
The Rig-Veda - Book VI

HYMN I. Agni.
1. THOU, first inventor of this prayer, O Agni, Worker of
Marvels, hast become our Herald.
Thou, Bull, hast made us
strength which none may conquer, strength that shall overcome
all other prowess.
2 As Priest thou sattest at the seat of
worship, furthering us, best Offerer, meet for honour.
So
first to thee have pious men resorted, turning thy mind to thoughts
of ample riches.
3 In thee, still watching, they have followed riches, who
goest with much wealth as with an army,
The radiant Agni,
lofty, fair to look on, worshipped with marrow, evermore resplendent.
4 They who approached the God's abode with homage, eager for
glory, won them perfect glory:
Yea, they gained even sacrificial
titles, and found delight in thine auspicious aspect.
5 On
earth the people magnify thee greatly, thee their celestial
and terrestrial riches.
Thou, Helper, must be known as our
Preserver, Father and Mother of mankind for ever.
6 Dear
priest among mankind, adorable Agni hath seated him, joy-giver,
skilled in worship.
Let us approach thee shining in thy dwelling,
kneeling upon our knees, with adoration.
7 Longing for bliss,
pure-minded, God-devoted, Agni, we seek thee, such, meet to
be lauded.
Thou, Agni, leddest forth our men to battle, refulgent
with the heaven's exalted splendour.
8 Sage of mankind, all
peoples' Lord and Master, the Bull of men, the sender down of
blessings,
Still pressing on, promoting, purifying, Agni
the Holy One, the Lord of riches.
9 Agni, the mortal who
hath toiled and worshipped, brought thee oblations with his
kindled fuel,
And well knows sacrifice with adoration, gains
every joy with thee to guard and help him.
10 Mightily let
us worship thee the Mighty, with reverence, Agni! fuel and oblations,
With songs, O Son of Strength, with hymns, with altar: so may
we strive for thine auspicious favour.
11 Thou who hast covered
heaven and earth with splendour and with thy glories, glorious
and triumphant.
Continue thou to shine on us, O Agni, with
strength abundant, rich, and long enduring.
12 Vouchsafe
us ever, as man needs, O Vasu, abundant wealth of kine for son
and offspring.
Food noble, plenteous, far from sin and evil,
he with us, and fair fame to make us happy.
13 May I obtain
much wealth in many places by love of thee and through thy grace,
King Agni;
For in thee Bounteous One, in thee the Sovran,
Agni, are many boons for him who serves thee.
HYMN II. Agni.
1. THOU, Agni, even as Mitra, hast a princely glory of thine
own.
Thou, active Vasu, makest fame increase like full prosperity.
2 For, verily, men pray to thee with sacrifices and with songs.
To thee the Friendly Courser, seen of all, comes speeding through
the air.
3 Of one accord men kindle thee Heaven's signal
of the sacrifice,
When, craving bliss, this race of man invites
thee to the solemn rite.
4 Let the man thrive who travails
sore, in prayer, far thee the Bountiful.
He with the help
of lofty Dyaus comes safe through straits of enmity.
5 The
mortal who with fuel lights thy flame and offers unto thee,
Supports a house with many a branch, Agni, to live a hundred
years.
6 Thy bright smoke lifts itself aloft, and far-extended
shines in heaven.
For, Purifier! like the Sun thou beamest
with thy radiant glow.
7 For in men's houses thou must be
glorified as a well-loved guest,
Gay like an elder in a fort,
claiming protection like a son.
8 Thou, Agni, like an able
steed, art urged by wisdom in the wood.
Thou art like wind;
food, home art thou, like a young horse that runs astray.
9 E'en things imperishable, thou, O Agni, like a gazing ox,
Eatest, when hosts, Eternal One! of thee the Mighty rend the
woods.
10 Agni, thou enterest as Priest the home of men who
sacrifice.
Lord of the people, prosper them. Accept the ofrering,
Angiras!
11 O Agni, God with Mitra's might, call hither the
favour of the Gods from earth and heaven.
Bring weal from
heaven, that men may dwell securely. May we o'ercome the foe's
malign oppressions, may we o'ercome them, through thy help o'ercome
them.
HYMN III. Agni.
1. TRUE, guardian of the Law, thy faithful servant wins ample
light and dwells in peace, O Agni,
Whom thou, as Varuna in
accord with Mitra, guardest, O God, by banishing his trouble.
2 He hath paid sacrifices, toiled in worship, and offered gifts
to wealth-increasing Agni.
Him the displeasure of the famous
moves not, outrage and scorn affect not such a mortal.
3
Bright God, whose look is free from stain like Surya's, thou,
swift, what time thou earnestly desirest,
Hast gear to give
us. Come with joy at evening, where, Child of Wood, thou mayest
also tarry.
4 Fierce is his gait and vast his wondrous body:
he champeth like a horse with bit and bridle,
And, darting
forth his tongue, as 'twere a hatchet, burning the woods, smelteth
them like a smelter.
5 Archer-like, fain toshoot, he sets
his arrow, and whets his splendour like the edge of iron:
The messenger of night with brilliant pathway, like a tree-roosting
bird of rapid pinion.
6 In beams of morn he clothes him like
the singer, and bright as Mitra with his splendour crackles.
Red in the night, by day the men's possession: red, he belongs
to men by day, Immortal.
7 Like Heaven's when scattering
beams his voice was uttered: among the plants the radiant Hero
shouted,
Who with his glow in rapid course came hither to
fill both worlds, well-wedded Dames, with treasure.
8 Who,
with supporting streams and rays that suit him, hath flashed
like lightning with his native vigour.
Like the deft Maker
of the band of Maruts, the bright impetuous One hath shone refulgent.
HYMN IV Agni.
1. As at man's service of the Gods, Invoker, thou, Son of
Strength, dost sacrifice and worship,
So bring for us to-day
all Gods together, bring willingly the willing Gods, O Agni.
2 May Agni, radiant Herald of the morning, meet to be known,
accept our praise with favour.
Dear to all life, mid mortal
men Immortal, our guest, awake at dawn, is Jatavedas.
3 Whose
might the very heavens regard with wonder: bright as the Sun
he clothes himself with lustre.
He who sends forth,, Eternal
Purifier, hath shattered e'en the ancient works of Asna.
4 Thou art a Singer, Son! our feast-companion: Agni at birth
prepared his food and pathway.
Therefore vouchsafe us strength,
O Strength-bestower. Win like a King: foes trouble not thy dwelling.
5 Even he who cats his firm hard food with swiftness,and overtakes
the nights as Vayu kingdoms.
May we o'ercome those who resist
thine orders, like a steed casting down the flying foemen.
6 Like Surya with his fulgent rays, O Agni, thou overspreadest
both the worlds with splendour.
Decked with bright colour
he dispels the darkness, like Ausija, with clear flame swifily
flying.
7 We have elected thee as most delightful for thy
beams' glow: hear our great laud, O Agni.
The best men praise
thee as the peer of Indra in strength, mid Gods, like Viyu in
thy bounty.
8 Now, Agni, on the tranquil paths of riches
come to us for our weal: save us from sorrow.
Grant chiefs
and bard this boon. May we live happy, with hero children, through
a hundred winters.
HYMN V. Agni.
1. I INVOCATE your Son of Strength, the Youthful, with hymns,
the Youngest God, whose speech is guileless;
Sage who sends
wealth comprising every treasure, bringer of many boons, devoid
of malice.
2 At eve and morn thy pious servants bring thee
their precious gifts, O Priest of many aspects,
On whom,
the Purifier, all things living as on firm. ground their happiness
have stablished.
3 Thou from of old hast dwelt among these
people, by mental power the charioteer of blessings.
Hence
sendest thou, O sapient Jatavedas, to him who serves thee treasures
in succession.
4 Agni, whoever secretly attacks us, the neighbour,
thou with Mitra's might! who harms us,
Burn him with thine
own Steers for ever youthful, burning with burning heat, thou
fiercest burner.
5 He who serves thee with sacrifice and
fuel, with hymn, O Son of Strength, and chanted praises,
Shines out, Immortal! in the midst of mortals, a sage, with
wealth, with splendour and with glory.
6 Do this, O Agni,
when we urge thee, quickly, triumphant in thy might subdue our
foemen.
When thou art praised with words and decked with
brightness, accept this chanted hymn, the singer's worship.
7 Help us, that we may gain this wish, O Agni, gain riches,
Wealthy One! with store of heroes.
Desiring strength from
thee may we be strengthened, and win, Eternal! thine eternal
glory.
HYMN VI. Agni.
1. HE who seeks furtherance and grace to help him goes to
the Son of Strength with newest worship,
Calling the heavenly
Priest to share the banquet, who rends the wood, bright, with
his blackened pathway.
2 White-hued and thundering he dwells
in splendour, Most Youthful, with the loudvoiced and eternal-
Agni, most variform, the Purifier, who follows crunching many
ample forests.
3 Incited by the wind thy flames, O Agni,
move onward, Pure One! pure, in all directions.
Thy most
destructive heavenly Navagvas break the woods down and devastate
them boldly.
4 Thy pure white horses from their bonds are
loosened: O Radiant One, they shear the ground beneath them,
And far and wide shines out thy flame, and flickers rapidly
moving over earth's high ridges.
5 Forth darts the Bull's
tongue like the sharp stone weapon discharged by him who fights
to win the cattle.
Agni's fierce flame is like a hero's onset:
dread and resistless he destroys the forests.
6 Thou with
the sunlight of the great Impeller hast boldly over-spread the
earth's expanses.
So drive away with conquering might all
perils. fighting out foemen burn up those who harm us.
7
Wondrous! of wondrous power! give to the singer wealth wondrous,
marked, most wonderful, life-giving.
Wealth bright, O Bright
One, vast, with many heroes, give with thy bright flames to
the man who lauds thee.
HYMN VII. Agni.
1. Him, messenger of earth and head of heaven, Agni Vaisvanara,
born in holy Order,
The Sage, the King, the guest of men,
a vessel fit for their mouths, the Gods have generated.
2
Him have they praised, mid-point of sacrifices, great cistern
of libations, seat of riches.
Vaisvanara, conveyer of oblations,
ensign of worship, have the Gods engendered.
3 From thee,
O Agni, springs the mighty singer, from thee come heroes who
subdue the foeman.
O King, Vaisvanara, bestow thou on us
excellent treasures worthy to belonged fo r.
4 To thee, Immortal!
when to life thou springest, all the Gods sing for joy as to
their infant.
They by thy mental powers were made immortal,
Vaisvanara, when thou shonest from thy Parents.
5 Agni Vaisvanara,
no one hath ever resisted these thy mighty ordinances,
When
thou, arising from thy Parents' bosom, foundest the light for
days' appointed courses.
6 The summits of the heaven are
traversed through and through by the Immortal's light, Vaisvanara's
brilliancy.
All creatures in existence rest upon his head.
The Seven swift-flowing Streams have grown like branches forth,
7 Vaisvanara, who measured out the realms of air, Sage very
wise who made the lucid spheres of heaven,
The Undeceivable
who spread out all the worlds, keeper is he and guard of immortality.
HYMN VIII. Agni.
1. AT Jatavedas' holy gathering I will tell aloud the conquering
might of the swift red-hued Steer.
A pure and fresher hymn
flows to Vaisvanara, even as for Agni lovely Soma is made pure.
2 That Agni, when in loftiest heaven he sprang to life, Guardian
of Holy Laws, kept and observed them well.
Exceeding wise,
he measured out the firmament. Vaisvanara attained to heaven
by mightiness.
3 Wonderful Mitra propped the heaven and earth
apart, and covered and concealed
the darkness with his light.
He made the two bowls part asunder like two skins. Vaisvanara
put forth all his creative power.
4 The Migbty seized him
in the bosom of the floods: the people waited on the King who
should be praised.
As envoy of Vivasvan MatariSvan brought
Agni Vaisvanara hither from far away.
5 In every age bestow
upon the singers wealth, worthy of holy synods, glorious, ever
new.
King, undecaying, as it were with sharpened bolt, smite
down the sinner like a tree with lightning-flash.
6 Do thou
bestow, O Agni, on our wealthy chiefs, rule, with good heroes,
undecaying, bending not.
So may we win for us strength. O
Vaisvanara, hundredfold, thousandfold, O Agni, by thy help.
7 O thou who dwellest in three places, Helper, keep with effective
guards our princely patrons.
Keep our band, Agni, who have
brought thee presents. Lengthen their lives, Vaisvanara, when
lauded.
HYMN IX. Agni.
1. ONE half of day is dark, and bright the other: both atmospheres
move on by sage devices.
Agni Vaisvanara, when born as Sovran,
hath with his lustre overcome the darkness.
2 I know not
either warp or woof, I know not the web they weave when moving
to the contest.
Whose son shall here speak words that must
be spoken without assistance from the Father near him?
3
For both the warp and woof he understandeth, and in due time
shall speak what should be spoken,
Who knoweth as the immortal
world's Protector, descending, seeing with no aid from other.
4 He is the Priest, the first of all: behold him. Mid mortal
men he is the light immortal.
Here was he born, firm-seated
in his station Immortal, ever waxing in his body.
5 A firm
light hath been set for men to look on: among all things that
fly the mind is swiftest.
All Gods of one accord, with one
intention, move unobstructed to a single purpose.
6 Mine
ears unclose to hear, mine eye to see him; the light that harbours
in my spirit broadens.
Far roams my mind whose thoughts are
in the distance. What shall I speak, what shall I now imagine?
7 All the Gods bowed them down in fear before thee, Agni, when
thou wast dwelling in the darkness.
Vaisvanara be gracious
to assist us, may the Immortal favour us and help us.
HYMN X. Agni.
1. INSTALL at sacrifice, while the rite advances, your pleasant,
heavenly Agni, meet for praises.
With hymns-for he illumines
us-install him. He, Jatavedas, makes our rites successful.
2 Hear this laud, Radiant Priest of many aspects, O Agni with
the fires of man enkindled,
Laud which bards send forth pure
as sacred butter, strength to this man, as 'twere for self-advantage.
3 Mid mortal men that singer thrives in glory who offers gifts
with hymns of praise to Agni,
And the God, wondrous bright,
with wondrous succours helps him to win a stable filled with
cattle.
4 He, at his birth, whose path is black behind him,
filled heaven and earth with far-apparent splendour:
And
he himself hath been. through night's thick darkness, made manifest
by light, the Purifier.
5 With thy most mighty aid, confer,
O Agni, wonderful wealth on us and on our princes,
Who stand
preeminent, surpassing others in liberal gifts, in fame, and
hero virtues.
6 Agni, accept this sacrifice with gladness,
which, seated here, the worshipper presenteth.
Fair hymns
hadst thou among the Bharadvajas, and holpest them to gain abundant
vigour.
7 Scatter our foes, increase our store. May we he
glad a hundred winters with brave sons.
HYMN XI. Agni.
1. EAGERLY Sacrifice thou, most skilful, Agni! Priest, pressing
on as if the Maruts sent thee.
To our oblation bring the
two Nasatyas, Mitra and Varuna and Earth and Heaven.
2 Thou
art our guileless, most delightful Herald, the God, among mankind,
of holy synods.
A Priest with purifying tongue, O Agni, sacrifice
with thy mouth to thine own body.
3 For even the blessed
longing that is in thee would bring the Gods down to the singer's
worship,
When the Angirases' sagest Sage, the Poet, sings
the sweet measure at the solemn service.
4 Bright hath he
beamed, the wise, the far-refulgent. Worship the two widespreading
Worlds, O Agni,
Whom as the Living One rich in oblations
the Five Tribes, bringing gifts, adorn with homage.
5 When
I with reverence clip the grass for Agni, when the trimmed ladle,
fullof oil, is lifted,
Firm on the seat of earth is based
the altar: eye-like, the sacrifice is directed Sun-ward.
6 Enrich us, O thou Priest of many aspects, with the Gods, Agni,
with thy fires, enkindled.
O Son of Strength, clad in the
robe of riches, may we escape from woe as from
a prison.
HYMN XII. Agni.
1. KING of trimmed grass, Herald within the dwelling, may
Agni worship the Impeller's World-halves.
He, Son of Strength,
the Holy, from a distance hath spread himself abroad with light
like Surya.
2 In thee, most wise, shall Dyaus, for full perfection,
King! Holy One! pronounce the call to worship.
