Giving birth to the luminous worlds of heaven,1 giving birth to the Sun in the waters,2 the
Brilliant One clothes himself with the waters and the rays.3The God of the Mystic Wine
Rig Veda IX.42 and 75
These two hymns are rendered as literally as possible so as to show the original symbolism of the Veda untranslated into its psychological equivalents.
IX.42
9.42.1
ज॒नय॑न्रोच॒ना दि॒वो ज॒नय॑न्न॒प्सु सूर्य॑म् ।
वसा॑नो॒ गा अ॒पो हरि॑: ॥१॥
janayan rocanā divaḥ janayan ap-su sūryam
vasānaḥ gāḥ apaḥ hariḥ
Giving birth to the luminous worlds of heaven,1 giving birth to the Sun in the waters,2 the
Brilliant One clothes himself with the waters and the rays.3
9.42.2
ए॒ष प्र॒त्नेन॒ मन्म॑ना दे॒वो दे॒वेभ्य॒स्परि॑ ।
धार॑या पवते सु॒तः ॥२॥
eṣaḥ pratnena manmanā devaḥ devebhyaḥ pari
dhārayā pavate sutaḥ
He by the ancient thought flows pressed out in a stream, a god around the gods.
9.42.3
वा॒वृ॒धा॒नाय॒ तूर्व॑ये॒ पव॑न्ते॒ वाज॑सातये ।
सोमा॑: स॒हस्र॑पाजसः ॥३॥
vavṛdhānāya tūrvaye pavante vāja-sātaye
somāḥ sahasra-pājasaḥ
For one increasing and swiftly advancing4 there flow for his winning of the plenty the Soma-juices with their thousand strengths.
9.42.4
दु॒हा॒नः प्र॒त्नमित्पयः॑ प॒वित्रे॒ परि॑ षिच्यते ।
क्रन्द॑न्दे॒वाँ अ॑जीजनत् ॥४॥
duhānaḥ pratnam it payaḥ pavitre pari sicyate
krandan devān ajījanat
Milked out, the ancient food, he is poured into the strainer that purifies and shouting he brings to birth the gods.
9.42.5
अ॒भि विश्वा॑नि॒ वार्या॒भि दे॒वाँ ऋ॑ता॒वृधः॑ ।
सोमः॑ पुना॒नो अ॑र्षति ॥५॥
abhi viśvāni vāryā abhi devān ṛta-vṛdhaḥ
somaḥ punānaḥ arṣati
Soma, purifying himself, travels to all desirable boons, to the gods who increase the Truth.
9.42.6
गोम॑न्नः सोम वी॒रव॒दश्वा॑व॒द्वाज॑वत्सु॒तः ।
पव॑स्व बृह॒तीरिषः॑ ॥६॥
go-mat naḥ soma vīra-vat aśva-vat vāja-vat sutaḥ
pavasva bṛhatīḥ iṣaḥ
Stream on us, O Soma, when thou art pressed out, that in which are the Cows, the Heroes, the Steeds, the Plenty; stream impulsions vast.5
IX.75
9.75.1
अ॒भि प्रि॒याणि॑ पवते॒ चनो॑हितो॒ नामा॑नि य॒ह्वो अधि॒ येषु॒ वर्ध॑ते ।
आ सूर्य॑स्य बृह॒तो बृ॒हन्नधि॒ रथं॒ विष्व॑ञ्चमरुहद्विचक्ष॒णः ॥१॥
abhi priyāṇi pavate canaḥ-hitaḥ nāmāni yahvaḥ adhi yeṣu vardhate
ā sūryasya bṛhataḥ bṛhan adhi ratham viṣvañcam aruhat vi-cakṣaṇaḥ
Placed in delight he flows to the pleasant Names in which he increases; vast and wise he ascends the chariot of the vast sun, the chariot of a universal movement.
