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Rig Veda · 800 of 1027
Mandala 9: HYMN LXXVII. Soma Pavamana.
1.MORE beauteous than the beautiful, as Indra’s bolt, this Soma, rich in sweets, hath clamoured in the vat. Dropping with oil, abundant, streams of sacrifice flow unto him like milch-kine, lowing, with their milk.
2.On flows that Ancient One whom, hitherward, from heaven, sped through the region of the air, the Falcon snatched. He, quivering with alarm and terrified in heart before bow-armed Kṛśānu, holdeth fast the sweet.
3.May those first freshest drops of Soma juice effused flow on, their way to bring us mighty strength in kine. Beauteous as serpents, worthy to be looked upon, they whom each sacred gift and all our prayers have pleased.
4.May that much-lauded Indu, with a heart inclined to us, well-knowing, fight against our enemies. He who hath brought the germ beside the Strong One’s seat moves onward to the widely-opcned stall of kine.
5.The active potent juice of heaven is flowing on, great Varuṇa whom the forward man can ne’er deceive. Mitra, the Holy, hath been pressed for troubled times, neighing like an impatient horse amid the herd,
Asked of Guide
Why does the hymn call Soma a Falcon and liken its drops to milch‑kine and serpents?
The hymn uses Falcon, milch‑kine, and serpents as living images to describe Soma’s movement, value, and effects: the Falcon seizes Soma from heaven, showing swift divine capture; the milch‑kine image links Soma to nourishment and sacrificial abundance; the serpent simile evokes beauty and the slippery, potent flow of the juice. These metaphors place Soma in the world of animals so worshippers can grasp its sacred agency and the practical benefits it brings—strength, protection, and fertility.
This pattern matches other Vedic hymns that personify cosmic forces to make ritual efficacy vivid; see Mandala 8 hymns where gods and natural beings embody ritual substances and their powers. Those poems aim to make the unseen palpable by naming what people know: a bird’s speed, a cow’s milk, a serpent’s sheen.
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