
The Rig Veda Book 5 - Verses 21 to 30

HYMN XXI. Agni.
1. WE stablish thee as Manus used, as Manus used
we kindle thee.
Like Manus, for the pious man , Angiras,
Agni, worship Gods.
2 For well, O Agni, art thou pleased
when thou art kindled mid mankind.
Straight go the ladles
unto thee, thou highborn God whose food is oil.
3 Thee have
all Gods of one accord established as their messenger.
Serving
at sacrifices men adore thee as a God, O Sage.
4 Let mortal
man adore your God, Agni, with worship due to Gods.
Shine
forth enkindled, Radiant One. Sit in the chamber of the Law,
sit in the chamber of the food.
HYMN XXII. Agni.
1. LIKE Atri, Visvasaman! sing to him of purifying
light,
Who must be praised in holy rites, the Priest most
welcome in the house.
2 Set Jatavedas in his place, Agni
the God and Minister.
Let sacrifice proceed to-day duly,
comprising all the Gods.
3 All mortals come to thee for aid,
the God of most observant mind.
Of thine excelling favour
we bethink us as we long for it.
4 Mark with attention this
our speech, O Agni, thou victorious One.
Thee, Strong-jawed!
as the homestead's Lord, the Atris with their lauds exalt, the
Atris beautify with songs.
HYMN XXIII. Agni.
1. By thy fair splendour's mighty power, O Agni,
bring victorious wealth,
Wealth that o'ercometh all mankind,
and, near us, conquereth in fight.
2 Victorious Agni, bring
to us the wealth that vanquisheth in war;
For thou art wonderful
and true, giver of strength in herds of kine.
3 For all the
folk with one accord, whose sacred grass is trimmed and strewn,
Invite thee to their worship-halls, as a dear Priest, for choicest
wealth.
4 For he, the God of all men, hath gotten him might
that quelleth foes.
O Agni, in these homes shine forth, bright
God! for our prosperity, shine, Purifier! splendidly.
HYMN XXIV. Agni.
1. O Agni, be our nearest Friend, be thou a kind
deliverer and a gracious Friend.
2 Excellent Agni, come thou
nigh to us, and give us wealth most splendidly renowned.
3 So hear us, listen to this call of ours, and keep us far from
every sinful man.
4 To thee then, O Most Bright, O Radiant
God, we come with prayer for happiness for our friends.
HYMN XXV. Agni.
1. I WILL sing near, for grace, your God Agni,
for he is good to us.
Son of the Brands, may he give gifts,
and, righteous, save us from the foe.
2 For be is true, whpm
men of old enkindled, and the Gods themselves,
The Priest
with the delicious tongue, rich with the light of glorious beams.
3 With wisdom that surpasseth all, with gracious will most excellent,
O Agni, worthy of our choice, shine wealth on us through hymns
of praise.
4 Agni is King, for he extends to mortals and
to Gods alike.
Agni is bearer of our gifts. Worship ye Agni
with your thoughts.
5 Agni gives to the worshipper a son,
the best, of mightiest fame,
Of deep devotion, ne'er subdued,
bringer of glory to his sire.
6 Agni bestows the hero-lord
who conquers with the men in fight.
Agni bestows the fleet-foot
steed, the victor never overcome.
7 The mightiest song is
Agni's: shine on high, thou who art rich in light.
Like the
Chief Consort of a King, riches and strength proceed -from thee.
8 Resplendent are thy rays of light: loud is thy voice like
pressing-stones.
Yea, of itself thy thunder goes forth like
the roaring of the heaven.
9 Thus, seeking riches, have we
paid homage to Agni Conqueror.
May he, most wise, as with
a ship, carry us over all our foes.
HYMN XXVI. Agni.
1. O Agni, Holy and Divine, with splendour and
thy pleasant tongue
Bring hither and adore the Gods.
2
We pray thee, thou who droppest oil, bright-rayed! who lookest
on the Sun,
Bring the Gods hither to the feast.
3 We have
enkindled thee, O Sage, bright caller of the Gods to feast.
O Agni, great in Sacrifice.
4 O Agni, come with all the Gods,
come to our sacrificial gift:
We choose thee as Invoking
Priest.
5 Bring, Agni, to the worshipper who pours the juice,
heroic strength:
Sit with the Gods upon the grass.
6 Victor
of thousands, Agni, thou, enkindled, cherishest the laws,
Laud-worthy, envoy of the Gods.
7 Set Agni Jatavedas down,
the bearer of our sacred gifts,
MostYouthful, God and Minister.
8 Duly proceed our sacrifice, comprising all the Gods, to-day:
Strew holy grass to be their seat.
