Sukta 38
Sukta 9.38
Soma Pavamāna
Undetermined here
This short Pavamāna hymn praises Soma as he is pressed and purified, streaming forward like a powerful bull-chariot toward abundance and strength. The verses dwell on Soma’s swift movement into the human sphere and his intimate approach to the “dear womb”—the settling place where he becomes fit for offering and drinking. Its purpose is to sacralize the purification-flow and invite Soma’s invigorating, life-supporting power into the rite.
Mantras
Mantra 1
एष उ स्य वृषा रथोऽव्यो वारेभिरर्षति । गच्छन्वाजं सहस्रिणम् ॥
यह वो बड़े बैल जैसा रथ है। यह कभी खत्म नहीं होने वाले कवर के साथ आगे बढ़ता है। यह हज़ारों गुना ताकत की तरफ जा रहा है।
Mantra 2
एतं त्रितस्य योषणो हरिं हिन्वन्त्यद्रिभिः । इन्दुमिन्द्राय पीतये ॥
दस लड़कियाँ इस पीले रंग के सोम को आगे बढ़ा रही हैं। वो पत्थर से उसको निचोड़ रही हैं। यह चमकता हुआ सोम इंद्र के लिए है, ताकि वो पी सके।
Mantra 3
एतं त्यं हरितो दश मर्मृज्यन्ते अपस्युवः । याभिर्मदाय शुम्भते ॥
दस पीले घोड़े इस सोम को चमका रहे हैं। वो काम में लगे हैं। इससे वो ताकत और मस्ती के लिए तैयार होता है।
Mantra 4
एष स्य मानुषीष्वा श्येनो न विक्षु सीदति । गच्छञ्जारो न योषितम् ॥
यह सोम लोगों के बीच आके बैठता है। जैसे बाज़ उड़ता है और सबको देखता है। वो प्यार करने वाले की तरह अपनी पसंद की तरफ जा रहा है।
Mantra 5
एष स्य मद्यो रसोऽव चष्टे दिवः शिशुः । य इन्दुर्वारमाविशत् ॥
यह मीठा रस है जो आसमान से आया है। यह नीचे दिखता है। यह चमकता हुआ सोम अंदर घुस आया है।
Mantra 6
एष स्य पीतये सुतो हरिरर्षति धर्णसिः । क्रन्दन्योनिमभि प्रियम् ॥
यह सोम रस पीने के लिए निकला है। रंग पीला है और बह रहा है। अपनी जगह पकड़ के चल रहा है। आवाज़ निकाल के अपनी प्यारी जगह की तरफ दौड़ रहा है, जहाँ उसका अपना घर है।
Inside Sukta 38
How it unfolds
- Where it opens
Soma is announced in motion—powerful as a bull and chariot—streaming forward through its coverings toward abundant strength.
- Development
The hymn intensifies Soma’s speed and purpose: he settles among humans like a falcon among clans and advances with intimate inevitability like a lover to the beloved.
- Climax
Soma, pressed and tawny, surges for drinking—crying/roaring as he hastens to his ‘dear womb,’ the rightful seat where he becomes fully manifest and fit for offering.
- Where it settles
The flow arrives and settles: Soma’s movement culminates in readiness—purified, established, and available as invigorating nourishment for the rite.
The deity: Soma Pavamāna
- In the VedaSoma as ‘pavamāna’ is the pressed juice in motion—purifying as it streams through the woolen filter, tawny, roaring/crying, and irresistibly drawn to its proper seat. He is praised with images of a bull, a chariot, a falcon among clans, and a lover hastening to the beloved.
- Cosmic functionMediator of vitality and inspiration: Soma’s purified flow sustains gods and humans, empowers Indra-like force, and renews order by turning raw potency into ritually fit, life-giving essence.
- Inner significanceThe refining of consciousness: the mind’s raw impulses are ‘pressed’ and clarified through discipline, becoming a luminous, strengthening nectar that can be ‘drunk’ as insight, courage, and steadiness.
The seer
- AniruktaThis hymn is transmitted without a clear seer attribution in the provided tradition; it belongs to the Mandala 9 Soma-Pavamāna corpus where many verses function primarily as liturgical chants for the pressing and purification.
Famous verses
एष उ स्य वृषा रथोऽव्यो वारेभिरर्षति । गच्छन्वाजं सहस्रिणम् ॥एष स्य मानुषीष्वा श्येनो न विक्षु सीदति । गच्छञ्जारो न योषितम् ॥priyaṃ yonim
Attributes of the deity
- Purifying/clarifying (pavamāna)
- Swift-streaming, dynamic movement
- Tawny/golden (hari) radiance
- Strength-giving (vāja, sahasrin)
- Intimate approach to the ‘yoni’ (proper seat/womb)
- Ritually central as the drink of offering
Also by this seer
- Associated broadly with the Soma Pavamāna (Mandala 9) liturgical stream used in Soma pressing and filtration rites.
The rite, step by step
- Press the Soma plant/juice (savana) and collect the expressed liquid.
- Filter the Soma through wool (āvya/‘imperishable coverings’), chanting Pavamāna verses to sanctify the flow.
- Let the purified Soma run into the vessel (droṇa/kalasha), establishing it in its ‘yoni’ (proper seat).
- Offer libations to the gods (especially Indra and associated deities) and distribute Soma for ritual drinking where applicable.
Offerings
- Purified Soma juice (libations)
- Ghee and ancillary oblations as part of the Soma rite (contextual)
Frequently Asked Questions
It praises Soma while he is being pressed and purified, describing his swift streaming through the filter and his arrival into the vessel where he becomes fit for offering and drinking.
The falcon image conveys speed and decisive arrival among the clans, while the lover image conveys intimacy and inevitability—Soma is drawn to his proper seat and to those who welcome him in the rite.
It refers to Soma’s rightful settling place after purification—both the ritual vessel/seat of collection and, symbolically, the stable ground where refined power becomes fully present and usable.
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