6 And may the Mountains famed in noble eulogies, and the fair-gleaming Rivers keep us safe from harm. May Bhaga the Dispenser come with power and grace, and far-pervading Aditi listen to my call.

7 May the righteous women aid us of their own freewill, aid us to offspring and the winning of the spoil. Grant us protection, O ye gracious ones, ye who are on the earth or in the waters' realm.

8 May the righteous women enjoy our presents, Rat, Asvini, Agnayi, and Indrani. May Rodasi and Varunani hear us, and the gracious ones come at the Matrons' season.

HYMN XLVII. All the Powers of God.

1 Urging to toil and making proclamation, seeking Heaven's Daughter comes the Mighty Mother: she comes, the youthful Hymn, unto the Fathers, inviting to her home and loudly calling.

2 Swift in their motion, hasting to their duty, reaching the central point of life immortal, on every side about the earth and heaven go forth the spacious paths without a limit.

3 Steer, Sea, Red Bird with strong wings, he hath entered the dwelling-place of the Primeval Father. A gay-hued Stone set in the midst of heaven, he hath gone forth and guards mid-air's two limits.

4 Four bear him up and give him rest and quiet, and ten invigorate the Babe for travel. His kine most excellent, of threefold nature, pass swiftly round the boundaries of heaven.

5 Wondrous, O people, is the mystic knowledge that while the waters stand the streams are flowing: that, separate from his Mother, Two support him, closely united, twins, here made apparent.

6 For him they lengthen prayers and acts of worship: the Mothers weave garments for him their offspring; rejoicing, for the Steer's impregnating contact, his Spouses move on paths of heaven to meet him.

7 Be this our praise, O All-Seeing and Friend; may this be health and force to us, O Radiant One. May we obtain firm ground and room for resting: glory to Heaven, the lofty habitation!

HYMN XLVIII. All the Powers of God.

1 What may we meditate for the beloved Power, mighty in native strength and glorious in itself, which as a magic energy seeking waters spreads even to the immeasurable middle region's cloud?

2 O'er all the region with their uniform advance these have spread out the lore that giveth heroes strength. Back, with their course reversed, the others pass away: the pious lengthens life with those that are before.

3 With pressing-stones and with the bright beams of the day He hurls His broadest bolt against the Guileful One, even He whose hundred wander in His own abode, driving the days afar and bringing them again.

4 I, to enjoy the beauty of His form, behold that rapid rush of His as it were an axe's edge, what time He gives the man who calls on Him in fight wealth like a dwelling-house filled full with store of food.

5 Four-faced and nobly clad, the All-Seeing, urging on the pious to his task, stirs himself with the tongue. Naught by our human nature do we know of Him, Him from whom Bhaga the Light-giver bestows the boon.

HYMN XLIX. All the Powers of God.

1 This day I bring God the Light-giver to meet you, and Bhaga who allots the wealth of mortals. You, Asvins, Heroes rich in treasures, daily seeking your friendship fain would I turn hither.

2 Knowing full well the Lord's time of coming, worship God the Light-giver with hymns and praises. Let him who rightly knoweth speak with homage to Him who dealeth out man's noblest treasure.

3 Not for reward doth Pusan send his blessings, Bhaga, or Aditi: his garb is splendour. May the Mighty One, the All-Pervading, the All-Seeing, the Friend, the Radiant One produce auspicious days, the Wonder-Workers.

4 Sending the shelter which we ask, the foeless Light-giver and the Rivers shall approach us. When I, the priest of worship, invite them, may we be lords of wealth and rich possessions.

5 They who devote such worship to the Vasus, singing their hymns to the All-Seeing and the Friend, vouchsafe them ample room, far off be danger. Through grace of Heaven and Earth may we be happy.

HYMN L. All the Powers of God.

1 Let every mortal man elect the friendship of the guiding God. Each one solicits Him for wealth and seeks renown to prosper him.

2 These, leading God, are Thine, and these here ready to speak after us. As such may we attain to wealth and wait with services on Thee.

3 So further honour as our guests the heroes and then the righteous women. May He remove and keep afar our foes and all who block our path.

4 Where fire is set, and swiftly runs the offering dwelling in the trough, he wins, with heroes in his home, friendly to man, like constant streams.

5 May these Thy riches, Leader God! that rule the car, be blest to us, yea, blest to us for wealth and weal. This will we ponder praising strength, this ponder as we praise God.

