33 So all our singers ever praise the pious Brbu's noble deed, chief, best to give his thousands, best to give a thousand liberal gifts.

HYMN XLVI. The Mighty One.

1 That we may win us wealth and power we poets, verily, call on Thee: In war men call on Thee, O Mighty One, the hero's Lord, in the steed's race-course call on Thee.

2 As such, O Wonderful, whose hand holds thunder, praised as mighty, Caster of the Stone! Pour on us boldly, O Mighty One, kine and chariot-steeds, ever to be the conqueror's strength.

3 We call upon that Mighty One, who, most active, ever slays the foe: Lord of the brave, Most Manly, with a thousand powers, help Thou and prosper us in fight.

4 Rcisama, Thou forcest men as with a bull, with anger, in the furious fray. Be Thou our Helper in the mighty battle fought for sunlight, water, and for life.

5 O Mighty One, bring us name and fame, enriching, mightiest, excellent, wherewith, O Wondrous God, fair-visored, thunder-armed, Thou hast filled full this earth and heaven.

6 We call on Thee, O King, Mighty amid the powers, Ruler of men, to succour us. All that is weak in us, Excellent God, make firm: make our foes easy to subdue.

7 All strength and valour that is found, O Mighty One, in tribes of Nahusas, and all the splendid fame that the Five Tribes enjoy, bring, yea, all manly powers at once.

8 Or, Bountiful One, what vigorous strength in Trksi lay, in Druhyus or in Paru's folk, fully bestow on us, that, in the conquering fray, we may subdue our foes in fight.

9 O Mighty One, grant a happy home, a triple refuge triply strong. Bestow a dwelling-place on the rich lords and me, and keep Thy dart afar from these.

10 They who with minds intent on spoil subdue the foe, boldly attack and smite him down, from these, O Mighty and Bountiful One who lovest song, be closest guardian of our lives.

11 And now, O Mighty One, strengthen us: come near and aid us in the fight, what time the feathered shafts are flying in the air, the arrows with their sharpened points.

12 Give us, where heroes strain their bodies in the fight, the shelter that our fathers loved. To us and to our sons give refuge: keep afar all unobserved hostility.

13 When, O Mighty One, in the mighty fray Thou urgest chargers to their speed, on the uneven road and on a toilsome path, like falcons, eager for renown,

14 speeding like rivers rushing down a steep descent, responsive to the urging call, that come like birds attracted to the bait, held in by reins in both the driver's hands.

HYMN XLVII. The Mighty One and Others.

1 Yea, this is good to taste and full of sweetness, verily it is strong and rich in flavour. No one may conquer the Mighty One in the battle when He hath accepted the offering we make.

2 This sweet provision here had mightiest power to gladden: it boldened the Mighty One when He slaughtered Vrtra, when He defeated Sambara's many onslaughts, and battered down his ninety-nine ramparts.

3 This stirreth up my voice when I have tasted it: this hath aroused from sleep my yearning spirit. This Sage hath measured out the six expanses from which no single creature is excluded.

4 This, even this, is He who hath created the breadth of earth, the lofty height of heaven. He formed the sweet waters in three headlong rivers. God supports the wide mid-air above us.

5 He found the wavy sea of brilliant colours in forefront of the Dawns who dwell in brightness. This Mighty One, the Steer begirt by Maruts, hath propped the heavens up with a mighty pillar.

6 Accept the offering boldly from the beaker, O Mighty One, in war for treasures, Hero, Vrtra-slayer! Fill Thyself full at the mid-day offering, and give us wealth, Thou Treasury of riches.

7 Look out for us, O Mighty One, as our Leader, and guide us on to gain yet goodlier treasure. Excellent Guardian, bear us well through peril, and lead us on to wealth with careful guidance.

8 Lead us to ample room, O Thou who knowest, to happiness, security, and sunlight. High, O Mighty One, are the arms of Thee the Mighty: may we betake us to their lofty shelter.

