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CHAPTER I
I Agni
1 With all thy fires, O Agni, find pleasure in this our sacrifice,And
this our speech, O son of Strength!
2 Whate'er, in this perpetual course, we
sacrifice to God and God,That gift is offered but in thee.
3 May he be
our beloved King and excellent sweet-toned Hotar may We with bright fires be
dear to him
II Indra
1 For you from every side we call Indra away from other men Ours, and
none others, may he be!
2 Unclose, our manly hero! thou for ever bounteous,
yonder cloud For us, thou irresistible
3 As the strong bull leads on the
herds, he stirs the people with his might,The ruler irresistible.
III Agni
1 Wonderful, with thy saving help, send us thy bounties, gracious
Lord!Thou art the charioteer, Agni, of earthly wealth: find rest and safety
for our seed!
2 Prosper our kith and kin with thy protecting powers
inviolate, never negligent!Keep far from us, O Agni, all celestial wrath.
and wickedness of godless men!
IV Vishnu
1 What, Vishnu, is the name that thou proclaimest when thou declaredst, I am
Sipivishta?Hide not this form from us, nor keep it secret, since thou didst
wear another shape in battle.
2 This offering to-day, O Sipivishta, I,
skilled in rules, extol, to thee the noble.Yea, I, the poor and weak, praise
thee, the mighty, who dwellest in the realm beyond this region.
3 O Vishnu,
unto thee my lips cry Vashat! Let this mine offering, Sipivishta, please
thee!May these my songs of eulogy exalt thee! Do ye preserve us evermore
with blessings!
V Vayu, Indra and Vayu
I. Vayu, the bright is offered thee, best of the meath, at morning
rites.Come thou to drink the Soma juice, God, longed for on thy team-drawn
car!
2 O Vayu, thou and Indra are meet drinkers of these Soma
draughts,For unto you the drops proceed like waters gathering to the
vale.
3 Vayu and Indra, mighty twain, borne on one chariot, Lords of
strength,Come to our succour with your steeds, that ye may drink the Soma
juice!
VI Soma Pavamana
1 Then thou, made beautiful by night, enterest into mighty deeds,When
prayers impel the golden-hued to hasten from Vivasvan's place.
2 We cleanse
this gladdening drink of his, the juice which Indra chiefly drinks,That
which kine took into their mouths, of old, and princes take it now.
3 Thy
with the ancient psalm have sung to him as he is purified,And sacred songs
which bear the Dames of Gods have supplicated him.
VI Agni
1 With homage will I reverence thee, Agni, like a long-tailed
steed,Imperial Lord of holy rites.
2 May the far-striding Son of
Strength, our friend who brings felicity,Who pours his gifts like rain, be
ours
3 From near and far away do thou, the everlasting, evermore Protect
us from the sinful man!
VIII Indra
1 Thou in thy battles, Indra, art subduer of all hostile bands.Father
art thou, all-conquering, cancelling the curse, thou victor of the
vanquisher!
2 The earth and heaven cling close to thy victorious might, as
sire and mother to their child.When thou attackest Vritra, all the hostile
bands shrink and faint, Indra, at thy wrath.
IX Indra
1 The sacrifice made Indra great when he unrolled the earth, and
made Himself a diadem in heaven.
2 In Soma's ecstasy Indra spread the
firmament and realms of light,When he cleft Vala limb from limb.
3
Showing the hidden, he drave forth the cows for the Angirasas,And Vala he
cast headlong down.
X Indra
1 Thou speedest down to succour us this-ever-conquering God of yours,Him
who is drawn to all our songs;2, The warrior whom none may wound, the
Soma-drinker ne'er o'erthrown,The chieftain of resistless might.
3 O
Indra, send us riches, thou omniscient, worthy of our hymns:Help us in the
decisive fray!
XI Indra
1 That lofty power and might of thine, thy strength and thine
intelligence,And thy surpassing thunderbolt, the wish makes keen.
