Prapāṭhaka 10

10.1 Sing forth to the lord of cattle, the mountain-king Indra, as is fitting. Praise the guardian of truth, the true lord. Who among men is your kinsman, O Agni? Who has offered the sacrifice? On whom do you truly depend? The Āyus have praised you, O Indra, before all with their hymns, the first drinkers; the Ṛbhus, assembled in harmony, together praised the ancient Rudras.

10.2 The bay steeds have been let loose; the red ones rest upon the sacred grass, where we now raise our voice in unison. You, O Agni, are the kinsman among men, beloved as Mitra, a friend worthy of praise to friends. So too has Indra grown in virile strength through the exhilaration of the pressed soma. The Āyus today follow and praise that greatness of his, as they did of old, O Viṣṇu.

10.3 The cows have yielded a mixture of milk and honey for Indra, the wielder of the thunderbolt, wherever he found them in the hidden place. Sacrifice for us to Mitra and Varuṇa; sacrifice to the gods the great cosmic order. O Agni, worship within your own house.

10.4 Come to the prayers and the pressings, O Vṛtra-slayer, O supreme archer, O Ṛcīṣama; the bull-like Agni blazes fully. I choose Indra and Agni for nourishment.

10.5 You are the foremost giver of bounties; you are truly the creator of lordship. We choose the fellowship of Tuviśyumna's son, that great heroic strength. The bull-like Agni is kindled, like a horse bearing the gods; those who hold oblations praise him. Indra and Agni shook ninety strongholds whose lord was the Dāsa, with a single act.

10.6 We, the manly ones, kindle you, the manly bull, O bull, O Agni; shine forth greatly. Towards Indra and Agni who are served with rites the prayers advance; they go along the path of cosmic order.

10.7 O mighty Indra and Agni, your dwelling-places and your refreshments — the offering appointed for you two is set in place.

10.8 They sang in chorus at Indra's birth; the bright ones, O Agni, speed forth. O hero, we follow you like a share of fortune, famed, and finder of wealth.

10.9 Those who saw him, the heavenly bright-voiced ones, sang forth the ally. Savitā unfurls the veil of heaven like a garment. May the ladles dripping with ghee come to you with longing, O beloved Agni; enjoy our oblations. O city-guardian, who accomplishes much for horses and cows, golden source of power, O god — no gift from you shall ever be despised; whatever I ask, bring that.

10.10 When you, O Pavamāna, pervade both worlds and all these beings with your greatness, you shine abroad like a bull standing firm in the herd. I praise Agni, the deep-voiced hotr, the sacrificial priest of wondrous brilliance and far-spreading richness — may he hear.

10.11 O Agni, proclaim among the gods; protect with your three songs, O lord of vigour; protect with your four songs, O Vasu. Send forth your abundance, O sweet one, for the winning of cattle, for the winning of Indra's horses.

10.12 You are distributed, O wondrous-beamed one, flowing near like the wave of a river; you flow at once to the worshipper. Protect us from every hostile demon; set us forward in the contests. You, the nearest ally, we seek for divine favour, for growth. You lavish thousands and hundreds of herds for gift-giving. Singing, we have turned to Indra the city-breaker, the wise-voiced, for protection.

10.13 Give us a share in the highest contests and in the middle ones; bestow the innermost wealth upon us.

10.14 I was born like the sun, discerning; it shines with great radiance; the dark one meets the bright. First, as honey fills its vessels, let the praises go forward to Agni.

10.15 With my ancient birth I beautify the songs as Kaṇva did, by which Indra fixed his vigour. When the dark one with her form embraced the bright, the father's daughter was born. Propping up the sun's upward beam with the treasures of heaven, the indefatigable one shines forth. The bountiful, the god-seeking ones polish the hymn-worthy one as a chariot-horse. O wondrous lord of the homestead, ferry both offspring and progeny; bring us the bounty of the generous one.

10.16 O Indra, whether the seers have praised you or have not praised you, increase in me when well praised. The auspicious one, joined with the auspicious, has come; the lover approaches the sister from behind. Agni, spreading wide with clear-marked, bright-coloured radiances, has stood rejoicing.

10.17 With those that are among the gods and those among the living beings, magnify our songs. With what praise, O Agni Aṅgiras, O grandson of vigour, does one extol you? I have called upon you, O god, seeking protection, for the boon, for reverence.

