10 The charm which the Lord of Prayer has bound: this the moon wore; with this it conquered the forts of the rebellious, the golden forts of the proud. It yields him glory and renown, again and again, from morn to morn.

11 The amulet that the Lord of Prayer bound on the swiftly moving wind yields him a vigorous steed, again and again, from morn to morn.

12 With this amulet the twin healers protect this culture of our fields. It yields the two physicians might, again and again, from morn to morn.

13 The Light-giver wore this amulet; herewith he won this lucid heaven. It yields him glory and delight, again and again, from morn to morn.

14 Wearing this, the waters flow eternally inviolate. It yields them life-giving sweetness, again and again, from morn to morn.

15 The King, the All-Seeing, assumed and wore this salutary amulet. It yields him his truthfulness, again and again, from morn to morn.

16 Wearing this amulet the righteous conquered in battle all the worlds. It yields victory for them, again and again, from morn to morn.

17 The amulet that the Lord of Prayer formed for the swiftly moving wind, this salutary amulet the angels assumed and wore. It yields them the universe, again and again, from morn to morn. With this subdue thine enemies.

18 The seasons formed that amulet, the groups of seasons fashioned it; the year, having constructed it, preserves everything that is.

19 The regions of the heaven, the points that lie between them, fashioned it. Created by the Creator, may it cast my foes down.

20 Atharvan made the amulet, Atharvan's children fashioned it; with it the sage Angirases broke through the fortresses of the foe. With this subdue thine enemies.

21 The Ordainer bound on this amulet; He ranged and ordered all that is. With this do thou subdue thy foes.

22 The amulet which the Lord of Prayer formed for the righteous, that slew the wicked, that amulet has come to me combined with sap and energy.

23 That amulet has come to me; it has come with cows and goats and sheep, it has come with food and progeny.

24 That amulet has come to me with streams of barley and of rice, with greatness and prosperity.

25 That amulet has come to me with streams of butter and of mead, with sweet delicious beverage.

26 That amulet has come to me with power and abundant strength, it has come with glory and with wealth.

27 That amulet has come to me with splendour and a blaze of light, with honour and illustrious fame.

28 The amulet which the Lord of Prayer made for the righteous, that slew the wicked, that amulet has come to me combined with all prosperities.

29 That amulet may God bestow on me to win success, the conquering, strength-increasing, the damager of enemies.

30 I bind on me my happy fate with holy prayer and energy, foeless destroyer of the foe; it has subdued mine enemies.

31 May this, by the grace of God, make me superior to my foe. May it, whose milk expressed these three worlds longingly await, be fastened on me here, that it may crown me with surpassing power.

32 That to which men, forefathers and angels look ever for their maintenance, may this be fastened on me here, to crown me with surpassing power.

33 As, when the plough has tilled the soil, the seed springs up in fertile land, let cattle, progeny and food of every kind spring up with me.

34 Forwarder of devotion, who hast a hundred offerings, speed to pre-eminence him to whom I have attached thy happy fate.

35 Love, O God the Light, pleased with burnt offerings, this sacred fuel that is ranged in order. In Him may we find grace and loving-kindness, happiness, progeny and sight and cattle, in the All-Knowing, kindled with devotion.

Hymn 7

1 Which of His creation's members is the seat of fervour? Which is the base of the ordained order? Where in him stands faith? Where holy duty? Where, in what part of him, is truth implanted?

2 Out of which member glows the light of fire? From which proceeds the breath of the wind? From which does the moon measure out his journey, travelling over the mighty body of creation?

3 Which member is the earth's upholder? Which gives the middle air a base to rest on? Where, in which member, is the sky established? Where has the space above the sky its dwelling?

4 Whitherward yearning blazes the fire upward? Whitherward yearning blows the wind? Who out of many, tell me, is that Supporter to whom with longing go the turning pathways?

5 Whither go the half-months, and, accordant with the full year, the months in their procession? Who out of many, tell me, is that Supporter to whom go seasons and the groups of seasons?

6 Whitherward yearning speed the two young damsels, accordant, Day and Night, of different colour? Who out of many, tell me, is that Supporter to whom the waters take their way with longing?

