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Dhammapada · narration sample

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Rig Veda · 668 of 1027

Mandala 8: HYMN XLVIII. Soma.

1.WISELY have I enjoyed the savoury viand, religious-thoughted, best to find out treasure, The food to which all Deities and mortals, calling it meath, gather themselves together.

2.Tlou shalt be Aditi as thou hast entered within, appeaser of celestial anger. Indu, enjoying Indra’s friendship, bring us—as a swift steed the car—forward to riches.

3.We have drunk Soma and become immortal; we have attained the light, the Gods discovered. Now what may foeman’s malice do to harm us? What, O Immortal, mortal man’s deception?

4.Absorbed into the heart, be sweet, O Indu, as a kind father to his son, O Soma, As a wise Friend to friend: do thou, wide-ruler, O Soma, lengthen out our days for living.

5.These glorious drops that give me freedom have I drunk. Closely they knit my joints as straps secure a car. Let them protect my foot from slipping on the way: yea, let the drops I drink preserve me from disease.

6.Make me shine bright like fire produced by friction: give us a clearer sight and make us better. For in carouse I think of thee, O Soma, Shall I, as a rich man, attain to comfort?

7.May we enjoy with an enlivened spirit the juice thou givest, like ancestral riches. O Soma, King, prolong thou our existence as Sūrya makes the shining days grow longer.

8.King Soma, favour us and make us prosper: we are thy devotees; of this be mindful. Spirit and power are fresh in us, O Indu give us not up unto our foeman’s pleasure.

9.For thou hast settled in each joint, O Soma, aim of men’s eyes and guardian of our bodies. When we offend against thine holy statutes, as a kind Friend, God, best of all, be gracious.

10.May I be with the Friend whose heart is tender, who, Lord of Bays! when quaffed will never harm me- This Soma now deposited within me. For this, I pray for longer life to Indra.

11.Our maladies have lost their strength and vanished: they feared, and passed away into the darkness. Soma hath risen in us, exceeding mighty, and we are come where men prolong existence.

12.Fathers, that Indu which our hearts have drunken, Immortal in himself, hath entered mortals. So let us serve this Soma with oblation, and rest securely in his grace and favour.

13.Associate with the Fathers thou, O Soma, hast spread thyself abroad through earth and heaven. So with oblation let us serve thee, Indu, and so let us become the lords of riches,

14.Give us your blessing, O ye Gods’ preservers. Never may sleep or idle talk control us. But evermore may we, as friends of Soma, speak to the synod with brave sons around us.

15.On all sides,. Soma, thou art our life-giver: aim of all eyes, light-finder, come within us. Indu, of one accord with thy protections both from behind and from before preserve us.

Asked of Guide

Why does the hymn keep calling Soma “Indu” and asking it to enter the worshippers’ hearts?

The hymn uses Indu as a personal name for Soma to stress Soma’s intimate, life-giving presence: “Indu, enjoying Indra’s friendship,” and “Absorbed into the heart, be sweet, O Indu.” The poets portray Soma as both a divine guest and a nourishing spirit who settles in joints and hearts, so ritual drinking literally makes the worshippers hospitable to the god.

By asking Soma/Indu to enter hearts and joints the hymn seeks protection, healing, and longevity—“Let them protect my foot… preserve me from disease” and “May we…prolong thou our existence.” This fits the Rig Veda’s broader sacrificial logic where ingestion of the sacred juice effects real transformation, as in other hymns that call Soma the grantor of immortality and vision.

Guide is the guide inside the Gnosis app, where every book on these shelves is free to read. Guide is the part you pay for — your guide has read all of them, and answers about the passage you’re actually on. Ask your guide your own question.