2 O
Indra, heaven and earth augment thy manly force and thy renown:The waters
and the mountains stir and urge thee on:
3 Vishnu in the lofty ruling power,
Varuna, Mitra sing thy praise:In thee the Maruts' company have great
delight.
XII Agni
1 O Agni, God, the people sing reverent praise to thee for strength:With
terrors trouble thou the foe
2 Wilt thou not, Agni, lend us aid to win the
cattle, win the wealth?Maker of room, make room for us
3 In the great
fight cast us not off, Agni, as one who bears a load:Snatch up the wealth
and win it all!
XIII Indra
1 Before his hot displeasure all the peoples, all the men bow down,As
rivers bow them to the sea.
2 Even fiercely-moving Vritra's head he served
with his thunderbolt,His mighty hundred-knotted bolt.
3 That might of
his shone brightly forth when Indra brought together, like A skin, the worlds
of heaven and earth.
XIV Indra
1 Kind-thoughted is the noble, gladdening, friendly one.
2 Approach, O
beauteous hero, this auspicious pair that draws the car!These two are coming
near to us.
3 Bend lowly down, as 'twere, your beads: be stands amid the
water-flood,Pointing with his ten horns the way.
CHAPTER II
I Indra
1 Pressers, blend Soma juice for him, each draught most excellent, for
him The brave, the: hero, for his joy!
2 The two strong bay steeds,
voked by prayer, hither shall bring to us our friend,Indra, song-lover,
through our songs.
3 The Vritra-slayer drinks the juice. May he who gives a
hundred aids Approach, nor stay afar from us!
II Indra
1 Let the drops pass within thee as the rivers flow into the sea O Indra,
naught excelleth thee.
2 'Thou' wakeful hero, by thy might hast taken food
of Soma juice,Which, Indra, is within thee now.
3 O Indra,
Vritra-slayer, let Soma be ready for thy maw, The drops be ready for thy
forms!
III Agni
1 Help, thou who knowest lauds, this work, a lovely hymn in Rudra's
praise,Adorable in every house
2 May this our God, great, limitless,
smoke-bannered, excellently bright,Urge us to holy thought and wealth
3
Like soma rich lord of men, may he, Agni, the banner of the Gods,Refulgent,
hear us through our lauds!
IV Indra
1 Sing this, beside the flowing juice, to him, your hero, much
invoked,To please him as a mighty Bull!
2 He, excellent, withholdeth not
his bounteous gift of wealth in kine.When lie bath listened to our
songs.
3 May he with might unclose for us the cow's stall, whosesoe'er it
be,To which the Dasyu-slayer goes!
V Vishnu
1 Through all this world strode Vishnu: thrice his foot he planted, and the
whole Was gathered in his footstep's dust.
2 Vishnu, the guardian, he
whom none deceiveth, made three steps, thenceforth Establishing his high
decrees.
3 Look ye on Vishnu's works whereby the friend of Indra, close
allied,Hath let his holy ways be seen
4 The princes evermore behold that
loftiest place of Vishnu, like An eye extended through the heavens.
5
This, Vishou's station most sublime, the sages, ever-vigilant,Lovers of holy
song, light up.
6 May the Gods help and favour us out of the place whence
Vishnu strode Over the back and ridge of earth.
VI Indra
1 Let none, no, not thy worshippers, delay thee far away from us!Even
from far away come thou unto our feast, or listen it already here!
2 For
here, like rites on honey, those who pray to thee sit by the juice that they
have poured.Wealth-craving singers have on Indra set their hope, as men set
foot upon a car.
VII Indra
1 Sung is the song of ancient time: to Indra have ye said the
prayer.They have sung many a Brihati of sacrifice, poured forth the
worshipper's many thoughts.
2 Indra hath tossed together mighty stores of
wealth, and both the worlds, yea, and the sun.Pure, brightly-shining,
mingled with the milk, the draughts of Soma have made Indra glad.
VIII Soma Pavamana
1 For Vritra-slaying Indra, thou, Soma, art poured that he may drink,And
for the guerdon-giving man, the hero sitting in his seat.