Found in three
places, like the Speeder's footstep, come to present men's riches
as oblations!
3 Whose blaze most splendid, sovran in the
forest, shines waxing on his way like the - Impeller.
He
knows himself, like as a guileless smelter, not to be stayed
among the plants, Immortal.
4 Our friends extol him like
a steed for vigour even Agni in the dwelling, jatave~as.
Trce-fed, he fights with power as doth a champion, like Dawn's
Sire to be praised with sacrifices.
5 Men wonder at his shining
glows when, paring the woods with case, o'er the broad earth
he goeth,
And, like a rushing flood, loosed quickly, burneth,
swift as a guilty thief, o'er desert places.
6 So mighty
thou protectest us from slander, O Champion, Agni! with all
fires enkindled.
Bring opulence and drive away affliction.
May brave sons gladden us through a hundred winters.
HYMN XIII. Agni.
1. FROM thee, as branches from a tree, O Agni, from thee,
Auspicious God! spring all our blessings-
Wealth swiftly,
strength in battle with our foemen, the rain besought of heaven,
the flow of waters.
2 Thou art our Bhaga to send wealth thou
dwellest, like circumambient air, with wondrous splendour.
Friend art thou of the lofty Law, like Mitra, Controller, Agni!
God! of many a blessing.
3 Agni! the hero slays with might
his foeman; the singer bears away the Pani's booty-
Even
he whom thou, Sage, born in Law, incitest by wealth, accordant
with the Child of Waters.
4 The man who, Son of Strength
1 with sacrifices, hymns, lauds, attracts thy fervour to the
altar,
Enjoys each precious thing, O God, O Agni, gains wealth
of corn and is the lord of treasures.
5 Grant, Son of Strength,
to men for their subsistence such things as bring high fame
and hero children.
For thou with might givest much food in
cattle even to the wicked wolf when he is hungry.
6 Eloquent,
Son of Strength, Most Mighty, Agni, vouchsafe us seed and offspring,
full of vigour.
May I by all my songs obtain abundance. May
brave sons gladden us through a hundred winters.
HYMN XIV. Agni.
1. WHOSO to Agni hath endeared his thought and service by
his hymns,
That mortal cats before the rest, and finds sufficiency
of food.
2 Agni, in truth, is passing wise, most skilled
in ordering, a Seer.
At sacrifices Manus' sons glorify Agni
as their Priest.
3 The foeman's wealth in many a place, Agni,
is emulous to help.
Men fight the fiend, and seek by rites
to overcome the riteless foe.
4 Agni bestows the hero chief,
winner of waters, firm in fray.
Soon as they look upon his
might his enemies tremble in alarm.
5 For with his wisdom
Agni, God, protects the mortal from reproach,
Whose conquering
wealth is never checked, is never checked in deeds of might.
6 O Agni, God with Mitra's might call hither the favour of the
Gods from earth and heaven.
Bring weal from heaven that men
may dwell securely. May we o'ercome the foe's malign oppressions,
may we o'ercome them, through thy help o'ercome them.
HYMN XV. Agni.
1. WITH this my song I strive to reach this guest of yours,
who wakes at early morn, the Lord of all the tribes.
Each
time he comes from heaven, the Pure One from of old: from ancient
days the Child cats everlasting food.
2 Whom, well-dis sed,
the Blirgus stablished as a rriend, whom men must glorify, high-flaming
in the wood.
As such, most friendly, thou art every day extolled
in lauds by Vitahavya, O thou wondrous God.
3 Be thou the
foeless helper of the skilful man, subduer of the enemy near
or far away.
Bestow a wealthy home on men, O Son of Strength.
Give Vitahavya riches spreading far and wide, give Bharadvaja
wide-spread wealth.
4 Him, your refulgent guest, Agni who
comes from heaven, the Herald of mankind, well-skilled in sacred
rites,
Who, like a holy singer, utters heavenly words, oblation-bearer,
envoy, God, I seek with hymns.
5 Who with his purifying,
eye-attracting form hath shone upon the earth as with the light
of Dawn;
Who speeding on, as in the fight of Etaia, cometh,
untouched by age, as one athirst in heat.
6 Worship ye Agni,
Agni, with your log of wood; praise your beloved, your beloved
guest with songs.
Invite ye the Immortal hither with your
hymns. A God among the Gods, he loveth what is choice, loveth
our service, God mid Gods.
7 Agni inflamed with fuel in my
song I sing, pure, Cleanser, steadlast, set in tront at sacrifice.
Wise Jatavedas we implore with prayers for bliss the Priest,
the holy Singer, bounteous, void of guile.
8 Men, Agni, in
each age have made thee, Deathiess One, their envoy, offering-bearer,
guard adorable.
With reverence Gods and mortals have established
thee, the ever-watchful, omnipresent Household Lord.
9 Thou,
Agni, ordering the works and ways of both, as envoy of the Gods
traversest both the worlds.
When we lay claim to thy regard
and gracious fare, be thou to us a thriceprotecting friendly
guard.
10 Him fair of face, rapid, and fair to look on, him
very wise may we who know not follow.
Let him who knows all
rules invite for worship, Agru announce our offering to the
Immortals.
11 Him, Agni, thou deliverest and savest who brings
him prayer to thee the Wise, O Hero,
The end of sacrifice
or its inception; yea, thou endowest him with power and riches.
12 Guard us from him who would assail us, Agni; preserve us,
O thou Victor, from dishonour.
Here let the place of darkening
come upon thee: may wealth be ours, desirable in thousands.
13 Agni, the Priest, is King, Lord of the homestead, he, Jatayedas,
knows all generations.
Most skilful worshipper mid Gods and
mortals, may he begin the sacrifice, the Holy.
14 Whate'er
to-day thou, bright-flamed Priest, enjoyest from the man's rite-for
thou art sacrificer-
Worship, for duly dost thou spread in
greatness: bear off thine ofrerings of to-day, Most Youthful.
15 Look thou upon the viands duly laid for thee. Fain would
he set thee here to worship Heaven and,Earth.
Help us, O
liberal Agni, in the strife for spoil, so that we may o'ercome
all things that trouble us, o'ercome, o'ercome them with thy
help.
16 Together with all Gods, O fair-faced Agni, be seated
first upon the woollined altar,
Nest-like, bedewed with oil.
Bear this our worship to Savitar who sacrifices rightly.
17 Here the arranging priests, as did Atharvan, rub this Agni
forth,
Whom, not bewildered, as he moved in winding ways,
they brought from gloom.
18 For the Gods' banquet be thou
born, for full perfection and for weal.
Bring the Immortal
Gods who strengthen holy Law: so let our sacrifice reach the
Gods.
19 O Agni, Lord and Master of men's homesteads, with
kindled fuel we have made thee mighty.
Let not our household
gear be found defective. Sharpen us with thy penetrating splendour.
HYMN XVI. Agni.
1. PRIEST of all sacrifices hast thou been appointed by the
Gods,
Agni, amid the race of man.
2 So with thy joyous
tongues for us sacrifice nobly in this rite.
Bring thou the
Gods and worship them.
3 For well, O God, Disposer, thou
knowest, straight on, the paths and ways,
Agni, most wise
in sacrifice.
4 Thee, too, hath Bharata of old, with mighty
men, implored for bliss.
And worshipped thee the worshipful.
5 Thou givest these abundant boons to Divodasa pouring forth,
To Bharadvaja offering gifts.
6 Do thou, Immortal Messenger,
bring hither the Celestial Folk;
Hearing the singer's eulogy.
7 Mortals with pious thought implore thee, Agni, God, at holy
rites,
To come unto the feast of Gods.
8 I glorify thine
aspect and the might of thee the Bountilul.
All those who
love shall joy in thee,
9 Invoker placed by Manus, thou,
Agni, art near, the wisest Priest:
Pay worship to the Tribes
of Heaven.
10 Come, Agni, lauded, to the feast; come to the
offering of the gifts.
As Priest be seated on the grass.
11 So, Angiras, we make thee strong with fuel and with holy
oil.
Blaze high, thou youngest of the Gods.
12 For us
thou winnest, Agni, God, heroic strength exceeding great,
Far-spreading and of high renown.
13 Agni, Atharvan brought
thee forth, by rubbing, from the lotus-flower,
The head of
Visva, of the Priest.
14 Thee. Vrtra's slayer, breaker down
of castles, hath Atharvan's son,
Dadhyac the Rsi, lighted
up.
15 The hero Pathya kindled thee the Dasyus'. most destructive
foe,
Winner of spoil in every fight.
16 Come, here, O
Agni, will I sing verily other songs to thee,
And with these
drops shalt thou grow strong.
17 Where'er tby mind applies
itself, vigour preeminent bast thou:
There wilt thou gain
a dwelling-place.
18 Not for a moment only lasts thy bounty,
good to many a one!
Our service therefore shalt thou gain.
19 Agni, the Bharata, hath been sought, the Vrtra-slayer, marked
of all,
Yea, Divodasa's Hero Lord.
20 For he gave riches
that surpass in greatness all the things of earth,
Fighting
untroubled, unsubdued.
21 Thou, Agni, as in days of old,
with recent glory, gathered light,
Hast overspread the lofty
heaven.
22 Bring to your Agni, O my friends, boldly your
laud and sacrifice:
Give the Disposer praise and song.
23 For as sagacious Herald he hath sat through every age of
man,
Oblation-bearing messenger.
24 Bring those Two Kings
whose ways are pure, Adityas, and the Marut host,
Excellent
God! and Heaven and Earth.
25 For strong and active mortal
man, excellent, Agni, is the look Of thee Immortal, Son of Strength
26 Rich through his wisdom, noblest be the giver serving thee
to-day:
The man hath brought his hymn of praise.
27 These,
Agni, these are helped by thee, who strong and active all their
lives,
O'ercome the malice of the foe, fight down the malice
ofthe foe.
28 May Agni with his pointed blaze cast down each
fierce devouring fiend
May Agni win us wealth by war.
29 O active Jatavedas, bring riches with store of hero sons:
Slay thou the demons, O Most Wise.
30 Keep us, O Jatavedas,
from the troubling of the man of sin:
Guard us thou Sage
who knowest prayer.
31 Whatever sinner, Agni, brings oblations
to procure our death,
Save us from woe that he would work.
32 Drive from us with thy tongue, O God, the man who doeth evil
deeds,
The mortal who would strike us dead.
33 Give shelter
reaching far and wide to Bharadvaja, conquering Lord!
Agni,
send wealth most excellent.
34 May Agni slay the Vrtras,-fain
for riches, through the lord of song,
Served with oblation,
kindled, bright.
35 His Father's Father, shining in his Mother's
everlasting side,
Set on the seat of holy Law.
36 O active
Jatavedas, bring devotion that wins progeny, Agni, that it may
shine to heaven.
37 O Child of Strength, to thee whose look
is lovely we with dainty food,
O Agni, have poured forth
our songs.
38 To thee for shelter are we come, as to the
shade from fervent heat
Agni, who glitterest like gold.
39 Mighty as one who slays with shafts, or like a bull with
sharpened horn,
Agni, thou breakest down the forts.
40
Whom, like an infant newly born, devourer, in their arms they
bear,
Men's Agni, skilled in holy rites.
41 Bear to the
banquet of the Gods the God best finder-out of wealth,
Let
him he seated in his place.
42 In Jatavedas kindle ye the
dear guest who hath now appeared
In a soft place, the homestead's
Lord.
43 Harness, O Agni, O thou God, thy steeds which are
most excellent:
They bear thee as thy spirit wills.
44
Come hither, bring the Gods to us to taste the sacrificial feast,
To drink the draught of Soma juice.
45 O Agni of the Bharatas,
blaze high with everlasting might,
Shine forth and gleam,
Eternal One.
46 The mortal man who serves the God with banquet,
and, bringing gifts at sacrifice, lauds Agni,
May well attract,
with prayer and hands uplifted, the Priest of Heaven and Earth,
true Sacrificer.
47 Agni, we bring thee, with our hymn, oblation
fashioned in the heart.
Let these be oxen unto thee, let
these be bulls and kine to thee.
48 The Gods enkindle Agni,
best slayer of Vrtra, first in rank,
The Mighty, One who
brings us wealth and crushes down the Raksasas.
HYMN XVII. Indra.
1. DRINK Soma, Mighty One, for which, when lauded, thou breakest
through the cattle-stall, O Indra;
Thou who, O Bold One,
armed with thunder smotest Vrtra with might, and every hostile
being.
2 Drink it thou God who art impetuous victor, Lord
of our hymns, with beauteousjaws, the Hero,
Render of kine-stalls,
car-borne, thunder-wielding, so pierce thy way to wondrous strength,
O Indra.
3 Drink as of old, and let the draught delight thee.
hear thou our prayer and let our songs exalt thee.
Make the
Sun visible, make food abundant, slaughter the foes, pierce
through and free the cattle.
4 These gladdening drops, O
Indra, Self-sustainer, quaffed shall augment thee in thy mighty
splendour.
Yea, let the cheering drops delight thee greatly,
great, perfect, strong, powerful, all-subduing.
5 Gladdened
whereby, bursting the firm enclosures, thou gavest splendour
to the Sun and Morning.
The mighty rock that compassed in
the cattle, ne'er moved, thou shookest from its seat, O Indra.
6 Thou with thy wisdom, power, and works of wonder, hast stored
the ripe milk in the raw cows' udders
Unbarred the firm doors
for the kine of Morning, and, with the Angirases, set free the
cattle.
7 Thou hast spread out wide earth, a mighty marvel,
and, high thyself, propped lofty heaven, O Indra.
Both worlds,
whose Sons are Gods, thou hast supported, young, Mothers from
old time ofholy Order.
8 Yea, Indra, all the Deities installed
thee their one strong Champion in the van for battle.
What
time the godless was the Gods' assailant, Indra they chose to
win the light of heaven.
9 Yea, e'en that heaven itself of
old bent backward before thy bolt, in terror of its anger,
When Indra, life of every living creature, smote down within
his lair the assailing Dragon.
10 Yea, Strong One! Tvastar
turned for thee, the Mighty, the bolt with thousand spikes and
hundred edges,
Eager and prompt at will, wherewith thou crushedst
the boasting Dragon, O impetuous Hero.
11 He dressed a hundred
buffaloes, O Indra, for thee whom all accordant Maruts strengthen.
He, Pusan Visnu, poured forth three great vessels to him, the
juice that cheers, that slaughters Vrtra.
12 Thou settest
free the rushing wave of waters, the floods' great swell encompassed
and obstructed.
Along steep slopes their course thou tumedst,
Indra, directed downward, speeding to the ocean.
13 So may
our new prayer bring thee to protect us, thee well-armed Hero
with thy bolt of thunder,
Indra, who made these worlds, the
Strong, the ty, who never groweth old, the victory-giver.
14 So, Indra, form us brilliant holy singers for strength, for
glory, and for food and riches.
Give Bharadvaja hero patrons,
Indra Indra, be ours upon the day of trial.
15 With this
may we obtain strength God-appointed, and brave sons gladden
us through a hundred winters.
HYMN XVIII. Indra.
1. GLORIFY him whose might is all-surpassing, Indra the much-invoked
who fights uninjured.
Magnify with these songs the never-vanquished,
the Strong, the Bull of men, the Mighty Victor.
2 He, Champion,
Hero, Warrior, Lord of battles, impetuous, loudly roaring, great
destroyer,
Who whirls the dust on high, alone, oerthrower,
hath made all races of mankind his subjects.
3 Thou, thou
alone, hast tamed the Dasyus; singly thou hast subdued the people
for the Arya.
In this, or is it not, thine hero exploit,
Indra? Declare it at the proper season.
4 For true, I deem,
thy strength is, thine the Mighty, thine, O Most Potent, thine
the Conquering Victor;
Strong, of the strong, Most Mighty,
of the mighty, thine, driver of the churl to acts of bounty.
5 Be this our ancient bond of friendship with you and with Angirases
here who speak of Vala.
Thou, Wondrous, Shaker of things
firm, didst smite him in his fresh strength, and force his doors
and castles.
6 With holy thoughts must he be called, the
Mighty, showing his power in the great fight with Vrtra.
He must be called to give us seed and offspring, the Thunderer
must he moved and sped to battle.
7 He in his might, with
name that lives for ever, hath far surpassed all human generations.
