iv. 2. 1.

Thou art the step of Visnu, overcoming hostility, mount the Gayatri metre, step along the earth, excluded is he whom we hate. Thou art the step of Visnu, overcoming imprecations, mount the Tristubh metre, step along the atmosphere, excluded is he whom we hate. Thou art the step of Visnu, overcomer of the enemy, mount the Jagati metre, step along the sky, excluded is he whom we hate. Thou art the stop of Visnu , overcomer of the foe, mount the Anustubh metre, step along the quarters, excluded is he whom we hate.
Agni hath cried, like Dyaus thundering,
Licking the earth, devouring the plants
Straightway on birth he shone aflame,
He blazeth with his light within the firmaments.
O Agni, returner, to us return
With life, with radiance, with gain, with wisdom, with offspring, with wealth.
O Agni , O Angiras, a hundred be thy returns,
A thousand thy movements;
With the increase of their increase
Do thou bring back for us what is lost,
Bring back to us wealth.
Return with strength,
Return, O Agni, with food and life;
Again guard us on all sides.
Return with wealth,
O Agni, fatten with the stream,
All-gaining on every side.
Unloose from us, O Varuna, the highest,
The lowest, the midmost knot ;
Then may we, O Aditya, in thy rule,
Be guiltless before Aditi.
I have drawn thee, thou hast become within,
Be thou firm and motionless,
Lot all the folk desire thee;
In him establish the kingship.
In greatness hath he arisen erect in the van of the dawns;
Emerging from the darkness, he hath come with the light;
Agni, with radiant brilliance, fair limbed,
On birth hath filled every seat.
Do thou sit down in the lap of this mother ,
O Agni, knowing all the ways;
Consume her not with light nor with heat,
Within her shine with pure radiance.
1 O Agni, with glow
Within thine own seat of the pan,
Heating with her blaze,
Be thou, O all-knower, auspicious.
Becoming auspicious to me, O Agni,
Do thou sit down auspicious;
Having made all the quarters auspicious,
Sit here on thine own birthplace.
The gander seated in purity, the bright one seated in the atmosphere,
The Hotr seated at the altar, the guest seated in the house,
Seated among men, seated in the highest, seated in holy order, seated in the firmament,
Born of the waters, born of the cows, born of holy order, born of the mountain, the great holy order.

iv. 2. 2.

From the sky was Agni first born,
From us secondly he who knoweth all,
In the waters thirdly the manly,
The pious man singeth of him, the undying, as he kindleth him.
We know thy three places threefold, O Agni,
We know thy seat that is established in many places;
We know thy highest name in secret;
We know the spring whence thou hast come.
The manly souled kindleth thee in the ocean, in the waters,
In the breast of the sky, O Agni, he who gazeth on men;
Thee standing in the third region ,
In the birthplace of holy order, the steers inspirited.
Agni hath cried, like Dyaus thundering,
Licking the earth, devouring the plants;
Straightway on birth he shone aflame,
He blazeth with his light within the firmaments.
Eager, purifying, the envoy, the wise one,
Agni, the immortal, hath been established among men;
He beareth and darteth forward his ruddy smoke;
The sky he attaineth with his pure radiance.
The banner of the whole world, the germ ,
Filled on birth the firmaments;
Even the firm mountain he cleft passing over,
When the five peoples sacrificed to Agni.
Receptacle of prosperity, supporter of riches,
Granter of thoughts, guardian of the Soma,
Son of the bright one, of strength, the king
Is resplendent within the waters, kindled before the dawns.
He who first maketh for thee to-day, O thou of wondrous radiance,
A cake rich in ghee, O god Agni;
Do thou bear him ever on to the better,
To glory allotted by the gods, O youngest one .
Give him portion, O Agni, in praises;
Give him portion in every hymn that is sung,
Dear shall he be before Surya, dear before Agni
With what is born, what is to be born shall he be victorious.
Thee, O Agni, the sacrificers through the days
Bear as many riches desirable;
With thee desiring wealth,
Eagerly they revealed the stall rich in kine.
Shining like gold, he hath become widely resplendent,
For glory shining with immortal life;
Agni became immortal in his strength,
What time prolific Dyaus begat him.

iv. 2. 3.