9 Set us on widest chariot-seat, O Mighty One, with two steeds best to draw, O Lord of Hundreds! Bring us the best among all sorts of viands: let not the foe's wealth, Bountiful One, subdue us.

10 Be gracious, O Mighty One, let my days be lengthened: sharpen my thought as it were a blade of iron. Approve whatever words I speak, dependent on Thee, and grant me Thy divine protection.

11 The Mighty One the Rescuer, the Mighty One the Helper, Hero who listens at each invocation, the Powerful I call, the Mighty One invoked of many. May the Bountiful Mighty One prosper and bless us.

12 May helpful Mighty One as our good Protector, Lord of all treasures, favour us with succour, baffle our foes, and give us rest and safety, and may we be the lords of hero vigour.

13 May we enjoy the grace of Him the Holy, yea, may we dwell in His auspicious favour. May helpful Mighty One as our good Preserver drive from us, even from afar, our foemen.

14 Like rivers rushing down a slope, O Mighty One, to Thee haste songs and prayers and linked verses. Thou gatherest, Thunderer! like widespread bounty, kine, water, drops, and manifold offerings.

15 Who lauds Him, satisfies Him, pays Him worship? Even the rich noble still hath found Him mighty. With power, as when one moves his feet alternate, He makes the last precede, the foremost follow.

16 Famed is the Hero as each strong man's tamer, ever advancing one and then another. King of both worlds, hating the high and haughty, the Mighty One protects the men who are His people.

17 He loves no more the men He loved aforetime: He turns and moves away allied with others. Rejecting those who disregard His worship, the Mighty One is victorious through many autumns.

18 In every figure He hath been the mode: this is His only form for us to look on. The Mighty One moves multiform by His wonders; for His Bay Steeds are yoked, ten times a hundred.

19 Here Tvastar, yoking to the car the Bay Steeds, hath extended sway. Who will for ever stand upon the foeman's side, even when our princes sit at ease?

20 O servants of God, we have reached a country void of pasture; the land, though spacious, was too small to hold us. Brhaspati, provide in war for cattle; find a path, O Mighty One, for this faithful singer.

21 Day after day far from their seat He drove them, alike, from place to place, those darksome creatures. The Hero slew the meanly-huckstering Dasas, Varcin and Sambara, where the waters gather.

22 Out of Thy bounty, O Mighty One, hath Prastoka bestowed ten coffers and ten mettled horses. We have received in turn from Divodasa Sambara's wealth, the gift of Atithigva.

23 Ten horses and ten treasure-chests, ten garments as an added gift, these and ten lumps of gold have I received from Divodasa's hand.

24 Ten cars with extra steed to each, for the Atharvans hundred cows, hath Asvatha to Payu given.

25 Thus Srnjaya's son honoured the Bharadvajas, recipients of all noble gifts and bounty.

HYMN XLVIII. The Radiant One and Others.

1 Sing to your God with each song, at every act of worship, for strength. Come, let us praise the Wise and Everlasting God, even as a well-beloved Friend,

2 the Son of Strength; for is He not our gracious Lord? Let us serve Him who bears our gifts. In battle may He be our help and strengthener, yea, be the saviour of our lives.

3 O God, Thou beamest forth with light, great Hero, never changed by time. Shining, pure One! with a light that never fades, beam with Thy fair beams brilliantly.

4 Thou honourest great powers: bring them without delay by wisdom and Thy wondrous power. O God, make them turn hither to succour us. Give strength, and win it for Thyself.

5 He whom floods, stones, and trees support, the offspring of eternal Law; He who when rubbed with force is brought to life by men upon the lofty height of earth;

6 He who hath filled both worlds full with His brilliant shine, who hastens with His smoke to heaven; He made Himself apparent through the gloom by night, the Red Bull in the darksome nights, the Red Bull in the darksome nights.