7 Who out of many, tell me, is that Supporter on whom the Creator set up and firmly established all the worlds?

8 That universe which the Creator created, wearing all forms, the highest, midmost, lowest, how far did the Supporter penetrate within it by His knowledge? What portion did He leave unpenetrated?

9 How far within the past has His knowledge entered? How much of it has reached into the future? That one part which He set in a thousand places, how far did His knowledge penetrate within it?

10 Who out of many, tell me, is that Supporter in whom men recognize the waters, the Word, in whom they knew the worlds and their enclosures, in whom are non-existence and existence?

11 Declare that Supporter, who is He of many, in whom, exerting every power, fervour maintains her loftiest vow; in whom are comprehended law, waters, devotion and belief?

12 Who out of many, tell me, is that Supporter on whose command earth and firmament and sky are set; by whose decree fire and moon and sun and wind keep their appointed place?

13 Who out of many, tell me, is that Supporter under whose command are all the angels?

14 Who out of many, tell me, is that Supporter by whose decree the earliest-born sages, the verses, the chants, the sacred formulas and the earth, and the one highest Sage, abide?

15 Who out of many, tell me, is that Supporter who decrees for mankind both life and death, He who gathered the waters for mankind as the veins of the earth?

16 Who out of many, tell me, is that Supporter whose chief channels are the four regions of the sky, by whose leave devotion puts forth its might?

17 They who understand the Word of God in man know Him who is Supreme. He who knows Him who is Supreme, and he who knows the Lord of Life, these know the loftiest divine Power, and thence know the Supporter thoroughly.

18 Who out of many, tell me, is that Supporter by whose decree the radiant light was made the head of the world, and the sages were given their keen sight?

Hymn 7 (continued)

19 Who out of many, tell me, is that Supporter from whom the holy word proceeds, by whose bounty sweetness and abundance flow, and from whom all sovereign power comes?

20 Who out of many, tell me, is that Supporter from whom came down the verses, the sacred formulas, the chants, and the hymns of the Atharvans and the Angirases?

21 Some regard as supreme what has no reality; and lesser men, who serve what is but a branch, regard it as real.

22 Who out of many, tell me, is that Supporter by whose command the angels serve, by whose knowledge the future and the past and all the worlds are firmly set?

23 Whose secret treasure do the angels evermore guard? Who knows now the treasure which you, O angels, watch and guard?

24 Where the angels, versed in the holy word, bow before the loftiest divine Power, the teacher who knows them face to face may be a sage who knows the truth.

25 Great, verily, are those angels whom God brought from non-existence into life. Further, men say that one part of creation was brought forth from nothing.

26 Where God, creating, gave the ancient world its shape and form, they recognized that single part of His creation as the ancient world.

27 The angels, thirty-three, were ordered by Him as His servants; some, deeply versed in the holy word, know those thirty-three.

28 Men know the Golden Germ of Light as a supreme sign, beyond all description: in the beginning, in the midst of the world, God poured forth that gold.

29 On God devotion rests; the worlds and holy law repose on Him. O Lord, I clearly know that all of Thy might is established by Thy power.

30 On the Mighty devotion rests; on Him the words and holy law recline. O Lord, I clearly know that all of Thee finds rest in Thy own sovereignty.

31 Before the sun and the dawn men call upon the One by one name and another. God, the Unborn, is from the first the independent sovereign Lord, than whom none higher has ever been.

32 Reverence be paid to Him, God Most High, who made the earth a resting-place, the air between, and the sky a canopy.

33 Homage to God Most High, who made the sun and the moon, ever renewed, and made fire for the use of men.

34 Homage to God Most High, who made the wind for the breath of men, who gave them sight, and made the regions to guide their senses.

35 God set fast these two, the earth and heaven; God maintained the ample air between them. God established the six spacious regions; this whole world He encompasses by His knowledge.

36 Homage to God Most High, who, without toil or weariness, filled all the worlds completely, and who made the Soma plant as provision for His creatures.

37 Why does the wind move ceaselessly? Why does the spirit take no rest? Why do the waters, seeking truth, never at any time repose?

38 Mighty is the Lord, whose throne was upon the waters, in the centre of the world; to Him all the angels turn, as the branches stand round the trunk of a tree.

39 Who out of many, tell me, is that Supporter to whom the angels, with hand and foot and voice and ear and eye, present unmeasured homage in the measured hall of worship?

