A one-minute narration sample. Every book in the library is narrated end to end — hear the rest in the app.
Rig Veda · 817 of 1027
Mandala 9: HYMN XCIV. Soma Pavamana.
1.WHEN beauties strive for him as for a charger, then strive the songs like soldiers for the sunlight. Acting the Sage, he flows enrobed in waters and song as ’twere a stall that kine may prosper.
2.The worlds expand to hirn who from aforetime found light to spread the law of life eternal. The swelling songs, like kine within the stable, in deep devotion call aloud on Indu.
3.When the sage bears his holy wisdom round him, like a car visiting all worlds, the Hero, Becoming fame, mid Gods, unto the mortal, wealth to the skilled, worth praise mid the Ever-present,
4.For glory born be hath come forth to glory: he giveth life and glory to the singers. They, clothed in glory, have become immortal. He, measured in his course, makes frays successful.
5.Stream to us food and vigour, kine and horses: give us broad lights and fill the Gods with rapture. All ther are easy things for thee to master thou, Pavamana Soma, quellest foemen.
Asked of Guide
Why is Soma called Pavamana and described as flowing like water and song?
The hymn portrays Soma as Pavamana — “flowing” — because the ritual juice is experienced as a moving, purifying presence that brings life, glory, and victory. Verses repeat water and motion images: he “flows enrobed in waters and song,” visits worlds like a car, and “stream[s] to us food and vigour,” so the flow is both literal ritual pouring and a metaphor for bestowing vitality and order.
Calling Soma Pavamana ties the physical rite to cosmic effects: the poured drink animates the singers, makes them “clothed in glory,” and spreads “the law of life eternal.” This mirrors themes in the Upanishads where sacrificial acts and offerings become means of cosmic nourishment and immortality, as in the Chandogya and Brihadaranyaka discussions of offering as world-sustaining.
Guide is the guide inside the Gnosis app, where every book on these shelves is free to read. Guide is the part you pay for — your guide has read all of them, and answers about the passage you’re actually on. Ask your guide your own question.