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Dhammapada · narration sample

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Rig Veda · 913 of 1027

Mandala 10: HYMN LXXVI. Press-stones.

1.I GRASP at you when power and strength begin to dawn: bedew ye, Indra and the Maruts, Heaven and Earth, That Day and Night, in every hall of sacrifice, may wait on us and bless us when they first spring forth.

2.Press the libation out, most excellent of all: the Pressing-stone is grasped like a hand-guided steed. So let it win the valour that subdues the foe, and the fleet courser’s might that speeds to ample wealth.

3.Juice that this Stone pours out removes defect of ours, as in old time it brought prosperity to man. At sacrifices they established holy rites on Tvaṣṭar’s milk-blent juice bright with the hue of steeds.

4.Drive ye the treacherous demons far away from us: keep Nirrti afar and banish Penury. Pour riches forth for us with troops of hero sons, and bear ye up, O Stones, the song that visits Gods.

5.To you who are more mighty than the heavens themselves, who, finishing your task with more than Vibhvan’s speed, More rapidly than Vāyu seize the Soma juice, better than Agni give us food, to you I sing.

6.Stirred be the glorious Stones: let it press out the juice, the Stone with heavenly song that reaches up to heaven, There where the men draw forth the meath for which they long, sending their voice around in rivalry of speed.

7.The Stones press out the Soma, swift as car-borne men, and, eager for the spoil, drain forth the sap thereof To fill the beaker, they exhaust the udder’s store, as the men purify oblations with their lips.

8.Ye, present men, have been most skilful in your work, even ye, O Stones who pressed Soma for Indra’s drink. May all ye have of fair go to the Heavenly Race, and all your treasure to the earthly worshipper.

Asked of Guide

Why are the press-stones praised like warriors and gods in this hymn?

The hymn personifies the press-stones because they perform a sacred, decisive action: they extract Soma, the ritual drink that grants “valour that subdues the foe” and prosperity. Calling them swift as Vāyu, better than Agni, and “more mighty than the heavens” makes their technical role into a cosmic, world-shaping deed tied to sacrifice and blessing.

This chapter treats ritual technology as active collaborator in the rite—stones that “press out the juice” become agents of divine favor and social wealth, driving away Nirrti and Penury. That same elevation of ritual tools appears in other Vedic hymns and in Tvaṣṭar’s imagery, where craftsmanship and cosmic order interlink.

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