Sukta 2

Mantra 1

इदं वसो सुतमन्धः पिबा सुपूर्णमुदरम् । अनाभयिन्ररिमा ते ॥

This pressed delight, O Vasu, drink—fill full the vessel within. Fearless, we would give to thee: let thy abundance move in us as a secure increase.

Mantra 2

नृभिर्धूतः सुतो अश्नैरव्यो वारैः परिपूतः । अश्वो न निक्तो नदीषु ॥

Pressed and shaken out by men, strained through the wool with the stones, the Soma is purified all around—like a horse washed clean in the rivers: the vital delight made clear for the god’s entry.

Mantra 3

तं ते यवं यथा गोभिः स्वादुमकर्म श्रीणन्तः । इन्द्र त्वास्मिन्त्सधमादे ॥

That offering of yours we have made sweet—like barley blended with the rays (cows of light)—as we mix and refine it; O Indra, may you be with us in this common gladness and shared ecstasy.

Mantra 4

इन्द्र इत्सोमपा एक इन्द्रः सुतपा विश्वायुः । अन्तर्देवान्मर्त्याँश्च ॥

Indra indeed is the one true Soma-drinker; Indra is the drinker of the well-pressed, the all-life within: he stands inwardly between the gods and mortal movements, mediating the passage from human striving to divine power.

Mantra 5

न यं शुक्रो न दुराशीर्न तृप्रा उरुव्यचसम् । अपस्पृण्वते सुहार्दम् ॥

Him—wide in his luminous reach—neither the bright (force) nor ill-wishing nor the self-satisfied can push away; for he is the good-hearted power that cannot be excluded from the true movement.

Mantra 6

गोभिर्यदीमन्ये अस्मन्मृगं न व्रा मृगयन्ते । अभित्सरन्ति धेनुभिः ॥

When others hunt him from us as hunters pursue a wild creature, they press in upon him with their herds of forces; yet the luminous ‘cows’ are not mere cattle—these are rival claimants of light seeking to seize the power.

Mantra 7

त्रय इन्द्रस्य सोमाः सुतासः सन्तु देवस्य । स्वे क्षये सुतपाव्नः ॥

Let the three pressed Soma-draughts be for Indra, for the god—within his own home of consciousness—he who drinks the expressed essence and purifies our energies by that ecstasy.

Mantra 8

त्रयः कोशासः श्चोतन्ति तिस्रश्चम्वः सुपूर्णाः । समाने अधि भार्मन् ॥

Three vessels drip forth; three cups stand perfectly filled upon the common support—so the one delight is distributed in ordered measures for the ascent.

Mantra 9

शुचिरसि पुरुनिष्ठाः क्षीरैर्मध्यत आशीर्तः । दध्ना मन्दिष्ठः शूरस्य ॥

You are pure, set in many stations; in the midst you are blended with milk, and with curd you become the most gladdening for the Hero—so the ecstasy is made fit for Indra’s victorious action.

Mantra 10

इमे त इन्द्र सोमास्तीव्रा अस्मे सुतासः । शुक्रा आशिरं याचन्ते ॥

These Soma-essences for you, O Indra—keen and pressed out for us—bright in their force, ask for the blending (the clarifying admixture) so that the ecstasy may become perfectly effective in the being.

Mantra 11

ताँ आशिरं पुरोळाशमिन्द्रेमं सोमं श्रीणीहि । रेवन्तं हि त्वा शृणोमि ॥

Blend for Indra this Soma with the admixture and the sacrificial cake; for I hear you as the bringer of plenitude—one who answers with fullness when the offering is rightly refined.

Mantra 12

हृत्सु पीतासो युध्यन्ते दुर्मदासो न सुरायाम् । ऊधर्न नग्ना जरन्ते ॥

Within the hearts the drunk powers clash—like ill-intoxicated men with liquor; they burn away, stripped like a bare udder: therefore the ecstasy must be governed by Indra’s luminous mastery, not by disorderly excitement.

Mantra 13

रेवाँ इद्रेवतः स्तोता स्यात्त्वावतो मघोनः । प्रेदु हरिवः श्रुतस्य ॥

May the seer who sings become truly rich in the luminous plenitude, for he is upheld by you, O bountiful Indra; and may the fame of the inspired hearing go forth, O lord of the tawny steeds.

