Rig Veda · 828 of 1027
Mandala 9: HYMN CV. Soma Pavamana.
1.SING; ye aloud, O friends, to him who makes him pure for gladdening drink: They shall make sweet the Child with sacrifice and laud.
2.Like as a calf with mother cows, so Indu is urged forth and sent, Glorified by our hymns, the God-delighting juice.
3.Effectual means of power is he, he is a banquet for the Troop, He who hath been effused, most rich in meath, for Gods.
4.Flow to us, Indu, passing, strong, effused, with wealth of kine and steeds: I will spread forth above the milk thy radiant hue.
5.Lord of the tawny, Indu thou who art the God’s most special food, As Friend to friend, for splendour be thou good to men.
6.Drive utterly, far away from us each godless, each voracious foe. O Indu, overcome and drive the false afar.
Asked of Guide
Who is “Indu” in this hymn and why is he called the God's food?
Indu is the Soma—here the pressed, effused juice praised as a divine, power-giving drink. The hymn says he is “most rich in meath, for Gods” and “the God’s most special food,” treating Soma as a sacred substance that brings radiance, wealth, and fellowship between gods and men.
The singers urge Soma to “flow to us” and to be “good to men,” because his pouring is both ritual action and source of strength, like a calf urged by cows. This treatment matches other Rigveda passages where Soma functions as sacrificial drink and divine mediator, a theme developed further in later Vedic hymns about Soma’s role in sacrifice.
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