40 Darkness is chased away from Him; He is exempt from all distress. All the lights, the three, are of His making.

41 He who knows the golden light that stands amid the flood knows a mystery of the Lord of Life.

42 Singly the two young maids of different colours approach the six-pegged warp in turns and weave it; the one draws out the threads, the other lays them; they break them not, they reach no end of labour.

43 Of these two, dancing round as it were, I cannot distinguish which ranks before the other. By One this web is inwoven, by One it is divided; One has stretched it to the vault of heaven.

44 These pegs have buttressed up the sky. The chants have turned them into shuttles for the weaving.

Hymn 8

1 Worship to God Most High, Lord of what has been and what shall be, who rules the universe, and to whom the heavenly light belongs.

2 Upheld by the power of God these two, the heaven and the earth, stand fast. All this world of life, whatever breathes or shuts an eye, is held by Him.

3 Three generations have gone by and vanished, and others near have entered into sunlight. There stood on high He who metes out the region; into green plants has passed the golden-coloured.

4 One is the wheel, the tyres are twelve in number, the naves are three. What man has understood it? Three hundred spokes have thereon been hammered, and sixty pins set firmly in their places.

5 Discern this, O seeker. Six are the twins, one singly born. They claim relationship in that among them which is born alone.

6 Though manifest, it lies concealed in the vast place they call the old; therein is firmly stationed all the moving, breathing universe.

7 Up, eastward, downward in the west, it rolls, with countless elements, one-wheeled, single-felled. With half it has begotten all creation. Where has the other half become unnoticed?

8 In front of these the five-horsed car moves onward; side-horses, harnessed with the others, draw it. No one has seen its hither course untravelled; the height sees it more near, the depth more distant.

9 The bowl with mouth inclined and bottom upward holds stored within it every form of glory. Thereon together sit the seven sages, who have become this mighty One's protectors.

10 The verse employed at opening and conclusion, the verse employed in each and every portion, that by which devotion proceeds onward: I ask thee which is that of all the verses.

11 That which has power of motion, that which flies or stands, which breathes or breathes not, which, existing, shuts the eye, wearing all forms, that entity upholds the earth, and in its close consistence still is only one.

12 The infinite, extended to every side, the finite and the infinite around us, these twain the Lord of heaven divides as He advances, knowing the past of this and all the future.

13 Within the womb the Creator is at work; though unseen, He brings about birth in sundry places. With one half He engendered all creation. What sign is there to tell us of the other?

14 All men behold it with the eye, but with the mind they know it not, holding aloft the water as a water-bearer in her jar.

15 With the full vase it dwells afar, and is left far off when it fails. A mighty Being is in creation's centre; to Him the rulers of the realms submit.

16 That whence the sun arises, that whither it goes to take its rest, that verily I hold supreme; naught in the world surpasses it.

17 Those who in recent times, midmost, or ancient, on all sides greet the sage who knows the Book, one and all discuss the sun, the second fire, and the threefold traveller of light, signs of God.

18 This gold-hued traveller's wings, flying to heaven, spread over a thousand days' continued journey. Bearing all the shining ones upon his bosom, he goes his way beholding every creature.

19 By truth he blazes up aloft, by God's command he looks down below; he breathes obliquely with his breath, he on whom what is highest rests.

20 The sage who knows the kindling-sticks whence by attrition wealth is drawn will comprehend what is most high, will know the mighty Lord.

21 Footless at first was he produced, footless he brought celestial light; four-footed grown, and meet for use, he seized each thing enjoyable.

22 Useful will he become, and then will he consume great store of food, the man who humbly worships the eternal and victorious God.

23 Him too they call eternal; he may become new again to-day. Day and night reproduce themselves, each from the form the other wears.

24 A hundred, thousand, myriad, yea a hundred million stores of wealth that passes count are laid in him. This wealth they consume as he looks on, and now he shines bright therefrom.

25 One is yet finer than a hair, one is not even visible; and hence the One who grasps with firmer hold is dear to me.

26 This fair one is untouched by age, immortal in a mortal's house. He for whom she was made lies low, and he who formed her has grown old.

27 Thou art a woman, and a man; thou art a maid and a boy. Grown old thou totterest with a staff; new-born thou lookest every way.

