Hymn to Soma
Rigveda IX.84 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.
Cleanse thyself—O thou who gladdenest the gods, unfettered, who win the waters— for Indra, for Varuṇa, for Vāyu.
Make for us this day a broad expanse, with well-being in its train.
Lift thy voice to the sky-folk in their spacious hall.
He who hath mounted the worlds, the deathless Soma, floweth round them all.
Binding and loosing with might to gain the upper hand, the drop goeth forth with the gods, as the sun with the dawn.
He who is loosed with the kine upon the herbs, flourishing beneath the gods’ good favor, drawing gifts near— he cleanseth himself with lightnings, pressed in a shining stream:
Soma, who maketh glad Indra and the heavenly host.
This very Soma now purifieth himself, winner of thousands, rousing the strong speech that waketh with the dawn.
The drop stirreth the sea with his winds; he sitteth in Indra’s heart within the vats.
The kine do blend this Soma with milk, he who is waxen strong by milk—
with thought they blend him, he who seeketh the sun.
Winning the prize, drawing forth fruit,
the sap doth cleanse himself—
a seer in rapture, a wise bard by his wordcraft, he who taketh joy in the sun.
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.84
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.
pavasva devamādano vicarṣaṇir apsā indrāya varuṇāya vāyave |
kṛdhī no adya varivaḥ svastimad urukṣitau gṛṇīhi daivyaṁ janam || 1 ||
ā yas tasthau bhuvanāny amartyo viśvāni somaḥ pari tāny arṣati |
kṛṇvan saṁcṛtaṁ vicṛtam abhiṣṭaya induḥ siṣakty uṣasaṁ na sūryaḥ || 2 ||
ā yo gobhiḥ sṛjyata oṣadhīṣv ā devānāṁ sumna iṣayann upāvasuḥ |
ā vidyutā pavate dhārayā suta indraṁ somo mādayan daivyaṁ janam || 3 ||
eṣa sya somaḥ pavate sahasrajid dhinvāno vācam iṣirām uṣarbudham |
induḥ samudram ud iyarti vāyubhir endrasya hārdi kalaśeṣu sīdati || 4 ||
abhi tyaṁ gāvaḥ payasā payovṛdhaṁ somaṁ śrīṇanti matibhiḥ svarvidam |
dhanaṁjayaḥ pavate kṛtvyo raso vipraḥ kaviḥ kāvyenā svarcanāḥ || 5 ||
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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