Hymn to Soma
Rigveda IX.74 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.
Like a calf fresh-born, he hath roared into the wooden bowl.
When the ruddy racer striveth for the sun, he goeth with the milk-strong seed of heaven.
Through his grace we beseech him for broad sheltering.
The plant, upholder and pillar of the sky, when stretched aright and brimming full, surroundeth all with its reach.
That plant shall serve the twain world-halves in their turning.
The singer joineth the joined pair and their soul-refreshing draughts.
Great is the bliss of the honey’d Soma made ready, and broad is the lea of Aditi for him that seeketh truth— who, as dawn-red bull, commandeth the rain, who leadeth the waters, deathless and fit for song.
The cloud embodied is milked of butter and milk; from the navel of truth is the deathless draught born.
Together, with fair drops, they gladden him— and the swollen men let fall the driven one.
The plant, in fellowship with the wave, hath cried aloud.
For Manu it swelleth the skin that seeketh the gods.
It layeth the seed in Aditi’s lap—
through it we gain both offspring and goodly wealth.
Let there be endless streams below in the strainer of a thousand threads, and in the third realm, streams that bear the child.
The four hidden flows, rushing from heaven and ghee-laden, bear the oblation—the deathless draught.
He maketh himself a whitened shape in his striving.
Soma, the giver and lord, knoweth the world.
He walketh with wisdom and with rite—that is the path unto him.
He shall cleave the water-brimmed tun of heaven.
And the fleet steed, having won, hath reached the shining white vat, made smooth with kine, at journey’s end.
The god-servers speed him forth with their thought.
A hundred cows for Kakṣīvant of a hundred winters!
Thy juice, when mingled with the waters, floweth through the sheep’s wool, O self-cleansing one.
Made fair by the poets, be thou sweet to Indra’s draught, O gladdener most bright, O self-cleansing one.
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.74
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.
śiśur na jāto 'va cakradad vane sva1r yad vājy aruṣaḥ siṣāsati |
divo retasā sacate payovṛdhā tam īmahe sumatī śarma saprathaḥ || 1 ||
divo yaḥ skambho dharuṇaḥ svātata āpūrṇo aṁśuḥ paryeti viśvataḥ |
seme mahī rodasī yakṣad āvṛtā samīcīne dādhāra sam iṣaḥ kaviḥ || 2 ||
mahi psaraḥ sukṛtaṁ somyam madhūrvī gavyūtir aditer ṛtaṁ yate |
īśe yo vṛṣṭer ita usriyo vṛṣāpāṁ netā ya itaūtir ṛgmiyaḥ || 3 ||
ātmanvan nabho duhyate ghṛtam paya ṛtasya nābhir amṛtaṁ vi jāyate |
samīcīnāḥ sudānavaḥ prīṇanti taṁ naro hitam ava mehanti peravaḥ || 4 ||
arāvīd aṁśuḥ sacamāna ūrmiṇā devāvya1m manuṣe pinvati tvacam |
dadhāti garbham aditer upastha ā yena tokaṁ ca tanayaṁ ca dhāmahe || 5 ||
sahasradhāre 'va tā asaścatas tṛtīye santu rajasi prajāvatīḥ |
catasro nābho nihitā avo divo havir bharanty amṛtaṁ ghṛtaścutaḥ || 6 ||
śvetaṁ rūpaṁ kṛṇute yat siṣāsati somo mīḍhvām̐ asuro veda bhūmanaḥ |
dhiyā śamī sacate sem abhi pravad divas kavandham ava darṣad udriṇam || 7 ||
adha śvetaṁ kalaśaṁ gobhir aktaṁ kārṣmann ā vājy akramīt sasavān |
ā hinvire manasā devayantaḥ kakṣīvate śatahimāya gonām || 8 ||
adbhiḥ soma papṛcānasya te raso 'vyo vāraṁ vi pavamāna dhāvati |
sa mṛjyamānaḥ kavibhir madintama svadasvendrāya pavamāna pītaye || 9 ||
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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