10.18 He is Agni with all fires, he whose steeds run strong; surrounded with provisions for offspring and progeny from us altogether. Whom shall we serve with thought, O son of strength, at whose sacrifice? What shall we speak as this act of homage?

10.19 O Agni, increase our sacred prayer and sacrifice with your fires; spur us on for divine favour and the bestowal of riches. You indeed make all good dwellings ours; these are songs rich in prize-winning wealth.

10.20 So, O hero, urge us on to heroism; let the well-prepared oblation-bearing woman anoint you; for the most worthy one to sit upon the sacred grass — what shall you bring for the singers?

10.21 You have pressed forward again and again with fame like an ever-flowing, inexhaustible well for men to drink. Carrying like arrows in the two arms, towards you, O son of strength, O Aṅgiras, the ladles move at the sacrifice. We seek the grandson of vigour, the ghee-haired one, Agni, the ancient one at sacrifices.

10.22 You were born, O immortal one, for mortal man, as the ordainer of immortality, beautiful with immortal radiance. Always flowing, you shall win the prize.

10.23 He urges forth bounties with his greatness; the sacrifices with homage go to the one rich in many goods, the much-praised, for aid. We call upon Indra in battle for the winning of the forest's wealth; we call Indra for the gaining of riches.

10.24 I have spoken to the lord of the bay horses, who mingles bounty: hear now, truly, the praise of the one rich in horses. Agni, son of strength, the all-knowing, for the gift of desirable things. He who is twice immortal among mortals, the most joyful hotr in the tribe; Indra, by his greatness, spread the two worlds; Indra set the sun ablaze. In Indra all the worlds were restrained; in Indra the pressed soma drops rest.

10.25 For truly, O friend, neither before nor since has one more heroic than you been born; none with wealth, not in this way, nor with praise.

10.26 You hold fast the lord of the inviolable cows; swift, a chariot ever new. Let the other peoples around be bewildered; here, let the bountiful and wise one be ours.

10.27 The mortal worshipper attains the refreshments with his offering vehicle; he attains the dwelling of the one whose flame is purifying.

10.28 Having overcome all assailants, the will of the gods, uninjured — Agni, most widely renowned.

10.29 Pour upward or fill him up; then the god will respond with auspicious things and praises. The stream of his back shines; the tawny, ruddy one purifies himself. When you encompass all forms with your song-companions, with your seven-mouthed song-companions.

10.30 The gods made him the hotr of the sacrifice, the wise carrier. Agni places a jewel and heroic strength for the worshipper; for the people, for the worshipper he gives a boon. Make an auspicious mind in the conquest of Vṛtra, by which you have triumphed in battles. Stretch down the firm ones of the many swaggerers; we will overcome them for your aid. He guards the eastern direction, discerning; the bright divine chariot, the bright chariot, keeps steady with its reins. They came to the chants of manhood; they have gladdened Indra for victory. When you two, the thunderbolt and the others, become invincible in battles, invincible.

10.31 You indeed found that wealth of the Paṇis; you cleanse yourself with the mothers in your own house, with the thoughts of cosmic order in the home. That song is not from afar where the thoughts sport. He assumed power with the three-fold red ones, shining he assumed power.

10.32 Let our songs approach and increase Agni, the increaser of the noble one, who has just been born. O Jātavedas, bestow upon us great fame; make us heroic for your aid.

10.33 Before whom the peoples tremble as they perform their rites — honor Agni by your thoughts, as if at a thousandfold sacrifice won by his own power. He, the wise Agni who is kindled and worthy of praise by song — O thou of many faces, shine upon us with riches.

10.34 Agni, the god-given, blazes forth; Indra the god, by his own greatness. He has turned and spread along mother Earth; he stands in the shelter of the vault of heaven. O King Agni, rule also over the nights, over the dawnings by your own power. Thou of sharp jaws — burn back the demons.

10.35 Drive away evil portent far off. I praise Agni with words fit for your house, with thoughts of his might. Know the wish of the one who longs for you.

10.36 Agni is the seer, the purifier, the priest of the five peoples, the household priest. We implore him who is the great abode — whom the people bearing oblations praise with praises, as a friend with the pouring of clarified butter.

10.37 O Agni, O thou of good deeds, purify yourself; bestow on us radiance and heroic strength. Grant wealth in me with delight — the Jātavedas who is most praiseworthy, who with godly power uplifted has carried the oblations to the sky.

