Hymn to Soma
Rigveda IX.33 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.
Forth go the soma-draughts, hearkening to the breath of song, as billows of water roll, toward the wooden cups as wild bulls toward the thicket.
To the cups they’ve streamed, brown and bright with sheen, in a flood of truth, toward the reward of kine.
Pressed for Indra and Vāyu, for Varuṇa and the storm-lords, for Viṣṇu—lo, the soma hasteneth in might.
Three voices rise on high, the milk-kine cry aloud, and the tawny one goeth on in endless roar.
The holy sayings, young and bold, mothers of truth, have lowed to him in longing— they tend the babe of the heavens with care.
Soma, draw for us four seas of riches from every side, yea, in their thousands— bring them in thy holy cleansing.
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.33
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.
pra somāso vipaścito 'pāṁ na yanty ūrmayaḥ |
vanāni mahiṣā iva || 1 ||
abhi droṇāni babhravaḥ śukrā ṛtasya dhārayā |
vājaṁ gomantam akṣaran || 2 ||
sutā indrāya vāyave varuṇāya marudbhyaḥ |
somā arṣanti viṣṇave || 3 ||
tisro vāca ud īrate gāvo mimanti dhenavaḥ |
harir eti kanikradat || 4 ||
abhi brahmīr anūṣata yahvīr ṛtasya mātaraḥ |
marmṛjyante divaḥ śiśum || 5 ||
rāyaḥ samudrām̐ś caturo 'smabhyaṁ soma viśvataḥ |
ā pavasva sahasriṇaḥ || 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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