a O Radiant One, to whom ghee is offered,

Do Thou lead him forward;

Unite him with increase of wealth,

With offspring and with wealth.

b O Mighty One, bring him to the fore,

That he may be lord over his fellows;

Unite him with splendour,

That he may assign their shares to the righteous.

c Him, O Radiant One, do Thou exalt

In whose house we make the offering;

To him may the angels lend aid,

And he the lord of holy power.

d May all the angels Thee,

O Radiant One, bear up with their thoughts;

Be Thou to us most propitious,

With kindly face, abounding in light.

e May the five regions divine aid the sacrifice,

Driving away poverty and hostility,

And giving to the lord of the sacrifice increase of wealth.

f In increase of wealth the sacrifice has been established,

Waxing great on the kindled fire,

Grasped with hymns as wings, to be adored;

They sacrificed embracing the heated cauldron.

g When with strength the righteous laboured at the sacrifice

For the divine supporter, the enjoyer,

Serving the angels' Lord, benign, with a hundred drinks it was;

The righteous kept embracing the sacrifice.

h With the rays of the sun, with tawny hair,

The Light-giver has raised before us His unending light;

On His instigation fares the Nourisher,

The guardian, gazing on all things.

i The righteous stand serving as priests for the Lord;

Ready is it for the immolator, let the immolator sacrifice;

Where the fourth offering goes to the oblation,

Thence let our pure invocations be accepted.

k As measurer He stands in the midst of the sky,

Filling the two worlds and the atmosphere;

The all-reaching, the butter-reaching, He discerns,

Between the eastern and the western mark.

l Bull, ocean, ruddy bird,

He has entered the birthplace of His ancient sire;

In the middle of the sky is the dappled stone set down;

He has stepped apart, He guards the two ends of space.

m All songs have caused the Mighty One to wax

To encompass the ocean,

Best charioteer of charioteers,

True lord and lord of strength.

n Let the sacrifice invite favour, and bring to us the angels; let the Radiant One offer and bring to us the angels.

o With the impulse of strength,

With elevation He has seized me;

Then the Mighty One has made my enemies

Humble by depression.

p The righteous have increased my prayer,

Which is elevation and depression;

Then do Ye, O Mighty and Radiant,

Scatter my foes on every side.

4.6.4

a Swift, like a bull sharpening his horns, the warrior

Fond of slaughter, disturber of the people,

Bellowing, unwinking, sole hero,

The Mighty One at once conquered a hundred hosts.

b With the bellowing, unwinking, conquering,

Fighter, hard to overthrow, and daring Mighty One,

With the Mighty One do ye conquer, do ye withstand

The foe, O heroes, with the strong One who holds the arrow in His hands.

c He is mighty with those who have arrows in their hands and quivers,

The Mighty One who joins hosts with His band,

Conquering in combat, drinker of the pressed juice, with many a band,

With bow uplifted, and shooter with well-drawn arrows.

d O Lord of Prayer, fly round with Thy chariot,

Slaying the foe, driving away the enemy;

Defeating hosts, destroyer, victor in battle,

Be Thou protector of our chariots.

e The cleaver of the cowstalls, finder of the cows, with the thunderbolt on His arm,

Victorious, crushing in might a host,

Be heroes, O my fellows, like Him;

O comrades, follow in the footsteps of the Mighty One.

f Conspicuous by might, strong, heroic,

Enduring, mighty, steadfast, dread,

Surpassing heroes and warriors born of strength,

Do Thou, winning kine, mount, O Mighty One, Thy victorious car.

g In might penetrating the cowstalls,

Impetuous, the hero, the Mighty One, with wrath a hundredfold,

Hard to resist, enduring in battle, unovercomable,

May He aid our armies in the battles.

h The Mighty One be their leader, and let the Lord of Prayer,

The sacrificial gift, the sacrifice and the provision go before;

Let the Maruts precede the angelic hosts,

That overthrow and conquer.

i Of the Mighty One, the strong, of the All-Seeing, the king,

Of the Adityas, of the Maruts the mighty host,

The voice has ascended of the angels

Great-hearted that shake the worlds as they conquer.

k Ours be the Mighty One, when the standards meet;

Ours be the arrows that conquer;

Ours be the heroes who are victors,

And us do ye aid, O angels, at our invocations.

l Exalt our weapons, O bounteous One,

Exalt the might of my warriors;

Exalt the strength of the steed, O slayer of the foe,

Let the sound of the conquering chariots arise.

m Go ye forward, O heroes; conquer;

Be your arms strong;

May the Mighty One accord you protection

That ye may be unassailable.

n Let loose, fly forward,

O arrow, expelled with holy power;

Go to our foes, and enter them;

Not one of them do thou spare.

o Thy vital parts I clothe with armour;

May the Lord of provision cover thee with immortality,

Space broader than broad be thine;

May the angels take delight in thy victory.

p When the arrows fly together

Like boys unshorn,

Then may the Mighty One, slayer of foes,

Accord us protection for ever.

4.6.5

a Along the eastern quarter do thou advance, wise one;

Be thou, O Radiant One, of the radiant the harbinger here;