Rig Veda · 766 of 1027
Mandala 9: HYMN XLIII. Soma Pavamana.
1.WE will enrobe with sacred song the Lovely One who, as a Steed, Is decked with milk for rapturous joy.
2.All songs of ours desiring grace adorn him in the ancient way, Indu for Indra, for his drink.
3.Soma flows on when purified, beloved and adorned with songs, Songs of the sage Medhyātithi.
4.O Soma Pavamana, find exceeding glorious wealth for us, Wealth, Indu, fraught with boundless might.
5.Like courser racing to the prize Indu, the lover of the Gods, Roars, as he passes, in the sieve.
6.Flow on thy way to win us strength, to speed the sage who praises thee: Soma, bestow heroic power.
Asked of Guide
Why is Soma called Indu and likened to a racing steed here?
The hymn calls Soma Indu to stress his role as a precious, life-giving draught—Indu means ‘drop’ and by metonymy the sacred juice becomes a divine presence who brings ‘exceeding glorious wealth.’ The Rishi uses Indu as both noun and honorific so the beverage itself is worshipped and entreatied to grant strength.
Comparing Soma to a racing steed and ‘courser racing to the prize’ frames the ritual effect: the juice propels the worshipper and the sage toward ‘heroic power’ and divine favor. This energetic image mirrors later Vedic works such as Griffith’s translations, which also emphasize Soma’s invigorating, mobilizing quality in sacrificial context.
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