Page:The Hymns of the Rigveda Vol 1.djvu/485

This page needs to be proofread.
8 He, worshipful House-Friend, in his home is worshipped, our own auspicious guest, lauded by sages.
That strength the Bull with thousand horns[1] possesses.
In might, O Agni, thou excellest others.

9 Thou quickly passest by all others, Agni, for him to whom thou hast appeared most lovely,
Wondrously fair, adorable, effulgent, the guest of men, the darling of the people.

10 To thee, Most Youthful God! to thee, O Agni, from near and far the people bring their tribute.
Mark well the prayer of him who best extols thee. Great, high, auspicious, Agni, is thy shelter.

11 Ascend to-day thy splendid car, O Agni, in splendour, with the Holy Ones around it.
Knowing the paths by mid-air's spacious region bring hither Gods to feast on our oblation.

12 To him adorable, sage, strong and mighty we have sung forth our song of praise and homage.
Gavishṭhira hath raised with prayer to Agni this laud far-reaching, like gold light to heaven.


HYMN II.
Agni.
The youthful Mother keeps the Boy in secret pressed to her close, nor yields him to the Father.
But, when he lies upon the arm, the people see his unfading countenance before them.

2 What child is this thou carriest as handmaid, O Youthful One? The Consort-Queen hath borne him.
The Babe unborn increased through many autumns. I saw him born what time his Mother bare him.

3 I saw him from afar gold-toothed, bright-coloured, hurling his weapons from his habitation,

1 The kindling of the sacrificial fire is figuratively described. The lower piece of wood retains the latent spark and will not give it up to the yajamâna or worshipper until he has generated it by attrition. When the fire has been produced, and is shown like a child that is carried on the arm, its brightness is apparent to all. This seems to be the meaning of the stanza; but to arrive at it aratnaú must be read instead of the arataú of the text; and this or some similar alteration is required by the metre. But see Ludwig's Commentary. 2 The meaning is obscure. The handmaid and the Consort-Queen (máhishi) are perhaps the two fire-sticks. The fire thus produced is not the genuine Agni, who is born as lightning from the cloud. 3 I offered sweet libations of Soma juice to Agni when I beheld him in the form of lightning, and consequently the godless who do not acknowledge Indra are unable to injure me. 3

  1. ↑ The Bull with thousand horns: Agni as the Sun with his countless rays.
This article is issued from Wikisource. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.