a O Lord of the dwelling, accept us;

Be of kind entrance for us and free from ill;

That which we seek from thee, do thou accord us,

And health be thou for our bipeds, health for our quadrupeds.

b O Lord of the dwelling, may we be comrades of thee

In a friendship, effectual, joyful, and proceeding well;

Aid our wishes in peace, in action;

Do ye guard us ever with blessings.

In that evening and morning he offers the Agnihotra the sacrificer thus piles up the oblation bricks; the bricks of him who has established a sacred fire are the days and nights; in that he offers evening and morning, he obtains the days and nights, and making them into bricks piles them up. He offers ten in the same place; the Viraj has ten syllables; having obtained the Viraj, he makes it into a brick and piles it up; thus in the Viraj he obtains the sacrifice; the piling up must be repeated by him. Therefore that is the place of sacrifice where he advances having spent ten nights; not suitable is the place where he spends less time than that. Now the Lord of the dwelling is God the Healer. If he were to go on without offering to the Lord of the dwelling, the fire would leap after him and slay him; he offers to the Lord of the dwelling; thus with his own share he appeases Him; the sacrificer does not come to ruin. If he were to offer with the chariot yoked, that would be as when one offers an oblation on a place he has left; if he were to offer without the chariot being yoked, that would be as when one offers an oblation at rest; thus no offering would be made to the Lord of the dwelling. The right animal is yoked, the left not yoked, and thus he offers to the Lord of the dwelling; thus he does both, and appeases Him completely. If he were to offer with one verse he would make it a ladle offering; having pronounced the Puronuvakya he offers with the Yajya, to win the favour of God. If he were to load his cart after the offering, he would bring misfortune into his house. If he were to set out without extinguishing the smouldering embers, it would be like a confusion of the sacrifice or a burning. "This is thy birthplace in season," with these words he places the embers on the kindling-sticks; this is the birthplace of the fire; thus he mounts it on its own birthplace. Now they say, if being placed on the kindling-sticks it should be lost, his fire would be dispersed, it would have to be piled up again. "With thy body, O Radiant One, worthy of sacrifice, come hither and mount," with these words he makes it mount on himself; the birthplace of fire is the sacrificer; thus on its own birthplace he causes it to mount.

3.4.11

a Long life Thou givest, O God the Radiant (Agni),

O God, to the giver,

Sage, lord of the house, ever young.

b Bearer of our offerings, immortal, our Guardian,

Wide extending, widely radiant, fair to see for us,

With a well-kept household flame, cause food to shine forth for us,

Mete out to us honour.

c O Lord, grant us life,

That we may not die before our term,

Thou who lovest praise, Lord of the forest.

(The provision of God, the juice of the plant, is our gift from Him.)

d The Knowing One of all knowers, leader of the poets,

Sage of the seers, bull among wild beasts,

Eagle among vultures, axe among the forests,

The pure juice goes over the strainer singing His praise.

e With our hymns today we choose

The God of all, the Lord of truth,

The Light-giver whose guidance is true.

f Coming with true light,

Appointing the mortal and the immortal,

With a golden chariot the Light-giver,

The God, advances gazing on the worlds.

g That the Boundless One may grant

To our cattle, our men, our kine,

To our offspring, the Healer's grace.

h Harm us not in our children, our descendants, nor in our life,

Harm us not in our cattle, in our horses;

Smite not in anger our heroes, O Lord,

With offerings let us serve Thee with honour.

i Like watchful birds swimming in water,

Like the noises of the loud thundercloud,

Like joyous waves breaking forth from the mountains,

The praises have lauded the Lord of Prayer.

k With comrades shouting like swans,

Casting aside his stone-made fetters,

The Lord of Prayer thundered towards the cows,

And praised and sang in celebration, perceiving them.

l Hither, O God the Mighty (Indra), bring enduring wealth,

Victorious, bearing all,

Highest for help, do Thou bring.

m O Thou much invoked, Thou dost endure the foes;

Best be Thy strength, Thy gift here;

Bring riches with Thy right hand, O Mighty One,

Thou art the lord of rich rivers.

n Thou wast born in full size at once,

For the drinking of the pressed juice,

O Mighty One, O Wise One, for pre-eminence.

o Thou art mighty, O Mighty One, with holy power,

To be adored at every pressing;

Thou art an overthrower of men in every conflict,

And the highest song, O Lord of all the people.

p The fame of the Friend (Mitra), supporter of the people,

Of God, is eternal,

True, and most varied in fame.

q The Friend stirs men, the wise One,

The Friend upholds earth and sky;

The Friend regards men with unwinking eye;

To the True One let us offer an oblation rich in ghee.

r Rich in food be that mortal, O Friend,

Who, O Sustainer, seeks to follow Thy law;

Aided by Thee he is not slain nor oppressed;

Affliction comes to him neither from near nor from afar.

s Whatever law of Thine, as men,

O God the All-Seeing (Varuna),

Day by day we transgress,

t Whatever wrong we mortals here do

Against the host of angels,

Whatever breach of Thy laws we make through lack of thought,

For that sin, O God, do not punish us.

u As gamesters cheat in dicing,

What we know in truth or what we know not,

All that do Thou, O God, loosen as it were,

And may we be dear to Thee, O All-Seeing One.