7 Clearly hath she come nigh to me who decks the dark with richest hues:

O Morning, cancel it like debts.

8 These have I brought to Thee like kine. O Lord of the Night, accept

This laud as for a conqueror.

HYMN CXXVIII. A Prayer for Victory.

1 Let me win glory, O Radiant One, in our battles: enkindling Thee, may we support our bodies. May the four regions bend and bow before me: with Thee for guardian may we win in combat.

2 May all the righteous be on my side in battle, the storm-winds led by the Mighty, the All-Pervading, the Radiant. Mine be the middle air's extended region, and may the wind blow favouring these my wishes.

3 May the Lord grant me riches; may the blessing and invocation of the righteous assist me. Foremost in fight be the divine Invokers: may we, unwounded, have brave heroes round us.

4 For me let them present all mine offerings, and let my mind's intention be accomplished. May I be guiltless of the least transgression: and, all ye righteous, do ye combine to bless us.

5 Ye six divine expanses, grant us freedom: here, all ye righteous, acquit yourselves like heroes.

Let us not lose our children or our bodies: let us not benefit the foe, O King!

6 Baffling the wrath of our opponents, O Radiant One, guard us as our infallible Protector.

Let these Thy foes turn back and seek their houses, and let their thought who watch at home be ruined.

7 Lord of the world, Creator of creators, the Saviour who overcomes the foeman.

May the Lord of Prayer and the twin healers shelter from ill this worship and worshipper.

8 Foodful, and much-invoked, at this our calling may the great Bull vouchsafe us wide protection.

Lord of bay coursers, Mighty One, bless our children: harm us not, give us not as prey to others.

9 Let those who are our foemen stay afar from us: with the Mighty and the Radiant we will drive them off.

The bountiful and the boundless have exalted me, made me far-reaching, mighty, thinker, sovereign lord.

HYMN CXXIX. Creation.

1 Then was not non-existent nor existent: there was no realm of air, no sky beyond it.

What covered in, and where? and what gave shelter? Was water there, unfathomed depth of water?

2 Death was not then, nor was there aught immortal: no sign was there, the day's and night's divider.

God alone was, and apart from Him was nothing whatsoever.

3 Darkness there was: at first concealed in darkness this All was indiscriminated chaos.

All that existed then was void and formless: by the great power of God's command was born this creation.

4 Thereafter rose Desire in the beginning, Desire, the primal seed and germ of spirit.

Sages who searched with their heart's thought discovered the existent's kinship in the non-existent.

5 Transversely was their severing line extended: what was above it then, and what below it?

There were begetters, there were mighty forces, free action here and energy up yonder.

6 Who verily knows and who can here declare it, whence it was born and whence comes this creation?

The angels are later than this world's production. Who knows then whence it first came into being?

7 He, the first origin of this creation, who formed it all, whose eye controls this world in highest heaven, He verily knows it.

HYMN CXXX. Creation.

1 The worship drawn out with threads on every side, stretched by a hundred sacred ministers and one,

This do these forefathers weave who hitherward are come: they sit beside the warp and cry, Weave forth, weave back.

2 The Man extends it and the Man unbinds it: even to this vault of heaven hath he outspun it.

These pegs are fastened to the seat of worship: they made the chants their weaving shuttles.

3 What were the rule, the order and the model? What were the wooden fender and the butter?

What were the hymn, the chant, the recitation, when to God all the righteous paid worship?

6 So by this knowledge men were raised to seers, when ancient worship sprang up, our forefathers.

With the mind's eye I think that I behold them who first performed this act of worship.

7 They who were versed in ritual and metre, in hymns and rules, were the seven godly seers.

Viewing the path of those of old, the sages have taken up the reins like chariot-drivers.

HYMN CXXXI. The Mighty.

1 Drive all our enemies away, O Mighty One, the western, mighty Conqueror, and the eastern.

Hero, drive off our northern foes and southern, that we in Thy wide shelter may be joyful.

2 What then? As men whose fields are full of barley reap the ripe corn removing it in order,

So bring the food of those men, bring it hither, who went not to prepare the grass for worship.