O Lord of food, accord us food,
Uninjurious, impetuous;
Do thou further the donor,
Bestow strength on our bipeds, our quadrupeds.
May the All-gods thee,
O Agni, bear up with their thoughts;
Be thou to us most propitious,
With kindly face, abounding in light,
Come forward, O Agni, rich in light,
With auspicious rays;
Shining with great radiance,
Harm not our offspring with thy body.
With kindling-wood serve Agni,
Awaken the guest with ghee;
In him offer oblations.
Far-famed is this Agni of Bharata,
Since his great light shineth like the sun;
He who overcame Puru in battle
Hath shone forth, the heavenly guest, propitious for us.
O ye waters divine, accept these ashes;
Place them on a resting-place, in the fragrant region
To him may the ladies with noble spouses bow;
Like a mother her son, do ye kindly bear him.
In the waters, O Agni, is thy seat ,
Thou enterest the plants;
Being in the germ thou art born again.
Thou art the germ of plants,
The germ of trees,
The germ of all things,
O Agni, thou art the germ of the waters.
With ashes having satisfied thy birthplace
And the waters, on the earth, O Agni,
In unison with thy mothers,
Full of light hast thou again taken thy seat.
Having again come to thy seat,
And to the waters, to the earth, O Agni,
Within her thou liest, most auspicious,
As on the lap of a mother.
Return with strength ,
Return, O Agni, with food and life;
Again guard us on all sides.
Return with wealth,
O Agni, fatten with the stream,
All-gaining on every side.
May the Adityas, the Rudras, the Vasus, kindle thee again;
The Brahmans again with offerings, O bringer of wealth;
With ghee do thou increase our bodies;
May the wishes of the sacrificer become true.
Hearken to this our call, that is offered, O youngest one,
Of the most generous one, O thou that hast power;
One hateth, one praiseth.
As praiser I praise thy body, O Agni.
Be thou a bounteous patron,
Giver of riches, lord of riches;
Repel from us the foes.

iv. 2. 4.

Go hence depart, creep away, hence,
Ye that are here of old and ye that are new,
Yama hath given this resting-place of earth,
The Pitrs have made this world for him.
Thou art the ash of Agni, thou art the dust of Agni.
Thou art accord, fulfilling love; in me be the fulfilling of thy love.
Be united your dear bodies,
Be united your dear hearts,
Be your breath united ,
United my body.
This is that Agni in whom as a belly
Indra placed the pressed Soma eagerly;
Thou art praised, O all-knower, for winning
Booty a thousandfold, like a swift steed.
O Agni, thou comest to the wave of the sky,
To the gods thou speakest, those of the altar;
The waters above in the realm of the sun,
And those below wait (on thee).
O Agni, thy radiance in the sky, the earth,
The plants , or the waters, O holy one,
That whereby thou didst outspread the broad atmosphere,
Glittering is thy gleam, moving and men espying.
May the Agnis of the dust
In unison with those of the floods
Accept the oblation offered,
The rich healthful viands.
As food, O Agni, accord to the sacrificer
The gain of a cow, wondrous enduring;
Be to us a son, a scion, full of life;
This, O Agni, be thy lovingkindness towards us.
This is thy due place of birth,
Whence born thou didst shine,
Mount it, O Agni, knowing it ,
And make our wealth increase.
Thou art a piler; in the manner of Angiras be firm with that deity.
Thou art a piler round; in the manner of Angiras be firm with that deity.
Fill the world, fill the hole, do thou sit down auspicious;
Indra and Agni and Brhaspati
Have placed thee on this birthplace
The dappled kine, streaming with milk,
Mix the Soma,
Clans in the birthplace of the gods,
In the three realms of sky.

iv. 2. 5.