2 Friends, may the
princes, ye and we, obtain this most resplendent one,Gain him who hath the
smell of strength, win him whose home is very strength!
3 Him with the
fleece they purify, brown, golden-hued, beloved of all.Who with exhilarating
juice flows forth to all the deities.
IX Indra
1 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!
2 In battles with the foe urge on our mighty ones who give the
treasures dear to thee And may we with our princes, Lord of tawny steeds!
pass through all peril, led by thee!
X Indra
1 Come, priest, and of the savoury juice pour forth a yet more gladdening
draught!So is the hero praised who ever prospers us.
3 Indra, whom tawny
coursers bear, praise such as thine, preeminent,None by his power or by his
goodness hath attained.
3 We, seeking glory, have invoked this God of yours,
the Lord of wealth,Who must be magnified by constant sacrifice.
XI Agni
1 Sing praise to him, the Lord of light. The Gods have made the God to be
their messenger,To bear oblation to the Gods.
2 Agni, the bounteous
giver, bright with varied flames, laud thou, O singer Sobhari,Him who
controls this sacred food with Soma blent, who hath first claim to
sacrifice!
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XII Soma Pavamana
1 Expressed by stones, O Soma, and urged through the long wool of the
sheep,Thou, entering the press-boards, even as men a fort, goldhued, hast
settled in the vats.
2 He beautifies himself through the sheep's long fine
wool, the bounteous, like the racing steed,Even Soma Pavamana who shall be
the joy of sages and of holy bards.
XIII Indra
1 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!
2 Even the wolf, the savage beast that rends the sheep,
follows the path of his decrees.So graciously accepting, Indra, this our
praise, with wondrous thought come forth to us!
XIV Indra-Agni
1 Indra and Agni, in your deeds of might ye deck heaven's lucid
realms:Famed is that hero strength of yours.
2 To Indra and to Agni
prayers go forward from the holy task.Along the path of sacred Law.
3
Indra and Agni, powers are yours, yours are oblations and abodes:Good is
your zealous energy.
XV Indra
1 Who knows what vital power he wins, drinking beside the flowing
juice?This is the fair-cheeked God who, joying in the draught, breaks down
the castles in his strength.
2 As a wild elephant rushes on, this way and
that way mad with heat,None may restrain thee, yet come hither to the
draught! Thou, movest mighty in thy power.
3 When he, the terrible, ne'er
o'erthrown, stedfast, made ready for the fight--When Indra Maghavan lists to
his praiser's call, he will not stand aloof, but come.
XVI Soma Pavamana
1 The Pavamanas have been poured, the brilliant drops of Soma juice,For
holy lore of every kind.
2 From heaven, from out the firmament hath PavamAna
been effused Upon the back and ridge of earth.
3 The Pavamanas have been
shed, the beautified swift Somadrops,Driving all enemies afar.
XVII Indra-Agni
I. Indra and Agni I invoke, joint-victors, bounteous,
unsubdued,Foe-slayers, best to win the spoil.
2 Indra and Agni, singers
skilled in melody hymn you bringing lauds:I choose you both to bring me
food.
3 Together, with one mighty deed, Indra and Agni, ye shook
down.The ninety forts which Dasas held.
XVIII Agni
1 O Child of Strength, to thee whose look is lovely, with oblations we,O
Agni, have poured forth our songs.
2 To thee for shelter are we come, as to
the shade from fervent heat,Agni, who glitterest like gold
3 Mighty as
one who slays with shafts, or like a bull with sharpened horn,Agni, thou
brakest down the forts.
XIX Agni
1 To give eternal glow, we pray Vaisvanara the holy one, Lord of the light
of sacrifice.
2 Who, furthering the light of Law, hath spread himself to
meet this work:He sends the seasons, mighty one.
3 Love of what is and
what shall be, Agni, in his beloved forms,Shines forth alone as sovran
Lord.
CHAPTER III
I Agni
1 Wise Agni, in the ancient way, making his body beautiful,Hath been
exalted by the sage.
2 I invocate the Child of Strength, Agni whose glow is
bright and pure,In this well-ordered sacrifice.
