34 Ne'er art thou fruitless, Indra, ne'er dost thou forsake thy

worshipper.

But now, O Liberal Lord, thy bounty as a God is ever poured forth more and more.

35 May we attain that excellent glory of Savitar the God: So may he stimulate our prayers.

36 May thine inviolable car wherewith thou guardest worship

pers

Come near to us from every side.

37 Earth! Ether! Sky! May I be rich in offspring, well-manned with men and opulent with riches. Friendly to men! do thou protect my offspring. Worthy of praise! do thou protect my cattle.

O pointed One, protect the food that feeds me.

38 We have approached the Omniscient, best finder-out of wealth for us. Splendour and strength bestow on us, O Agni, thou Imperial Lord.

39 Lord of the Home, this Agni Gârhapatya is best at finding

riches for our children.

Splendour and strength bestow on us, O Agni, Master of the
Home.

40 Rich, furtherer of plenty is this Agni, Master of the Herd. Splendour and strength bestow on us, O Agui, Master of the Herd.

41 Fear not, nor tremble thou, O House. To thee who bearest strength we come.

34 Indra, as Deity of the sacrifice, is associated with Agni. The verse is taken from R. V., Vâlakhilya, 3. 7.

35 Taken from R. V. III. 62. 10. This stanza is the Sâvitrî, the Gayatri par excellence, the celebrated verse of the Vedas which forms part of the daily devotions of the Brahmans. and was first made known to English readers by Sir William Jones's translation of a paraphrastic interpretation: he renders it, Let us adore the supremacy of that divine sun who illuminates all, from whom all proceed, to whom all must return, whom we invoke to direct our understandings aright in our progress towards his holy seat.' Wilson. See Rigveda Sanhitâ, Vol. III. p. 111. Prayers: or, thoughts. 36 Addressed to Agni Come near to: or, encompass.

37 Earth! etc.: see III. 5. Friendly to men he approaches and addresses the Gârhapatya fire. Pointed One: flame of the fire.

38 He approaches the Ahavaniya fire. The Omniscient: Agni.

40 Master of the Herd: purishya; the original meaning of purisha is rubbish, loose soil, manure, and is used symbolically for the cattle which produce the manure.

41-43 Formulas to be used by the householder on approaching the Dak shina fire on departing from and returning to his house. Fear not in the master's absence,

I, bearing strength, intelligent and happy, come to thee,
House, rejoicing in my spirit.

42 The home on which the wanderer thinks, where cheerfulness and joy abound

We call the Home to welcome us. May it know us who know it well.

43 Here have the cows been called to us, the goats and sheep have been called near,

And in our home we have addressed the meath that sweeteneth our food.

I come to thee for safety and for quiet. May joy be ours, felicity, and blessing.

44 We invocate the Maruts, the voracious, eaters of their foes, Delighting in their mess of meal.

45 We expiate by sacrifice each sinful act that we have done, Whether in village or the wild, in company or corporeal sense. Svâhâ!

46 Let us not here contend with Gods, O Indra, for, Fierce One! here is thine own sacred portion,

Thine, Mighty Oue, whose friends, the bounteous Maruts, his song who pours oblation, streamlike, honours.

47 The skilful workers have performed their work with voice that gives delight.

Having performed the work for Gods, go, ye companions, to your home.

48 O ever-moving Cleansing Bath, thou movest gliding on thy way.

42 Meath: kilala; a sweet beverage, the nature of which is uncertain. 44 Formulas follow for the three Four-monthly sacrifices at the beginning of Spring, the Rains, and Autumn. The Sacrificer's wife is first called upon to confess her infidelities, if she has been guilty of any, and to declare the name or names of her lover or lovers. After confession, or declaration of innocence, she is made to recite the text. Eaters: consumers, destroyers. The correctness of this traditional interpretation is doubtful. See Prof. Oldenberg, Vedic Hymns, Part II. p. 14 Mess of meal: a sort of gruel or porridge.

45 Spoken by the Sacrificer's wife, or by her and her husband. In village: by oppression. The wild: by cruelty to wild animals. In company: by contemptuous behaviour. Corporeal sense: by abuse of the tongue or other unruly member.

46 Taken from R. V. I. 173. 12. Spoken by the Sacrificer.

47 Spoken by the Matron. Skilful workers: priests.

48 The Avabhritha, or Purificatory Baptism in a stream of fresh water, is performed by the Sacrificer and his wife. Who loudly roars: the terrible fiend.

With Gods may I wash out the sin that I have sinned against the Gods, with men the sin against mankind. Preserve me safe from injury, O God, from him who loudly

roars.

49 Full, fly away, O spoon, and filled completely fly thou back

to us.

O Şatakratu, let us twain barter, like goods, our food and strength.

50 Give me, I give thee gifts: bestow on me, and I bestow on thee.

To me present thy merchandize, and I to thee will give my

wares.

