Rig Veda

RIG VEDA – BOOK EIGHT
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to drink the Soma juice.
25 Yoked to thy chariot wrought of gold, may thy two Bays
with peacock tails,
Convey thee hither, Steeds with their white backs, to quaff
sweet juice that makes us eloquent.
26 So drink, thou Lover of the Song, as the first drinker, of this
juice.
This the outpouring of the savoury sap prepared is good and
meet to gladden thee.
27 He who alone by wondrous deed is Mighty, Strong by holy
works,
May he come, fair of cheek; may he not stay afar, but come
and turn not from our call.
28 Susna's quick moving castle thou hast crushed to pieces
with thy bolts.
Thou, Indra, from of old, hast followed after light, since we
have had thee to invoke.
29 My praises when the Sun hath risen, my praises at the time
of noon,
My praises at the coming of the gloom of night, O Vasu, have
gone forth to thee.
30 Praise yea, praise him. Of princes these are the most liberal
of their gifts,
These, Paramajya, Ninditasva, Prapathi, most bounteous, O
Medhyatithi.
31 When to the car, by faith, I yoked the horses longing for the
way-
For skilled is Yadu's son in dealing precious wealth, he who is
rich in herds of kine.
32 May he who gave me two brown steeds together with their
cloths of gold,
May he, Asanga's son Svanadratha, obtain all joy and high
felicities.
33 Playoga's son Asanga, by ten thousand, O Agni, hath
surpassed the rest in giving.
For me ten bright-hued oxen have come forward like lotusstalks
from out a lake upstanding.
34 What time her husband's perfect restoration to his lost
strength and manhood was apparent,
His consort Sasvati with joy addressed him, Now art thou well,
my lord, and shalt be happy.
HYMN II. Indra.
1. HERE is the Soma juice expressed; O Vasu, drink till thou
art full:
Undaunted God, we give it thee.
2 Washed by the men, pressed out with stones, strained
through the filter made of wool,
'Tis like a courser bathed in stream.
3 This juice have we made sweet for thee like barley, blending
it with milk.
Indra, I call thee to our feast.
4 Beloved of all, Indra alone drinks up the flowing Soma juice
Among the Gods andmortal men.
5 The Friend, whom not the brilliant-hued, the badly-mixt or
bitter draught,
Repels, the far-extending God;
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6 While other men than we with milk chase him as hunters
chase a deer,
And with their kine inveigle him.
7 For him, for Indra, for the God, be pressed three draughts of
Soma juice
In the juice-drinker's own abode.
8 Three reservoirs exude their drops, filled are three beakers to
the brim,
All for one offering to the God.
9 Pure art thou, set in many a place, and blended in the midst
with milk
And curd, to cheer the Hero best.
10 Here, Indra, are thy Soma-draughts pressed out by us, the
strong, the pure:
They crave admixture of the milk.
11 O Indra, pour in milk, prepare the cake, and mix the Somadraught.
I hear them say that thou art rich.
12 Quaffed juices fight within the breast. The drunken praise
not by their wine,
The naked praise not when it rains.
13 Rich be the praiser of one rich, munificent and famed like
thee:
High rank be his, O Lord of Bays.
14 Foe of the man who adds no milk, he heeds not any chanted
hymn
Or holy psalm that may he sung.
15 Give us not, Indra, as a prey unto the scornful or the proud:
Help, Mighty One, with power and might.
16 This, even this, O Indra, we implore. as thy devoted friends,
The Kanvas praise thee with their hymns.
17 Naught else, O Thunderer, have I praised in the skilled
singer's eulogy:
On thy land only have I thought.
18 The Gods seek him who presses out the Soma; they desire
not sleep
They punish sloth unweariedly.
19 Come hither swift with gifts of wealth - be not thou angry
with us-like
A great man with a youthful bride.
20 Let him not, wrathful with us, spend the evening far from
us to-day,
Like some unpleasant son-in-law.
21 For well we know this Hero's love, most liberal of the
boons he gives,
His plans whom the three worlds display.
22 Pour forth the gift which Kanvas bring, for none more
glorious do we know
Than the Strong Lord with countless aids.
23 O presser, offer Soma first to Indra, Hero, Sakra, him
The Friend of man, that he may drink;
24 Who, in untroubled ways, is best provider, for his
worshippers.
Of strength in horses and in kine.
25 Pressers, for him blend Soma juice, each draught most
excellent, for him
The Brave, the Hero, for his joy.