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CHAPTER I
DECADE I Indra
1 Let Soma juices make thee glad! Display thy bounty, Thunderer:Drive
off the enemies of prayer!
2 Drink our libation, Lord of hymns! with streams
of meath thou art bedewed:Yea, Indra, glory is thy gift.
3 Indra hath
ever thought of you and tended you with care. The God,Heroic Indra, is not
checked.
4 Let the drops pass within thee as the rivers flow into the
sea O Indra, naught excelleth thee!
5 Indra, the singers with high
praise, Indra reciters with their lauds,Indra the choirs have
glorified.
6 May Indra give, to aid us wealth handy that rules the skilful
ones!Yea, may the Strong give potent wealth
7 Verily Indra, conquering
all, drives even mighty fear away,For firm is he and swift to act.
8
These songs with every draught we pour come, lover of the song, to thee As
milch-kine hasten to their calves.
9 Indra and Wishan will we call for
friendship and prosperity,And for the winning of the spoil.
10 O Indra,
Vritra-slayer, naught is better, mightier than thou Verily there is none like
thee!
DECADE II Indra
1 Him have I magnified, our Lord in common, guardian of your
folk,Discloser of great wealth in kine.
2 Songs have outpoured
themselves to thee, Indra, the strong, the guardian Lord,And with one will
have risen to thee!
3 Good guidance hath the mortal man whom Arya-man, the
Marut host,And Mitras, void of guile, protect.
4 Bring us the wealth for
which we long, O Indra, that which is concealed In strong firm place
precipitous.
5 Him your best Vritra-slayer, him the famous champion of
mankind I urge to great munificence.
6 Indra, may we adorn thy fame, fame
of one like thee, hero! deck,Sakra! thy fame at highest feast!
7 Indra,
accept at break of day our Soma mixt with roasted corn,With groats, with
cake, with eulogies!
8 With waters' foam thou torest off, Indra, the head of
Namuchi,When thou o'ercamest all the foes.
9 Thine are these Soma
juices, thine, Indra, those still to be expressed:Enjoy them, Lord of
princely wealth!
10 For thee, O Indra, Lord of light, Somas are pressed and
grass is strewn:Be gracious to thy worshippers!
1 We seeking strength, with Soma drops fill full your Indra like a
well,Most liberal, Lord of boundless might.
2 O Indra, even from that
place come unto us with food that gives A hundred, yea, a thousand
powers!
3 The new-born Vritra-slayer asked his mother, as he seized his
shaft,Who are the, fierce and famous ones?
4 Let us call him to aid
whose hands stretch far, the highly-lauded, who Fulfils the work to favour
us
5 Mitra who knoweth leadeth us, and Varuna who guideth straight,And
Aryaman in accord with Gods.
6 When, even as she were present here, red Dawn
hath shone from far away,She spreadeth light on every side.
7 Varuna,
Mitra, sapient pair, pour fatness on our pastures, pour Meath on the regions
of the air!
8 And, at our sacrifices, these, sons, singers, have enlarged
their bounds,So that the cows must walk knee-deep.
9 Through all this
world strode Vishnu: thrice his foot he planted, and the whole Was gathered
in his footstep's dust.
DECADE IV Indra
1 Pass by the wrathful offerer; speed the man who pours libation,
drink The juice which he presents to thee!
2 What is the word addressed
to him, God great and excellently wise?For this is what exalteth him.3,
His wealth who hath no store of kine hath ne'er found out recited laud,Nor
song of praises that is sung.
4 Lord of each thing that giveth strength,
Indra delighteth most in lauds,Borne by bay steeds, libations' friend.
5
With wealth to our libation come, be not thou angry with us, like A great man
with a youthful bride.
6 When, Vasu, wilt thou love the laud? Now let the
Channel bring the stream.The juice is ready to ferment.
7 After the
Seasons. Indra, drink the Soma from the Brahman's gift:Thy friendship is
invincible!S. O Indra, lover of the song, we are the singers of thy
praise O Soma-drinker, quicken us!
9 O Indra, in each fight and fray give
to our bodies manly strength:Strong Lord, grant ever-conquering
might!
10 For so thou art the brave man's friend; a hero, too, art thou, and
strong:So may thine heart be won to us!
DECADE V Indra
1 Like kine unmilked we call aloud, hero, to thee, and sing thy
praise,Looker on heavenly light, Lord of this moving world, Lord, Indra, of
what moveth not!