Be united, be in harmony, in affection,
Radiant, with kindly thought,
Clothed in food and strength,
United have I made your minds, your ordinances, your hearts.
O Agni of the dust be overlord for us;
Bestow food and strength on the sacrificer.
Thou, O Agni, art of the dust,
Rich, full of increase,
Making all the regions propitious
Thou hast sat down on thine own birthplace.
Be ye of one mind for us,
One dwelling , spotless;
Harm not the sacrifice, nor the lord of the sacrifice, O all-knowers;
Be ye two auspicious to-day unto us.
As a mother her son, the earth,
The pan, hath borne Agni of the dust in his own birthplace
In unison with the All-gods, the seasons,
Let Prajapati, all-worker, release it.
The bright light
Born beyond this firmament,
May that convey us beyond our foes,
O Agni Vaiçvanara, hail!
Homage to thee, O Nirrti of every form ,
Loosen ye this bond made of iron;
Do thou in accord with Yama and Yami
Mount this highest vault.
The bond that Nirrti, the goddess,
Bound on thy neck, not to be loosened,
This I loosen for thee as from the middle of life;
Then living, let loose, do thou eat the food.
Thee in whose cruel mouth here I make offering,
For the loosening of these bonds,
As 'earth' men know thee,
As 'Nirrti' , I know thee on every side.
Seek the man who poureth not offering nor sacrifices;
The road of the thief and robber thou followest;
Seek another than us, that is thy road;
Homage be to thee, O Nirrti, O goddess.
Praising Nirrti, the goddess,
Like a father his son, I weary her with my words;
She who knoweth all that is born,
Discerneth, the lady, every head.
Abode and collector of riches,
Every form she discerneth with might ,
Like the god Savitr of true laws,
Like Indra, she standeth at the meeting of the ways.
Make firm the straps,
Fasten the buckets;
We shall drain the well full of water,
That never is exhausted, never faileth.
The well with buckets fastened,
With strong straps, that yieldeth abundantly,
Full of water, unexhausted, I drain.
The sages yoke the ploughs;
They stretch apart the yokes,
Wise with goodwill among the gods.
Yoke the ploughs, stretch apart the yokes,
Here sow in the womb made ready the seed
Through our song be there audience with profit for us;
May the ripe (grain) be brought low by the sickle.
The plough, of keen share,
Propitious, with well-polished handle,
Plougheth up a cow, a sheep,
And a fat blooming maid,
A chariot support with a platform.
With prosperity may our ploughs cleave the ground,
With prosperity may the ploughers go round the yokes;
Prosperity (may) Parjanya (give) with honey and milk,
And do ye, O Çuna and Sira, accord prosperity to us.
Wishes, O milker of wishes, do thou milk
To Mitra and Varuna;
To Indra, to Agni, to Pusan,
To the plants, and to offspring.
The furrow anointed with ghee, with honey,
Approved by the All-gods, the Maruts,
Full of strength, swelling with milk,
Do thou, O furrow, turn towards us with milk.

Continued...

iv. 2. 6.

The plants born
Three generations before the gods,
Of the brown ones I celebrate
The seven and a hundred abodes.
A hundred, O mother, are your abodes,
A thousand too your shoots,
Therefore do ye, with a hundred powers,
Make him whole for me.
With flowers, with shoots,
Fruit-bearing and without fruit,
Like steeds victorious
The plants are strong to help.
'Plants', O ye mothers,
I hail you, O goddesses;
Go bearing away defilement,
Defilement destroying.
In the Açvattha is your seat,
In the Parna is your dwelling made;
Cows shall in truth be your share
If ye shall gain this man.
In that in strength I seize
These plants in my hand,
The soul of the disease perisheth,
As before one that taketh alive.
When the plants come together
Like princes at the assembly,
Sage is the physician called,
Slayer of Raksases, overpowerer of diseases.
Remover is your mother by name,
And ye are helpers;
Ye are winged streams ;
Remove whatever is unwell.
Let one of you aid another,
Let one be of assistance to another;
All the plants in unison
Do ye further this speech of mine.
The strength of the plants hath arisen
Like cows from the pasturage,
Of them that are fain to win gain,
To the self of thee, O man.
I Beyond all obstacles,
Like the thief the pen, they have strode,
The plants have shaken away
Every defilement in the body.
Those that have mounted thy self,
That have entered every limb,
May they repel thy disease,
Like a dread intercessor.
O disease, do thou fly forth
With the eagle, the blue jay (kikidivi)
With the rush of the wind,
With the whirlwind do thou disappear.
Rich in steeds, rich in Soma,
Full of strength, full of power,
I have found all the plants
For his safety.
The fruitful, the fruitless,
The flowering, the flowerless,
Impelled by Brhaspati,
May they free us from tribulation.
The plants whose king is Soma,
And which have entered the earth,
Of them thou art the highest,
Impel us to long life.
Falling from the sky
The plants said,
'He, whom we reach while in life,
Shall not come to ill.'
Those that hear now
And those that are gone far away,
Coming all together here
Give ye him healing.
May the digger of you come to no ill,
Nor he for whom I dig you;
May all our bipeds and quadrupeds
Be free from disease.
The plants hold converse
With Soma, the king,
'The man for whom the Brahman prepares (us),
We, O king, bring to safety.'

iv. 2. 7.

