The Piling of the Fire Altar (Continued)

4.7.1

a O Radiant One and All-Pervading, may these songs gladden You in unison; come Ye with radiance and strength.

b May for me strength, instigation, influence, inclination, thought, inspiration, speech, fame, renown, reputation, light, heaven, expiration, inspiration, cross-breathing, breath, mind, learning, voice, mind, eye, ear, skill, might, force, strength, life, old age, breath, body, protection, guard, limbs, bones, joints, bodies prosper through the sacrifice.

4.7.2

May for me pre-eminence, overlordship, spirit, anger, violence, impetuosity, victorious power, greatness, breadth, extent, greatness, length, growth, growing, truth, faith, world, wealth, power, radiance, play, delight, what is born, what is to be born, good words, good deeds, finding, what there is to find, what has been, what will be, easy road, good way, prosperity, prospering, agreement, agreeing, thought, good thought prosper through the sacrifice.

4.7.3

May for me prosperity, comfort, desire, wish, longing, kindliness, good, better, superior, fame, good luck, riches, restrainer, supporter, peace, firmness, all, greatness, discovery, knowledge, begetting, procreation, plough, harrow, holy order, immortality, freeness from disease, freedom from illness, life, longevity, freedom from foes, fearlessness, ease of going, lying, fair dawning, and fair day prosper through the sacrifice.

4.7.4

May for me strength, righteousness, milk, sap, ghee, honey, eating and drinking in company, ploughing, rain, conquest, victory, wealth, riches, prosperity, prospering, plenteousness, lordship, much, more, fun, fuller, imperishableness, bad crops, food, freedom from hunger, rice, barley, beans, sesame, kidney beans, vetches, wheat, lentils, millet, panicum miliaceum, panicum frumentaceum, and wild rice prosper through the sacrifice.

4.7.5

May for me the stone, clay, hills, mountains, sand, trees, gold, bronze, lead, tin, iron, copper, fire, water, roots, plants, what grows on ploughed land, what grows on unploughed land, tame and wild cattle prosper through the sacrifice; may for me wealth and gaining wealth, attainment and attaining, riches, dwelling, act, power, aim, strength, moving and going prosper through the sacrifice.

4.7.6

May the Radiant One for me and the Mighty One, may the Lord of provision and the Mighty One, may the Light-giver and the Mighty One, may the stream of wisdom and the Mighty One, may the Nourisher and the Mighty One, may the Lord of Prayer and the Mighty One, may the Friend and the Mighty One, may the All-Seeing and the Mighty One, may the Fashioner and the Mighty One, may the Ordainer and the Mighty One, may the All-Pervading and the Mighty One, may the two Healers and the Mighty One, may the Maruts and the Mighty One, may all the angels and the Mighty One, may earth and the Mighty One, may the atmosphere and the Mighty One, may sky and the Mighty One, may the quarters and the Mighty One, may the head and the Mighty One, may the Creator and the Mighty One be auspicious for me through the sacrifice. (These are names and attributes of the One God, and the angels who serve Him.)

4.7.7

May the Amsu cup for me, the Rasmi, the Adabhya, the overlord cup, the Upansu, the Antaryama, the cup of the Mighty One and the Wind, the cup of the Friend and the All-Seeing, the cup of the two Healers, the Pratiprasthana cup, the Sukra, the Manthin, the Agrayana, the cup of all the angels, the Dhruva, the cup of the Radiant One common to all men, the season cups, the Atigrahyas, the cup of the Mighty and the Radiant, the cup of all the angels, the cups of the Maruts, the cup of the Great Mighty One, the cup of the Sustainer, the cup of the Light-giver, the cup of the stream of wisdom, the cup of the Nourisher, the cup of the Fashioner with the consorts, the Hariyojana cup prosper for me through the sacrifice.

4.7.8

May the kindling-wood for me, the strew, the altar, the lesser altars, the offering-spoons, the cups, the pressing-stones, the chips of the post, the sounding-holes, the two pressing-boards, the wooden tub, the Vayu cups, the bowl for the purified juice, the mixing bowl, the fire-priest's altar, the oblation-holder, the house, the assembly place, the cakes, the cooked offerings, the final bath, the cry of 'Godspeed' prosper for me through the sacrifice.

4.7.9

May the fire for me, the cauldron, the beam, the sun, breath, the horse sacrifice, earth, the Boundless One, the Limited One, sky, the Sakvari verses, the fingers, the quarters prosper through the sacrifice; may the verse, the chant, the hymn tune, the Yajus, consecration, penance, the season, the vow prosper through the rain of day and night, the Brhat and Rathantara prosper for me through the sacrifice.