2 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:
3 To you will I sing Indra's praise who gives good
gifts as well we know;The praise of Maghavan who, rich in treasure, aids his
singers with wealth thousandfold.
4 As cows low to their calves in stalls,
so with our songs we glorify This Indra, even your wondrous God who checks
attack, who takes delight in precious juice.
5 Loud singing at the sacred
rite where Soma flows we priests invoke With haste, that he may help, as the
bard's cherisher, Indra who findeth wealth for you
6 With Plenty for his
true ally the active man will gain the spoil.Your Indra, much-invoked, I
bend with song, as bends a wright his wheel of solid wood.
7 Drink, Indra,
of the savoury juice, and cheer thee with our milky draught!Be, for our
weal, our friend and sharer of the feast, and let thy wisdom guard us
well!
8 For thou--come to the worshipper!--wilt find great wealth to make us
rich.Fill thyself full, O Maghavan, for gain of kine, full, Indra, for the
gain of steeds!
9 Vasishtha will not overlook the lowliest one among you
all Beside our Soma juice effused to-day let all the Maruts drink with eager
haste!
10 Glorify naught besides, O friends; so shall no sorrow trouble
you!Praise only mighty Indra when the juice is shed, and say your lauds
repeatedly!
Continued...
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CHAPTER II
DECADE I Indra
1 No one by deed attains to him who works and strengthens evermore:No,
not by sacrifice, to Indra. praised of all, resistless, daring, bold in
might.2 He without ligature, before making incision in the neck,Closed
up the wound again, most wealthy Maghavan, who healeth the dissevered
parts.
3 A thousand and a hundred steeds are harnessed to thy golden
car:Yoked by devotion, Indra, let the long-maned bays bring thee to drink
the Soma juice!
4 Come hither, Indra, with bay steeds, joyous, with tails
like peacock's plumes!Let no men check thy course as fowlers stay the bird:
pass o'er them as o'er desert lands!
5 Thou as a God, O mightiest, verily
blessest mortal man.O Maghavan, there is no comforter but thou: Indra, I
speak my words to thee.
6 O Indra, thou art far-renowned, impetuous Lord of
power and might.Alone, the never-conquered guardian of mankind, thou
smitest down resistless foes.
7 Indra for worship of the Gods, Indra
while sacrifice proceeds,Indra, as warriors in the battle-shock, we call,
Indra that we may win the spoil.
8 May these my songs of praise exalt thee,
Lord, who hast abundant wealth!Men skilled in holy hymns, pure, with the
hues of fire, have sung them with their lauds to thee.
9 These songs of ours
exceeding sweet, these hymns of praise ascend to thee,Like ever-conquering
chariots that display their strength gain wealth and give unfailing help.
10
Even as the wild-bull, when he thirsts, goes to the desert's watery
pool,Come to us quickly both at morning and at eve, and with the Kanvas
drink thy fill!
DECADE II Indra and others
1 Indra, with all thy saving helps assist us, Lord of power and
might!For after thee we follow even as glorious bliss, thee, hero, finderout
of wealth.
2 O Indra, Lord of light, what joys thou broughtest from the
Asuras,Prosper therewith, O Maghavan, him who lauds that deed, and those
whose grass is trimmed for thee!
3 To Aryaman and Mitra sing a reverent
song, O pious one,A pleasant hymn to Varuna who shelters us: sing ye a laud
unto the Kings!
4 Men with their lauds are urging thee, Indra, to drink the
Soma first.The Ribhus in accord have lifted up their voice, and Rudras sung
thee as the first.
5 Sing to your lofty Indra, sing, Maruts, a holy hymn of
praise Let Satakratu, Vritra-slayer, slay the foe with hundred-knotted
thunderbolt!
6 To Indra sing the lofty hymn, Maruts! that slays the Vritras
best,Whereby the holy ones created for the God the light divine that ever
wakes.
7 O Indra, give us wisdom as a sire gives wisdom to his sons Guide
us, O much-invoked, in this our way: may we still live and look upon the
light!
8 O Indra, turn us not away: be present with us at our feast For
thou art our protection, yea, thou art our kin: O Indra, turn us not away!
9
We compass these like waters, we whose grass is trimmed and Soma
pressed.Here where the filter pours its stream, thy worshippers
roundthee, O Vritra-slayer, sit.
10 All strength and valour that is
found, Indra, in tribes of Nahushas,And all the splendid fame that the Five
Tribes enjoy, bring, yea, all manly powers at once!
DECADE III Indra
1 Yea, verily thou art a Bull, our guardian, rushing like a bull:Thou,
mighty one, art celebrated as a Bull, famed as a Bull both near and far.