9 So may the Maruts sit
thereon, the Asvins, Mitra, Varuna:
The Gods with all their
company.
HYMN XXVII. Agni.
1. THE Godlike hero, famousest of nobles, hath
granted me two oxen with a wagon.
Trvrsan's son Tryaruna
hath distinguished himself, Vaisvanara Agni! with ten thousands.
2 Protect Tryaruna, as thou art waxing strong and art highly
praised, Vaisvanara Agni!
Who granteth me a hundred kine
and twenty, and two bay horses, good at draught, and harnessed.
3 So Trasadasyu served thee, God Most Youthful, craving thy
favour for the ninth time, Agni;
Tryaruya who with attentive
spirit accepteth many a song from me the mighty.
4 He who
declares his wish to me, to Asvamedha, to the Prince,
Pays
him who with his verse seeks gain, gives power to him who keeps
the Law.
5 From whom a hundred oxen, all of speckled hue,
delight my heart,
The gifts of Asvamedha, like thrice-mingled
draughts of Soma juice.
6 To Asvamedha who bestows a hundred
gifts grant hero power,
O Indra-Agni! lofty rule like the
unwasting Sun in heaven.
HYMN XXVIII. Agni.
1. Agni inflamed hath sent to heaven his lustre:
he shines forth widely turning unto Morning.
Eastward the
ladle goes that brings all blessing, praising the Godswith homage
and oblation.
2 Enkindled, thou art King of the immortal
world: him who brings offerings thou attendest for his weal.
He whom thou urgest on makes all possessions his: he sets before
thee, Agni, gifts that guests may claim.
3 Show thyself strong
for mighty bliss, O Agni, most excellent be thine effulgent
splendours.
Make easy to maintain our household lordship,
and overcome the might of those who hate us.
4 Thy glory,
Agni, I adore, kindled, exalted in thy strength.
A Steer
of brilliant splendour, thou art lighted well at sacred rites.
5 Agni, invoked and kindled, serve the Gods, thou skilled in
sacrifice:
For thou art bearer of our gifts.
6 Invoke
and worship Agni while the sacrificial rite proceeds:
For
offering-bearer choose ye him.
HYMN XXIX. Agni.
1. MAN'S worship of the Gods hath three great
lustres, and three celestial lights have they established
The Maruts gifted with pure strength adore thee, for thou, O
Indra, art their sapient Rsi.
2 What time the Maruts sang
their song to Indra, joyous when he had drunk of Soma juices,
He grasped his thunderbolt to slay the Dragon, and loosed, that
they might flow, the youthful Waters.
3 And, O ye Brahmans,
Maruts, so may Indra drink draughts of this my carefully pressed
Sorna;
For this oblation found for man the cattle, and Indra,
having quaffed it, slew the Dragon.
4 Then heaven and earth
he sundered and supported: wrapped even in these he struck the
Beast with terror.
So Indra forced the Engulfer to disgorgement,
and slew the Danava. panting against him.
5 Thus all the
Gods, O Maghavan, delivered to thee of their free will the draught
of Soma;
When thou for Etasa didst cause to tarry the flying
mares of Surya racing forward.
6 When Maghavan with the thunderbolt
demolished his nine-and-ninety castles all together,
The
Maruts, where they met, glorified Indra: ye with the Trstup
hymn obstructed heaven.
7 As friend to aid a friend, Agni
dressed quickly three hundred buffaloes, even as he willed it.
And Indra, from man's gift, for Vrtra's slaughter, drank ofr
at once three lakes of pressed-out Soma.
8 When thou three
hundred buffaloes' flesh hadst eaten, and drunk, as Maghavan,
three lakes of Soma,
All the Gods raised as 'twere a shout
of triumph to Indra praise because he slew the Dragon.
9
What time ye came with strong steeds swiftly speeding, O Usana
and Indra, to the dwelling,
Thou camest thither -conquering
together with Kutsa and the Gods: thou slewest Susna.
10
One car-wheel of the Sun thou rolledst forward, and one thou
settest free to move for Kutsa.
Thou slewest noseless Dasyus
with thy weapon, and in their home o'erthrewest hostile speakers.
11 The lauds of Gauriviti made thee mighty to Vidathin's son,
as prey, thou gavest Pipru.
Rjisivan drew thee into friendship
dressing the sacred food, and thou hast drunk his Soma.
12
Navagvas and Dasgvas with libations of Soma juice sing hymns
of praise to Indra.
Labouring at their task the men laid
open the stall of Kine though firmly closed and fastened.
13 How shall I serve thee, Maghavan, though knowing full well
what hero deeds thou hast accomplished?