4.7.10

May the embryo for me, the calves, the one-and-a-half-year-old male and female, the two-year-old male and female, the two-and-a-half-year-old male and female, the three-year-old male and female, the four-year-old male and female, the draught ox and the draught cow, the bull and the cow that is barren, the steer and the cow that miscarries, the bullock and the cow prosper through the sacrifice; may life prosper through the sacrifice, may expiration prosper through the sacrifice, may inspiration prosper through the sacrifice, may cross-breathing prosper through the sacrifice, may the eye prosper through the sacrifice, may the ear prosper through the sacrifice, may mind prosper through the sacrifice, may speech prosper through the sacrifice, may the self prosper through the sacrifice, may the sacrifice prosper through the sacrifice.

4.7.11

a May one for me, three, five, seven, nine, eleven, thirteen, fifteen, seventeen, nineteen, twenty-one, twenty-three, twenty-five, twenty-seven, twenty-nine, thirty-one, thirty-three;

b four, eight, twelve, sixteen, twenty, twenty-four, twenty-eight, thirty-two, thirty-six, forty, forty-four, forty-eight;

c strength, instigation, the later born, inspiration, heaven, the head, the Vyagniya, the offspring of the last, the last, the offspring of being, being, the overlord prosper with the sacrifice.

4.7.12

a May strength aid us through the seven quarters,

The four distances,

Strength aid us here with all the angels

For the gaining of wealth.

b May all the Maruts today be present, all, to aid us,

Be the fires all enkindled present;

May all the angels come to us with aid;

All wealth, and strength, be ours.

c O angels, come in your cars of gold

For the instigation of strength,

The Radiant One, the Mighty One, the Lord of Prayer

And the Maruts to drink the provision.

d For each prize, aid us, O ye steeds,

For the rewards, O ye wise, immortal, righteous ones;

Drink of this mead, rejoice in it;

Delighted go by paths on which the angels go.

e Strength is in front, in the midst of us;

Strength shall assort the righteous in due season

The instigation of strength is propitious;

In all the quarters may I become a lord of strength.

f Milk may I place on earth, milk on the plants,

Milk in the sky, in the atmosphere milk,

Be the quarters rich in milk for me.

g I unite myself with milk, with ghee,

I united myself, with waters and plants;

Strength may I win, O Radiant One.

h Night and the dawn, one-minded, but of various form

United suckle one child;

The radiant one shines between sky and earth;

The angels, granters of wealth, support the flame.

i Thou art the ocean, full of mist, granting moisture, blow over me with healing, with wonder-working; hail! Thou art of the Maruts, the horde of the Maruts, blow over me with healing, with wonder-working; hail! Thou art the helper, the worshipper, blow over me with healing, with wonder-working; hail!

4.7.13

a The Radiant One I yoke with glory, with ghee,

The bird divine mighty in strength;

Therewith may we fly to the expanse of the ruddy one,

Mounting the heaven above the highest vault.

b These are wings unaging of thee, the winged,

Wherewith thou dost smite away the evil spirits, O Radiant One;

With these may we fly to the world of good men,

Where are the seers, the first-born, those of yore.

c Thou art piling, born of the ocean, the drop,

The skilled one, the eagle, the righteous,

The golden-winged busy bird, mighty,

That has sat down firmly in its place.

d Homage be to thee; harm me not,

Thou dost stand resting on the head of all;

Within the ocean is thy heart, thy life;

Sky and earth are placed on the worlds.

e Give of the water, cleave the holder of the water; from the sky, from the rain-giver, from the atmosphere, from the earth, thence do ye help us with rain; thou art the head of the sky, the navel of earth, the strength of waters and plants, protection of all life, extending; homage to the way!

f With that devotion wherewith the seers performed the session of sacrifice,

Kindling the flame, bearing aloft the heaven,

I set on this vault that flame

Whom men call him for whom the spread is strewed.

g Him with our wives let us pursue, O righteous,

With our sons, our brothers, or by gold,

Seizing the vault in the world of good action,

Above the third firmament, in the light of the sky.

h To the middle of speech has the busy one arisen,

The Radiant One here, lord of the good, the wise;

Established on the back of the earth, the radiant one,

He casts beneath his feet the combatants.

i Let the Radiant One here, the most manly, strength-bestowing,

Of a thousand shapes, shine unwearying,

Radiant in the midst of the ocean;

Do ye approach the abodes divine.

k Move ye forward, go ye long together;

Make ye the paths the righteous travelled, O Radiant One;

In this highest abode

O angels, sit ye with the sacrificer.

l That by which Thou bearest a thousand,

Thou, O Radiant One, all wealth,

With that highest path for the righteous to travel,

Do Thou bear this sacrifice for us.

m Awake, O Radiant One; be roused for him;

With this one do Thou create sacrifice and donation;

Making Thee, his father, young again

He has stretched over Thee this covering.

n This is Thy due place of birth,

Whence born Thou didst shine,

Mount it, O Radiant One, knowing it,

And make our wealth increase.