HYMN LI. All the Powers of God.

1 With all assistants, O God the Radiant, come hither to accept the offering; with the angels unto our sacred gifts.

2 Come to the worship, O ye whose ways are right, whose laws are true, and accept the offering through the Radiant One's tongue.

3 O Singer, with the singers, O Gracious, with those who move at dawn, come to the offering with the angels.

4 To the Mighty One and to Vayu dear, this offering, by the mortar pressed, is now poured forth to fill the jar.

5 Vayu, come hither to the feast, well-pleased unto our sacred gifts: accept the offering poured, come to the food.

6 Ye, Mighty One and Vayu, well deserve the offerings prepared by us. Gladly accept them, spotless Pair, come to the food.

7 For the Mighty One and for Vayu are prepared offerings blent with curd, as rivers to the lowland flow: come to the food.

8 Associate with all the angels, come, with the Asvins and with Dawn, O Radiant One, as erst with Atri, so accept the offering.

9 Associate with the All-Seeing, with the Friend, the Provider, the All-Pervading, come, O Radiant One, as erst with Atri, so accept the offering.

10 Associate with Vasus, with Adityas, the Mighty One, Vayu, come, O Radiant One, as erst with Atri, so accept the offering.

11 May Bhaga and the Asvins grant us health and wealth, and Aditi and He whom none resist. The Lord Pusan grant us all prosperity, and Heaven and Earth most wise vouchsafe us happiness.

12 Let us solicit Vayu for prosperity, and the Provider who is Lord of all the world for weal; for weal Brhaspati with all his company. May the Adityas bring us health and happiness.

13 May all the angels, may God the Radiant, the beneficent, Lord of all men, this day be with us for our weal. Help us the Rbhus, the Divine Ones, for our good. May God the Healer bless and keep us from calamity.

14 Prosper us, Friend and All-Seeing. O wealthy Pathya, prosper us. Mighty and Radiant One, prosper us; prosper us Thou, O Aditi.

15 Like Sun and Moon may we pursue in full prosperity our path, and meet with one who gives again, who knows us well and slays us not.

HYMN LII. The Maruts.

1 Sing boldly forth, Syavasva, with the Maruts who are loud in song, who, holy, as their wont is, joy in glory that is free from guile.

2 For in their boldness they are friends of firm and sure heroic strength. They in their course, bold-spirited, guard all men of their own accord.

3 Like steers in rapid motion they advance and overtake the nights; and thus the Maruts' power in heaven and on the earth we celebrate.

4 With boldness to your Maruts let us offer laud and devotion: who all, through ages of mankind, guard mortal man from injury.

5 Praiseworthy, givers of good gifts, Heroes with full and perfect strength, of the Maruts, Holy Ones of heaven, will I extol the might.

6 The lofty Heroes cast their spears and weapons bright with gleaming gold. After these Maruts followed close, like laughing lightning from the sky, a splendour of its own accord.

7 They who waxed mighty, of the earth, they who are in the wide mid-air, or in the rivers' compass, or in the abode of ample heaven.

8 Praise thou the Maruts' company, the valorous and truly strong, the Heroes, hasting, by themselves have yoked their deer for victory.

9 Fair-gleaming, on Parusni they have clothed themselves in robes of wool, and with their chariot tires they cleave the rock asunder in their might.

10 Whether as wanderers from the way or speeders on or to the path, under these names the spreading band tend well the worship for me.

11 To this the Heroes well attend, well do their teams attend to this. Visible are their varied forms. Behold, they are Paravatas.

12 Hymn-singing, seeking water, they, praising, have danced about the spring. What are they unto me? No thieves, but helpers, splendid to behold.

13 Sublime, with lightnings for their spears, Sages and Orderers are they. Seer, honour that Marut host, and make them happy with thy song.

14 Seer, invite the Marut band with offerings, as a maid her friend. From heaven, too, Bold Ones, in your might haste hither glorified with songs.

15 Thinking of these now let him come, as with the escort of the angels, and with the splendid Princes, famed for rapid courses, to the gifts.

16 Princes, who, when I asked their kin, named Prsni as their Mother-cow, and the impetuous servant of God the Healer they, the Mighty Ones, declared their Sire.

17 The mighty ones, the seven times seven, have singly given me hundred gifts. I have obtained on Yamuna famed wealth in kine and wealth in steeds.

HYMN LIII. The Maruts.