He, most heroic, hath his home with splendour, with glory and
with riches and with valour.
8 Stranger to guile, who ne'er
was false or faithless, bearing a name that may be well remembered,
Indra crushed Cumuri, Dhuni, Sambara, Pipru, and Susna, that
their castles fell in ruin.
9 With saving might that must
be praised and lauded, Indra, ascend thy car to smite down Vrtra.
In thy right hand hold fast thy bolt of thunder, and weaken,
Bounteous Lord, his art and magic.
10 As Agni, as the dart
burns the dry forest, like the dread shaft burn down the fiends,
O Indra;
Thou who with high deep-reaching spear hast broken,
hast covered over mischief and destroyed it.
11 With wealth,
by thousand paths come hither, Agni, paths that bring ample
strength, O thou Most Splendid.
Come, Son of Strength, o'er
whom, Invoked of many! the godless hath no power to keep thee
distant.
12 From heaven, from earth is bruited forth the
greatness of him the firm, the fiery, the resplendent.
No
foe hath he, no counterpart, no refuge is there from him the
Conqueror full of wisdom
13 This day the deed that thou hast
done is famous, when thou, for him, with many thousand others
Laidest low Kutsa, Ayu, Atithigva, and boldly didst deliver
Turvayana.
14 In thee, O God, the wisest of the Sages, all
Gods were joyful when thou slewest Ahi.
When lauded for thyself,
thou gavest freedom to sore-afflicted Heaven and to the people.
15 This power of thine both heaven and earth acknowledge, the
deathless Gods acknowledge it, O Indra.
Do what thou ne'er
hast done, O Mighty Worker: beget a new hymn at thy sacrifices.
HYMN XIX. Indra.
1. GREAT, hero-like controlling men is Indra, unwasting in
his powers, doubled in vastness.
He, turned to us, hath grown
to hero vigour: broad, wide, he hath been decked by those who
serve him.
2 The bowl made Indra swift to gather booty, the
High, the Lofty, Youthful, Undecaying,
Him who hath waxed
by strength which none may conquer, and even at once grown to
complete perfection.
3 Stretch out those hands of thine,
extend to us-ward thy wide capacious arms, and grant us glory.
Like as the household herdsman guards the cattle, so move thou
round about us in the combat.
4 Now, fain for strength, let
us invite your Indra hither, who lieth hidden with his Heroes,-
Free from all blame, without reproach, uninjured, e'en as were
those who sang, of old, his praises.
5 With steadfast laws,
wealth-giver, strong through Soma, he hath much fair and precious
food to feed us.
In him unite all paths that lead to riches,
like rivers that commingle with the ocean.
6 Bring unto us
the mightiest might, O Hero, strong and most potent force, thou
great Subduer!
All splendid vigorous powers of men vouchsafe
us, Lord of Bay Steeds, that they may make us joyful.
7 Bring
us, grown mighty in its strength, O Indra, thy friendly rapturous
joy that wins the battle,
Wherewith by thee assisted and
triumphant, we may laud thee in gaining seed and offspring.
8 Indra, bestow on us the power heroic skilled and exceeding
strong, that wins the booty,
Wherewith, by thine assistance,
we may conquer our foes in battle, be they kin or stranger.
9 Let thine heroic strength come from behind us, before us,
from above us or below us.
From every side may it approach
us, Indra. Give us the glory of the realm of splendour.
10
With most heroic aid from thee, like heroes Indra, may we win
wealth by deeds glory.
Thou, King, art Lord of earthly, heavenly
treasure: vouchsafe us riches vast, sublime, and lasting.
11 The Bull, whose strength hath waxed, whom Maruts follow,
free-giving Indra, the Celestial Ruler,
Mighty, all-conquering,
the victory-giver, him let us call to grant us new protection.
12 Give up the people who are high and haughty to these men
and to me, O Thunder-wielder!
Therefore upon the earth do
we invoke thee, where heroes win, for sons and kine and waters.
13 Through these thy friendships, God invoked of many! may we
be victors over every foeman.
Slaying both kinds of foe,
may we, O Hero, be happy, helped by thee, with ample riches.
HYMN XX. Indra.
1. GIVE us wealth, Indra, that with might, as heaven o'ertops
the earth, o'ercomes our foes in battle
Wealth that brings
thousands and that wins the corn-lands, wealth, Son of Strength!
that vanquishes the foeman.
2 Even as the power of Dyaus,
to thee, O Indra, all Asura sway was by the Gods entrusted,
When thou, Impetuous! leagued with Visnu, slewest Vrtra the
Dragon who enclosed the waters.
3 Indra, Strong, Victor,
Mightier than the mighty, addressed with prayer and perfect
in his splendour,
Lord of the bolt that breaketh forts in
pieces, became the King of the sweet juice of Soma..
4 There,
Indra, while the light was won, the Panis f1ed, 'neath a hundred
blows, for wise Dasoni,
And greedy Susna's magical devices
nor left he any of their food remaining.
5 What time the
thunder fell and Susna perished, all life's support from the
great Druh was taken.
Indra made room for his car-drivcr
Kutsa who sate beside him, when he gained the sunlight.
6
As the Hawk rent for him the stalk that gladdens, he wrenched
the head from Namuci the Dasa.
He guarded Nam, Sayya's son,
in slumber, and sated him with food, success, and riches.
7 Thou, thunder-armed, with thy great might hast shattered Pipru's
strong forts who knew the wiles of serpents.
Thou gavest
to thy worshipper Rjisvan imperishable Wealth, O Bounteous Giver.
8 The crafty Vetasu, the swift Dasni, and Tugra speedily with
all his servants,
Hath Indra, gladdening with strong assistance,
forced near as 'twere to glorify the Mother.
9 Resistless,
with the hosts he battles, bearing in both his arms the Vrtra-slaying
thunder.
He mounts his Bays, as the car-seat an archer: yoked
at a word they bear the lofty Indra.
10 May we, O Indra,
gain by thy new favour: so Parus laud thee, with their sacrifices,
That thou hast wrecked seven autumn forts, their shelter, slain
Dasa tribes and aided Purukutsa.
11 Favouring Usana the son
of Kavi, thou wast his ancient strengthener, O Indra.
Thou
gavest Navavastva. as a present, to the great father gavest
back his grandson.
12 Thou, roaring Indra, drovest on the
waters that made a roaring sound like rushing rivers,
What
time, O Hero, o'er the sea thou broughtest, in safety broughtest
Turvasa and Yadu.
13 This Indra, was thy work in war: thou
sentest Dhuni and Cumuri to sleep and slumber.
Dabhiti lit
the flame for thee, and worshipped with fuel, hymns, poured
Soma, dressed oblations.
HYMN XXI. Indra. Visvedevas.
1. THESE the most constant singer's invocations call thee
who art to be invoked, O Hero;
Hymns call anew the chariot-borne,
Eternal: by eloquence men gain abundant riches.
2 I praise
that Indra, known to all men, honoured with songs, extolled
with hymns at sacrifices,
Whose majesty, rich in wondrous
arts, surpasseth the magnitude of earth, and heaven in greatness.
3 He hath made pathways, with the Sun to aid him, throughout
the darkness that extended pathless.
Mortals who yearn to
worship ne'er dishonour, O Mighty God, thy Law who art Immortal.
4 And he who did these things, where is that Indra? among what
tribes? what people doth he visit?
What sacrifice contents
thy mind , and wishes? What priest among them all? what hymn,
O Indra?
5 Yea, here were they who, born of old, have served
thee, thy friends of ancient time, thou active Worker.
Bethink
thee now of these, Invoked of many! the midmost and the recent,
and the youngest.
6 Inquiring after him, thy later servants,
Indra, have gained thy former old traditions.
Hero, to whom
the prayer is brought, we praise thee as great for that wherein
we know thee mighty.
7 The demon's strength is gathered fast
against thee: great as that strength hath grown, go forth to
meet it.
With thine own ancient friend and companion, the
thunderbolt, brave Champion! drive it backward.
8 Hear, too,
the prayer of this thy present beadsman, O Indra, Hero, cherishing
the singer.
For thou wast aye our fathers' Friend aforetime,
still swift to listen to their supplication.
9 Bring to our
help this day, for our protection, Varuna, Mitra , Indra, and
the Maruts,
Pusan and Visnu, Agni and Purandhi, Savitar also,
and the Plants and Mountains.
10 The singers here exalt with
hymns and praises thee who art very Mighty and Most Holy.
Hear, when invoked, the invoker's invocation. Beside thee there
is nonelike thee, Immortal!
11 Now to my words come quickly
thou who knowest, O Son of Strength, with all who claim our
worship,
Who visit sacred rites, whose tongue is Agni, Gods
who made Manu stronger than the Dasyu.
12 On good and evil
ways be thou our Leader, thou who art known to all as Path-preparer.
Bring power to us, O Indra, with thy Horses, Steeds that are
best to draw, broad-backed, unwearied.
HYMN XXII. Indra.
1. WITH these my hymns I glorify that Indra who is alone
to be invoked by mortals,
The Lord, the Mighty One, of manly
vigour, victorious, Hero, true, and full of wisdom.
2 Our
sires of old,. Navagvas, sages seven, while urging him to show
his might, extolled him,
Dwelling on heights, swift, smiting
down opponents, guileless in word, and in his thoughts most
mighty.
3 We seek that Indra to obtain his riches that bring
much food, and men, and store of heroes.
Bring us, Lord of
Bay Steeds, to make us joyful, celestial wealth, abundant, undecaying.
4 Tell thou us this, if at thy hand aforetime the earlier singers
have obtained good fortune,
What is thy share and portion,
Strong Subduer, Asura-slayer, rich, invoked of many?
5 He
who for car-borne Indra, armed with thunder, hath a hymn, craving,
deeply-piercing, fluent,
Who sends a song effectual, firmly-grasping,
and strength-bestowing, he comes near the mighty.
6 Strong
of thyself, thou by this art hast shattered, with thought-swift
Parvata, him who waxed against thee,
And, Mightiest! roaring!
boldly rent in pieces things that were firmly fixed and never
shaken.
7 Him will we fit for you with new devotion, the
strongest Ancient One, in ancient manner.
So may that Indra,
boundless, faithful Leader, conduct us o'er all places hard
to traverse.
8 Thou for the people who oppress hast kindled
the earthly firmament and that of heaven.
With heat, O Bull,
on every side consume them: heat earth and flood for him who
hates devotion.
9 Of all the Heavenly Folk, of earthly creatures
thou art the King, O God of splendid aspect.
In thy right
hand, O Indra, grasp die thunder: Eternal! thou destroyest all
enchantments.
10 Give us confirmed prosperity, O Indra, vast
and exhaustless for the foe's subduing.
Strengthen therewith
the Arya's hate and Dasa's, and let the arms of Nahusas be mighty.
11 Come with thy team which brings all blessings hither, Disposer,
much-invoked, exceeding holy.
Thou whom no fiend, no God
can stay or hinder, come swittly with these Steeds in my direction.
HYMN XXIII. Indra.
1. THOU art attached to pressed-out Soma, Indra, at laud,
at prayer, and when the hymn is chanted;
Or when with yoked
Bays, Maghavan, thou comest, O Indra, bearing in thine arms
the thunder.
2 Or when on that decisive day thou holpest
the presser of the juice at Vrtra's slaughter;
Or when thou,
while the strong one feared, undaunted, gavest to death, Indra,
the daring Dasyus.
3 Let Indra drink the pressed-out Soma,
Helper and mighty Guide of him who sings his praises.
He
gives the hero room who pours oblations, and treasure even to
the lowly singer.
4 E'en humble rites with his Bay steeds
he visits: he wields the bolt, drinks Soma, gives us cattle.
He makes the valiant rich in store of heroes, accepts our praise
and hears the singer's calling.
5 What he hath longed for
we have brought to Indra, who from the days of old hath done
us service.
While Soma flows we will sing hymn, and laud
him, so that our prayer may streng. then Indra's vigour.
6 Thou hast made prayer the means of thine exalting, therefore
we wait on thee with hymns, O Indra.
May we, by the pressed
Soma, Somadrinker! bring thee, with sacrifice, blissful sweet
refreshment.
7 Mark well our sacrificial cake, delighted
Indra, drink Soma and the milk commingled.
Here on the sacrificer's
grass be seated: give ample room to thy devoted servant.
8 O Mighty One, be joyful as thou willest. Let these our sacrifices
reach and find thee;
And may this hymn and these our invocations
turn thee, whom many men invoke, to help us.
9 Friends, when
thejuices flow, replenish duly your own, your bounteous Indra
with the Soma.
Will it not aid him to support us? Indra.
spares him who sheds the juice to win his favour.
10 While
Soma flowed, thus Indra hath been lauded, Ruler of nobles, mid
the Bharadvajas,
That Indra may become the singer's patron
and give him wealth in every kind of treasure.
HYMN XXIV. Indra.
1. STRONG rapturous joy, praise, glory are with Indra: impetuous
God, he quaffs the juice of Soma:
That Maghavan whom men
must laud with singing, Heaven-dweller, King of songs, whose
help is lasting.
2 He, Friend of man, most wise, victorious
Hero, hears, with far-reaching aid, the singer call him.
Excellent, Praise of Men, the bard's Supporter, Strong, he gives
strength, extolled in holy synod.
3 The lofty axle of thy
wheels, O Hero, is not surpassed by heaven and earth in greatness.
Like branches of a tree, Invoked of many manifold aids spring
forth from thee, O Indra.
4 Strong Lord, thine energies,
endowed with vigour, are like the paths of kine converging homeward.
Like bonds of cord, Indra, that bind the younglings, no bonds
are they, O thou of boundless bounty.
5 One act to-day, another
act tomorrow oft Indra makes what is not yet existeni.
Here
have we Mitra, Varuna, and Pusan to overcome the foeman's domination.
6 By song and sacrifice men brought the waters from thee, as
from a mountain's ridge, O Indra.
Urging thy might, with
these fair lauds they seek thee, O theme of song, as horses
rush tobattle.
7 That Indra whom nor months nor autumn seasons
wither with age, nor fleeting days enfeeble,-
Still may his
body Wax, e'en now so mighty, glorified by the lauds and hymns
that praise him.
8 Extolled, he bends not to the strong,
the steadfast, nor to the bold incited by the Dasyu.
High
mountains are as level plains to Indra: even in the deep he
finds firm ground to rest on.
9 Impetuous Speeder through
all depth and distance, give strengthening food, thou drinker
of the juices.
Stand up erect to help us, unreluctant, what
time the gloom of night brightens to morning.
10 Hasting
to help, come hither and protect him, keep him from harm when
he is here, O Indra.
At home, abroad, from injury preserve
him. May brave sons gladden us through a hundred winters.
HYMN XXV. Indra.
1. WITH thine assistance, O thou Mighty Indra, be it the
least, the midmost, or the highest,-
Great with those aids
and by these powers support us, Strong God! in battle that subdues
our foemen.
2 With these discomfit hosts that fight against
us, and check the opponent's wrath, thyself uninjured.
With
these chase all our foes to every quarter: subdue the tribes
of Dasas to the Arya.
3 Those who array themselves as foes
to smite us, O Indra, be they kin or be they strangers,-
Strike thou their manly strength that it be feeble, and drive
in headlong flight our foemen backward.
4 With strength of
limb the hero slays the hero, when bright in arms they range
them for the combat.
When two opposing hosts contend in battle
for seed and offspring, waters, kine, or corn-lands.
5 Yet
no strong man hath conquered thee, no hero, no brave, no warrior
trusting in his valour.
Not one of these is match for thee,
O Indra. Thou far surpassest all these living creatures.
6 He is the Lord of both these armies' valour when the commanders
call them to the conflict:
When with their ranks expanded
they are fighting with a great foe or for a home with heroes.
7 And when the people stir themselves for battle, be thou their
saviour, Indra, and protector,
And theirs, thy manliest of
our friends, the pious, the chiefs who have installed us priests,
O Indra.
8 To thee for high dominion hath been for evermore,
for slaughtering the Vrtras,
All lordly power and might,
O Holy Indra, given by Gods for victory in battle.
9 So urge
our hosts together in the combats: yield up the godless bands
that fight against us.
Singing, at morn may we find thee
with favour, yea, Indra, and e'en now, we Bharadvajas.
HYMN XXVI. Indra.