28 He alone is God, who knows what is in the mind, who was before the first-born, and who knows even what the womb holds.

29 Forth from the full He lifts the full, the full He sprinkles with the full. Now also may we know the source from which that stream is sprinkled round.

30 Brought forth in olden time, everlasting, high over all that is was she, the ancient, the mighty dawn, a sign of God, refulgent, looking round.

31 Known by the name of Guardian Grace, God's mercy is girt about by right; the trees have taken from it their hue, green-garlanded, their robe of green.

32 When he is near she leaves him not, she sees him not though he is near. Behold the wisdom of God: he has not died, he grows not old.

33 Voices that never were before emitted speak as befits them; wherever they go and speak, they say there is the mighty Lord.

34 I ask thee where the waters' flower was placed by wondrous creative power; thereon angels and men are set, as spokes are fastened in the nave.

35 Who gave command unto the wind that blows? Who ranged the five united heavenly regions? Who are those that need no offerings? Who brought the sacrificial waters?

36 God alone upholds the earth we live on; He encompasses the air's mid-region; He, the Supporter, takes the heaven and bears it; the angels keep watch and guard all the quarters safely.

37 The man who knows the drawn-out string on which these creatures all are strung, the man who knows the thread's thread, he may know the mighty Lord.

38 I know the drawn-out string, the thread whereon these creatures all are strung; I know the thread's thread also; thus I know the mighty Lord.

39 When the lightning passed between earth and heaven, devouring with its flame, the all-consuming, where dwelt afar the regions of the sky, where at that moment was the wind?

40 Into the floods the wind had entered; the clouds had passed into the waters. There stood the mighty measurer of the region; into the verdant plants went the lightning.

41 Over the Gayatri, above the immortal world, he strode away. Those who by song discovered song, where did the Unborn see that thing?

42 He who lulls to rest and gathers up treasures, the Light-giver, whose laws are constant, stands mighty in the strife for riches.

43 Men versed in sacred knowledge know the living soul that abides in the nine-portalled body, enclosed with triple bands and bonds.

44 God is desireless, firm, everlasting, self-sufficient, content with the essence, lacking nothing. Free from the fear of death is he who knows his Lord, courageous, youthful, undecaying.

Hymn 9

1 Binding the mouths of those who threaten mischief, against my rivals cast this bolt. God first gave the hundredfold offering, the welfare of him who gives, destroying the foe.

2 Let thy skin be the mat for the offering, and thy hair the sacred grass; this cord has held thee firmly.

3 Let pure water be given; let thy tongue make thee clean, O cow. Go, hundredfold offering, made bright and acceptable, for God's sake.

4 He who prepares the hundredfold offering gains each wish thereby; for all his ministering helpers, contented, move as befits them.

5 He rises up to the high and blessed station, whoever gives the hundredfold offering with the central cake.

6 That man completely wins the rewards both of the heavens and of the earth, whoever pays the hundredfold offering with its golden fee.

7 Those who slaughter thee, and the men who dress thee for the feast, all these will guard thee, hundredfold offering; have no fear of them.

8 Angels from the south will be thy guards, and angels from the north; angels from the west: pass beyond the first rite of praise.

9 The righteous, the elders, mortal men, and all created beings will be thy guards: pass beyond the night-long rite.

10 The man who pays the hundredfold offering wins all the worlds, the air, heaven and earth, and the regions of the sky.

11 Sprinkling down fatness, the bounty goes on for the sake of God. Harm not thy dresser, cow; speed, hundredfold offering, for God's sake.

12 From all the provision of heaven, in the air, and from all that dwells on earth, draw forth for evermore a stream of milk, of butter, and of honey.

13 Let thy head, thy mouth, both thine ears, and those two jaws of thine pour for the giver mingled curd, and flowing butter, milk and honey.

14 Let both thy lips, thy nostrils, both thy horns, and those two eyes of thine pour for the giver mingled curd, and flowing butter, milk and honey.

15 Let thy heart and its covering, let thy lungs with all their tubes pour for the giver mingled curd, and flowing butter, milk and honey.

16 Let thy liver, and thy kidneys, thine entrails, and the parts within pour for the giver mingled curd, and flowing butter, milk and honey.

