Hymn to Soma
Rigveda IX.35 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.
Bringing us broad wealth, O self-cleansing one, cleanse thyself in a holy stream whereby thou shalt bring us into the light.
Thou, O drop, who makest the sea to heave, who setteth all things in motion—cleanse thyself, upholding our riches with thy might.
With thee as champion—thou bearer of heroes— may we prevail against them that rise in strife.
Pour out upon us that which is most fair.
The drop speaketh forth, the seer who seeketh his reward, and findeth in his laws the shape of weapons.
Him who maketh speech to sway we array in song as he is washed—Soma, herdsman of the folk.
Under whose law all men are upheld—
under him, the lord of stead, who bringeth forth rare gifts as he is cleansed.
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.35
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.
ā naḥ pavasva dhārayā pavamāna rayim pṛthum |
yayā jyotir vidāsi naḥ || 1 ||
indo samudramīṅkhaya pavasva viśvamejaya |
rāyo dhartā na ojasā || 2 ||
tvayā vīreṇa vīravo 'bhi ṣyāma pṛtanyataḥ |
kṣarā ṇo abhi vāryam || 3 ||
pra vājam indur iṣyati siṣāsan vājasā ṛṣiḥ |
vratā vidāna āyudhā || 4 ||
taṁ gīrbhir vācamīṅkhayam punānaṁ vāsayāmasi |
somaṁ janasya gopatim || 5 ||
viśvo yasya vrate jano dādhāra dharmaṇas pateḥ |
punānasya prabhūvasoḥ || 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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