1. O INDRA, hear us. Raining down the Soma, we call on thee
to win us mighty valour.
Give us strong succour on the day
of trial, when the tribes gather on the field of battle.
2 The warrior, son of warrior sire, invokes thee, to gain great
strength that may be won as booty:
To thee, the brave man's
Lord, the fiends' subduer, he looks when fighting hand to hand
for cattle.
3 Thou didst impel the sage to win the daylight,
didst ruin Susna for the pious Kutsa.
The invulnerable demon's
head thou clavest when thou wouldst win the praise of Atithigva.
4 The lofty battle-car thou broughtest forward; thou holpest
Dasadyu the strong when fighting.
Along with Vetasu thou
slewest Tugra, and madest Tuji strong, who praised thee, Indra.
5 Thou madest good the laud, what time thou rentest a hundred
thousand fighting foes, O Hero,
Slewest the Dasa Sambara
of the mountain, and with strange aids didst succour Divodasa.
6 Made glad with Soma-draughts and faith, thou sentest Cumuri
to his sleep, to please Dabhiti.
Thou, kindly giving Raji
to Pithinas, slewest with might, at once, the sixty thousand.
7 May I too, with the liberal chiefs, O Indra, acquire thy blin
supreme and domination,
When, Mightiest! Hero-girt! Nahusa
heroes boast them in thee, the triply-strong Defender.
8
So may we he thy friends, thy best beloved, O Indra, at this
holy invocation.
Best be Pratardani, illustrious ruler, in
slaying foemen and in gaining riches.
HYMN XXVII. Indra.
1 WHAT deed hath Indra done in the wild transport, in quaffing
or in friendship with, the Soma?
What joys have men of ancient
times or recent obtained within the chamber of libation?
2 In its wild joy Indra hath proved him faithful, faithful in
quaffing, faithful in its friendship.
His truth is the delight
that in this chamber the men of old and recent times have tasted.
3 All thy vast power, O Maghavan, we know not, know not the
riches of thy full abundance.
No one hath seen that might
of thine, productive of bounty every day renewed, O Indra.
4 This one great power of thine our eyes have witnessed, wherewith
thou slewest Varasikha's children,
When by the force of thy
descending thunder, at the mere solund, their boldest was demolished.
5 In aid of Abhyavartin Cayamana, Indra destroyed the seed of
Varasikha.
At Hariyupiya he smote the vanguard of the Vrcivans,
and the rear fled frighted.
6 Three thousand, mailed, in
quest of fame, together, on the Yavyavati, O much-sought Indra,
Vrcivan's sons, falling before the arrow, like bursting vessels
went to their destruction.
7 He, whose two red Steers, seeking
goodly pasture, plying their tongues move on 'twixt earth and
heaven,
Gave Turvasa to Srnjaya, and, to aid him, gave the
Vrcivans up to Daivavata.
8 Two wagon-teams, with damsels,
twenty oxen, O Agni, Abhydvartin Cayamdna,
The liberal Sovran,
giveth me. This guerdon of Prthu's seed is hard to win from
others.
HYMN XXVIII. Cows.
I. THE Kine have come and brought good fortune: let them
rest in the cow-pen and be happy near us.
Here let them stay
prolific, many-coloured, and yield through many morns their
milk for Indra.
2 Indra aids him who offers sacrifice and
gifts: he takes not what is his, and gives him more thereto.
Increasing ever more and ever more his wealth, he makes the
pious dwell within unbroken bounds.
3 These are ne'er lost,
no robber ever injures them: no evil-minded foe attempts to
harass them.
The master of the Kine lives many a year with
these, the Cows whereby he pours his gifts and serves the Gods.
4 The charger with his dusty brow o'ertakes them not, and never
to the shambles do they take their way.
These Cows, the cattle
of the pious worshipper, roam over widespread pasture where
no danger is.
5 To me the Cows seem Bhaga, they seem Indra,
they seem a portion of the first-poured Soma.
These present
Cows, they, O ye Indra. I long for Indra with my heart and spirit.
6 O Cows, ye fatten e'en the worn and wasted, and make the unlovely
beautiful tolook on.
Prosper my house, ye with auspicious
voices. Your power is glorified in our assemblies.
7 Crop
goodly pasturage and be prolific drink pure sweet water at good
drinking places.
Never be thief or sinful man your matter,
and may the dart of Rudra still avoid you.
8 Now let this
close admixture be close intermigled with these Cows,
Mixt
with the Steer's prolific flow, and, Indra, with thy hero might.
HYMN XXIX Indra.
1. YOUR men have followed Indra for his friendship, and for
his loving-kindness glorified him.
For he bestows great wealth,
the Thunder-wielder: worship him, Great and Kind, to win his
favour.
2 Him to whose hand, men closely cling, and drivers
stand on his golden chariot firmly stationed.
With his firm
arms he holds the reins; his Horses, the Stallions, are yoked
ready for the journey.
3 Thy devotees embrace thy feet for
glory. Bold, thunder-armed, rich, through thy strength, in guerdon,
Robed in a garment fair as heaven to look on, thou hast displayed
thee like an active dancer.
4 That Soma when effused hath
best consistence, for which the food is dressed and grain is
mingled;
By which the men who pray, extolling Indra chief
favourites of Gods, recite their praises.
5 No limit of thy
might hath been appointed, which by its greatness sundered earth
and heaven.
These the Prince filleth full with strong endeavour,
driving, as 'twere, with help his flocks to waters.
6 So
be the lofty Indra prompt to listen, Helper unaided, golden-visored
Hero.
Yea, so may he, shown forth in might unequalled, smite
down the many Vrtras and the Dasyus.
HYMN XXX. Indra.
1. INDRA hath waxed yet more for hero prowess, alone, Eternal,
he bestoweth treasures.
Indra transcendeth both the worlds
in greatness: one half of him equalleth earth and heaven.
2 Yea, mighty I esteem his Godlike nature: none hindereth what
he hath once determined.
Near and afar he spread and set
the regions, and every day the Sun became apparent.
3 E'en
now endures thine exploit of the Rivers, when, Indra, for their
floods thou clavest passage.
Like men who sit at meat the
mountains settled: by thee, Most Wise! the regions were made
steadfast.
4 This is the truth, none else is like thee, Indra,
no God superior to thee, no mortal.
Thou slewest Ahi who
besieged the waters, and lettest loose the streams to hurry
seaward.
5 Indra, thou breakest up the floods and portals
on all sides, and the firmness of the mountain.
Thou art
the King of men, of all that liveth, engendering at once Sun,
Heaven, and Morning.
HYMN XXXI Indra.
1. SOLE Lord of wealth art thou, O Lord of riches: thou in
thine hands hast held the people, Indra!
Men have invoked
thee with contending voices for seed and waters, progeny and
sunlight.
2 Through fear of thee, O Indra, all the regions
of earth, though naught may move them, shake and tremble.
All that is firm is frightened at thy coming, -the earth, the
heaven, the mountain, and the forest.
3 With Kutsa, Indra!
thou didst conquer Susna, voracious, bane of crops, in fight
for cattle.
In the close fray thou rentest him: thou stolest
the Sun's wheel and didst drive away misfortunes.
4 Thou
smotest to the ground the hundred castles, impregnable, of Sambara
the Dasyu,
When, Strong, with might thou holpest Divodasa
who poured libations out, O Soma-buyer, and madest Bharadvaja
rich who praised thee.
5 As such, true Hero, for great joy
of battle mount thy terrific car, O Brave and Manly.
Come
with thine help to me, thou distant Roamer, and, glorious God,
spread among men my glory.
HYMN XXXII Indra.
1. I WITH my lips have fashioned for this Hero words never
matched, most plentiful and auspicious,
For him the Ancient,
Great, Strong, Energetic, the very mighty Wielder of the Thunder.
2 Amid the sages, with the Sun he brightened the Parents: glorified,
he burst the mountain;
And, roaring with the holy-thoughted
singers, he loosed the bond that held the beams of Morning.
3 Famed for great deeds, with priests who kneel and laud him,
he still hath conquered in the frays for cattle,
And broken
down the forts, the Fort-destroyer, a Friend with friends, a
Sage among the sages.
4 Come with thy girthed mares, with
abundant vigour and plenteous strength to him who sings thy
praises.
Come hither, borne by mares with many heroes, Lover
of song! Steer! for the people's welfare.
5 Indra with rush
and might, sped by his Coursers, hath swiftly won the waters
from the southward.
Thus set at liberty the rivers daily
flow to their goal, incessant and exhaustless.
HYMN XXXIII. Indra.
1. GIVE us the rapture that is mightiest, Indra, prompt to
bestow and swift to aid, O Hero,
That wins with brave steeds
where brave steeds encounter, and quells the Vrtras and the
foes in battle.
2 For with loud voice the tribes invoke thee,
Indra, to aid them in the battlefield of heroes.
Thou, with
the singers, hast pierced through the Panis: the charger whom
thou aidest wins the booty.
3 Both races, Indra, of opposing
foemen, O Hero, both the Arya and the Dasa,
Hast thou struck
down like woods with well-shot lightnings: thou rentest them
in fight, most manly Chieftain!
4 Indra, befriend us with
no scanty succour, prosper and aid us, Loved of all that liveth,
When, fighting for the sunlight, we invoke thee, O Hero, in
the fray, in war's division.
5 Be ours, O Indra, now and
for the future, be graciously inclined and near to help us.
Thus may we, singing, sheltered by the Mighty, win many cattle
on the day of trial.
HYMN XXXIV. Indra.
1. FULL Many songs have met in thee, O Indra, and many a
noble thought from thee proceedeth.
Now and of old the eulogies
of sages, their holy hymns and lauds, have yearned for Indra.
2 He, praised of many, bold, invoked of many, alone is glorified
at sacrifices.
Like a car harnessed for some great achievement,
Indra must be the cause of our rejoicing.
3 They make their
way to Indra and exalt him, bim whom no prayers and no laudations
trouble;
For when a hundred or a thousand singers. laud him
who loves the song their praise delights him.
4 As brightness
mingles with the Moon in heaven, the offered Soma yearns to
mix with Indra.
Like water brought to men in desert places,
our gifts at sacrifice have still refreshed him.
5 To him
this mighty eulogy, to Indra hath this our laud been uttered
by the poets,
That in the great encounter with the foemen,
Loved of all life, Indra may guard and help us.
HYMN XXXV. Indra.
1. WHEN shall our prayers rest in thy car beside thee? When
dost thou give the singer food for thousands?
When wilt thou
clothe this poet's laud with plenty, and when wilt thou enrich
our hymns with booty?
2 When wilt thou gatber men with men,
O Indra, heroes with heroes, and prevail in combat?
Thou
shalt win triply kine in frays for cattle, so, Indra, give thou
us celestial glory.
3 Yea, when wilt thou, O Indra, thou
Most Mighty, make the prayer all-sustaining for the singer?
When wilt thou yoke, as we yoke songs, thy Horses, and come
to offerings that bring wealth in cattle?
4 Grant to the
Singer food with store of cattle, splendid with horses and the
fame of riches.
Send food to swell the milch-cow good at
milking: bright be its shine among the Bharadvajas.
5 Lead
otherwise this present foeman, Sakra! Hence art thou praised
as Hero, foe destroyer
Him who gives pure gifts may I praise
unceasing. Sage, quicken the Angirases by devotion.
HYMN XXXVI. Indra.
1. THY raptures ever were for all men's profit: so evermore
have been thine earthly riches.
Thou still hast been the
dealer-forth of vigour, since among Gods thou hast had power
and Godhead.
2 Men have obtained his strength by sacrificing,
and ever urged him, on to hero valour.
For the rein-seizing,
the impetuous Charger they furnished power even for Vrtra's
slaughter.
3 Associate with him, as teams of horses, help,
manly might, and vigour follow Indra.
As rivers reach the
sea, so, strong with praises, our holy songs reach him the Comprehensive.
4 Lauded by us, let flow the spring, O Indra, of excellent and
brightly-shining riches.
For thou art Lord of men, without
an equal: of all the world thou art the only Sovran.
5 Hear
what thou mayst hear, thou who, fain for worship, as heaven
girds earth, guardest thy servant's treasure;
Tlat thou mayst
be our own, joying in power, famed through thy might in every
generation.
HYMN XXXVII Indra.
1. LET thy Bay Horses, yoked, O mighty Indra, bring thy car
hither fraught with every blessing.
For thee, the Heavenly,
e'en the poor invoketh: may we this day, thy feast-companions,
prosper.
2 Forth to the vat the brown drops flow for service,
and purified proceed directly forward.
May Indra drink of
this, our guest aforetime, Celestial King of the strong draught
of Soma.
3 Bringing us hitherward all-potent Indra on well-wheeled
chariot, may the Steeds who bear him
Convey him on the road
direct to glory, and ne'er may Vayu's Amrta cease and fail him.
4 Supreme, he stirs this man to give the guerdon,-Indra, most
efficacious of the princes,-
Wherewith, O Thunderer, thou
removest sorrow, and, Bold One! partest wealth among the nobles.
5 Indra is hewho gives enduring vigour: may our songs magnify
the God Most Mighty.
Best Vrtra-slayer be the Hero Indra
these things he gives as Prince, with strong endeavour.
HYMN XXXVIII. Indra.
1. HE hath drunk hence, Most Marvellous, and carried away
our great and splendid call on Indra.
The Bounteous, when
we serve the Gods, accepteth song yet more famous and the gifts
we bring him.
2 The speaker filleth with a cry to Indra his
ears who cometh nigh e'en from a distance.
May this my call
bring Indra to my presence, this call to Gods composed in sacred
verses.
3 Him have I sung with my best song and praises,
Indra of ancient birth and Everlasting.
For prayer and songs
in him are concentrated: let laud wax mighty when addressed
to Indra:
4 Indra, whom sacrifice shall strengthen, Soma,
and song and hymn, and praises and devotion,
Whom Dawns shall
strengthen when the night departeth, Indra whom days shall strengthen,
months, and autumns.
5 Him, born for conquering might in
full perfection, and waxen strongfor bounty and for glory,
Great, Powerful, will we to-day, O singer, invite to aid. us
and to quell our foemen.
HYMN XXXIX Indra.
1. OF this our charming, our celestial Soma, eloquent, wise,
Priest, with inspired devotion,
Of this thy close attendant,
hast thou drunken. God, send the singer food with milk to grace
it.
2 Craving the kine, rushing against the mountain led
on by Law, with holyminded comrades,
He broke the never-broken
ridge of Vala. With words of might Indra subdued the Panis.
3 This Indu lighted darksome nights, O Indra, throughout the
years, at morning and at evening.
Him have they stablished
as the days' bright ensign. He made the Mornings to be born
in splendour.
4 He shone and caused to shme the worlds that
shone not. By Law he lighted up the host of Mornings.
He
moves with Steeds yoked by eternal Order, contenting men with
nave that finds the sunlight.
5 Now, praised, O Ancient King!
fill thou the singer with plenteous food that he may deal forth
treasures.
Give waters, herbs that have no poison, forests,
and kine, and steeds, and men, to him who lauds thee.
HYMN XL. Indra
1. DRINK, Indra; juice is shed to make thee joyful: loose
thy Bay Steeds and give thy friends their freedom.
Begin
the song, seated in our assembly. Give strength for sacrifice
to him who singeth.
2 Drink thou of this whereof at birth,
O Indra, thou drankest, Mighty One for power and rapture.
The men, the pressing-stones, the cows, the waters have made
this Soma ready for thy drinking.
3 The fire is kindled,
Soma pressed, O Indra: let thy Bays, best to draw, convey thee
hither.
With mind devoted, Indra, I invoke thee. Come, for
our great prosperity approach us.
4 Indra, come hither: evermore
thou camest through our great strong desire to drink the Soma.
Listen and hear the prayers which now we offer, and let this
sacrifice increase thy vigour.
5 Mayst thou, O Indra, on
the day of trial, present or absent, wheresoe'er thou dwellest,
Thence, with thy team, accordant with the Maruts, Song-lover!
guard our sacrifice, to help us.
HYMN XLL Indra.
1. COME gracious to our sacrifice, O Indra: pressed Soma-drops
are purified to please thee.
As cattle seek their home, so
Thunderwielder, come, Indra, first of those who claim our worship.
