Sukta 39
Sukta 9.39
Soma Pavamāna (the purifying Soma)
This short Pavamāna hymn celebrates Soma as the swift, self-luminous stream that is purified through the filter and carried to the divine plane where the gods affirm the eternal Reality. It depicts Soma’s descent and outpouring like a mighty river-wave, and culminates in his enthronement in the ‘womb of Ṛta’—the ordered truth that sustains sacrifice and cosmos.
Mantras
Mantra 1
आशुरर्ष बृहन्मते परि प्रियेण धाम्ना । यत्र देवा इति ब्रवन् ॥
हे सोम, जल्दी से बह आ। बड़े ज्ञान वाली सच्चाई के पास जा। अपने चमकदार घर के नियम से चल। उस जगह पहुँच जहाँ देव लोग कहते हैं, हाँ, यह सच है।
Mantra 2
परिष्कृण्वन्ननिष्कृतं जनाय यातयन्निषः । वृष्टिं दिवः परि स्रव ॥
जो काम पूरा नहीं हुआ है, उसको ठीक कर रहा है इंसान के लिए। हमें आगे बढ़ा रहा है। आसमान से बारिश की तरह हमारे ऊपर बह, ऊपर से रोशनी आ रही है।
Mantra 3
सुत एति पवित्र आ त्विषिं दधान ओजसा । विचक्षाणो विरोचयन् ॥
निकला हुआ सोम रस साफ करने वाले के पास आता है। चमक उठा के आता है, ताकत लेकर। अच्छे से देख के अंदर की दुनिया को रोशन करता है।
Mantra 4
अयं स यो दिवस्परि रघुयामा पवित्र आ । सिन्धोरूर्मा व्यक्षरत् ॥
यह वही है जो आसमान से भी आगे से आता है। जल्दी चल के साफ करने वाले के पास पहुँचता है। बड़े नदी की लहर की तरह फैल के बह जाता है।
Mantra 5
आविवासन्परावतो अथो अर्वावतः सुतः । इन्द्राय सिच्यते मधु ॥
यह सोम रस दूर से भी चमकता है, पास से भी। इसको निचोड़ा जा रहा है और इंद्र के लिए तैयार किया जा रहा है। यह वो शक्ति है जो हमारे अंदर जीत लाती है।
Mantra 6
समीचीना अनूषत हरिं हिन्वन्त्यद्रिभिः । योनावृतस्य सीदत ॥
रिशियों के साथ मिलकर यह रस इंद्र की तरफ बढ़ता है। पत्थरों से इसको निचोड़ते हैं और वो सत्य की जगह बैठता है। यह वो स्थान है जहाँ सब सही लगता है।
Inside Sukta 39
How it unfolds
- Where it opens
An urgent invocation: Soma is urged to stream swiftly, encircling the vast-minded Truth by his beloved, luminous law (dhāman).
- Development
Soma’s movement is portrayed as a descent/outflow from beyond heaven into the purifier, spreading like a powerful river-wave and becoming fit for divine affirmation.
- Climax
The revelation of destination and status: Soma reaches the plane ‘where the gods say “It is”’—the realm of affirmed Reality—and becomes fully established as truth-bearing essence.
- Where it settles
The rite and the inner life converge: rightly-directed powers chant, the stones impel the tawny Soma, and he is asked to sit in the womb/seat of Ṛta—stabilized order within the sacrifice and within us.
The deity: Soma Pavamāna
- In the VedaSoma is praised as a swift-flowing, tawny (hari) current that is pressed by stones, purified in the pavitra (filter), and made fit for the gods; he is luminous, truth-bearing, and a divine drink that awakens inspired speech and right order.
- Cosmic functionHe mediates between earth and heaven: drawn from the heights, purified, and offered, Soma invigorates the gods, sustains Ṛta (cosmic order), and renews life, rain, and vitality through his flowing potency.
- Inner significanceAs an inner symbol, Pavamāna is the purified current of consciousness—clarified mind and inspired breath—streaming toward truth, establishing inner order (ṛta) and seating awareness in its rightful center.
Famous verses
yatra devā iti bravan
sindhor ūrmā
yonau ṛtasya sīdata
Attributes of the deity
- Swift-flowing (āśu)
- Purifying (pavamāna) through the filter (pavitra)
- Tawny/bright (hari)
- Truth-oriented (ṛtasya)
- River-like, expansive outpouring (sindhor ūrmā)
- God-nourishing, world-sustaining
Also by this seer
- Part of the Pavamāna (Soma purification) hymns used as stotras in the Soma sacrifice
- Associated in practice with the Udgatṛ’s chanting tradition of Soma laudations (Sāmavedic reuse of Ṛgvedic Pavamāna material)
The rite, step by step
- Press Soma with stones (adri) to release the juice
- Let the juice flow and be clarified through the pavitra (wool/grass filter)
- Collect the purified Soma in vessels (droṇa/āhavanīya context varies by śrauta procedure)
- Chant/recite Pavamāna verses during the flowing and clarification
- Offer libations to the gods (especially Indra and associated deities)
- Conclude with seating/establishing the purified Soma in the rite—symbolically ‘in the womb of Ṛta’
Offerings
- Purified Soma juice (primary)
- Ghee and ancillary oblations as required by the Soma rite (context-dependent)
Frequently Asked Questions
The hymn praises Soma Pavamāna—Soma as the juice that is pressed, purified through the filter, and offered to the gods.
It points to Soma reaching the plane of affirmed Reality—truth (sat/ṛta) recognized by the gods—showing that purification leads toward the highest order and certainty.
It is the ordered seat of truth: ritually, the properly established sacrifice; inwardly, a stable, disciplined consciousness where purified energy can dwell.
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