4.7.14

a May radiance be mine, O Radiant One, in rival invocations,

May we, kindling Thee, make ourselves to prosper;

To me let the four quarters bow;

With Thee as overseer may we conquer the fighters.

b Let all the angels be at my invocation,

The Maruts with the Mighty One, the All-Pervading, the Radiant One;

May the broad atmosphere be my guardian;

May the wind blow for me unto this desire.

c May the angels bestow wealth upon me through sacrifice;

May blessing be mine, and mine divine invocation;

The divine sacrificers of old shall win for us;

Unharmed may we be in ourselves, rich in heroes.

d For me let them sacrifice whatever sacrifices are mine

Fulfilled be the intent of my mind;

No sin whatever may I commit;

May all the angels befriend me.

e O ye six spaces divine, for us make broad room;

O ye angels, here show your prowess;

May we not lose offspring nor ourselves;

May we not fall victims to our foe, O king, Lord of provision.

f O Radiant One, driving away wrath in front,

As guardian unfailing, do Thou guard us on all sides;

Let Thy foes turn away again

And be their plotting at home ruined through Thy foresight.

g The creator of creators, lord of the world,

God the Light-giver overcoming enmity,

This sacrifice may the two Healers and the Lord of Prayer,

The righteous guard and protect the sacrificer from misfortune.

h May the bull, wide extending, afford us protection rich in food,

He much invoked in this invocation;

O Thou of the bay steeds, be gracious unto our progeny;

Harm us not, abandon not us.

i May our rivals depart;

With the Mighty One and the Radiant One we overthrow them;

The Vasus, the Healers, the Adityas have made me

A dread corrector and overlord, sky reaching.

k Hitherward do we summon the Mighty One from thence,

Him who is winner of cows, of booty, and winner too of horses;

Do Thou accept this sacrifice at our invocation;

Ally of it we make Thee, O lord of the bays.

The Horse Sacrifice

4.7.15

a Of the Radiant One first I reckon, the wise ones,

Him of the five folk whom many kindle;

Him who has entered into every concourse do we implore,

May He relieve us from tribulation.

b Him whose is that which breathes, which winks, which moves,

Whose alone is that which has been born and is being born,

The Radiant One I praise; I invoke seeking aid,

May He relieve us from tribulation.

c Of the Mighty One first I reckon, the wise One;

Praise of the slayer of the foe has come to me,

He who comes at the call of the generous doer of good deeds,

May He relieve us from tribulation.

d Him who in might leads forth the host for battle,

Who commingles the three possessions;

The Mighty One I praise; I invoke seeking aid,

May He relieve us from tribulation.

e Of You, O Friend and All-Seeing, I reckon

Take heed of him, O ye of true strength, strong ones, whom ye afflict;

Ye who go in might against the king in his chariot,

May ye relieve us from sin.

f You whose chariot with straight reins, of true path,

Approaches to spoil him who acts falsely,

The Friend and the All-Seeing I praise; I invoke seeking aid,

May ye relieve us from sin.

g We venerate the ordinances of the Wind and of the Light-giver,

Who support that which has life and guard it,

Who surround all things;

May ye relieve us from sin.

h The best blessings have come to us

In the realm of the two powers;

I praise the Wind and the Light-giver; I invoke seeking aid,

May ye relieve us from sin.

i Best charioteers of carmen, I hail for aid,

That go most smoothly with well-guided steeds;

Ye whose might among the angels, O angels, is unextinguished,

May ye relieve us from sin.

k What time ye came to the wedding of the sun's daughter,

Choosing a seat together on the three-wheeled chariot,

I praise you, two Healers, angels, invoke seeking aid,

May ye relieve us from sin.

l Of the Maruts I reckon; may they aid us;

May they all help this every prayer of ours;

The swift, easily controlled ones I call to help,

May they relieve us from evil.

m The sharp weapon, strong and mighty,

The divine host keen in the battles,

I praise the angels, the Maruts; I invoke seeking aid,

May they relieve us from evil.

n Of the angels I reckon; may they aid us;

May they all help this every prayer;

The swift, easily controlled ones I call to help,

That they may relieve us from evil.

o That which now consumes me

From deed of men or of unseen powers,

I praise all the angels; I invoke seeking aid,

May they free us from evil.

p Us today the Bestower of favour.

q O Bestower of favour, thou.

r The Radiant One common to all men for aid to us.

s Present in sky.

t Those that expanded with unmeasured might,

Those that became the supports of wealth,

I praise sky and earth; I invoke seeking aid,

May ye relieve us from tribulation.

u O ye broad firmaments, make room for us;

O rulers of the field, aid us;

I praise sky and earth; I invoke seeking aid,

May ye relieve us from tribulation.

v Whatever sin we commit against Thee,

As men are wont in ignorance, O most young,

Make us blameless before the Boundless One,

Remove our evil deeds on all sides, O Radiant One.

w Even as ye did set free, O bright ones,

O ye that are worthy of offering, the buffalo cow bound by the foot,

So do Thou remove from us tribulation;

Be our life prolonged further, O Radiant One.