2 With that well-formed most wide-extending palate, wherewith
thou ever drinkest streams of sweetness,
Drink thou; the
Adhvaryu standeth up before thee: let thy spoil-winning thunderbolt
attend thee.
3 This drop, steer-strong and omniform, the
Soma, hath been made ready for the Bull, for India.
Drink
this, Lord of the Bays, thou Strong Supporter, this that is
thine of old, thy food for ever.
4 Soma when pressed excels
the unpressed Soma, better, for one who knows, to give him pleasure.
Come to this sacrifice of ours, O Victor replenish all thy powers
with this libation.
5 We call on thee, O Indra: come thou
hither: sufficient be the Soma for thy body.
Rejoice thee,
Satakratu! in the juices guard us in wars, guard us among our
people.
HYMN XLII- Indra.
1. BRING sacrificial gifts to him, Omniscient, for he longs
to drink,
The Wanderer who comes with speed, the Hero ever
in the van.
2 With Soma go ye nigh to him chief drinker of
the Soma's juice:
With beakers to the Impetuous God, to Indra
with the drops effused.
3 What time, with Soma, with the
juice effused, ye come before the God,
Full wise he knows
the hope of each, and, Bold One, strikes this foe and that.
4 To him, Adhvaryu! yea, to him give offerings of the juice
expressed.
Will he not keep us safely from the spiteful curse
of each presumptuous high-born foe?
HYMN XLIII. Indra
1. IN whose wild joy thou madest once Sambara Divodasa's
prey,
This Soma is pressed out for thee, O Indra: drink!
2 Whose gladdening draught, shed from the points, thou guardest
in the midst and end,
This Soma is pressed out for thee,
O Indra drink!
3 In whose wild joy thou settest free the
kine held fast within the rock,
This Soma is pressed out
for thee, O Indra: drink!
4 This, in whose juice delighting
thou gainest the might of Maghavan,
This Soma is pressed
out for thee, O Indra drink!
HYMN XLIV. Indra.
1. THAT which is wealthiest, Wealthy God in splendoursmost
illustrious,
Soma is pressed: thy gladdening draught, Indra!
libation's Lord! is this.
2 Effectual, Most Effectual One!
thine, as bestowing wealth of hymns,
Soma is pressed: thy
gladdening draught, Indra! libation's Lord! is this.
3 Wherewith
thou art increased in strength, and conquerest with thy proper
aids,
Soma is pressed: thy gladdening draught, Indra! libation's
Lord! is this.
4 Him for your sake I glorify as Lord of Strength
who wrongeth none,
The Hero Indra, conquering all, Most Bounteous,
God of all the tribes.
5 Those Goddesses, both Heaven and
Earth, revere the power and might of him,
Him whom our songs
increase in strength, the Lord of bounty swift to come.
6
To seat your Indra, I will spread abroad with power this song
of praise.
The saving succours that abide in him, like songs,
extend and grow.
7 A recent Friend, he found the skilful
priest: he drank, and showed forth treasure from the Gods.
He conquered, borne by strong all-shaking mares, and was with
far-spread power his friends' Protector.
8 In course of Law
the sapient juice was quaffed: the Deities to glory turned their
mind.
Winning through hymns a lofty title, he, the Lovely,
made his beauteous form apparent.
9 Bestow on us the most
illustrious strength ward off men's manifold malignities.
Give with thy might abundant vital force, and aid us graciously
in gaining riches.
10 We turn to thee as Giver, liberal Indra.
Lord of the Bay Steeds, be not thou ungracious.
No friend
among mankind have we to lookto: why have men called thee him
who spurs the niggard?
11 Give us not up, Strong Hero! to
the hungry: unharmed be we whom thou, so rich, befriendest.
Full many a boon hast thou for men demolish those who present
no gifts nor pour oblations.
12 As Indra thundering impels
the rain-clouds, so doth he send us store of kine and horses.
Thou art of old the Cherisher of singers let not the rich who
bring no gifts deceive thee.
13 Adbyaryu, hero, bring to
mighty Indrafor he is King thereof-the pressed-out juices;
To him exalted by the hymns and praises, ancient and modern,
of the singing Rsis.
14 In the wild joy of this hath Indra,
knowing full many a form, struck down resistless Vrtras.
Proclaim aloud to him the savoury Soma so that the Hero, strong
of jaw, may drink it.
15 May Indra drink this Soma poured
to please him, and cheered therewith slay Vrtra with his thunder.
Come to our sacrifice even from a distance, good lover of our
songs, the bard's Supporter.
16 The cup whence Indra drinks
the draught is present: the Amrta dear to Indra hath been drunken,
That it may cheer the God to gracious favour, and keep far from
us hatred and affliction.
17 Therewith enraptured, Hero,
slay our foemen, the unfriendly, Maghavan be they kin or strangers,
Those who still aim their hostile darts to smite us, turn them
to flight, O Indra, crush and kill them.
18 O Indra Maghavan,
in these our battles win easy paths for us and ample freedom.
That we may gain waters and seed and offspring, set thou our
princes on thy side, O Indra.
19 Let thy Bay Stallions, harnessed,
bring thee hither, Steeds with strong chariot and strong reins
to hold them,
Strong Horses, speeding hither, bearing thunder,
well-harnessed, for the strong exciting potion.
20 Beside
the vat, Strong God! stand thy strong Horses, shining with holy
oil, like waves exulting.
Indra, they bring to thee, the
Strong and Mighty, Soma of juices shed by mighty press-stones.
21 Thou art the Bull of earth, the Bull of heaven, Bull of the
rivers, Bull of standing waters.
For thee, the Strong, O
Bull, hath Indu swollen. juice pleasant, sweet to drink, for
thine election.
22 This God, with might, when first he had
his being, with Indra for ally, held fast the Pani.
This
Indu stole away the warlike weapons, and foiled the arts of
his malignant father.
23 The Dawns he wedded to a glorious
Consort, and set within the Sun the light that lights him.
He found in heaven, in the third lucid regions, the threefold
Amrta in its close concealment.
24 He stayed and held the
heaven and earth asunder: the chariot with the sevenfold reins
he harnessed.
This Soma Set with power within the milch-kine
a spring whose ripe contents ten fingers empty.
HYMN XLV. Indra.
1. THAT Indra is our youthful Friend, who with his trusty
guidance led
Turvasa, Yadu from afar.
2 Even to the dull
and uninspired Indra, gives vital power, and wins
Even with
slow steed the offered prize.
3 Great are his ways of guiding
us, and!nanilbld are Ins eulogies:
His kind protections never
fail.
4 Friends, sing your psalm and offer praise to him
to whom the prayer is brought:
For our great Providence is
he.
5 Thou, Slaughterer of Vrtra, art Guardian and Friend
of one and two,
Yea, of a man like one of us.
6 Beyond
men's hate thou leadest us, and givest cause to sing thy praise:
Good hero art thou called by men.
7 I call with hymns, as
'twere a cow to milk, the Friend who merits praise,
The Brahman
who accepts the prayer.
8 Him in whose hands they say are
stored all treasures from the days of old,
The Hero, conquering
in the fight.
9 Lord of Strength, Caster of the Stone, destroy
the firm forts built by men,
And foil their arts, unbending
God!
10 Thee, thee as such, O Lord of Power, O Indra, Soma-drinker,
true,
We, fain for glory, have invoked.
11 Such as thou
wast of old, and art now to be called on when the prize
lies
ready, listen to our call.
12 With hymns and coursers we
will gain, Indra, through thee, both steeds and spoil
Most
glorious, and the proffered prize.
13 Thou, Indra, Lover
of the Song, whom men must stir to help, hast been
Great
in the contest for the prize.
14 Slayer of foes, whatever
aid of thine imparts the swiftest course,
With that impel
our car to speed.
15 As skilfullest of those who drive the
chariot, with our art and aim,
O Conqueror, win the proffered
prize.
16 Praise him who, Matchless and Alone, was born the
Lord of living men,
Most active, with heroic soul.
17
Thou who hast been the singers' Friend, a Friend auspicious
with thine aid,
As such, O Indra, favour us.
18 Grasp
in thine arms the thunderbolt, O Thunder-armed, to slay the
fiends:
Mayst thou subdue the foemen's host.
19 I call
the ancient Friend, allied with wealth, who speeds the lowly
man,
Him to whom chiefly prayer is brought.
20 For he
alone is Lord of all the treasures of the earth: he speeds
Hither, chief Lover of the Song.
21 So with thy yoked teams
satisfy our wish with power and wealth in steeds
And cattle,
boldly, Lord of kine!
22 Sing this, what time the ' juice
is pressed, to him your Hero, Much-invoked,
To please him
as a mighty Steer.
23 He, Excellent, withholdeth not his
gift of power and wealth in kine,
When he hath listened to
our songs.
24 May he with might unclose for us the cow's
stall, whosesoe'er it be,
To which the Dasyu-slayer goes.
25 O Indra Satakratu, these our songs have called aloud to thee,
Like mother cows to meet their calves.
26 Hard is thy love
to win: thou art a Steer to him who longs for steers:
Be
to one craving steeds a Steed.
27 Delight thee with the juice
we pour for thine own great munificence:
Yield not thy singer
to reproach.
28 These songs with every draught we pour come,
Lover of the Song, to thee,
As milch-kine hasten to their
young
29 To thee most oft invoked, amid the many singers'
rivalry
Who beg with all their might for wealth.
30 Nearest
and most attractive may our laud, O Indra come to thee.
Urge
thou us on to ample wealth.
31 Brbu hath set himself above
the Panis, o'er their highest head,
Like the wide bush on
Ganga's bank.
32 He whose good bounty, thousandfold, swift
as the rushing of the wind,
Suddenly offers as a gift.
33 So all our singers ever praise the pious Brbu's noble deed,
Chief, best to give his thousands, best to give a thousand liberal
gifts.
HYMN XLVI. Indra.
1. THAT we may win us wealth and power we poets, verily,
call on thee:
In war men call on thee, Indra, the hero's
Lord, in the steed's race-course call on thee.
2 As such,
O Wonderful, whose hand holds thunder, praised as mighty, Caster
of the Stone!
Pour on us boldly, Indra, kine and chariotsteeds,
ever to be the conqueror's strength.
3 We call upon that
Indra, who, most active, ever slays the foe:
Lord of the
brave, Most Manly, with a thousand powers, help thou and prosper
us in fight.
4 Rcisama, thou forcest men as with a bull,
with anger, in the furious fray.
Be thou our Helper in the
mighty battle fought for sunlight, water, and for life.
5
O Indra, bring us name and fame, enriching, mightiest, excellent,
Wherewith, O Wondrous God, fair-visored, thunder-armed, thou
hast filled full this earth and heaven.
6 We call on thee,
O King, Mighty amid the Gods, Ruler of men, to succour us.
All that is weak in us, Excellent God, make firm: make our foes
easy to subdue.
7 All strength and valour that is found,
Indra, in tribes of Nahusas, and all the splendid fame that
the Five Tribes enjoy
Bring, yea, all manly powers at once.
8 Or, Maghavan, what vigorous strength in Trksi lay, in Druhyus
or in Paru's folk,
Fully bestow on us, that, in the conquering
fray, we may subdue our foes in fight.
9 O Indra, grant a
happy home, a triple refuge triply strong.
Bestow a dwelling-place
on the rich lords and me, and keep thy dart afar from these.
10 They who with minds intent on spoil subdue the foe, boldly
attack and smite him down,-
From these, O Indra Maghavan
who lovest song, be closest guardian of our lives.
11 And
now, O Indra, strengthen us: come near and aid us in the fight,
What time the feathered shafts are flying in the air, the arrows
with their sharpened points.
12 Give us, where heroes strain
their bodies in the fight, the shelter that our fathers loved.
To us and to our sons give refuge: keep afar all unobserved
hostility.
13 When, Indra, in the mighty fray thou urgest
chargers to their speed,
On the uneven road and on a toilsome
path, like falcons, eager for renown,
14 Speeding like rivers
rushing down a steep descent, responsive to the urging call,
That come like birds attracted to the bait, held in by reins
in both the driver's hands.
HYMN XLVII. Indra, Etc.
1. YEA, this is good to taste and full of. sweetness, verily
it is strong and rich in flavour.
No one may conquer Indra
in the battle when he hath drunken of the draught we offer.
2 This sweet juice here had mightiest power to gladden: it boldened
Indra when he siaughtered Vrtra,
When he defeated Sambara's
many onslaughts, and battered down his nineand ninety ramparts.
3 This stirreth up my voice when I have drunk it: this hath
aroused from sleep my yearning spirit.
This Sage hath measured
out the six expanses from which no single creature is excluded.
4 This, even this, is he who hath created the breadth of earth,
the lofty height of heaven.
He formed the nectar in three
headlong rivers. Soma supports the wide mid-air above us.
5 He found the wavy sea of brilliant colours in forefront of
the Dawns who dwell in brightness.
This Mighty One, the Steer
begirt by Maruts, hath propped the heavens up with a mighty
pillar.
6 Drink Soma boldly from the beaker, Indra, in war
for treasures, Hero, Vrtra-slayer!
Fill thyself full at the
mid-day libation, and give us wealth, thou Treasury of riches.
7 Look out for us, O Indra, as our Leader, and guide us on to
gain yet goodlier treasure.
Excellent Guardian, bear us well
through peril, and lead us on to wealth with careful guidance.
8 Lead us to ample room, O thou who knowest, to happiness, security,
and sunlight.
High, Indra, are the arms of thee the Mighty:
may we betake. us to their lofty shelter.
9 Set us on widest
chariot-seat, O Indra, with two steeds best to draw, O Lord
of Hundreds!
Bring us the best among all sorts of viands:
let not the foe's wealth, Maghavan, subdue us.
10 Be gracious,
Indra, let my days be lengthened: sharpen my thought as 'twere
a blade of iron
Approve whatever words I speak, dependent
on thee, and grant me thy divine protection.
11 Indra the
Rescuer, Indra the Helper, Hero who listens at each invocation,
Sakra I call, Indra invoked of many. May Indra Maghavan prosper
and bless us.
12 May helpful Indra as our good Protector,
Lord of all treasures, favour us with succour,
Baffle our
foes, and give us rest and safety, and may we be the lords of
hero vigour.
13 May we enjoy the grace of him the Holy, yea,
may we dwell in his auspicious favour.
May helpful Indra
as our good Preserver drive from us, even from afar, our foemen.
14 Like rivers rushing down a slope, O Indra, to thee haste
songs and prayers and linked verses.
Thou gatherest, Thunderer!
like widespread bounty, kine, water, drops, and manifold libations.
15 Who lauds him, satisfies him, pays him worship? E'en the
rich noble still hath found him mighty.
With power, as when
one moves his feet alternate, he makes the last precede, the
foremost follow.
16 Famed is the Hero as each strong man's
tamer, ever advancing one and then another.
King of both
worlds, hating the high and haughty, Indra protects the men
who are his people.
17 He loves no more the men he loved
aforetime: he turns and moves away allied with others.
Rejecting
those who disregard his worship, Indra victorious lives through
many autumns.
18 In every figure he hath been the mode: this
is his only form for us to look on.
Indra moves multiform
by his illusions; for his Bay Steeds are yoked, ten times a
hundred.
19 Here Tvastar, yoking to the car the Bay Steeds,
hath extended sway.
Who will for ever stand upon the foeman's
side, even when our princes sit at ease?
20 Gods, we have
reached a country void of pasture the land, though spacious,
was too small to hold us.
Brhaspati, provide in war for cattle;
find a path, Indra, for this faithful singer.
21 Day after
day far from their seat he drove them, alike, from place to
place, those darksome creatures.
The Hero slew the meanly-huckstering
Dasas, Varcin and Sambara, where the waters gather.
22 Out
of thy bounty, Indra, hath Prastoka bestowed ten coffers and
ten mettled horses.
We have received in turn from Divodasa
Sambara's wealth, the gift of Atithigva.
23 Ten horses and
ten treasure-chests, ten garments as an added gift,
These
and ten lumps of gold have I received from Divodasa's hand.
24 Ten cars with extra steed to each, for the Atharvans hundred
cows,
Hath Asvatha to Payu given.
25 Thus Srnjaya's son
honoured the Bharadvajas, recipients of all noble gifts and
bounty.
