Rig Veda · 765 of 1027
Mandala 9: HYMN XLII. Soma Pavamana.
1.ENGENDERING the Sun in floods, engendering heaven’s lights, green-hued, Robed in the waters and the milk,
2.According to primeval plan this Soma, with his stream, effused Flows purely on, a God for Gods.
3.For him victorious, waxen great, the juices with a thousand powers Are purified for winning spoil.
4.Shedding the ancient fluid he is poured into the cleansing sieve: He, thundering, hath produced the Gods.
5.Soma, while purifying, sends hither all things to be desired, He sends the Gods who strengthen Law.
6.Soma, effused, pour on us wealth in kine, in heroes, steeds, and spoil, Send us abundant store of food.
Asked of Guide
Why is Soma called both a purifier and the source who 'produced the Gods' here?
The hymn presents Soma as a creative, sustaining force: he is “poured into the cleansing sieve” and “thundering, hath produced the Gods,” so his ritual pouring is described as an act that generates divine presence. The stanza links Soma’s purifying action with social and cosmic goods—he “sends the Gods who strengthen Law” and bestows wealth, heroes, and food—so purification and production are two sides of the same sacred process.
This chapter treats ritual soma as ontological: by being effused and purified it brings forth ordered reality and legitimacy for kings, law, and abundance. Compare the Rigveda hymn that makes Agni mediator between gods and men: both present a sacrificial substance as the living bridge whose ritual activation creates and sustains the world.
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