Mantra 14

उक्थं चन शस्यमानमगोररिरा चिकेत । न गायत्रं गीयमानम् ॥

Even the solemn utterance as it is being proclaimed the hostile power does not perceive; nor does it grasp the gāyatra when it is being sung—so the true chant passes beyond the enemy of light.

Mantra 15

मा न इन्द्र पीयत्नवे मा शर्धते परा दाः । शिक्षा शचीवः शचीभिः ॥

O Indra, do not give us over to the one who would drain and diminish; do not hand us to the violent host. Teach us, O lord of effective power, by your powers of luminous skill.

Mantra 16

वयमु त्वा तदिदर्था इन्द्र त्वायन्तः सखायः । कण्वा उक्थेभिर्जरन्ते ॥

We indeed come to you for that very aim, O Indra; seeking you as comrades, the Kaṇvas grow in you by their solemn utterances.

Mantra 17

न घेमन्यदा पपन वज्रिन्नपसो नविष्टौ । तवेदु स्तोमं चिकेत ॥

Truly, O wielder of the thunderbolt, no other power has attained the newest workings; it is your hymn alone that is consciously recognized and made effective.

Mantra 18

इच्छन्ति देवाः सुन्वन्तं न स्वप्नाय स्पृहयन्ति । यन्ति प्रमादमतन्द्राः ॥

The gods desire the one who presses the Soma; they do not long for sleep. Untiring, they move toward the state of wakeful mastery, not toward negligence.

Mantra 19

ओ षु प्र याहि वाजेभिर्मा हृणीथा अभ्यस्मान् । महाँ इव युवजानिः ॥

O, come forth to us with the plenitudes of force; do not turn away in disdain from us. Like a great one, come with youthful swiftness and renewing energy.

Mantra 20

मो ष्वद्य दुर्हणावान्त्सायं करदारे अस्मत् । अश्रीर इव जामाता ॥

Let not the ill-bearing, hard-to-endure power today make us far off by evening—like a joyless son-in-law kept at a distance; rather, keep our communion near and fortunate.

Mantra 21

विद्मा ह्यस्य वीरस्य भूरिदावरीं सुमतिम् । त्रिषु जातस्य मनांसि ॥

For we know the good thought of this hero—wide-giving, opening abundance; and we know the minds of him who is born in the threefold, the power that embraces all planes.

Mantra 22

आ तू षिञ्च कण्वमन्तं न घा विद्म शवसानात् । यशस्तरं शतमूतेः ॥

Pour in now the Kaṇva-inspired fullness; for we do not know any greater from the mighty one: more glorious is he, the hundred-helping power.

Mantra 23

ज्येष्ठेन सोतरिन्द्राय सोमं वीराय शक्राय । भरा पिबन्नर्याय ॥

With the most puissant pressing, O Soma-presser, bring the Soma to Indra—the heroic, the mighty; let him drink it as the noble power that leads the soul upward.

Mantra 24

यो वेदिष्ठो अव्यथिष्वश्वावन्तं जरितृभ्यः । वाजं स्तोतृभ्यो गोमन्तम् ॥

He who is most wise in the unshaken states—he grants to the singers the horse-rich plenitude of force, and to the praisers the cow-rich abundance: powers of progress and rays of luminous knowing.

Mantra 25

पन्यम्पन्यमित्सोतार आ धावत मद्याय । सोमं वीराय शूराय ॥

O pressers, run hither with the ever-lovely Soma for the rapture of consciousness—Soma for the Hero, for the Strong one: that the inner warrior may be kindled into victorious force.

Mantra 26

पाता वृत्रहा सुतमा घा गमन्नारे अस्मत् । नि यमते शतमूतिः ॥

May the Vṛtra-slayer drink the pressed Soma and come—yes, come not far from us; then the hundredfold help is set firmly within our being.

Mantra 27

एह हरी ब्रह्मयुजा शग्मा वक्षतः सखायम् । गीर्भिः श्रुतं गिर्वणसम् ॥

Hither, here—let the two tawny steeds yoked to the inspired Word bring the Friend, the Strong; him who is made heard by our songs, Indra the accepter of the hymns.

Mantra 28

स्वादवः सोमा आ याहि श्रीताः सोमा आ याहि । शिप्रिन्नृषीवः शचीवो नायमच्छा सधमादम् ॥

Come hither, O Indra, to the sweet Soma-draughts; come hither to the brightened Soma-draughts. O strong-jawed, sage-like, master of effective power—come to this our common gladness and inner feast.