26 Lord of the wood, be firm and strong in body:
be, bearing us, a brave victorious hero
Show forth thy strength,
compact with straps of leather, and let thy rider win all spoils
of battle.
27 Its mighty strength was borrowed from the heaven
and earth: its conquering force was brought from sovrans of
the wood.
Honour with holy gifts the Car like Indra's bolt,
the Car bound round with straps, the vigour of the floods.
28 Thou Bolt of Indra, Vanguard of the Maruts, close knit to
Varuna and Child of Mitra,-
As such, accepting gifts which
here we offer, receive, O Godlike Chariot, these oblations.
29 Send forth thy voice aloud through earth and heaven, and
let the world in all its breadth regard thee;
O Drum, accordant
with the Gods and Indra, drive thou afar, yea, very far, our
foemen.
30 Thunder out strength and fill us full of vigour:
yea, thunder forth and drive away all dangers.
Drive hence,
O War-drum, drive away misfortune: thou art the Fist of Indra:
show thy firmness.
31 Drive hither those, and these again
bring hither: the War-drum speaks aloud as battle's signal.
Our heroes, winged with horses, come together. Let our car-warriors,
Indra, be triumphant.
HYMN XLVIII. Agni and Others.
1. SING to your Agni with each song, at every sacrifice,
for strength.
Come, let us praise the Wise and Everlasting
God, even as a well-beloved Friend,
2 The Son of Strength;
for is he not our gracious Lord? Let us serve him who bears
our gifts.
In battle may he be our help and strengthener,
yea, be the saviour of our lives.
3 Agni, thou beamest forth
with light, great Hero, never changed by time.
Shining, pure
Agni! with a light that never fades, beam with thy fair beams
brilliantly.
4 Thou worshippest great Gods: bring them without
delay by wisdom and thy wondrous power.
O Agni, make them
turn hither to succour us. Give strength, and win it for thyself.
5 He whom floods, stones, and trees support, the offspring of
eternal Law;
He who when rubbed with force is brought to
life by men upon the lofty height of earth;
6 He who hath
filled both worlds fult with his brilliant shine, who hastens
with his smoke to heaven;
He made himself apparent through
the gloom by night, the Red Bull in the darksome nights, the
Red Bull in the darksome nights.
7 O Agni, with thy lofty
beams, with thy pure brilliancy, O God,
Kindled, Most Youthful
One! by Bharadvaja's hand, shine on us, O pure God, with wealth,
shine, Purifier! splendidly.
8 Thou art the Lord of house
and home of all the tribes, O Agni, of all tribes of men.
Guard with a hundred forts thy kindler from distress, through
hundred winters, Youngest God! and those who make thy singers
rich.
9 Wonderful, with thy favouring help, send us thy bounties,
gracious Lord.
Thou art the Charioteer, Agni, of earthly
wealth: find rest and safety for our seed.
10 With guards
unfailing never negligent speed thou our children and our progeny.
Keep far from us, O Agni, all celestial wrath and wickedness
of godless men.
11 Hither, O friends, with newest song drive
her who freely pours her milk;
Loose her who never turns
away;
12 Who, for the host of Maruts bright with native sheen,
hath shed immortal fame like milk;
Whom the impetuous Maruts
look upon with love, who moves in splendour on their ways.
13 For Bharadvaja she poured down in days of old
The milch-cow
yielding milk for all, and food that gives all nourishment.
14 Your friend like Indra passing wise, with magic power like
Varuna.
Like Aryaman joy-giving, bringing plenteous food
like ViSnxu for my wish, I praise,
15 Bright as the host
of Maruts mighty in their roar. May they bring Pusan free from
foes;
May they bring hither hundreds, thousands for our men:
may they bring hidden stores to light, and make wealth easy
to be found.
16 Haste to me, Pusan, in thine car, bright
Deity: I fain would speak:
Most sinful is our foeman's hate.
17 Tear not up by the roots the Kakambira tree: destroy thou
all malignity.
Let them not snare by day the neck of that
Celestial Bird the Sun.
18 Uninjured let thy friendship be,
like the smooth surface of a skin,
A flawless skin, containing
curds, full to the mouth, containing curds.
19 For thou art
high above mankind, in glory equal to the Gods.
Therefore,
O Pusan, look upon us in the fight: now help us as in days of
old.
20 May the kind excellence of him the Kind, loud Roarers!
be our guide,
Be it the God's, O Maruts, or a mortal man's
who worships, ye impetuous Ones!
21 They whose high glory
in a moment like the God, the Sun, goes round the space of heaven,
The Maruts have obtained bright strength, a sacred name, strength
that destroys the Vrtras, strength Vrtra-destroying excellent.
22 Once, only once, the heaven was made, once only once, the
earth was formed-
Once, only Prsni's milk was shed: no second,
after this, is born.
HYMN XLIX. Visvedevas.
1. I LAUD with newest songs the Righteous People, Mitra and
Varuna who make us happy.
Let them approach, here let them
listen,Agni, Varuna, Mitra, Lords of fair dominion.
2 Him,
to be praised at each tribe's sacrifices, the Two young Matrons'
sober-minded Herald,
The Son of Strength, the Child of Heaven,
the signal of sacrifice, red Agni will I worship.
3 Unlike
in form are the Red God's two Daughters: one is the Sun's, and
stars bedeck the other.
Apart, the Sanctifiers, in succession,
come to the famed hymn, praised in holy verses.
4 I with
a lofty song call hither Vayu, all-bounteous, filler of his
car, most wealthy.
Thou, Sage, with bright path, Lord of
harnessed horses, impetuous, promptly honourest the prudent.
5 That chariot of the Asvins, fair to look on, pleaseth me well,
yoked with a thought, refulgent,
Wherewith, Nasatyas, Chiefs,
ye seek our dwelling, to give new strength to us and to our
children.
6 Bulls of the Earth, O Vata and Parjanya, stir
up for us the regions of the water.
Hearers of truth, ye,
Sages, World-Supporters, increase his living wealth whose songs
delight you.
7 So may Sarasvati, the Hero's Consort, brisk
with rare life, the lightning's Child, inspire us,
And, with
the Dames accordant, give the singer a refuge unassailable and
flawless.
8 I praise with eloquence him who guards all pathways.
He, when his love impelled him, went to Arka.
May he vouchsafe
us gear with gold to grace it: may Pusan make each prayer of
ours efective.
9 May Herald Agni, fulgent, bring for worship
Tvastar adored, in homes and swift to listen,
Glorious, first
to share, the life-bestower, the ever active God, fair-armed,
fair-handed.
10 Rudra by day, Rudra at night we honour with
these our songs, the Universe's Father.
Him great and lofty,
blissful, undecaying let us call specially as the Sage impels
us.
11 Ye who are youthful, wise, and meet for worship, come,
Martits, to the longing of the singer.
Coming, as erst to
Angiras, O Heroes, ye animate and quicken e'en the desert.
12 Even as the herdsman driveth home his cattle, I urge my songs
to him the strong swift Hero
May he, the glorious, lay upon
his body the singer's hymns, as stars bedeck the heaven.
13 He who for man's behoof in his afiliction thrice measured
out the earthly regions, Visnu-
When one so great as thou
affordeth shelter, may we with wealth and with ourselves be
happy.
14 Sweet be this song of mine to Ahibudhnya, Parvata,
Savitar, with Floods and Lightnings;
Sweet, with the Plants,
to Gods who seek oblations. May liberal Bhaga speed us on to
riches.
15 Give riches borne on cars, with many heroes, contenting
men, the guard of mighty Order.
Give us a lasting home that
we may battle with godless bands of men who fight against us,
and meet with tribes to whom the Gods are gracious.
HYMN L. Visvedevas.
1. I CALL with prayers on Aditi your Goddess, on Agni, Mitra,
Varuna for favour,
On Aryaman who gives unasked, the gracious,
on Gods who save, on Savitar and Bhaga.
2 Visit, to prove
us free from sin, O Surya Lord of great might, the bright Gods
sprung from Daksa,
Twice-born and true, observing sacred
duties, Holy and full of light, whose tongue is Agni.
3 And,
O ye Heaven and Earth, a wide dominion, O ye most blissful Worlds,
our lofty shelter,
Give ample room and freedom for our dwelling,
a home, ye Hemispheres, which none may rival.
4 This day
invited may the Sons of Rudra, resistless, excellent, stoop
down to meet us;
For, when beset with slight or sore affliction,
we ever call upon the Gods, the Maruts;
5 To whom the Goddess
Rodasi clings closely, whom Pusan follows bringing ample bounty.
What time ye hear our call and come, O Maruts, upon your separate
path all creatures tremble.
6 With a new hymn extol, O thou
who singest, the Lover of the Song, the Hero Indra.
May he,
exalted, hear our invocation, and grant us mighty wealth and
strength when lauded.
7 Give full protection, Friends of
man, ye Waters, in peace and trouble, to our sons and grandsons.
For ye are our most motherly physicians, parents of all that
standeth, all that moveth.
8 May Savitar come hither and
approach us, the God who rescues, Holy, goldenhanded,
The
God who, bounteous as the face of Morning, discloses precious
gifts for him who worships.
9 And thou, O Son of Strength,
do thou turn hither the Gods to-day to this our holy service.
May I for evermore enjoy thy bounty and, Agni, by thy grace
be rich in heroes.
10 Come also to my call, O ye Nasatyas,
yea, verily, through my prayers, ye Holy Sages.
As from great
darkness ye delivered Atri, protect us, Chiefs, from danger
in the conflict.
11 O Gods, bestow upon us riches, splendid
with strength and heroes, bringing food in plenty.
Be gracious,
helpful Gods of earth, of heaven, born of the Cow, and dwellers
in the waters.
12 May Rudra and Sarasvati, accordant, Visnu
and Vayu, pour down gifts and bless us;
Rbhuksan, Vaja, and
divine Vidhatar, Parjanya, Vata make our food abundant.
13
May this God Savitar, the Lord, the Offspring of Waters, pouring
down his dew be gracious,
And, with the Gods and Dames accordant,
Tvastar; Dyaus with the Gods and Prthivi with oceans.
14
May Aja-Ekapad and Ahibudhnya, and Earth and Ocean hear our
invocation;
All Gods who strengthen Law, invoked and lauded,
and holy texts uttered by sages, help us.
15 So with my thoughts
and hymns of praise the children of Bharadvaja sing aloud to
please you.
The Dames invoked, and the resistless Vasus,
and all ye Holy Ones have been exalted.
HYMN LI. Visvedevas.
1. THAT mighty eye of Varuna and Mitra, infallible and dear,
is moving upward.
The pure and lovely face of holy Order
hath shone like gold of heaven in its arising.
2 The Sage
who knows these Gods' three ranks and orders, and all their
generations near and distant,
Beholding good and evil acts
of mortals, Sura marks well the doing of the pious.
3 I praise
you Guards of mighty Law eternal, Aditi, Mitra, Varuna, the
noble,
Aryaman, Bhaga, all whose thoughts are faithful: hither
I call the Bright who share in common.
4 Lords of the brave,
infallible, foe-destroyers, great Kings, bestowers of fair homes
to dwell in,
Young, Heroes, ruling heaven with strong dominion,
Adityas, Aditi I seek with worship.
5 O Heaven our Father,
Earth our guileless Mother, O Brother Agni, and ye Vasus, bless
us.
Grant us, O Aditi and ye Adityas, all of one mind, your
manifold protection.
6 Give us not up to any evil creature,
as spoil to wolf or she-wolf, O ye Holy.
For ye are they
who guide aright our bodies, ye are the rulers of our speech
and vigour.
7 Let us not suffer for the sin of others, nor
do the deed which ye, O Vasus, punish.
Ye, Universal Gods!
are all-controllers: may he do harm unto himself who hates Me.
8 Mighty is homage: I adopt and use it. Homage hath held in
place the earth and heaven.
Homage to Gods! Homage commands
and rules them. I banish even committed sin by homage
9 You
Furtherers of Law, pure in your spirit, infallible, dwellers
in the home of Order,
To you all Heroes mighty and far-seeing
I bow me down, O Holy Ones, with homage.
10 For these are
they who shine with noblest splendour; through all our troubles
these conduct us safely-
Varuna, Mitra, Agni, mighty Rulers,
trueminded, faithful to the hymn's controllers.
11 May they,
Earth, Aditi, Indra, Bhaga, Pusan increase our laud, increase
the Fivefold people.
Giving good help, good refuge, goodly
guidance, be they our good deliverers, good protectors.
12
Come now, O Gods, to your celestial station: the Bharadvajas'
priest entreats your favour.
He, sacrificing, fain for wealth,
hath honoured the Gods vath those who sit and share oblations.
13 Agni, drive thou the wicked foe, the evil-hearted thief away,
Far, far, Lord of the brave I and give us easy paths.
14
Soma, these pressing-stones have called aloud to win thee for
our Friend.
Destroy the greedy Pani, for a wolf is he.
15 Ye, O most bountiful, are they who, led by Indra, seek the
sky.
Give us good paths for travel: guard us ivell at home.
16 Now have we entered on the road that leads to bliss, without
a foe,
The road whereon a man escapes all enemies and gathers
wealth.
HYMN LIL Visvedevas.
1. THIS I allow not in the earth or heaven, at sacrifice
or in these holy duties.
May the huge mountains crush him
down: degraded be Atiyaja's sacrificing patron.
2 Or he who
holds us in contempt, O Maruts, or seeks to blame the prayer
that we are making,
May agonies of burning be his portion.
May the sky scorch the man who hates devotion.
3 Why then,
O Soma, do they call thee keeper of prayer? Why then our guardian
from reproaches?
Why then beholdest thou how men revile us?
Cast thy hot dart at him who hates devotion.
4 May Mornings
as they spring to life, protect me, and may the Rivers as they
swell preserve me.
My guardians be the firmly-seated mountains:
the Fathers, when I call on Gods, defend me!
5 Through all
our days may we be healthy. minded, and look upon the Sun when
he arises.
Grant this the Treasure-Lord of treasures, coming,
observant, oftenest of Gods, with succour!
6 Most near, most
oft comes Indra with protection, and she Sarasvati, who swells
with rivers -
Parjanya, bringing health with herbs, and Agni,
well lauded swift to listen, like a father.
7 Hear this mine
invocation; come hither, O Universal Gods,
Be seated on this
holy grass.
8 To him who comes to meet you, Gods, with offerings
bathed in holy oil-
Approach ye, one and all, to him.
9 All Sons of Immortality shall listen to the songs we sing,
And be exceeding good to us.
10 May all the Gods who strengthen
Law, with Rtus, listening to our call,
Be pleased with theit
appropriate draught.
11 May 1ndra, with the Marut host, with
Tvastar, Mitra, Aryaman,
Accept the laud and these our gifts.
12 O Agni, Priest, as rules ordain, offer this sacrifice of
ours,
Remembering the Heavenly Folk.
13 Listen, All-Gods,
to this mine invocation, Ye who inhabit heaven, and air's midregions,
All ye, O Holy Ones, whose tongue is Agni, seated upon this
sacred grass, be joyful.
14 May the All-Gods who claim our
worship hear my thought; may the two World-halves hear it, and
the Waters' Child.
Let me not utter words that ye may disregard.
Closely allied with you may we rejoice in bliss.
15 And those
who, Mighty, with the wiles of serpents, were born on earth,
in heaven, where waters gather-
May they vouchsafe us life
of full duration. May the Gods kindly give us nights and mornings.
16 At this my call, O Agni and Parjanya, help, swift to hear,
my thought and our laudation.
One generates holy food, the
other offspring, so grant us food enough with store of children.
17 When holy grass is strewn and fire enkindled, with hymn and
lowly homage I invite you.
All-Gods, to day in this our great
assembly rejoice, ye Holy, in the gifts we offer.
HYMN LIII. Pusan.
1. LORD of the path, O Pusan, we have yoked and bound thee
to our hymn,
Even as a car, to win the prize.
2 Bring
us the wealth that men require, a manly master of a house,
Free-handed with the liberal meed.
3 Even him who would not
give, do thou,
O glowing Pusan, urge to give,
And make
the niggard's soul grow soft.
4 Clear paths that we may win
the prize; scatter our enemies afar.
Strong God, be all our
thoughts fulfilled.
5 Penetrate with an awl, O Sage, the
hearts of avaricious churls,
And make them subject to our
will.