And the fresh deeds
which thou wilt do, Most Mighty! these, too, will we tell forth
in sacred synods.
14 Resistless from of old through hero
courage, thou hast done all these many acts, O Indra.
What
thou wilt do in bravery, Thunder-wielder! none is there who
may hinder this thy prowess.
15 Indra, accept the prayers
which now are offered, accept the new prayers, Mightiest! which
we utter.
Like fair and well-made robes, I, seeking riches,
as a deft craftsman makes a car, have wrought them.
HYMN XXX. Indra.
1. WHERE is that Hero? Who hath looked on Indra
borne on light-rolling car by Tawny Coursers,
Who, Thunderer,
seeks with wealth the Soma-presser, and to his house goes, much-invoked,
to aid him?
2 I have beheld his strong and secret dwelling,
longing have sought the Founder's habitation.
I asked of
others, and they said in answer, May we, awakened men, attain
to Indra.
3 We will tell, Indra, when we pour libation, what
mighty deeds thou hast performed to please us.
Let him who
knows not learn, who knows them listen: hither rides Maghavan
with all his army.
4 Indra, when born, thou madest firm thy
spirit: alone thou seekest war to fight with many.
With might
thou clavest e'en the rock asunder, and foundest out the stable
of the Milch-kine.
5 When thou wast born supremest at a distance,
bearing a name renowned in far-off regions,
Since then e'en
Gods have been afraid of Indra: he conquered all the floods
which served the Dasa.
6 These blissful Maruts sing their
psalm to praise thee, and pour to thee libation of the Soma.
Indra with wondrous powers subdued the Dragon, the guileful
lurker who beset the waters.
7 Thou, Maghavan, from the first
didst scatter foemen, speeding, while joying in the milk, the
Giver.
There, seeking man's prosperity, thou torest away
the head of Namuci the Dasa.
8 Pounding the head of Namuci
the Dasa, me, too thou madest thine associate, Indra!
Yea,
and the rolling stone that is in heaven both worlds, as on a
car, brought to the Maruts.
9 Women for weapons hath the
Dasa taken, What injury can his feeble armies To me?
Well
he distinguished his two different voices, and Indra then advanced
to fight the Dasyu.
10 Divided from their calves the Cows
went lowing around, on every side, hither and thither.
These
Indra re-united with his helpers, what time the well-pressed
Soma made him joyful.
11 What time the Somas mixed by Babhru
cheered him, loud the Steer bellowed in his habitations.
So Indra drank thereof, the Fort-destroyer, and gave him guerdon,
in return, of milch-kine.
12 This good deed have the Rusamas
done, Agni! that they have granted me four thousand cattle.
We have received Rnancaya's wealth, of heroes the most heroic,
which was freely offered.
13 The Rusamas, O Agni, sent me
homeward with fair adornment and with kine in thousands.
The strong libations have made Indra joyful, when night, whose
course was ending, changed to morning.
14 Night, well-nigh
ended, at Rnancaya's coming, King of the Rusamas, was changed
to morning.
Like a strong courser, fleet of foot, urged onward,
Babhru hath gained four thousand as his guerdon.
15 We have
received four thousand head of cattle presented by the Rusamas,
O Agni.
And we, the singers, have received the caldron of
metal which was heated for Pravargya.
Suggestions for Further Reading
- The Rig Veda translation by Griffith, Introduction
- Hymns of the Sama veda translated by Ralph T.H. Griffith
- Yajur Veda: The Veda Of The Black Yajus School
- Hymns Of The Atharva-Veda
- Anugita English Translation
- THE Sanatsugâtîya, A Spiritual Dialogue
- Dharmashastras, the Sacred Law Books of Hindus
- The Hindu Dharmashastras, Subject Index
- The Grihya Sutras, The Vedic Domestic Ritual Texts
- The Sankhya Sutras of Kapila, Index page
- Translation of Upanishads by Swami Paramananda, Index
- A History Of Indian Philosophy - Chapter Index
- The Upanishads translated by Max Muller
- Vedic Reader for Students
- The Bhagavad-gita in a nutshell
- Essays On Dharma
- Esoteric Mystic Hinduism
- Introduction to Hinduism
- Hindu Way of Life
- Essays On Karma
- Hindu Rites and Rituals
- The Origin of The Sanskrit Language
- Symbolism in Hinduism
- Essays on The Upanishads
- Concepts of Hinduism
- Essays on Atman
- Hindu Festivals
- Spiritual Practice
- Right Living
- Yoga of Sorrow
- Happiness
- Mental Health
- Concepts of Buddhism
- General Essays
Source: An English translation of the Vedas by Ralph T.H. Griffith, 1896.