May I be harm us not who is father of earth
Or who, of true law, created the sky,
And he who created the great bright waters;
To what god shall we offer with oblation?
Turn towards (us), O earth,
With the sacrifice, with milk;
Over thy caul let Agni, aroused, creep.
O Agni, that of thee which is pure, which is bright,
Which is cleansed, which is fit for offering,
That we bear to the gods.
Food and strength do I take hence ,
From the abode of holy order, from the birthplace of immortality.
May it enter us, in cattle and in plants;
I abandon decline, lack of food, and ill-health.
O Agni, strength and fame are thine,
Thy rays shine mightily, O rich in light;
O thou of broad radiance, with thy might, strength worthy of laud,
Thou bestowest on the worshipper, O sage.
Do thou extend over men, O Agni,
Ruling over wealth for us, O immortal one;
Thou art the master of a glorious form,
Thou fillest glorious wealth.
O son of strength, O all-knower,
Rejoice in our fair praises , being adored in our prayers;
In thee have they placed food, rich in seed,
Of wondrous aid, of prosperous birth.
With pure radiance, with bright radiance,
With undiminished radiance, thou comest forth with thy light;
Visiting thy parents thou aidest them;
Thou fillest both worlds.
The righteous, the bull, common to all men,
Agni, men place before them for favour,
Thee with their speech, that art ready to hear and most extending,
The divine, the generations of men.
Preparer of the sacrifice, the wise,
Who ruleth for great gain,
The giver of the Bhrgus, the eager, skilled in the sacrifice
Thou fillest glorious wealth.
Ye are pilers, ye are pilers around, do ye pile upwards as a support,
with that deity, sit ye firm in the manner of Angiras.
Swell up, let thy strength be gathered
From all sides, O Soma.
Be strong in the gathering of might.
Let thy milk draughts, thy strength be united,
The mightinesses of him who overcometh the foe;
Swelling for immortality, O Soma,
Place in the sky the highest glories,

iv. 2. 8.

He hath overcome every foe, every enemy;
That Agni saith, that saith Soma too;
Brhaspati, Savitr, say this of me,
Pusan hath placed me in the world of good action.
When first thou didst cry on birth,
Arising from the ocean or the dust,
The wings of the eagle, the limbs of the gazelle,
That is thy famed birth, O steed.
Thou art the back of the waters, the birthplace of Agni,
The ocean swelling on either side;
Growing to might as the lotus flower,
Do thou extend in width with the measure of heaven.
The holy power born first in the east
Vena hath disclosed from the shining boundary,
He hath revealed its fundamental nearest forms,
The womb of being and of not being.
The golden germ first rose;
Born he was the only lord of creation;
He supporteth the earth and the sky;
To what god shall we offer with oblation.
The drop hath fallen on the earth , the sky,
On this seat, and on the one which was aforetime;
The drop that wandereth over the third seat
I offer in the seven Hotras.
Homage to the serpents
Which are on the earth,
The serpents in the atmosphere, in the sky,
To those serpents homage.
Those that are there in the vault of the sky,
Or those who are in the rays of the sun,
Those whose seat is made in the waters,
To those serpents honour.
Those that are the missiles of sorcerers,
Or those that are among the trees,
Or those that lie in the wells,
To those serpents honour.

iv. 2. 9.

Thou art firm, supporting, unoverpowered,
Well wrought by Viçvakarman;
Let not the ocean smite thee, nor the eagle;
Unshaking do thou make firm the earth.
May Prajapati seat thee on the back of earth, capacious, extending; thou art extent, thou art earth, thou art the world, thou art the earth, thou art Aditi all-sustaining, sustainer of all the world; sustain the earth, make firm the earth, harm not the earth, for all expiration, cross-breathing, up-breathing, for support , for motion; may Agni protect thee with great prosperity, with most auspicious covering; with that deity, in the manner of Angiras, do thou sit firm.
Arising from every stem,
From every joint,
Do thou, O Durva, extend us
With a thousand, a hundred.
Thou that extendest with a hundred,
That arisest with a thousand,
To thee, O goddess, O brick,
Let us sacrifice with oblation.
Unovercomable art thou, overcoming, overcome our enemies, over come those that practise enmity.
Overcome the foe, overcome the foemen of a thousandfold strength art thou; do thou inspirit me.
To the pious the winds pour honey,
The streams honey;
Be sweet to us the plants.
Sweet is the night, and sweet
At dawn the air of earth,
Sweet be the sky, our father.
Sweet to us be the lord of the forest,
Sweet the sun,
Sweet be the cows to us.
May the two great ones, sky and earth,
Mingle for us this sacrifice;
May they sustain us with support.
That highest step of Visnu
The singers ever gaze upon
Like an eye stretched in the sky.
Thou art firm, O earth,
Overcome the foemen;
Fashioned by the gods hast thou come with ambrosia.
Those beams of thine, O Agni, which rising
In the sun with rays envelop the sky,
With all of them bring us to brilliance, to men.
Those flames of yours in the sun,
O gods, in cattle, in horses,
O Indra and Agni, O Brhaspati,
With all of these grant us brilliance.
The brilliant bore the light, the shining bore the light, the self-resplendent bore the light.
O Agni, yoke,
O god, thy good steeds,
The swift that readily bear.
Yoke, like a charioteer, O Agni,
The steeds that best invite the gods
Sit down as ancient Hotr.
The drop hath fallen on the earth, the sky,
On this seat and on the one which was aforetime
The drop that wandereth over the third seat
I offer in the seven Hotras.
There hath come into being this might of all the world,
And of Agni Vaiçvanara,
Agni full of light with light,
The disk radiant with radiance.
For the verse thee, for brilliance thee
Like streams the offerings flow together,
Purified within with heart and mind;
I behold the streams of ghee;
A golden reed is there in the midst of them.
In it sitteth an eagle, honey-making, nested,
Assigning honey to the deities,
On its brink sit seven tawny ones,
Milking at will the stream of ambrosia.

