Sukta 52
Sukta 9.52
Soma Pavamāna
This short Pavamāna Soma hymn invokes the freshly pressed Soma to flow to the filter (pavitra), shining and wealth-bearing, and to encircle the worshippers with ancient prosperity and strength. It also presents Soma as unshakable in his generosity and as a protector who “shakes down” the violent assailant, concluding with a prayer for hundredfold or thousandfold aids and an increase of rayi (abundance).
Mantras
Mantra 1
परि द्युक्षः सनद्रयिर्भरद्वाजं नो अन्धसा । सुवानो अर्ष पवित्र आ ॥
Circle us with thy shining, O Soma, bearing the ancient wealth; with thy pressed essence bring to us the plenitude of force; being expressed, flow to the filter.
Mantra 2
तव प्रत्नेभिरध्वभिरव्यो वारे परि प्रियः । सहस्रधारो यात्तना ॥
Along thy ancient paths, O dear one, (thou movest) around the woolen strainer; thousand-streamed, go on thy own course of being.
Mantra 3
चरुर्न यस्तमीङ्खयेन्दो न दानमीङ्खय । वधैर्वधस्नवीङ्खय ॥
Like a well-cooked offering, whoever would shake him—O Indu, he cannot shake thy giving; with thy strokes shake down the striker (the violent assailant).
Mantra 4
नि शुष्ममिन्दवेषां पुरुहूत जनानाम् । यो अस्माँ आदिदेशति ॥
Lay low, O Indu, the force of those peoples—O much-invoked one—who would point at us to harm and command against us.
Mantra 5
शतं न इन्द ऊतिभिः सहस्रं वा शुचीनाम् । पवस्व मंहयद्रयिः ॥
O Indu, be to us a hundredfold in thy helps—or a thousandfold—of the pure ones; purify thyself, increasing the wealth of fullness (rayi) within us.
Inside Sukta 52
How it unfolds
- Where it opens
Soma is invoked to encircle the worshippers with shining protection and to bring ‘ancient wealth’ and vāja while flowing to the filter.
- Development
The hymn emphasizes Soma’s unstoppable, purified movement and his steadfast generosity—no one can ‘shake’ or diminish his gift.
- Climax
Soma is asked to ‘shake down’ the violent striker—turning aggression back and establishing safety alongside abundance.
- Where it settles
A final prayer asks Soma’s multiplied helps (hundredfold or thousandfold) and a swelling increase of rayi through continued purification.
The deity: Soma Pavamāna
- In the VedaSoma as the pressed, flowing, and self-purifying sacred drink, called Indu (“the bright drop”), who runs to the filter (pavitra), shines, and bestows vāja (vital force, prize, strength) and rayi (wealth).
- Cosmic functionMediator of vitality and inspiration: Soma’s purified flow empowers gods and humans, sustains cosmic order through sacrificial circulation, and drives away hostility through protective potency.
- Inner significanceThe clarified mind/nectar of consciousness: as Soma is filtered, so awareness is refined—yielding clarity, courage, generous power, and inner abundance.
The seer
- Anonym (R̥gvedic Soma-Pavamāna tradition)This sukta is transmitted without a specific seer-name; such anonymity is common in parts of Mandala 9 where the liturgical Soma-flow hymns are preserved as a priestly corpus rather than as individual family compositions.
Famous verses
pavitra ā
चरुर्न यस्तमीङ्खयेन्दो न दानमीङ्खय । वधैर्वधस्नवीङ्खय ॥śataṃ na inda ūtibhiḥ
Attributes of the deity
- Pavamāna (self-purifying, flowing to the filter)
- Śuci (pure, bright)
- Dātā (generous giver of boons)
- Vājabhṛt (bringer of strength/force)
- Rakṣohā/abhaya-kṛt (protector, dispeller of harm)
Also by this seer
- Participation (as part of the anonymous/collective transmission) in the Mandala 9 Pavamāna collection used for Soma purification and offering.
- Preservation of refrain-like liturgical diction centered on ‘pavasva’ (purify/flow) and ‘pavitra’ (the filter).
The rite, step by step
- Press Soma (savana) and collect the expressed juice (andhas).
- Cause Soma to flow/stream toward the straining cloth or wool filter (pavitra).
- Recite the hymn as Soma is purified and made ‘śuci’ (bright/pure).
- Offer the purified Soma as libation, seeking vāja (strength) and rayi (abundance) and protection from aggressors.
- Conclude with a request for multiplied aids (hundredfold/thousandfold) and flourishing prosperity.
Offerings
- Pressed Soma juice (andhas)
- Libations of purified Soma
- Associated oblations customary to Soma rites (e.g., ghee and ritual waters, as contextually applicable)
Frequently Asked Questions
It asks Soma, freshly pressed, to flow to the filter (pavitra), become pure and shining, and bring strength (vāja) and wealth (rayi) to the worshippers.
It presents Soma as a protector: no one can reduce his gift, and his power can repel or subdue violent harm directed at the sacrificers.
It is a poetic way of asking for greatly multiplied support—many forms of aid, prosperity, and inner fullness arising from Soma’s purification and blessing.
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