3 So, Agni, rich in many
friends, with fiery splendour seat thyself.With Gods upon our sacred
grass!
II Soma Pavamana
1 O thou with stones for arms, thy powers, rending the fiends, have raised
themselves:Drive off the foes who compass us
2 Hence conquering with
might when car meets car, and when the prize is staked,With fearless heart
will I sing praise.
3 None, evil-minded, may assail this Pavamana's holy
laws Crush him who fain would fight with thee!
4 For Indra to the streams
they urge the tawny rapture-dropping steed,Indu, the bringer of delight.
III Indra
1 Come hither, Indra, with bay steeds, joyous, with tails like peacocks'
plumes!Let no men check thy course as fowlers stay the bird: pass o'er them
as o'er desert lands!
2 Vritra's devourer, he who burst the cloud, brake
forts, and drave the floods,Indra, who mounts his chariot at his bay steeds'
cry, shatters e'en things that stand most firm.
3 Like pools of water deep
and full, like kine thou cherishest thy might;Like the milch-cows that go
well-guarded to the mead, like water-brooks that reach the lake.
IV Indra
1 Even as the wild bull, when he thirsts, goes to the desert's watery
pool,Come hither quickly both at morning and at eve, and with the Kanvas
drink thy fill!
2 May the drops gladden thee, Lord Indra, and obtain bounty
for him who pours the juice!Soma, shed in the press, thou stolest and didst
drink, and hence hast won surpassing might.
V Indra
I. 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.
2 Let not
thy bounteous gifts, let not thy saving help all fail us good Lord, at any
time!And measure out to us, thou lover of man-kind, all riches hitherward
from men
VI Dawn
I. This Lady, excellent and kind, after her sister shining forth, Daughter of
Heaven, hath shown herself.
2 Red, like a mare, and beautiful, holy, the
mother of the kine, The Dawn became the Asvins' friend.
3 Yea, and thou art
the Asvins', friend the mother of the cows art thou: O Dawn, thou rules over
wealth
VII Asvins
1 Now Morning with her earliest light shines forth, dear daughter of the
Sky:High, Asvins, I extol your praise
2 Children of Ocean, mighty ones,
discoverers of riches, Gods,Finders of treasure through our prayer!
3
Your lofty coursers hasten over the everlasting realm, when your car flies with
winged steeds.
VIII Dawn
1 O Dawn who hast a store of wealth, bring unto us that splendid
gift Wherewith we may support children and children's sons
2 Thou radiant
Lady of sweet strains, with wealth of horses and of kine Shine thou on us
this day, O Dawn, auspiciously
3 O Dawn who hast a store of wealth, yoke red
steeds to thy car to-day.Then bring us all delight and all felicities
IX Asvins
1 O Asvins, wonderful in act, do ye unanimous direct Your chariot to our
home wealthy in kine and gold!
2 Hither may they who wake at dawn bring, to
drink Soma, both the Gods,Health-givers, wonder-workers, borne on paths of
gold!
3 Ye who brought down the hymn from heaven, a light that giveth light
to men,Do ye, O Asvins, bring strength hither unto us!
X Agni
1 I think of Agni who is kind, whom, as their home, the milch-kine
seek;Whom fleet-foot coursers seek as home, and strong enduring, steeds as
home.Bring food to those who sing thy praise!
2 For Agni, God of all
mankind, gives the strong courser to the man.Agni gives ready gear for
wealth, he gives the best when he ix pleased.Bring food to those who sing
thy praise!
3 The Agni who is praised as kind, to whom the milch-kine come.
in herds,To whom the racers, swift of foot, to whom our wellborn princes
come. Bring food to those who sing thy praise!
XI Dawn
1 O heavenly Dawn, awaken us to ample opulence today,Even as thou didst
waken us with Satyasravas, Vayya's, Son, high-born! delightful with thy
steeds!
2 Daughter of heaven, thou dawnedst of Sunitha, Suchadratha's
son;So dawn thou on one mightier still, on Satyasravas, Vayya's son,
high-born! delightful with thy steeds!
