Sukta 60
Sukta 9.60
Soma Pavamāna (Indu)
Gāyatrī (explicitly invoked; the verse is a gāyatrī-style invocation though full metrical verification is not provided here)
This brief Pavamāna hymn calls the singers to praise Soma with the Gāyatrī, celebrating the shining drop (Indu) as a many-eyed, all-perceiving power. It follows Soma’s ritual movement—rushing beyond the strainers into the jars—and links that purified flow to Indra’s inner delight and strength. The hymn culminates in a prayer that Soma purify into peace and bring prajāvat retaḥ, the generative, prosperity-bearing creative force.
Mantras
Mantra 1
प्र गायत्रेण गायत पवमानं विचर्षणिम् । इन्दुं सहस्रचक्षसम् ॥
गायत्री से गाओ और सोम की तारीफ करो। वो साफ करता है और काम करता है। उसकी हज़ारों आँखें हैं, वो सब देख सकता है।
Mantra 2
तं त्वा सहस्रचक्षसमथो सहस्रभर्णसम् । अति वारमपाविषुः ॥
तुझे हज़ारों आँखें मिली हैं और हज़ारों ताकत भी। लोगों ने तुझे कपड़े से छानकर साफ किया है। अब तू साफ हो गया है।
Mantra 3
अति वारान्पवमानो असिष्यदत्कलशाँ अभि धावति । इन्द्रस्य हार्द्याविशन् ॥
सोम साफ होके निकल गया। वो छानने वाले कपड़े को पार करके मटके की तरफ दौड़ रहा है। अब वो इंद्र के दिल में घुस गया है।
Mantra 4
इन्द्रस्य सोम राधसे शं पवस्व विचर्षणे । प्रजावद्रेत आ भर ॥
यह सोम रस इंद्र के काम आने के लिए तैयार हो रहा है। आपने आपको साफ करके शांति में आ जाओ। ऐसा रस लाओ जो नई ऊर्जा और नई पैदाइश लाए।
Inside Sukta 60
How it unfolds
- Where it opens
A direct liturgical command: praise Soma with the Gāyatrī, naming him the purifying, wide-working, many-eyed Indu.
- Development
The hymn tracks Soma’s kinetic passage—surging beyond the strainers and hastening toward the jars—depicting purification as both physical flow and divine intensification.
- Climax
Soma’s entry ‘into the heart of Indra’ (indrasya hārdi āviśan), the moment where purified essence becomes god-strength and victorious inspiration.
- Where it settles
A concluding prayer for Indra’s fulfillment: Soma to purify into peace and to bestow prajāvat retaḥ—creative, progeny-rich potency and prosperity.
The deity: Soma Pavamāna
- In the VedaSoma as Pavamāna is the ‘self-purifying’ bright drop that runs through the filters (vāra) into the vessels (kalaśa), radiant, swift, and life-giving; he is praised as vicarṣaṇi (wide-working) and sahasracakṣas (thousand-eyed).
- Cosmic functionHe mediates between earth and heaven as the consecrated essence: purifier of offerings, awakener of divine powers, and sustainer of ṛta by invigorating Indra and the other gods for victorious action.
- Inner significanceInwardly Soma Pavamāna symbolizes clarified consciousness: the mind’s essence filtered of obscurity, becoming luminous perception (many ‘eyes’) and a peaceful, creative potency that supports strength, joy, and right action.
Famous verses
प्र गायत्रेण गायत (pra gāyatreṇa gāyata)इन्द्रस्य हार्दि आविशन् (indrasya hārdi āviśan)प्रजावद् रेतः (prajāvad retaḥ)Attributes of the deity
- Pavamāna (self-purifying, flowing through filters)
- Indu (bright drop/essence)
- Vicarṣaṇi (wide-working, far-reaching efficacy)
- Sahasracakṣas (many-eyed: manifold perception)
- Swift, pressing-forward current toward the jars
- Indra-energizing, heart-entering delight
- Bestower of śam (peace) and prajāvat retaḥ (generative force)
Also by this seer
- Associated with the wider Pavamāna (Soma purification) hymn-cycle of Rig Veda Maṇḍala 9
- Part of the Gāyatrī-invocation style praise used in Soma-stotra recitation traditions
The rite, step by step
- Press Soma (savana) and prepare the flow for purification.
- Chant the Gāyatrī-invocation to ‘sing forth’ Soma Pavamāna as he begins to run.
- Filter the Soma through the vāra (strainers), guiding the stream onward.
- Collect the purified Soma into the kalaśa (jars/vessels).
- Offer the purified Soma to Indra (and allied deities), envisioning Soma ‘entering Indra’s heart’ as strength and delight.
- Conclude with a petition: Soma to purify into śam (peace) and to bring prajāvat retaḥ (prosperity/generative power).
Offerings
- Purified Soma juice (Indu)
- Libations to Indra
- Accompanying oblations customary to Soma rites (e.g., ghee/grain as per śrauta procedure)
Frequently Asked Questions
It praises Soma as he purifies (Pavamāna), describing his flow through the filters into the jars and praying that this purified essence strengthen and delight Indra.
The first verse calls the singers to chant with the Gāyatrī, signaling the intended metrical/chanting mode and framing the praise as a focused, luminous invocation for Soma’s purification.
Ritually it means the offered Soma becomes Indra’s drink and power; symbolically it means purified delight and clarity enter the force of will, producing strength, peace, and creative prosperity.
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