1 Who knows the birth of these, or who lived in the Maruts' favour in the days of old, what time their spotted deer were yoked?

2 Who, when they stood upon their cars, hath heard them tell the way they went? Who was the bounteous man to whom their kindred rains flowed down with food of devotion?

3 To me they told it, and they came with winged steeds radiant to the draught, youths, Heroes free from spot or stain: Behold us here and praise thou us;

4 who shine self-luminous with ornaments and swords, with breastplates, armlets, and with wreaths, arrayed on chariots and with bows.

5 O swift to pour your bounties down, ye Maruts, with delight I look upon your cars, like splendours coming through the rain.

6 Munificent Heroes, they have cast heaven's treasury down for the worshipper's behoof: they set the storm-cloud free to stream through both the worlds, and rain-floods flow over desert spots.

7 The bursting streams in billowy flood have spread abroad, like milch-kine, over the firmament. Like swift steeds hasting to their journey's resting-place, to every side run glittering brooks.

8 Hither, O Maruts, come from heaven, from mid-air, or from near at hand; tarry not far away from us.

9 So let not Rasa, Krumu, or Anitabha, Kubha, or Sindhu hold you back. Let not the watery Sarayu obstruct your way. With us be all the bliss ye give.

10 That brilliant gathering of your cars, the company of Maruts, of the Youthful Ones, the rain-showers, speeding on, attend.

11 With eulogies and hymns may we follow your army, troop by troop, and band by band, and company by company.

12 To what giver of offerings, sprung of noble ancestry, have sped the Maruts on this course today?

13 Vouchsafe to us the bounty, that which we implore, through which, for child and progeny, ye give the seed of corn that wasteth not away, and bliss that reacheth to all life.

14 May we in safety pass by those who slander us, leaving behind disgrace and hate. Maruts, may we be there when ye, at dawn, in rest and toil, rain waters down and balm.

15 Favoured by the angels shall he be, the man, O Heroes, Maruts! and possessed of noble sons, whom ye protect. Such may we be.

16 Praise the Free-givers. At this liberal patron's gathering they joy like cattle in the mead. So call thou unto them who come as ancient Friends: hymn those who love thee with a song.

HYMN LIV. The Maruts.

1 This hymn will I make for the Marut host who bright in native splendour cast the mountains down. Sing the great strength of those illustrious in renown, who stay the heat, who worship on heights of heaven.

2 O Maruts, rich in water, strengtheners of life are your strong bands with harnessed steeds, that wander far. Trita roars out at him who aims the lightning-flash. The waters sweeping round are thundering on their way.

3 They gleam with lightning, Heroes, Casters of the Stone, wind-rapid Maruts, overthrowers of the hills, oft through desire to rain coming with storm of hail, roaring in onset, violent and exceeding strong.

4 When, mighty ones, through the nights and through the days, when through the sky and realms of air, shakers of all, when over the broad fields ye drive along like ships, even to strongholds ye come, Maruts, but are not harmed.

5 Maruts, this hero strength and majesty of yours hath, like the Sun, extended over a lengthened way, when in your course like deer with splendour unsubdued ye bowed the hill that gives imperishable rain.

6 Bright shone your host, ye Sages, Maruts, when ye smote the waving tree as when the worm consumeth it. Accordant, as the eye guides him who walks, have ye led our devotion onward by an easy path.

7 Never is he, O Maruts, slain or overcome, never doth he decay nor is distressed or harmed; his treasures, his resources, never waste away, whom, whether he be prince or Seer, ye direct.

8 With harnessed team like heroes overcoming troops, the friendly Maruts, laden with their water-casks, let the spring flow, and when impetuous they roar they inundate the earth with floods of pleasant sweetness.

9 Free for the Maruts is the earth with sloping ways, free for the rushing Ones is heaven with steep descents. The paths of air's mid-region are precipitous, precipitous the mountains with their running streams.

10 When, as the Sun hath risen up, ye take delight, O bounteous radiant Maruts, Heroes of the sky, your coursers weary not when speeding on their way, and rapidly ye reach the end of this your path.

11 Lances are on your shoulders, anklets on your feet, gold chains are on your breasts, gems, Maruts, on your car. Lightnings aglow with flame are flashing in your hands, and visors wrought of gold are laid upon your heads.

12 Maruts, in eager stir ye shake the vault of heaven, splendid beyond conception, for its shining fruit. They gathered when they let their deeds of might flash forth. The Pious Ones send forth a far-resounding shout.