9.75.2
ऋ॒तस्य॑ जि॒ह्वा प॑वते॒ मधु॑ प्रि॒यं व॒क्ता पति॑र्धि॒यो अ॒स्या अदा॑भ्यः ।
दधा॑ति पु॒त्रः पि॒त्रोर॑पी॒च्यं१́ नाम॑ तृ॒तीय॒मधि॑ रोच॒ने दि॒वः ॥२॥
ṛtasya jihvā pavate madhu priyam vaktā patiḥ dhiyaḥ asyāḥ adābhyaḥ
dadhāti putraḥ pitroḥ apīcyam nāma tṛtīyam adhi rocane divaḥ
Tongue of the Truth, a pleasant honey,6 he flows speaker and lord of this Thought and invincible; the Son places the third hidden Name of the Parents7 in the luminous world of Heaven.
9.75.3
अव॑ द्युता॒नः क॒लशाँ॑ अचिक्रद॒न्नृभि॑र्येमा॒नः कोश॒ आ हि॑र॒ण्यये॑ ।
अ॒भीमृ॒तस्य॑ दो॒हना॑ अनूष॒ताधि॑ त्रिपृ॒ष्ठ उ॒षसो॒ वि रा॑जति ॥३॥
ava dyutānaḥ kalaśān acikradat nṛbhiḥ yemānaḥ kośe ā hiraṇyaye
abhi īm ṛtasya dohanāḥ anūṣata adhi tri-pṛṣṭhaḥ uṣasaḥ vi rājati
Breaking into light he cries down into the jars, guided by men, in the golden sheath; in him the milkings of the Truth dawn out,8 he shines wide on the triple back of the Dawn.
9.75.4
अद्रि॑भिः सु॒तो म॒तिभि॒श्चनो॑हितः प्ररो॒चय॒न्रोद॑सी मा॒तरा॒ शुचि॑: ।
रोमा॒ण्यव्या॑ स॒मया॒ वि धा॑वति॒ मधो॒र्धारा॒ पिन्व॑माना दि॒वेदि॑वे ॥४॥
adribhiḥ sutaḥ matibhiḥ canaḥ-hitaḥ pra-rocayan rodasī iti mātarā śuciḥ
romāṇi avyā samayā vi dhāvati madhoḥ dhārā pinvamānā dive-dive
Pressed out by the stones, placed in delight by the thoughts, pure, making to shine out the two mothers, Earth and Heaven, he runs evenly through all the hairs of the Sheep;9 his stream of honey goes on increasing day by day.
9.75.5
परि॑ सोम॒ प्र ध॑न्वा स्व॒स्तये॒ नृभि॑: पुना॒नो अ॒भि वा॑सया॒शिर॑म् ।
ये ते॒ मदा॑ आह॒नसो॒ विहा॑यस॒स्तेभि॒रिन्द्रं॑ चोदय॒ दात॑वे म॒घम् ॥५॥
pari soma pra dhanva svastaye nṛbhiḥ punānaḥ abhi vāsaya ā-śiram
ye te madāḥ āhanasaḥ vi-hāyasaḥ tebhiḥ indram codaya dātave magham
Race everywhere, O Soma, for our happiness, purified by men clothe thyself with the mixings; with those thy raptures that are smiting and wide-extended, impel Indra to give his plenty.10
1 The three worlds of Swar.
2 Agni, Surya and Soma himself are said to be found in the waters or seven rivers.
3 Gāḥ, meaning both cows and rays.
4 On the path, through all obstacles; the sacrifice is figured both as a growth of man and as a journey.
5 “Large foods”, according to the ritualist commentator; as there are here two words meaning food in his usual rendering, iṣ and vāja, he gives another meaning to vāja and explains the verse “give us a wealth along with which there are cows, men, horses and battle and give us plentiful food”.
6 The sweet wine of the Soma.
7 Heaven and Earth; there are three heavens and three earths and at the summit is the triple luminous world of Heaven called Swar and described lower down as the triple back or threefold level in the Dawn. That is the world of the “vast sun” and is itself described as the Truth, the Right, the Vast.
8 Or, “to him the milkers of the Truth cry out the chant.”
9 The strainer in which the Soma is purified is made of the fleece of the ewe. Indra is the Ram; the Ewe must therefore be an energy of Indra, probably the divinised sense-mind, indriyam.
10 The Soma was mixed with water, milk and other ingredients: Soma is said to clothe himself with the Waters and with the “cows”, that is, the illuminations or yield of Dawn, the shining Cow.