Prapāṭhaka 7

7.1 O Indra, bring to us the foremost, most powerful glory. When we would hold firm both heaven and earth, O wielder of the thunderbolt, O fair-cheeked one, you have filled them both.

7.2 Indra is king of the world, of all peoples — whatever of all forms is his pervades the earth. From that wealth he gives to the worshipper; he who urges on, though praised, comes forward.

7.3 His is this realm — yoked for the contest, for the people, the forest, the sun: great is the delight of Indra.

7.4 Loosen from us the highest snare, O Varuṇa, and loose the lowest; unloose the middle one. Then, O Āditya, in your covenant may we be sinless, free for Aditi.

7.5 Through you, O Soma flowing bright, may we gather perpetually the treasure won in battle. May Mitra and Varuṇa magnify that for us, and Aditi, the River, the Earth, and Heaven.

7.6 Make this one bull — make me this alone.

7.7 Flow around and grant wide space for us — for Indra the worshipful, for Varuṇa, for the Maruts.

7.8 With this may we, desiring to win, obtain all the glories of humankind, O lord.

7.9 I am the firstborn of the cosmic order; I bear the name of immortality before the gods. Whoever gives to me — thus does he declare — I, being food, eat him who eats no food.

7.10 In the Paruṣṇī rivers flows the bright milk.

7.11 The dappled one, the dawn, blazed forth; the bull, foremost among cows, bellows seeking strength throughout the worlds. Wise seers measured out his magic with his magic; the fathers, beholding men, received the embryo.

7.12 Indra alone — together with his two bay horses, yoked by his word — is mixed in with them. Indra, the thunderbolt-wielder, is golden.

7.13 O Indra, protect us in contests and in the thousand-prize races, O mighty one, with your mighty aids.

7.14 He whose name is Pratha and Sapratha — the offering of the Anuṣṭubh hymn, which is an oblation — from Dhātar shining bright and from Savitṛ and Viṣṇu, Vasiṣṭha brought forth the Rathantara chant.

7.15 Come, O Vāyu, with your team of horses; this bright one is offered to you. You shall go to the home of the one who presses the soma.

7.16 When you were born, O bountiful one, peerless, for the slaying of Vṛtra — then you spread out the earth, and you propped up the sky.

7.17 May Parameṣṭhin Prajāpati make firm in heaven as he makes firm the sky.

7.18 May your milky streams come together, may your strengths come together, may your virile powers come together, O soma that overwhelms the foe. Waxing to fullness for immortality, O Soma, place your highest glories in the sky.

7.19 You, O Soma, are all these plants; you gave birth to the waters; you produced the cows. You stretched out the wide mid-air; you with your light drove away the darkness.

7.20 I praise Agni, the household priest, the divine minister of the sacrifice, the invoker, the greatest bestower of treasure.

7.21 They conceived the first name of the cows; thrice seven the highest name they knew among peoples. Knowing those names, the dawning ones sang out — the ruddy, glorious cows appeared upon the earth.

7.22 Some go together, others come flowing together; the rivers fill the same trough. The pure waters flow toward him — pure, shining bright, the child of waters who does not eat food.

7.23 The auspicious young maiden of day has come forward, stirring up the banners of light. Night has become the auspicious one who brings to rest all the moving world.

7.24 Now of the mighty, ruddy, vigorous one declare to the assembly our speech for Jātavedas. A fresh pure thought flows clear as soma for the dear Agni Vaiśvānara.

7.25 Let all the gods hear my sacrifice — both heaven and earth, and the child of the waters — hear my hymn. May I not speak words reprehensible to you; in your graces may we rejoice to the utmost.

7.26 May heaven and earth grant me glory; may Indra and Bṛhaspati grant me glory. May Bhaga's glory find me; may glory be released toward me. May I be a proclaimer of glory at this seat of the glorious one.

7.27 Now I will proclaim the heroic deeds of Indra, the first great acts that the thunderbolt-wielder performed. He slew the serpent; he bored through the flank; he split open the bellies of the mountains.

7.28 I am Agni by birth, Jātavedas by name; clarified butter is my eye, immortality my mouth. The hymn of three elements, the measurer of the atmosphere — I am the ceaseless light, I am all the oblation.

7.29 Agni guards the foremost step of the bird; the swift one guards the track of the sun. Agni guards at the navel of the seven-headed one.

7.30 O Agni, you who find wealth — with milk you have granted us radiance to behold.

7.31 Spring is indeed delightful; summer is indeed delightful. After the rains come autumn; winter is indeed delightful; cool season is indeed delightful.

7.32 The Cosmic Person has a thousand heads, a thousand eyes, a thousand feet. Encompassing the earth on all sides, he extends beyond it by ten fingers.

7.33 Three-quarters of the Cosmic Person rose upward; one quarter of him was born again here. Thence he strode out in all directions over what eats and what does not eat.

7.34 The Cosmic Person alone is all this — whatever has been and whatever shall be. He is the lord of immortality, and also of whatever grows beyond by food. All beings constitute one quarter of him; three quarters of him are the immortal in heaven.

7.35 Such is his greatness, yet greater still is the Cosmic Person. He is the lord of immortality, and of all that grows and flourishes through food.

7.36 From him Virāj was born; from Virāj the Cosmic Person arose. Being born, he surpassed the earth from behind and also from in front.

7.37 I hold you two, O Heaven and Earth, as those of good nourishment, you who have spread out immeasurably and boundlessly. O Heaven and Earth, be gracious to us and release us from distress.

7.38 Your beard, O Indra, is tawny gold, and your two bay steeds are golden. You are praised by the poets, the sages who dwell in the woods.

7.39 Whatever brilliance gold possesses, whatever brilliance the cows possess, and the brilliance of truth and sacred prayer — with that let us be endowed.

7.40 He gave us strength together, O Indra; for he is master of this great power, O mighty one. Like wisdom, like manly valor and steadfast strength — make us smite our enemies among the foes.

7.41 Rise up together with your bulls, with your calves, bearing all forms, you whose udders are twofold. Let this broad wide space be yours; may these waters here be easy to drink.

7.42 Drive away misfortune from afar.

7.43 May the resplendent, mighty one drink the sweet soma-drink, bestowing long life on the lord of the sacrifice, undivided. He who is wind-impelled, who protects the people by himself, nourishes them abundantly, and shines in many ways.

7.44 The wondrous face of the gods has risen up — the eye of Mitra, Varuṇa, and Agni. He has filled heaven, earth, and the atmosphere. O Sun, you are the soul of all that moves and stands still.

7.45 This dappled bull stepped forth; he sat down before his mother. Going toward his father, he entered the realm of light.

7.46 Moving within, the luminous one breathes in and breathes out. The mighty bull has illumined heaven.

7.47 In thirty stations he shines forth; speech is offered to the bird. He responds each day with rays of light.

7.48 Like thieves those stars depart with the darkness of night, before the all-seeing Sun.

7.49 His bright rays have been seen spreading among the people, blazing like fires.

7.50 Swift, visible to all, O Sun, you are the maker of light. You illuminate the entire luminous realm.

7.51 You rise toward the hosts of gods; you rise toward mankind. You rise toward all the world to behold the light of heaven.

7.52 With that purifying eye of yours, O Varuṇa, you behold the active and bustling people.

7.53 You traverse the broad realm of space, measuring out the days with your rays. O Sun, you behold all created beings.

7.54 The Sun has yoked the seven shining mares, daughters of his chariot. By them he travels, self-harnessed.

7.55 Seven bay mares carry you in your chariot, O divine Sun. O flame-haired, far-seeing one.