3 So bringing treasure, shine to-day
on us, thou daughter, of the Sky,As on one mightier thou hast dawned, on
Satyasravas, Vayya's son, high-born! delightful with thy steeds!
XII Asvins
1 To meet your treasure-bringing car, the car that is most dear to
us,Asvins the Rishi is prepared, your worshipper with, songs of praise.
Lovers of sweetness, hear my call
2 Pass, Asvins, over all away. May I
obtain you for myself,Wonderful, with your golden paths, most gracious,
bringers of the flood! Lovers of sweetness, hear my call!
3 Come to us, O ye
Asvins twain, bringing your precious treasures, come Ye Rudras, on your paths
of gold, rejoicing, with your store of wealth! Lovers of sweetness, hear my
call!
XIII Agni
1 Agni is wakened by the people's fuel to meet the Dawn who cometh like a
milch-cow.Like young trees shooting up on high their branches, his flames
mounting to the vault of heaven.
2 For the Gods' worship hath the priest
been wakened: kind Agni hath arisen erect at morning.Kindled, his radiant
might is made apparent, and the great God hath been set free from
darkness.
3 When he hath roused the line of his attendants, with the bright
milk bright Agni is anointed.Then is prepared the effectual oblation, which
spread in front, with tongues, erect, he drinketh,
XIV Dawn
1 This light is come, amid all lights the fairest: born is the brilliant,
far-extending brightness.Night, sent away for Savitar's uprising, hath
yielded up a birthplace for the morning.
2 The fair, the bright is come with
her white offspring to her the Dark one hath resigned her dwelling.Akin,
immortal, following each other, changing their colours both the heavens move
onward.
3 Common, unending is the sisters' pathway: taught by the Gods
alternately they travel,Fair-formed, of different hues and yet one-minded,
Night and Dawn clash not, neither do they tarry.
XV Asvins
1 Agni, the bright face of the Dawns, is shining: the singers' pious voices
have ascended.Borne on your chariot, Asvins, turn you hither, and come unto
our brimming warm libation!
2 Most frequent guests, they scorn not what is
ready: even now the lauded Asvins are beside us.With promptest aid they come
at morn and evening, the worshipper's most healthful guards from trouble.
3
Yea, come at milking-time, at early morning, at noon of day, and when the Sun is
setting,By day, at night, with most auspicious favour! Not only now the
draught hath drawn the Asvins.
XVI Dawn
1 These Dawns have raised their banner: in the eastern half of middle air
they spread abroad their shining light.Like heroes who prepare their weapons
for the fray, the cows are coming on, the mothers, red of hue.
2 Rapidly
have the ruddy beams of light shot up: the red cows have they harnessed, easy to
be yoked.The Dawns have made their pathways as in former times: redhued,
they have attained refulgent brilliancy.
3 They sing their song like women
active in their tasks, along their common path hither from far away,Bringing
refreshment to the liberal devotee, yea, all things to the worshipper who pours
the juice.
XVII Asvins
1 Agni is wakened: Surya riseth from the earth. Bright Dawn hath opened out
the mighty twain with light.The Asvins have equipped their chariot for the
course. God Savitar hath roused the world in sundry ways.
2 When, O ye
Asvins, ye equip your mighty car, with fatness and with honey balm, ye twain,
our power!To our devotion give victorious strength in war: may we win riches
in the heroes' strife for spoil!
3 Nigh to us come the Asvins' lauded three
wheeled car, the car laden with meath and drawn by fleet-foot
steeds,Three-seated, opulent, bestowing all delight: may it bring weal to
us, to cattle and to men!
XVIII Soma Pavamana
1 Thy streams that never fail or waste flow forth like showers of rain from
heaven,To bring a thousand stores of wealth.
2 He, flows beholding on
his way all well-beloved sacred lore,Green-tinted, brandishing his
arms.
3 He, when the people deck him like a docile king of
elephants,Sits as a falcon in the wood.
4 So bring thou hitherward to
us, Indu, while thou art purified.All treasures both of heaven and
earth!
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