17 Let thy belly's hollows and thy skin pour for the giver mingled curd, and flowing butter, milk and honey.

18 Let all thy marrow, every bone, all thy flesh and all thy blood pour for the giver mingled curd, and flowing butter, milk and honey.

19 Let both thy shoulders and thy hump, thy forelegs and their lower parts pour for the giver mingled curd, and flowing butter, milk and honey.

20 Let neck and nape and shoulder-joints, thy ribs and the parts between pour for the giver mingled curd, and flowing butter, milk and honey.

21 So let thy thighs and thy knee-bones, thy hinder quarters and thy hips pour for the giver mingled curd, and flowing butter, milk and honey.

22 So let thy tail and all the hairs thereof, thine udder and thy teats pour for the giver mingled curd, and flowing butter, milk and honey.

23 Let all thy legs, thy feet, and thy hooves pour for the giver mingled curd, and flowing butter, milk and honey.

24 Let all thy skin, hundredfold offering, let every hair thou hast, cow, pour for the giver mingled curd, and flowing butter, milk and honey.

25 Sprinkled with molten butter, let the two meal-cakes be a delight to thee. Make them thy wings, and bear him who dresses thee to the Garden.

26 Each grain of rice in mortar or on pestle, all on the skin or in the winnowing-basket, whatever the pure wind has sifted, let the giver make of it an acceptable offering.

27 In the hands of the learned I lay, in separate order, the sweet waters, dropping fatness. As here I sprinkle them, may all my wishes be granted me in perfect fulness. May we have ample wealth in our possession.

Hymn 10

1 Thanks be to God for thee, cow, springing to life, and thanks to Him when thou art born; thanks for thy tail-hair, and for thy hooves, and for thy form.

2 The man who knows the seven floods, who knows the seven distances, who knows the head of devotion, he may receive the cow.

3 I know the seven water-floods, I know the seven distances, I know the head of devotion, and the blessing that shines in her.

4 Hitherward we invite with prayer the cow who pours a thousand streams, by whom, through God's gift, heaven, earth and these waters are preserved.

5 Upon her back there are a hundred keepers, a hundred metal bowls, a hundred milkers. All who breathe know the cow, each in his own way, as a gift of God.

6 Her step is service, her milk an offering, her breath is provision for the departed, and she is great bounty. The cow, with God as her Lord, goes with prayer to Him.

7 Fire has entered into the cow; the Soma plant has entered her; her udder is like the rain-cloud, O blest cow; the lightnings are her teats.

8 Thou pourest out the waters first, and corn-lands afterward, O cow; thirdly thou pourest out good government; O cow, thou pourest food and milk.

18 The warrior's mother is the cow; thy mother, O provision, is the cow. Devotion is the strength of the cow; thought arose from her.

19 From the summit of the holy word there went forth a flame that mounted up on high; from that wast thou produced, O cow; from that the priest sprang to life.

20 Forth from thy mouth the songs came, from thy neck's nape sprang strength, O cow; devotion from thy flanks was born, and rays of sunlight from thy teats.

21 From thy hips and thy thighs motion was generated, cow; food from thine entrails was produced, and from thy belly came the plants.

25 The cow has welcomed devotion; the cow has held the sun in place. Together with the prayer the mess of rice has passed into the cow.

26 They call the cow's gift life itself; they pay homage to God who decrees even death. By Him the fathers and the sages came to be, and the angels, and men, and the rebellious.

27 The man who has this knowledge may receive the cow with welcoming. So the giver willingly perfects his devotion and pours milk.

28 Within the mouth of the All-Seeing three tongues are glittering with light; that which shines midmost of them is this cow, most difficult to hold.

29 Four-parted was the cow's prolific humour: one-fourth is water, one-fourth life, one-fourth is devotion, one-fourth are cattle.

30 Heaven and earth are God's, and the Lord of Life is God alone. The righteous have drunk of the outpourings of the cow.

31 When the righteous have drunk of the outpourings of the cow, they give thanks to God for her milk in the dwelling-place of light.

32 For the Soma some have milked her; some give thanks for the fatness she has poured. They who have given a cow to the learned man who has this knowledge have gone up to the third region of the sky.

33 He who has given a cow to the learned wins all the worlds, for right is firmly set in giving, devotion, and religious zeal.

34 Both angels and mortal men depend for life and being on the provision of God. All that the sun surveys is His.