10.38 Bring the gods and worship them — the wise, much-desired, guileless hotṛ-priest. We implore the sage Jātavedas with hymns of goodwill; may his favors of grace be ours.

10.39 Thee, O thou of wondrous radiance who seest the sun, we implore with streams of ghee. Bring the gods to the feast. Thee, O Agni, as the immortal messenger, age after age they have established as the bearer of oblations, the guardian worthy of praise. Both gods and mortals have sat down in reverence before thee, the vigilant, all-pervading lord of the people.

10.40 O sage, we kindle thee, the brilliant one whose food is the offering-call. O great Agni, adorning the sacrifice — O naked one, following the ordinances of both, thou dost traverse the two realms as the messenger of the gods. That thought and good will of thine which we invoke — be our threefold shelter, be gracious.

10.41 Worthy of praise in all thoughts, the pure ones stood in Vāyu's van for the sake of glory.

10.42 O Agni, bring us wealth that is altogether victorious and most excellent, that is hard to overcome in all battles. He whose triple-natured sacred grass stands turned, lapping at the seat of the day — the waters too have established their place; purifying with their bodies, you two reign together by your own skill, bearing off what is eternally honored.

10.43 O Agni, with good wisdom bring us wealth that fosters all life. Grant the gracious step for living, the boon of the bountiful god, with invincible aids. Like the good sight of the sun, the great ones of Mitra accomplish their work, crossing over and nourishing the order. You two have sat down around the sacrifice.

10.44 With him may we conquer wealth upon wealth — that speech, too, he carries on.

10.45 With that army, O Agni, thy aid by which we may win the cows — urge that army for our enrichment. O lord of bounties who art carried by songs of praise, O hero, may thy manifest might be true and sweet-worded.

10.46 O Agni, bring us abundant wealth, broad, rich in cows and horses. Pierce the sky; roll the wheel of the chariot. Stand upright for our aid in this contest, O thou of a hundred powers, and let us speak together in the battles.

10.47 O Agni, thou hast raised the undecaying star, the sun, up to the sky, laying down the light for the peoples.

10.48 O Agni, thou art the beacon of the clans, the dearest and best that has drawn near to the lap. Awaken to the praise, granting strength.

10.49 He quickens the seeds of the waters; both ears are golden.

10.50 For thou art lord of desirable gifts, O Agni, the lord of heaven. May I be a praiser in thy shelter. Honey has been poured into the lotus from the neighboring rock — at the release of the pit.

10.51 O Agni, thy bright pure flames rise up blazing. Thy lights, the radiant ones, pour down in worship into the pit — the ever-rolling wheel that moves all around, with downward arm, inexhaustible.

10.52 Great is thine, O bull, the wonder to behold that has been made — may we see Turvaśa and Yadu.

10.53 He strides along the left flank; his gift, like a bull's, does not provoke anger. The milch cows, commingled with honey and with the stream of soma — come swiftly, run and drink.

10.54 The bright-colored, pure, wise ones have sung out the praises.

10.55 This one, made mighty by a thousand seers, has spread like an ocean. That might of his is true — I sing the power, his sovereignty of the inspired, in the sacrifices.

10.56 O bright one of the noble — across, upon the thunderbolt's nave, wealth is anointed for thee.

10.57 The swift, inspired ones have sung the hymn that is sweet and dripping with ghee. In us wealth has spread, and the bull's strength; in us the soma drops have sounded.

10.58 And the pure bright color is to be borne upon the cows.

10.59 O Indu, lord of the tawny steeds, most divine of the apsarases — be like a friend to a friend, a manly one, for our glory.

10.60 May thou always from us drive away whatever ungodly devourer there be. O conquering Indu, push away the deceptive one on every side.

10.61 The golden-footed ones seize in the waters the bull that flies up at the swelling of the flood — the beast in the waters.

10.62 Sing to the wise, purifying one — the great stream of the soma flows on. Like a serpent he glides over the withered skin; like a warrior sporting, the tawny bull-stallion has rushed forth.

10.63 The king who is paramount among the foremost, the unmeasured one set in the worlds of the days, shall be praised. The tawny one, dripping with ghee, fair to behold, the flood, the chariot of light, purifies himself — he who is at home in wealth.