51 Well have they eaten and regaled: the friends have risen and passed away.

The sages, luminous in themselves, have praised thee with their latest hymn.

Now, Indra, yoke thy two Bay Steeds.

52 Thee will we reverence, thee, O Lord of Bounty, who art fair to see.

Thus praised, according to our wish come now with richlyladeu car. Now, Indra, yoke thy two Bay Steeds.

53 We call the spirit hither with a hero-celebrating strain, Yea, with the Fathers' holy hymns.

54 The spirit comes to us again for wisdom, energy, and life, That we may long behold the Sun.

55 O Fathers, may the Heavenly Folk give us the spirit once again,

That we may be with those who live.

49 Here begin the formulas for the presentation of the Sâkamedha offerings on the full moon of Kârttika (October-November). The Adhvaryu officiates. Full of the boiled rice to be offered to Indra. Spoon the ladle called darvi. Filled completely: with blessings in return. Satakratu: Lord of a Hundred Powers; or sacritices, according to the Commentators. Barter: cf. A. V. III. 15. 1: I stir and animate the merchant Indra. Food and strength the sacred food purchasing strength for the worshipper.

50 Give me, etc.: dehi me, dadâmi te; do ut des: the fundamental principle underlying sacrifice. According to Mahîdhara, line 1 is spoken by Indra and line 2 by the Sacrificer.

51, 52 Taken from R V. I. 82. 2, 3. Food is offered to the Fathers, and Indra is addressed. They. . . . the friends: the Fathers. See II. 31.

53-56 Taken from R. V. X. 57, 3-6. The spirit: the mind or thought of the worshippers which in paying obeisance to the Fathers has, as it were, gone to the world of the Departed and is now invited to return to earth. In the original hymn the application is different, the spirit of a deceased man being recalled. See Max Müller, Royal Asiatic Society's Journal, 1866. pp. 449 and 458. Strain: stomena: the R. V. has somena, with Soma.

56 O Soma, with the spirit still within us, blest with progeny, May we be busied in thy law.

57 0 Rudra, this is thine allotted portion. With Ambika thy sister kindly take it. This, Rudra, is thy share, the rat thy victim.

58 We have contented Rudra, yea, put off Tryambaka the God, That he may make us wealthier, may make us yet more prosperous, may make us vigorous to act.

59 Thou art a healing medicine, a balm for cow and horse and man, a happiness to ram and ewe.

60 Tryambaka we worship, sweet augmenter of prosperity.

As from its stem a cucumber, may I be freed from bouds of death, not reft of immortality.

We worship him, Tryambaka, the husband-finder, sweet to smell.

As from its stem a cucumber, hence and not thence may I be loosed.

61 This, Rudra, is thy food: with this depart beyond the Mûjavâus.

With bow unstrung, with mufled staff, clothed in a garment made of skin, gracious, not harming us, depart.

62 May Jamadagni's triple life, the triple life of Kaṣyapa, The triple life of Deities-may that same triple life be ours.

56 0 Soma: as being closely connected with the Fathers.

57 Rudra, the fierce Tempest-God, destroyer of men and cattle is to be propitiated. This a rice-cake. There is to be one cake for each living son and servant of the Sacrificer, and one over for future additions, and these cakes are all to be on one potsherd. Ambika: the personification of Autumn with which Rudra kills. The rat: the supernumerary cake is to be buried in the earth thrown up by a rat or vole, and this symbolic sacrifice will satisfy Rudra and induce him to spare other animals.

58 Tryambaka: a name of Rudra as having three wives, sisters, or mothers, or Triocular, the Three-eyed God, as Șiva is represented in later literature.

59 Thou Rudra in his gentle mood.

60 Spoken by the girls of the Sacrificer's family as they walk round the altar. The first two lines are taken from R. V. VII. 59. 12. Husband-finder: more usually a title of Aryaman. See A. V. XIV. 1. 17. Hence and not thence from my father's house and not from my future husband's. Cf. R. V. X. 85. 25.

61 Thy food: provisions for thy journey; the remains of the rice-cakes packed in two baskets at the end of a pole and fastened on a tree, post, bamboo, or ant-hill. See Muir. Original Sanskrit Texts, II. 352. Mújavāns: apparently a hill-tribe in the North-west.

62 Jamadagni and Kasyapa were ancient Vedic Rishis. See The Hymns of the Rigveda, Index.

63 Gracious, thy name; the thunder is thy father.

be to thee: forbear to harm me.

Obeisance

I shave thee for long life, for food to feed thee, for progeny, for riches in abundance, for noble children, for heroic vigour.

63 The Sacrificer's head and beard are shaved. Gracious: the razor is addressed. Thunder: the vajra or thunderbolt, made of iron like the razor. I shave thee: the Adhvaryu speaks, using the word nivartayâmi (cause thee to be turned round) the technical term to be employed at this sacrificial allround shaving.