7 O God, with Thy lofty beams, with Thy pure brilliancy, O God, kindled, Most Youthful One! by Bharadvaja's hand, shine on us, O pure God, with wealth, shine, Purifier! splendidly.

8 Thou art the Lord of house and home of all the tribes, O God, of all tribes of men. Guard with a hundred forts Thy kindler from distress, through hundred winters, Youngest God! and those who make Thy singers rich.

9 Wonderful, with Thy favouring help, send us Thy bounties, gracious Lord. Thou art the Charioteer, O God, of earthly wealth: find rest and safety for our seed.

10 With guards unfailing never negligent speed Thou our children and our progeny. Keep far from us, O God, all celestial wrath and wickedness of godless men.

11 Hither, O friends, with newest song drive her who freely pours her milk; loose her who never turns away;

12 who, for the host of Maruts bright with native sheen, hath shed immortal fame like milk; whom the impetuous Maruts look upon with love, who moves in splendour on their ways.

13 For Bharadvaja she poured down in days of old the milch-cow yielding milk for all, and food that gives all nourishment.

14 Your friend, like the Mighty One passing wise, with power like the All-Seeing, like the Companion joy-giving, bringing plenteous food like the All-Pervading for my wish, I praise.

15 Bright as the host of Maruts mighty in their roar. May they bring Pusan free from foes; may they bring hither hundreds, thousands for our men: may they bring hidden stores to light, and make wealth easy to be found.

16 Haste to me, O Guardian of the Way, in Thy car, bright One: I fain would speak: most sinful is our foeman's hate.

17 Tear not up by the roots the Kakambira tree: destroy Thou all malignity. Let them not snare by day the neck of that Celestial Bird the Sun.

18 Uninjured let Thy friendship be, like the smooth surface of a skin, a flawless skin, containing curds, full to the mouth, containing curds.

19 For Thou art high above mankind, in glory equal to the righteous. Therefore, O Guardian of the Way, look upon us in the fight: now help us as in days of old.

20 May the kind excellence of Him the Kind, loud Roarers! be our guide, be it God's, O Maruts, or a mortal man's who worships, ye impetuous Ones!

21 They whose high glory in a moment like the Sun goes round the space of heaven, the Maruts have obtained bright strength, a sacred name, strength that destroys the Vrtras, strength Vrtra-destroying excellent.

22 Once, only once, the heaven was made, once only once, the earth was formed: once, only Prsni's milk was shed: no second, after this, is born.

HYMN XLIX. All the Powers of God.

1 Laud with newest songs the Righteous People, the Friend and the All-Seeing who make us happy. Let them approach, here let them listen, the Radiant One, the All-Seeing, the Friend, Lords of fair dominion.

2 Him, to be praised at each tribe's worship, the Two young Matrons' sober-minded Herald, the Son of Strength, the Child of Heaven, the signal of worship, the red Radiant One will I honour.

3 Unlike in form are the Red God's two Daughters: one is the Sun's, and stars bedeck the other. Apart, the Sanctifiers, in succession, come to the famed hymn, praised in holy verses.

4 I with a lofty song call hither Vayu, all-bounteous, filler of his car, most wealthy. Thou, Sage, with bright path, Lord of harnessed horses, impetuous, promptly honourest the prudent.

5 That chariot of the Asvins, fair to look on, pleaseth me well, yoked with a thought, refulgent, wherewith, Nasatyas, Chiefs, ye seek our dwelling, to give new strength to us and to our children.

6 Bulls of the Earth, O Vata and the Giver of rain, stir up for us the regions of the water. Hearers of truth, ye, Sages, World-Supporters, increase his living wealth whose songs delight you.

7 So may Sarasvati, brisk with rare life, the lightning's Child, inspire us, and, with the righteous accordant, give the singer a refuge unassailable and flawless.