6 Thrust with thine awl, O Pusan: seek that which the
niggard's heart holds dear,
And make him subject to our will.
7 Tear up and read in pieces, Sage, the hearts of avaricious
churls,
And make them subject to our will.
8 Thou, glowing
Pusan, carriest an awl that urges men to prayer;
Therewith
do thou tear up and rend to shreds the heart of every one.
9 Thou bearest, glowing Lord! a goad with horny point that guides
the cows
Thence do we seek thy gift of bliss.
10 And make
this hymn of ours produce kine, horses, and a store of wealth
For our delight and use as men.
HYMN LIV. Pusan.
1. O PUSAN, bring us to the man who knows, who shall direct
us straight,
And say unto us, It is here.
2 May we go
forth with Pusan who shall point the houses out to us,
And
say to us, These same are they.
3 Unharmed is Pusan's chariot
wheel; the box ne'er falleth to the ground,
Nor doth the
loosened felIy shake.
4 Pusan forgetteth not the man who
serveth him with offered gift:
That man is first to gather
wealth.
5 May Pusan follow near our kine; may Pusan keep
our horses safe:
May Pusan gather gear for us.
6 Follow
the kine of him who pours libations out and worships thee;
And ours who sing thee songs of praise.
7 Let none be lost,
none injured, none sink in a pit and break a limb.
Return
with these all safe and sound.
8 Pusan who listens to our
prayers, the Strong whose wealth is never lost,
The Lord
of riches, we implore.
9 Secure in thy protecting care, O
Pusan, never may we fail.
We here are they who sing thy praise.
10 From out the distance, far and wide, may Pusan stretch his
right hand forth,
And drive our lost again to us.
HYMN LV. Pusan.
1. SON of Deliverance, come, bright God!
Let us twain
go together: be our charioteer of sacrifice.
2 We pray for
wealth to thee most skilled of charioteers, with braided hair,
Lord of great riches, and our Friend.
3 Bright God whose
steeds are goats, thou art a stream of wealth, a treasure-heap,
The Friend of every pious man.
4 Pusan, who driveth goats
for steeds, the strong and Mighty, who is called
His Sister's
lover, will we laud.
5 His Mother's suitor I address. May
he who loves his Sister hear,
Brother of Indra, and my Friend.
6 May the sure-footed goats come nigh, conveying Pusan on his
car,
The God who visiteth mankind.
HYMN LVI, Pusan.
1. WHOSO remembers Pusan as cater of mingled curd and meal
Need think no more upon the God.
2 And he is best of charioteers.
Indra, the hero's Lord, allied
With him as Friend, destroys
the foes.
3 And there the best of charioteers hath guided
through the speckled cloud
The golden wheel of Sura's car.
4 Whate'er we speak this day to thee, Wise, Wondrous God whom
many praise,
Give thou fulfilment of our thought.
5 Lead
on this company of ours, that longs for kine, to win the spoil:
Thou, Pusan, art renowned afar.
6 Prosperity we crave from
thee, afar from sin and near to wealth,
Tending to perfect
happiness both for to. morrow and to-day.
HYMN LVII. Indra and Pusan.
1. INDRA and Pusan will we call for friend ship and prosperity
And for the winning of the spoil.
2 One by the Soma sits
to drink juice which the mortar hath expressed:
The other
longs for curd and meal.
3 Goats are the team that draws
the one: the other hath Bay Steeds at hand;
With both of
these he slays the fiends.
4 When Indra, wondrous strong,
brought down the streams, the mighty waterfloods,
Pusan was
standing by his side.
5 To this, to Pusan's favouring love,
and Indra's, may we closely cling,
As to a tree's extended
bough.
6 As one who drives a car draws in his reins, may
we draw Pusan near,
And Indra, for our great success.
HYMN LVIII. Pusan.
1. LIKE heaven art thou: one form is bright, one holy, like
Day and Night dissimilar in colour.
All magic powers thou
aidest, self-depen. dent! Auspicious be thy bounty here, O Pusan.
2 Goat-borne, the guard of cattle, he whose home is strength,
inspirer of the hymn, set over all the world;
Brandishing
here and there his lightly. moving goad, beholding every creature,
Pusan, God, goes forth.
3 O Pusan, with thy golden ships
that travel across the ocean, in the air's mid-region,
Thou
goest on an embassy to Surya, subdued by love, desirous of the
glory.
4 Near kinsman of the heaven and earth is Pusan, liberal,
Lord of food, of wondrous iustre,
Whom strong and vigorous
and swiftlymoving, subdued by love, the Deities gave to Surya.
HYMN LIX. Indra-Agni.
1. I WILL declare, while juices flow, the manly deeds that
ye have done:
Your Fathers, enemies of Gods, were smitten
down, and, Indra-Agni, ye survive.
2 Thus, Indra-Agnip verily
your greatness merits loftiest praise,
Sprung from one common
Father, brothers, twins are ye; your Mother is in every place.
3 These who delight in flowing juice, like fellow horses at
their food,
Indra and Agni, Gods armed with the thunderbolt,
we call this day to come with help.
4 Indra and Agni, Friends
of Law, served with rich gifts, your speech is kind
To him
who praises you while these libations flow: that man, O Gods,
ye ne'er consume.
5 What mortal understands, O Gods, Indra
and Agni, this your way?
One of you, yoking Steeds that move
to every side, advances in your common car.
6 First, Indra-Agni,
hath this Maid come footless unto those with feet.
Stretching
her head and speaking loudly with her tongue, she hath gone
downward thirty steps.
7 E'en now, O Indra-Agni, men hold
in their arms and stretch their bows.
Desert us not in this
great fray, in battles for the sake of kine.
8 The foeman's
sinful enmities, Indra and Agni, vex me sore.
Drive those
who hate me far away, and keep them distant from the Sun.
9 Indra and Agni, yours are all the treasures of the heavens
and earth.
Here give ye us the opulence that prospers every
living man.
10 O Indra-Agni, who accept the laud, and hear
us for our praise,
Come near us, drawn by all our songs,
to drink of this our Soma juice.
HYMN LX. Indra-Agni.
1. HE slays the foe and wins the spoil who worships Indra
and Agni, strong and mighty Heroes,
Who rule as Sovrans over
ample riches, victorious, showing forth their power in conquest.
2 So battle now, O Indra and thou, Agni, for cows and waters,
sunlight, stolen Mornings.
Team-borne, thou makest kine thine
own, O Agni: thou, Indra, light, Dawns, regions, wondrous waters.
3 With Vrtra-slaying might, Indra and Agni, come, drawn by homage,
O ye Vrtra-slayers.
Indra and Agni, show yourselves among
us with your supreme and unrestricted bounties.
4 I call
the Twain whose deeds of old have all been famed in ancient
days
O Indra-Agni, harm us not.
5 The Strong, the scatterers
of the foe, Indra and Agni, we invoke;
May they be kind to
one like me.
6 They slay our Arya foes, these Lords of heroes,
slay our Dasyu foes
And drive our enemies away.
7 Indra
and Agni, these our songs of praise have sounded forth to you:
Ye who bring blessings! drink the juice.
8 Come, Indra-Agni,
with those teams, desired of many, which ye have,
O Heroes,
for the worshipper.
9 With those to this libation poured,
ye Heroes, Indra-Agni, come:
Come ye to drink the Soma juice.
10 Glorify him who compasses all forests with his glowing flame,
And leaves them blackened with his tongue.
11 He who gains
Indra's bliss with fire enkindled finds an easy way
Over
the floods to happiness.
12 Give us fleet coursers to convey
Indra and Agni, and bestow
Abundant strengthening food on
us.
13 Indra and Agni, I will call you hither and make you
joyful with the gifts I offer.
Ye Twain are givers both of
food and riches: to win me strength and vigour I invoke you.
14 Come unto us with riches, come with wealth in horses and
in kine.
Indra and Agni, we invoke you both, the Gods, as
Friends for friendship, bringing bliss.
15 Indra and Agni,
hear his call who worships. with libations poured.
Come and
enjoy the offerings, drink the sweetly-flavoured Soma juice.
HYMN LXI. Sarasvati.
1. To Vadhryasva when. be worshipped her with gifts she gave
fierce Divodasa, canceller of debts.
Consumer of the churlish
niggard, one and all, thine, O Sarasvati, are these effectual
boons.
2 She with her might, like one who digs for lotus-stems,
hath burst with her strong waves the ridges of the hills.
Let us invite with songs and holy hymns for help Sarasvati who
slayeth the Paravatas.
3 Thou castest down, Sarasvati, those
who scorned the Gods, the brood of every Brsaya skilled in magic
arts.
Thou hast discovered rivers for the tribes of men,
and, rich in wealth! made poison flow away from them.
4 May
the divine Sarasvati, rich in her wealth, protect us well,
Furthering all our thoughts with might
5 Whoso, divine Sarasvati,
invokes thee where the prize is set,
Like Indra when he smites
the foe.
6 Aid us, divine Sarasvad, thou who art strong in
wealth and power
Like Pusan, give us opulence.
7 Yea,
this divine Sarasvati, terrible with her golden path,
Foe-slayer,
claims our eulogy.
8 Whose limitless unbroken flood, swift-moving
with a rapid rush,
Comes onward with tempestuous roar.
9 She hath spread us beyond all foes, beyond her Sisters, Holy
One,
As Surya spreadeth out the days.
10 Yea, she most
dear amid dear stream, Seven-sistered, graciously inclined,
Sarasvati hath earned our praise.
11 Guard us from hate Sarasvati,
she who hath filled the realms of earth,
And that wide tract,
the firmament!
12 Seven-sistered, sprung from threefold source,
the Five Tribes' prosperer, she must be
Invoked in every
deed of might.
13 Marked out by majesty among the Mighty
Ones, in glory swifter than the other rapid Streams,
Created
vast for victory like a chariot, Sarasvati must be extolled
by every sage.
14 Guide us, Sarasvati, to glorious treasure:
refuse us not thy milk, nor spurn us from thee.
Gladly accept
our friendship and obedience: let us not go from thee to distant
countries.
HYMN LXII. Asvins.
1. I LAUD the Heroes Twain, this heaven's Controllers: singing
with songs of praise I call the Asvins,
Fain in a moment,
when the morns are breaking, to part the earth's ends and the
spacious regions.
2 Moving to sacrifice through realms of
lustre they light the radiance of the car that bears them.
Traversing many wide unmeasured spaces, over the wastes ye pass,
and fields, and waters.
3 Ye to that bounteous path of yours,
ye mighty, have ever borne away our thoughts with horses,
Mind-swift and full of vigour, that the trouble of man who offers
gifts might cease and slumber.
4 So ye, when ye have yoked
your chariothorses, come to the hymn of the most recent singer.
Our true and ancient Herald Priest shall bring you, the Youthful,
bearing splendour, food, and vigour.
5 With newest hymn I
call those Wonder-Workers, ancient and brilliant, and exceeding
mighty,
Bringers of bliss to him who lauds and praises, bestowing
varied bounties on the singer.
6 So ye, with birds, out of
the sea and waters bore Bhujyu, son of Tugra, through the regions.
Speeding with winged steeds through dustless spaces, out of
the bosom of the flood they bore him.
7 Victors, car-borne,
ye rent the rock asunder: Bulls, heard the calling of the eunuch's
consort.
Bounteous, ye filled the cow with milk for Sayu:
thus, swift and zealous Ones, ye showed your favour.
8 Whate'er
from olden time, Heaven, Earth! existeth great object of the
wrath of Gods and mortals,
Make that, Adityas, Vasus, sons
of Rudra, an evil brand to one allied with demons.
9 May
he who knows, as Varuna and Mitra, air's realm, appointing both
the Kings in season,
Against the secret fiend cast forth
his weapon, against the lying words that strangers utter.
10 Come to our home with friendly wheels, for offipring; come
on your radiant chariot rich in heroes.
Strike off, ye Twain,
the heads of our assailants who with man's treacherous attack
approach us.
11 Come hitherward to us with teams of horses,
the highest and the midmost and the lowest.
Bountiful Lords,
throw open to the singer doors e'en of the firm-closed stall
of cattle.
HYMN LXIII. Asvins.
1. WHERE hath the hymn with reverence, like an envoy, found
both fair Gods to-day, invoked of many-
Hymn that hath brought
the two Nasatyas hither? To this man's thought be ye, both Gods,
most friendly.
2 Come readily to this mine invocation, lauded
with songs, that ye may drink the juices.
Compass this house
to keep it from the foeman, that none may force it, either near
or distant.
3 Juice in wide room hath been prepared to feast
you: for you the grass is strewn, most soft to tread on.
With lifted hands your servant hath adored you. Yearningfor
you the press-stones shed the liquid.
4 Agni uplifts him
at your sacrifices: forth goes the oblation dropping oil and
glowing.
Up stands the grateful-minded priest, elected, appointed
to invoke the two Nasatyas.
5 Lords of great wealth! for
glory, Surya's Daughter mounted your car that brings a hundred
succours.
Famed for your magic arts were ye, magicians! amid
the race of Gods, ye dancing Heroes!
6 Ye Twain, with these
your glories fair to look on, brought, to win victory, rich
gifts for Surya.
After you flew your birds, marvels of beauty:
dear to our hearts! the song, well lauded, reached you.
7
May your winged coursers, best to draw. Nasatyas! convey you
to the object of your wishes.
Swift as the thought, your
car hath been sent onward to food of many a sort and dainty
viands.
8 Lords of great wealth, manifold is your bounty:
ye filled our cow with food that never faileth.
Lovers of
sweetness! yours are praise and singers, and poured libations
which have sought your favour.
9 Mine were two mares of Puraya,
brown, swift-footed; a hundred with Sumidha, food with Peruk
Sanda gave ten gold-decked and well-trained horses, tame and
obedient and of lofty stature.
10 Nasatyas! Purupanthas offered
hundreds, thousands of steeds to him who sang your praises,
Gave, Heroes! to the singer Bharadvaja. Ye-Wonder-Workers, let
the fiends be slaughtered.
11 May I with princes share your
bliss in freedom.
HYMN LXIV. Dawn.
1. THE radiant Dawns have risen up for glory, in their white
splendour like the waves of waters.
She maketh paths all
easy, fair to travel, and, rich, hath shown herself benign and
friendly.
2 We see that thou art good: far shines thy lustre;
thy beams, thy splendours have flown up to heaven.
Decking
thyself, thou makest bare thy bosom, shining in majesty, thou
Goddess Morning.
3 Red are the kine and luminous that bear
her the Blessed One who spreadeth through the distance.
The
foes she chaseth like a valiant archer, like a swift warrior
she repelleth darkness.
4 Thy ways are easy on the hills:
thou passest Invincible! Se1f-luminous! through waters.
So
lofty Goddess with thine ample pathway, Daughter of Heaven,
bring wealth to give us comfort.
5 Dawn, bring me wealth:
untroubled, with thine oxen thou bearest riches at thy will
and pleasure;
Thou who, a Goddess, Child of Heaven, hast
shown thee lovely through bounty when we called thee early.
6 As the birds fly forth from their restingplaces, so men with
store of food rise at thy dawning.
Yea, to the liberal mortal
who rernaineth at home, O Goddess Dawn, much good thou bringest.
HYMN LXV. Dawn.
1. SHEDDING her light on human habitations this Child of
Heaven hath called us from our slumber;
She who at night-time
with her argent lustre hath shown herself e'en through the shades
of darkness.
2 All this with red-rayed steeds have they divided:
the Dawns on bright cars shine in wondrous fashion.
They,
bringing near the stately rite's commencement, drive far away
the night's surrounding shadows.
3 Dawns, bringing hither,
to the man who worships, glory and power and might and food
and vigour,
Opulent, with imperial sway like heroes, favour
your servant and this day enrich him.
4 Now is there treasure
for the man who serves you, now for the hero, Dawns! who brings
oblation;
Now for the singer when he sings the praise-song.
Even to one like me ye brought aforetime.
5 O Dawn who standest
on the mountain ridges, Angirases now praise thy stalls of cattle.
With prayer and holy hymn they burst them open: the heroes'
calling on the Gods was fruitful.
6 Shine on us as of old,
thou Child of Heaven,on him, rich Maid! who serves like Bharadvaja.
Give to the singer wealth with noble heroes, and upon us bestow
wide-spreading glory.
HYMN LXVI. Maruts.
