 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).
🌲