8 I praise with eloquence him who guards all pathways. He, when his love impelled him, went to Arka. May he vouchsafe us gear with gold to grace it: may Pusan make each prayer of ours effective.

9 May the Radiant Herald, fulgent, bring for worship Tvastar adored, in homes and swift to listen, glorious, first to share, the life-bestower, the ever active, fair-armed, fair-handed.

10 God the Healer by day, God the Healer at night we honour with these our songs, the Lord of the Universe. Him great and lofty, blissful, undecaying let us call specially as the Sage impels us.

11 Ye who are youthful, wise, and meet for honour, come, Maruts, to the longing of the singer. Coming, as erst to Angiras, O Heroes, ye animate and quicken even the desert.

12 Even as the herdsman driveth home his cattle, I urge my songs to Him the strong swift Hero. May He, the glorious, lay upon His body the singer's hymns, as stars bedeck the heaven.

13 He who for man's behoof in his affliction thrice measured out the earthly regions, the All-Pervading, when one so great as Thou affordest shelter, may we with wealth and with ourselves be happy.

14 Sweet be this song of mine to God the Light-giver, to the Deep, the Mountain, with Floods and Lightnings; sweet, with the Plants, to the righteous who give offerings. May liberal Bhaga speed us on to riches.

15 Give riches borne on cars, with many heroes, contenting men, the guard of mighty Order. Give us a lasting home that we may battle with godless bands of men who fight against us, and meet with tribes to whom God is gracious.

HYMN L. All the Powers of God.

1 Call with prayers on the Boundless One, on the Radiant One, the Friend, the All-Seeing for favour, on the Companion who gives unasked, the gracious, on the angels who save, on the Light-giver and Bhaga.

2 Visit, to prove us free from sin, O Lord of great might, the bright angels, twice-born and true, observing sacred duties, holy and full of light, whose tongue is the Radiant One.

3 And, O ye Heaven and Earth, a wide dominion, O ye most blissful Worlds, our lofty shelter, give ample room and freedom for our dwelling, a home, ye Hemispheres, which none may rival.

4 This day invited may the servants of God the Healer, resistless, excellent, stoop down to meet us; for, when beset with slight or sore affliction, we ever call upon God, and the Maruts, His servants;

5 to whom Rodasi clings closely, whom Pusan follows bringing ample bounty. What time ye hear our call and come, O Maruts, upon your separate path all creatures tremble.

6 With a new hymn extol, O thou who singest, the Lover of the Song, the Hero, the Mighty One. May He, exalted, hear our invocation, and grant us mighty wealth and strength when lauded.

7 Give full protection, O God, through the Waters, Friends of man, in peace and trouble, to our sons and grandsons. For they are our most motherly physicians, sustainers of all that standeth, all that moveth.

8 May the Light-giver come hither and approach us, the God who rescues, Holy, golden-handed, the God who, bounteous as the face of Morning, discloses precious gifts for him who worships.

9 And Thou, O Son of Strength, do Thou turn hither the righteous today to this our holy service. May I for evermore enjoy Thy bounty and, O God, by Thy grace be rich in heroes.

10 Come also to my call, O ye Nasatyas, yea, verily, through my prayers, ye Holy Sages. As from great darkness ye delivered Atri, protect us, Chiefs, from danger in the conflict.

11 O angels, bestow upon us riches, splendid with strength and heroes, bringing food in plenty. Be gracious, helpful ones of earth, of heaven, born of the Cow, and dwellers in the waters.

12 May God the Healer and the river Sarasvati, accordant, the All-Pervading and Vayu, pour down gifts and bless us; Rbhuksan, Vaja, and divine Vidhatar, the Giver of rain, Vata make our food abundant.

13 May this God the Light-giver, the Lord, the Offspring of Waters, pouring down his dew be gracious, and, with the righteous accordant, Tvastar; the Sky with the angels and Earth with oceans.