Mantra 29

स्तुतश्च यास्त्वा वर्धन्ति महे राधसे नृम्णाय । इन्द्र कारिणं वृधन्तः ॥

And the praises that increase you, O Indra, for the great fulfillment and for the manly might—these, strengthening you, make you the doer and accomplisher within us.

Mantra 30

गिरश्च यास्ते गिर्वाह उक्था च तुभ्यं तानि । सत्रा दधिरे शवांसि ॥

The songs and the hymns that are yours, O bearer of the sacred word—those for you have set firmly, all at once, the powers of force: the energies that sustain victory.

Mantra 31

एवेदेष तुविकूर्मिर्वाजाँ एको वज्रहस्तः । सनादमृक्तो दयते ॥

Thus indeed this one, of far-reaching onrush, the sole wielder of the thunderbolt, gives out the plenitudes of force; from of old, uninjured, he dispenses his gift.

Mantra 32

हन्ता वृत्रं दक्षिणेनेन्द्रः पुरू पुरुहूतः । महान्महीभिः शचीभिः ॥

Indra, much-invoked, slays Vṛtra with the right-hand power; great is he with his mighty effective energies—by them he establishes the triumph of Truth over the coverer.

Mantra 33

यस्मिन्विश्वाश्चर्षणय उत च्यौत्ना ज्रयांसि च । अनु घेन्मन्दी मघोनः ॥

In whom all the peoples and the moving powers and the swift currents consent and follow—he indeed becomes the exhilarated giver, the Lord of plenitude.

Mantra 34

एष एतानि चकारेन्द्रो विश्वा योऽति शृण्वे । वाजदावा मघोनाम् ॥

This Indra has accomplished all these deeds—he who hears beyond the ordinary hearing; he is the giver of vāja, the dispenser of the bountiful plenitudes.

Mantra 35

प्रभर्ता रथं गव्यन्तमपाकाच्चिद्यमवति । इनो वसु स हि वोळ्हा ॥

He brings forward the chariot that seeks the rays (cows), and even from afar he protects the one he favors; he is the strong one, the good treasure—indeed he is the bearer who carries us through.

Mantra 36

सनिता विप्रो अर्वद्भिर्हन्ता वृत्रं नृभिः शूरः । सत्योऽविता विधन्तम् ॥

Winner and inspired seer, with the steeds and with the heroic powers he slays the Coverer; true, he is the protector of the one who sets the right offering in order.

Mantra 37

यजध्वैनं प्रियमेधा इन्द्रं सत्राचा मनसा । यो भूत्सोमैः सत्यमद्वा ॥

Sacrifice to him, O lovers of the true intelligence—Indra with an ever-advancing mind; he who becomes, by the Soma-forces, the true intoxicated one (filled with truth-delight).

Mantra 38

गाथश्रवसं सत्पतिं श्रवस्कामं पुरुत्मानम् । कण्वासो गात वाजिनम् ॥

Sing, O Kaṇvas, to the one whose fame is in the chant—lord of the true, desiring the higher hearing/fame, wide in being; sing to the bringer of vāja, the puissant one.

Mantra 39

य ऋते चिद्गास्पदेभ्यो दात्सखा नृभ्यः शचीवान् । ये अस्मिन्काममश्रियन् ॥

He who, even without the usual footholds, gives the rays (cows) as a comrade to the heroic powers—Indra of effective intelligence—to those who have taken refuge in this desire (for the divine).

Mantra 40

इत्था धीवन्तमद्रिवः काण्वं मेध्यातिथिम् । मेषो भूतोऽभि यन्नयः ॥

Thus, O wielder of the pressing-stone, you lead toward yourself the Kaṇva, rich in thought, the worthy guest—having become a ram (a force of forward charge), you draw him into the encounter.

Mantra 41

शिक्षा विभिन्दो अस्मै चत्वार्ययुता ददत् । अष्टा परः सहस्रा ॥

Learn (and know) this: Vibhindu gave to him four myriads, and beyond them eight thousands—so does the power of giving grow when Indra’s force is present.

Mantra 42

उत सु त्ये पयोवृधा माकी रणस्य नप्त्या । जनित्वनाय मामहे ॥

And those too, the increasers of the milk (nourishing sweetness), are not at all lacking in the lineage of joy and battle; for the power of becoming (new birth) we magnify and invoke.