iv. 2. 10.

Anointing with milk Aditya, the embryo,
Counterpart of a thousand, of every form,
Spare him, injure him not with thy heat;
Make him of a hundred (years of) life, as thou art piled.
Injure not this biped of animals,
O hundred-eyed one, being piled for the sacrifice;
I appoint for thee the wailer in the forest;
Therewith piling thy forms, be seated.
The rush of the wind, the navel of Varuna,
Born as a steed in the midst of the waters,
The child of the streams, the tawny one, rooted in the mountain,
O Agni, harm him not in the highest heaven.
Harm not this one-hooved of cattle,
The thundering, the courser among the contests;
I appoint for thee the Gayal of the forest;
Therewith piling thy forms, be seated.
The undying drop, the ruddy, the active,
Agni I hymn with praises with first inspiration;
Do thou forming thyself with joints in due order,
Harm not the cow, Aditi, the resplendent.
This ocean, the spring of a hundred streams,
Expanded in the middle of the world,
Aditi milking ghee for men,
O Agni, harm not in the highest heaven;
I appoint for thee the Gayal of the forest;
Therewith piling thy forms, be seated.
Guard of Tvastr, navel of Varuna,
Born as the sheep from the furthest region,
The great thousandfold wile of the Asura,
O Agni, harm not in the highest heaven.
This woolly wile of Varuna,
The skin of cattle, biped and quadruped,
The first birthplace of the offspring of Tvastr,
O Agni, harm not in the highest heaven;
I appoint for thee the buffalo of the forest ;
Therewith piling thy forms, be seated.
The Agni born of the heat of Agni,
From the burning of the earth or of the sky,
That whereby Viçvakarman attained creatures,
Him, O Agni, let thy wrath spare.
The goat was born from Agni as an embryo;
She beheld her begetter before;
Thereby those worthy of sacrifice attained pre-eminence,
Thereby first the gods attained godhead;
I appoint for thee the Çarabha of the forest;
Therewith piling thy forms, be seated.

iv. 2. 11.

O Indra and Agni, the realms of the sky
Ye adorn in your strength;
That might of yours is dear.
The foe shall he pierce and wealth he doth gain
Who worshippeth Indra and Agni, the strong ones,
Who rule over much wealth,
The most strong who with strength show their power.
Men ye surpass in the battle call,
Earth ye surpass, and sky,
The mountains and the streams (ye surpass) in greatness,
And, O Indra and Agni, all other worlds.
In whose house , O Maruts,
Ye drink, O joyous ones of the sky
That man hath the best of guardians.
Either through sacrifices receiving worship,
Or from the prayers of the singer,
Do ye, O Maruts, hearken to our call.
For glory they are wreathed in flames,
In the rays (of the sun), adorned with rings they (are accompanied) with singers;
They wearing daggers, impetuous, fearless,
Have found the dear home of the Maruts.
Thy wrath.
The highest.
With what aid will he come to us,
Our wondrous, ever-waxing, friend?
With what most potent aid ?
Who to-day yoketh to the pole of holy order
The oxen, eager, of keen spirits, the furious,
With darts in their mouths, heart-piercing, healthful?
He who attaineth their service shall live.
O Agni, lead.
Of the gods.
May they be prosperous for us
In every contest.
In the waters, O Agni, is thy seat,
Thou enterest the plants;
Being in the germ thou art born again.
Thou art strong, O Soma, and bright;
Thou art strong, O god, and strong thy rule;
Strong laws dost thou establish.
This for me, O Varuna.
That of thine I approach.
Thou, O Agni.
Do thou to us, O Agni.

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