14 May the One-Footed Unborn and the Serpent of the Deep, and Earth and Ocean hear our invocation; all angels who strengthen Law, invoked and lauded, and holy texts uttered by sages, help us.

15 So with my thoughts and hymns of praise the children of Bharadvaja sing aloud to please You. The righteous invoked, and the resistless Vasus, and all ye Holy Ones have been exalted.

HYMN LI. All the Powers of God.

1 That mighty eye of the All-Seeing and the Friend, infallible and dear, is moving upward. The pure and lovely face of holy Order hath shone like gold of heaven in its arising.

2 The Sage who knows these powers' three ranks and orders, and all their generations near and distant, beholding good and evil acts of mortals, the Sun marks well the doing of the pious.

3 I praise you Guards of mighty Law eternal, the Boundless One, the Friend, the All-Seeing, the noble, the Companion, Bhaga, all whose thoughts are faithful: hither I call the Bright who share in common.

4 Lords of the brave, infallible, foe-destroyers, great Kings, bestowers of fair homes to dwell in, young, Heroes, ruling heaven with strong dominion, Adityas, the Boundless One I seek with worship.

5 O Lord of heaven, Earth our guileless nurse, O Radiant One, and ye Vasus, bless us. Grant us, O Boundless One and ye Adityas, all of one mind, your manifold protection.

6 Give us not up to any evil creature, as spoil to wolf or she-wolf, O ye Holy. For ye are they who guide aright our bodies, ye are the rulers of our speech and vigour.

7 Let us not suffer for the sin of others, nor do the deed which ye, O Vasus, punish. Ye, All-powers! are all-controllers: may he do harm unto himself who hates me.

8 Mighty is humble worship: I adopt and use it. By God's command the earth and heaven are held in place. Homage to God, who commands and rules them. By humble repentance I banish even committed sin.

9 You Furtherers of Law, pure in your spirit, infallible, dwellers in the home of Order, to you all Heroes mighty and far-seeing I bow me down, O Holy Ones, with homage.

10 For these are they who shine with noblest splendour; through all our troubles these conduct us safely: the All-Seeing, the Friend, the Radiant One, mighty Rulers, true-minded, faithful to the hymn's controllers.

11 May they, Earth, the Boundless One, the Mighty One, Bhaga, Pusan increase our laud, increase the Fivefold people. Giving good help, good refuge, goodly guidance, be they our good deliverers, good protectors.

12 Come now, O angels, to your celestial station: the Bharadvajas' priest entreats your favour. He, worshipping, fain for wealth, hath honoured the righteous with those who sit and share offerings.

13 O God the Radiant, drive Thou the wicked foe, the evil-hearted thief away, far, far, Lord of the brave! and give us easy paths.

14 O God, these pressing-stones have called aloud to win Thee for our Friend. Destroy the greedy Pani, for a wolf is he.

15 Ye, O most bountiful, are they who, led by the Mighty One, seek the sky. Give us good paths for travel: guard us well at home.

16 Now have we entered on the road that leads to bliss, without a foe, the road whereon a man escapes all enemies and gathers wealth.

HYMN LII. All the Powers of God.

1 This I allow not in the earth or heaven, at worship or in these holy duties. May the huge mountains crush him down: degraded be Atiyaja's worshipping patron.

2 Or he who holds us in contempt, O Maruts, or seeks to blame the prayer that we are making, may agonies of burning be his portion. May the sky scorch the man who hates devotion.

3 Why then, O God, do they call Thee keeper of prayer? Why then our guardian from reproaches? Why then beholdest Thou how men revile us? Cast Thy hot dart at him who hates devotion.

4 May Mornings as they spring to life, protect me, and may the Rivers as they swell preserve me. My guardians be the firmly-seated mountains: the righteous who went before, when I call on God, defend me!

5 Through all our days may we be healthy, minded, and look upon the Sun when he arises. Grant this the Treasure-Lord of treasures, coming, observant, oftenest of powers, with succour!