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Rig Veda · 825 of 1027
Mandala 9: HYMN CII. Soma Pavamana.
1.THE Child, when blended with the streams, speeding the plan of sacrifice, Surpasses all things that are dear, yea, from of old.
2.The place, near the two pressing-stones of Trita, hath he occupied, Secret and dear through seven lights of sacrifice.
3.Urge to three courses, on the heights of Trita, riches in a stream. He who is passing wise measures his courses out.
4.Even at his birth the Mothers Seven taught him, for glory, like a sage, So that he, firm and sure, hath set his mind on wealth.
5.Under his sway, of one accord, are all the guileless Deities: Warriors to be envied, they, when they are pleased.
6.The Babe whom they who strengthen Law have generated fair to see, Much longed for at the sacrifice, most liberal Sage,—
7.To him, united, of themselves, come the young Parents of the rite, When they adorn him, duly weaving sacrifice.
8.With wisdom and with radiant eyes unbar to us the stall of heaven, Speeding at solemn rite the plan of Holy Law.
Asked of Guide
Who is the 'Child' or 'Babe' the hymn calls Soma Pavamana?
The chapter identifies that Child as the sacrificial Soma—Soma Pavamana—portrayed as freshly born and purified, the drink who “speeding the plan of sacrifice, surpasses all things that are dear.” The Mothers Seven teach him and the ritual parents adorn him, which frames Soma as both divine substance and ritual actor in the yajña.
This hymn treats Soma as a sacred person: a youthful Sage and leader of the guileless Deities, bringing wealth and law when pressed and offered. Compare Rig Veda Mandala 9 hymns generally and the translation commentary in Ralph T. H. Griffith, which also reads Soma as the enlivening sacrificial child whose pressing animates the cosmos.
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