2
Whether, O Sakra, thou be far, or, Vritra-slayer, near at hand,Thence by
heaven-reaching songs he who bath pressed the juice invites thee with thy
long-maned steeds.
3 In the wild raptures of the juice sing to your hero
with high laud, to him the wise,To Indra glorious in his name, the mighty
one, even as the hymn alloweth it!
4 O Indra, give us for our weal a triple
refuge, triply strong!Bestow a dwelling-place on our rich lords and me, and
keep thy dart afar from these!
5 Turning, as 'twere, to meet the Sun enjoy
from Indra all good things!When he who will be born is born with power we
look to treasures as our heritage.
6 The godless mortal gaineth not this
food, O thou whose life is long!But one who yokes the bright-hued horses,
Etasas; then Indra yokes his tawny steeds.
7 Draw near unto our Indra who
must be invoked in every fight!Come, thou most mighty Vritra-slayer, meet
for praise, come to, libations and to hymns!
8 Thine, Indra, is the lowest
wealth, thou cherishest the midmost wealth,Thou ever rulest all the highest:
in the fray for cattle none resisteth thee.
9 Where art thou? Whither art
thou gone? For many a place attracts thy mind.Haste, warrior,
fort-destroyer, Lord of battle's din! haste, holy songs have sounded
forth!
10 Here, verily, yesterday we let the thunder-wielder drink his
fill.Bring him the juice poured forth in sacrifice to-day. Now range you by
the glorious one!
DECADE IV Indra
1 He who as sovran Lord of men moves with his chariots unrestrained,The
Vritra-slayer, vanquisher of fighting hosts, pre-eminent, is praised in
song.
2 Indra, give us security from that whereof we are afraid Help us,
O Maghavan, let thy favour aid us thus; drive away foes and enemies!
3
Strong pillar thou, Lord of the home! armour of Soma-offerers!The drop of
Soma breaketh all the strongholds down, and Indra is the Rishis' friend.
4
Verily, Surya, thou art great; truly, Aditya, thou art great!O most admired
for greatness of thy majesty, God, by thy greatness thou art great!
5 Indra!
thy friend, when fair of form and rich in chariots, steeds, and kine,Hath
ever vital power that gives him strength, and joins the company with radiant
men.
6 O Indra, if a hundred heavens and if a hundred earths were
thine,--No, not a hundred suns could match thee at thy birth, not both the
worlds, O Thunderer!
7 Though, Indra, thou art called by men eastward and
west ward, north and south,Thou chiefly art with Anava and Turvasa, brave
champion urged by men to come.
8 Indra whose wealth is in thyself, what
mortal will attack this man?The strong will win the spoil on the decisive
day through faith in thee, O Maghavan!
9 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.
10 Come, Indra, very
near to us with aids of firmly-based resolve Come, most auspicious, with thy
most auspicious help; good kinsman, with good kinsmen come!
DECADE V Indra.
1 Call to your aid the eternal one who shoots and none may shoot at
him,Inciter, swift, victorious, best of charioteers, unconquered, Tugriya's
strengthener!
2 Let none, no, not thy worshippers, delay thee far away from
us Even from faraway come thou unto our feast, or listen if' already
here!
3 For Indra Soma-drinker, armed with thunder, press the Soma
juice;Make ready your dressed meats: cause him to favour us! The giver
blesses him who gives.
4 We call upon that Indra who, most active, ever
slays the foe With boundless spirit, Lord of heroes, manliest one, help thou
and prosper us in fight!
5 Ye rich in strength, through your great power
vouchsafe us blessings day and night!The offerings which we bring to you
shall never fail gifts brought by us shall never fail.
6 Whenever mortal
worshipper will sing a bounteous giver's praise,Let him with song inspired
laud Varuna who supports the folk who follow varied rites.
7 Drink milk to
Indra in the joy of Soma juice, Medhyatithi!To golden Indra ever close to
his bay steeds, the thunder-armed, the golden one!
8 Both boons,-may Indra,
hitherward turned listen to this prayer of ours,And mightiest Maghavar, with
thought inclined to us come near to drink the Soma juice!
9 Not for an ample
price dost thou, Stone-caster! give thyself away,Not for a thousand,
Thunderer! nor ten thousand, nor a hundred, Lord of countless wealth!
10 O
Indra, thou art more to me than sire or niggard brother is.Thou and my
mother, O good Lord, appear alike, to give me wealth abundantly.
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