13 Sage Maruts, may we be the drivers of the car of riches full of life that have been given by you. O Maruts, let that wealth in thousands dwell with us which never vanishes like Tisya from the sky.

14 Maruts, ye further wealth with longed-for heroes, further the Seer skilled in chanted verses. Ye give the Bharata as his strength, a charger, and ye bestow a king who quickly listens.

15 Of you, most swift to succour! I solicit wealth wherewith we may spread forth amid men like as the Sun. Accept, O Maruts, graciously this hymn of mine that we may live a hundred winters through its power.

HYMN LV. The Maruts.

1 With gleaming lances, with their breasts adorned with gold, the Maruts, rushing onward, hold high power of life. They hasten with swift steeds easy to be controlled. Their cars moved onward as they went to victory.

2 Ye, as ye wist, have gained of your own selves your power: high, O ye Mighty Ones, and wide ye shine abroad. They with their strength have even measured out the sky. Their cars moved onward as they went to victory.

3 Strong, born together, they together have waxed great: the Heroes more and more have grown to majesty. Resplendent as the Sun's beams in their light are they. Their cars moved onward as they went to victory.

4 Maruts, your mightiness deserves to be honoured, sight to be longed for like the shining of the Sun. So lead us with your aid to immortality. Their cars moved onward as they went to victory.

5 O Maruts, from the Ocean ye uplift the rain, and fraught with vaporous moisture pour the torrents down. Never, ye Wonder-Workers, are your Milch-kine dry. Their cars moved onward as they went to victory.

6 When to your car-poles ye have yoked your spotted deer to be your steeds, and put your golden mantles on, O Maruts, ye disperse all enemies abroad. Their cars moved onward as they went to victory.

7 Neither the mountains nor the rivers keep you back: whither ye have resolved thither ye, Maruts, go. Ye compass round about even the heaven and earth. Their cars moved onward as they went to victory.

8 Whate'er is ancient, Maruts, what of recent time, whate'er is spoken, Vasus, what is chanted forth, they who take cognizance of all of this are ye. Their cars moved onward as they went to victory.

9 Be gracious unto us, ye Maruts, slay us not; extend ye unto us shelter of many a sort. Pay due regard unto our friendship and our praise. Their cars moved onward as they went to victory.

10 O Maruts, lead us on to higher fortune; deliver us, when lauded, from afflictions. Accept, ye Holy Ones, the gifts we bring you. May we be masters of abundant riches.

HYMN LVI. The Maruts.

1 O God the Radiant, that valorous company adorned with ornaments of gold, the people of the Maruts, I call down today even from the luminous realm of heaven.

2 Even as Thou thinkest in Thy heart, thither my wishes also tend. Those who have come most near to Thine invoking calls, strengthen them, fearful to behold.

3 Earth, like a bounteous lady, liberal of her gifts, struck down and shaken, yet exultant, comes to us. Impetuous as a bear, O Maruts, is your rush, terrible as a dreadful bull.

4 They who with mighty strength overthrow like oxen difficult to yoke cause even the heavenly stone to shake; yea, shake the rocky mountain as they race along.

5 Rise up! even now with lauds I call the very numerous company, unequalled, of these Maruts, like a herd of kine, grown up together in their strength.

6 Bind to your car the bright red mares, yoke the red coursers to your car. Bind to the pole, to draw, the fleet-foot tawny steeds, the best at drawing, to the pole.

7 Yea, and this loudly-neighing bright red vigorous horse who hath been trained, fair to see, let him not cause delay, O Maruts, in your course; urge ye him onward in your cars.

8 The Maruts' chariot, ever fain to gather glory, we invoke, which Rodasi hath mounted, bringing pleasant gifts, with Maruts in her company.

9 I call that brilliant band of yours, adorable, rapid on the car, whereon the bounteous Dame, auspicious, nobly born, shows glorious with the Marut host.

HYMN LVII. The Maruts.

1 Of one accord, with the Mighty One, O ye servants of God the Healer, come borne on your golden car for our prosperity. An offering from us, this hymn is brought to you, as, unto one who thirsts for water, heavenly springs.

2 Armed with your daggers, full of wisdom, armed with spears, armed with your quivers, armed with arrows, with good bows, good horses and good cars have ye, O Prsni's Sons: ye, Maruts, with good weapons go to victory.