1. E'EN to the wise let that be still a wonder to which the
general name of Cow is given.
The one hath swelled among
mankind for milking: Prsni hath drained but once her fair bright
udder.
2 They who like kindled flames of fire are glowing,.
the Maruts, twice and thrice have waxen mighty.
Golden and
dustless were their cars, invested with their great strength
and their heroic vigour.
3 They who are Sons of the rain-pouring
Rudra, whom the long-lasting One had power to foster:
The
Mighty Ones whose germ great Mother Prsni is known to have received
for man's advantage.
4 They shrink not from the birth; in
this same manner still resting there they purge away reproaches.
When they have streamed forth, brilliant, at their pleasure,
with their own splendour they bedew their bodies.
5 Even
those who bear the brave bold name of Maruts, whom not the active
quickly wins for milking.
Even the liberal wards not off
those fierce ones, those who are light and agile in their greatness.
6 When, strong in strength and armed with potent weapons, they
had united wellformed earth and heaven,
Rodasl stood among
these furious Heroes like splendour shining with her native
brightness.
7 No team of goats shall draw your car, O Maruts,
no horse no charioteer be he who drives it.
Halting not,
reinless, through the air it travels, speeding alone its paths
through earth and heaven.
8 None may obstruct, none overtake,
O Maruts, him whom ye succour in the strife of battle
For
sons and progeny, for kine and waters: he bursts the cow-stall
on the day of trial.
9 Bring a bright hymn to praise the
band of Maruts, the Singers, rapid, strong in native vigour,
Who conquer mighty strength with strength more mighty: earth
shakes in terror at their wars, O Agni.
10 Bright like the
flashing flames of sacrifices, like tongues of fire impetuous
in their onset,
Chanting their psalm, singing aloud, like
heroes, splendid from birth, invincible, the Maruts.
11 That
swelling band I call with invocation, the brood of Rudra, armed
with glittering lances.
Pure hymns are meet for that celestial
army: like floods and mountains have the Strong Ones battled.
HYMN LXVIL Mitra-Varuna.
1. NOW Mitra-Varuna shall be exalted high by your songs,
noblest of all existing;
They who, as 'twere with reins are
best Controllers, unequalled with their arms to check the people.
2 To you Two Gods is this my thought extended, turned to the
sacred grass with loving homage.
Give us, O Mitra-Varuna,
a dwelling safe from attack, which ye shall guard, Boon-Givers!
3 Come hither, Mitra-Varuna, invited with eulogies and loving
adoration,
Ye who with your might, as Work-Controllers, urge
even men who quickly hear to labour.
4 Whom, of pure origin,
like two strong horses, Aditi bore as babes in proper season,
Whom, Mighty at your birth, the Mighty Goddess brought forth
as terrors to the mortal foeman.
5 As all the Gods in their
great joy and gladness gave you with one accord your high dominion,
As ye surround both worlds, though wide and spacious your spies
are ever true and never bewildered.
6 So, through the days
maintaining princely power. ye prop the height as 'twere from
loftiest heaven.
The Star of all the Gods, established, filleth
the heaven and earth with food of man who liveth.
7 Take
the strong drink, to quaff till ye are sated, when he and his
attendants fill the chamber.
The young Maids brook not that
none seeks to win them, when, Quickeners of all! they scatter
moisture.
8 So with your tongue come ever, when your envoy,
faithful and very wise, attends our worship.
Nourished by
holy oil! he this yGur glory: annihilate the sacrificer's trouble.
9 When, Mitra-Varuna, they strive against you and break tlie
friendly laws ye have established,
They, neither Gods nor
men in estimation, like Api's sons have godless sacrifices.
10 When singers in their song uplift their voices, some chant
the Nivid texts with steady purpose.
Then may we sing you
lauds that shall be fruitful: dp ye not rival all the Gods in
greatness?
11 O Mitra-Varuna, may your large bounty come
to us hither, near to this our dwelling,
When the kine haste
to us, and when they harness the fleet-foot mettled stallion
for the battle.
HYMN LXVIII. Indra-Varuna.
1. HIS honouring rite whose grass is trimmed is offered swiftly
to you, in Manu's wise, accordant,
The rite which Indra-Varuna
shall carry this day to high success and glorious issue.
2 For at Gods' worship they are best through vigour; they have
become the strongest of the Heroes;
With mighty strength,
most liberal of the Princes, Chiefs of the host, by Law made
Vrtra's slayers.
3 Praise those Twain Gods for powers that
merit worship, Indra and Varuna, for bliss, the joyous.
One
with his might and thunderbolt slays Vrtra; the other as a Sage
stands near in troubles.
4 Though dames and men have waxen
strong and mighty, and all the Gods selfpraised among the Heroes,
Ye, Indra-Varuna, have in might surpassed them, and thus were
ye spread wide, O Earth and Heaven.
5 Righteous is he, and
liberal and helpful who, Indra-Varuna, brings you gifts with
gladness.
That bounteous man through food shall conquer faemen,
and win him opulence and wealthy people.
6 May wealth which
ye bestow in food and treasure on him who brings you gifts and
sacrifices,
Wealth, Gods! which breaks the curse of those
who vex us, be, Indra-Varuna, e'en our own possession.
7
So also, Indra-Varuna, may our princes have riches swift to
save, with Gods to guard them-
They whose great might gives
victory in battles, and their triumphant glory spreads with
swiftness.
8 Indra. and Varuna, Gods whom we are lauding,
mingle ye wealth with our heroic glory.
May we, who praise
the strength of what is mighty, pass dangers, as with boats
we cross the waters.
9 Now will I sing a dear and far-extending
hymn to Varuna the God, sublime, imperial Lord,
Who, mighty
Governor, Eternal, as with flame, illumines both wide worlds
with majesty and power.
10 True to Law, Indra-Varuna, drinkers
of the juice, drink this pressed Soma which shall give you rapturous
joy.
Your chariot cometh to the banquet of the Gods, to sacrifice,
as it were home, that ye may drink.
11 Indra and Varuna,
drink your fill, ye Heroes, of this invigorating sweetest Soma.
This juice is shed by us that ye may quaff it: on this trimmed
grass be seated, and rejoice you
HYMN LXIX. Indra-Visnu
1. INDRA and Visnu, at my task's completion I urge you on
with food and sacred service.
Accept the sacrifice and grant
us riches, leading us on by unobstructed pathways.
2 Ye who
inspire all hymns, Indra and Visnu, ye vessels who contain the
Soma juices,
May hymns of praise that now are sung address
you, the lauds that are recited by the singers.
3 Lords of
joy-giving draughts, Indra and Visnu, come, giving gifts of
treasure, to the Soma.
With brilliant rays of hymns let chanted
praises, repeated with the lauds, adorn and deck you.
4 May
your foe-conquering horses bring you hither, Indra and Visnu,
sharers of the banquet.
Of all our hymns accept the invocations
list to my prayers and hear the songs I sing you.
5 This
your deed, Indra-Visnu, must be lauded: widely ye strode in
the wild joy of Soma.
Ye made the firmament of larger compass,
and made the regions broad for our existence.
6 Strengthened
with sacred offerings, IndraVisnu, first eaters, served with
worship ana oblation,
Fed with the holy oil, vouchsafe us
riches ye are the lake, the vat that holds the Soma.
7 Drink
of this meath, O Indra, thou, and Visnu; drink ye your fill
of Soma, Wonder-Workers.
The sweet exhilarating juice hath
reached you. Hear ye my prayers, give ear unto my calling.
8 Ye Twain have conquered, ne'er have yc been conquered: never
hath either of the Twain been vanquished.
Ye, Indra-Visnu,
when ye fought the battle, produced this infinite with three
divisions.
HYMN LXX. Heaven and Earth.
1. FILLED full of fatness, compassing all things that be,
wide, spacious, dropping meath, beautiful in their form,
The Heaven and the Earth by Varuna's decree, unwasting, rich
in germs, stand parted each from each.
2 The Everlasting
Pair, with full streams, rich in milk, in their pure rule pour
fatness for the pious man.
Ye who are Regents of this world,
O Earth and Heaven, pour into us the genial flow that prospers
meit.
3 Whoso, for righteous life, pours offerings to you,
O Heaven and Earth, ye Hemispheres, that man succeeds.
He
in his seed is born again and spreads by Law: from you flow
things diverse in form, but ruled alike.
4 Enclosed in fatness,
Heaven and Earth are bright therewith: they mingle with the
fatness which they still increase.
Wide, broad, set foremost
at election of the priest, to them the singers pray for bliss
to further them.
5 May Heaven and Earth pour down the balmy
rain for us, balm-dropping, yielding balm, with balm upon your
path,
Bestowing by your Godhead sacrifice and wealth, great
fame and strength for us and good heroic might.
6 May Heaven
and Earth make food swell plenteously for us, all-knowing Father,
jother, wondrous in their works.
Pouring out bounties, may,
in union, both the Worlds, all beneficial, send us gain, and
power, and wealth.
HYMN LXXI. Savitar.
1. FULL of effectual wisdom Savitar the God hath stretched
out golden arms that he may bring forth life.
Young and most
skilful, while he holds the region up, the Warrior sprinkles
fatness over both his hands.
2 May we enjoy the noblest vivifying
force of Savitar the God, that he may give us wealth:
For
thou art mighty to produce and lull to rest the world of life
that moves on two feet and on four.
3 Protect our habitation,
Savitar, this day, with guardian aids around, auspicious, firm
and true.
God of the golden tongue, keep us for newest bliss:
let not the evil-wisher have us in his power.
4 This Savitar
the God, the golden-handed, Friend of the home, hath risen to
meet the twilight.
With cheeks of brass, with pleasant tongue,
the Holy, he sends the worshipper rich gifts in plenty.
5
Like a Director, Savitar hath extended his golden arms, exceeding
fair to look on.
He hath gone up the heights of earth and
heaven, and made each monster fall and cease from troubling.
6 Fair wealth, O Savitar, to-day, to-morrow, fair wealth produce
for us each day that passes.
May we through this our song
be happy gainers, God, of a fair and spacious habitation.
HYMN LXXII. Indra-Soma.
1. GREAT is this might of yours, Indra and Soma: the first
high exploits were your own achievements.
Ye found the Sun
ye found the light of heaven: ye killed all darkness and the
Gods' blasphemers.
2 Ye, Indra-Soma, gave her light to Morning,
and led the Sun on high with all his splendour.
Ye stayed
the heaven with a supporting pillar, and spread abroad apart,
the Earth, the Mother.
3 Ye slew the flood -obstructing serpent
Vrtra, Indra and Soma: Heaven approved your exploit.
Ye urged
to speed the currents of the rivers, and many seas have ye filled
full with waters.
4 Ye in the unripe udders of the milch-kine
have set the ripe milk, Indra, thou, and Soma.
Ye have held
fast the unimpeded whiteness within these many-coloured moving
creatures.
5 Verily ye bestow, Indra and Soma, wealth, famed,
victorious, passing to our children.
Ye have invested men,
ye Mighty Beings, with manly strength that conquers in the battle.
HYMN LXXIII. Brhaspati.
1. SERVED with oblations, first-born, mountain-render, Angiras'
son, Brhaspati, the Holy,
With twice-firm path, dwelling
in light, our Father, roars loudly, as a bull, to Earth and
Heaven.
2 Brhaspati, who made for such a people wide room
and verge when Gods were invocated,
Slaying his enemies,
breaks down their castles, quelling his foes and conquering
those who hate him.
3 Brhaspati in war hath won rich treasures,
hath won, this God, the great stalls filled with cattle.
Striving to win waters and light, resistless, Brhaspati with
lightning smites the foeman.
HYMN LXXIV. Soma-Rudra.
1. HOLD fast your Godlike sway, O Soma-Rudra: let these our
sacrifices quickly reach you.
Placing in every house your
seven great treasures, bring blessing to our quadrupeds and
bipeds.
2 Soma and Rudra, chase to every quarter the sickness
that hath visited our dwelling.
Drive Nirrti away into the
distance, and give us excellent and happy glories.
3 Provide,
O Soma-Rudra, for our bodies all needful medicines to heal and
cure us.
Set free and draw away the sin committed which we
have still inherent in our persons.
4 Armed with keen shafts
and weapons, kind and loving, be gracious unto us, Soma and
Rudra.
Release us from the noose of Varuna; keep us from
sorrow, in your tender loving-kindness.
HYMN LXXV. Weapons of War.
1. THE warrior's look is like a thunderous rain-cloud's,
when, armed with mail, he seeks the lap of battle.
Be thou
victorious with unwounded body: so let the thickness of thy
mail protect thee.
2 With Bow let us win kine, with Bow the
battle, with Bow be victors in our hot encounters.
The Bow
brings grief and sorrow to the foeman: armed with the Bow may
we subdue all regions.
3 Close to his car, as fain to speak,
She presses, holding her well-loved Friend in her embraces.
Strained on the Bow, She whispers like a woman-this Bowstring
that preserves us in the combat.
4 These, meeting like a
woman and her lover, bear, mother-like, their child upon their
bosom.
May the two Bow-ends, starting swift asunder, scatter,
in unison, the foes who hate us.
5 With many a son, father
of many daughters, He clangs and clashes as he goes to battle.
Slung on the back, pouring his brood, the Quiver vanquishes
all opposing bands and armies.
6 Upstanding in the Car the
skilful Charioteer guides his strong Horses on whithersoe'er
he will.
See and admire the strength of those controlling
Reins which from behind declare the will of him who drives.
7 Horses whose hoofs rain dust are neighing loudly, yoked to
the Chariots, showing forth their vigour,
With their forefeet
descending on the foemen, they, never flinching, trample and
destroy them.
8 Car-bearer is the name of his oblation, whercon
are laid his Weapons and his Armour.
So let us here, each
day that passes, honour the helpful Car with hearts exceeding
joyful.
9 In sweet association lived the fathers who gave
us life, profound and strong in trouble,
Unwearied, armed
with shafts and wondrous weapons, free, real heroes, conquerors
of armies.
10 The Brahmans, and the Fathers meet for Soma-draughts,
and, graciously inclined, unequalled Heaven and Earth.
Guard
us trom evil, Pusan, guard us strengtheners of Law: let not
the evil-wisher master us.
11 Her tooth a deer, dressed in
an eagle's feathers, bound with cow-hide, launched forth, She
flieth onward.
There where the heroes speed hither and thither,
there may the Arrows shelter and protect us.
12 Avoid us
thou whose flight is straight, and let our bodies be as stone.
May Soma kindly speak to us, and Aditi protect us well.
13
He lays his blows upon their backs, he deals his blows upon
their thighs.
Thou, Whip, who urgest horses, drive sagacious
horses in the fray.
14 It compasses the arm with serpent
windings, fending away the friction of the bowstring:
So
may the Brace, well-skilled in all its duties, guard manfully
the man from every quarter.
15 Now to the Shaft with venom
smeared, tipped with deer-horn, with iron mouth,
Celestial,
of Parjanya's seed, be this great adoration paid.
16 Loosed
from the Bowstring fly away, thou Arrow, sharpened by our prayer.
Go to the foemen, strike them home, and let not one be left
alive.
17 There where the flights of Arrows fall like boys
whose locks are yet unshorn.
Even there may Brahmanaspati,
and Aditi protect us well, protect us well through all our days.
18 Thy vital parts I cover with thine Armour: with immortality
King Soma clothe thee.
Varuna give tliee what is more than
ample, and in thy triumph may the Gods be joyful.
19 Whoso
would kill us, whether he be a strange foe or one of us,
May all the Gods discomfit him. My nearest, closest Mail is
prayer.
Suggestions for Further Reading
- Rig Veda translation by Griffith
- Rig Veda translation by Griffith Book 2
- Rig Veda translation by Griffith, Book 3
- Rig Veda translation by Griffith Book 4
- Rig Veda translation by Griffith, Book 5
- Rig Veda translation by Griffith Book 6
- Rig Veda translation by Griffith, book 7
- Rig Veda translation by Griffith, book 8
- Rig Veda translation by Griffith, book 9
- Rig Veda translation by Griffith, book 10
- Hymns of the Sama veda translated by Ralph T.H. Griffith
- Hymns Of The Atharva-Veda
- Yajur Veda: The Veda Of The Black Yajus School
- 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: This is a translation by Ralph T.H. Griffith, 1896.