3 Men come not with one horse at sacred seasons; thus they obtain no honour in assemblies.

Sages desiring herds of kine and horses strengthen the Mighty One for His friendship.

4 Ye twin healers, Lords of splendour, drank full draughts of grateful juice,

And aided the Mighty in His work against the oppressor.

5 As parents aid a son, both healers, O Mighty One, aided Thee with their wondrous powers and wisdom.

When Thou, with might, hadst drunk the draught that gladdens, the Lady of Eloquence, O Bountiful, refreshed Thee.

6 The Mighty is strong to save, rich in assistance: may He, possessing all, be kind and gracious.

May He disperse our foes and give us safety, and may we be the lords of hero vigour.

7 May we enjoy His favour, His the Holy: may we enjoy His blessed loving-kindness.

May this rich Mighty One, as our good Protector, drive off and keep afar all those who hate us.

HYMN CXXXII. The Friend and the All-Seeing.

1 May heaven, the Lord of lauded wealth, and earth stand by the man who offers worship,

And may the twin healers strengthen the worshipper with bliss.

2 As such we honour You, Friend and All-Seeing, with hasty zeal, most blest, You who sustain the folk.

So may we, through Your friendship for the worshipper, subdue the fiends.

3 And when we seek to win Your love and friendship, we who have precious wealth in our possession,

Or when the worshipper augments his riches, let not his treasures be shut up.

4 Thou, O All-Seeing, art the King of all men.

The Lord of the chariot was well content, forbearing to anger death by sin so great.

6 Your Mother, the Boundless, O ye wise, was purified with water even as earth is purified from heaven.

Show love and kindness here below: wash her in rays of heavenly light.

7 Ye twain have seated you as Lords of wealth, as one who mounts a car to him who sits upon the pole, upon the wood.

These our disheartened tribes Nrmedhas saved from woe, Sumedhas saved from woe.

HYMN CXXXIII. The Mighty.

1 Sing strength to the Mighty One that shall set His chariot in the foremost place.

Giver of room in closest fight, slayer of foes in shock of war, be Thou our great encourager. Let the weak bowstrings break upon the bows of feeble enemies.

2 Thou didst destroy the Dragon: Thou sentest the rivers down to earth.

Foeless, O Mighty One, wast Thou. Thou tendest well each choicest thing. Therefore we draw us close to Thee.

Let the weak bowstrings break upon the bows of feeble enemies.

3 Destroyed be all malignities and all our enemy's designs.

Thy bolt Thou castest at the foe, O Mighty One, who would smite us dead: Thy liberal bounty gives us wealth.

4 The robber people round about, O Mighty One, who watch and aim at us,

Trample them down beneath Thy foot; a conquering scatterer art Thou.

5 Whoso assails us, be the man a stranger or akin,

Bring down, Thyself, his strength although it be as vast as are the heavens.

6 Close to Thy friendship do we cling, O Mighty One, and depend on Thee.

Lead us beyond all pain and grief along the path of holy Law.

7 Do Thou bestow upon us her who yields according to the singer's longing,

That the great cow may, with exhaustless udder, pouring a thousand streams, give milk to feed us.

HYMN CXXXIV. The Mighty.

1 As, like the morning, Thou hast filled, O Mighty One, both the earth and heaven,

So as the Mighty One, great King of all the mighty world of men, Thou art the Lord of all.

2 Relax that mortal's stubborn strength whose heart is bent on wickedness.

Trample him down beneath Thy feet who watches for and aims at us.

3 Shake down, O Slayer of the foe, those great and splendid enemies.

With all Thy powers, O Mighty One, all Thine helps, shake them down.

4 As Thou, O Lord of a hundred powers, shakest all things down

As wealth for him who sheds the juice, with Thine assistance thousandfold.

5 Around, on every side like drops of sweat let lightning-flashes fall.

Let all malevolence pass away from us like threads of grass.

7 Never, O righteous, do we offend, nor are we ever obstinate: we walk as holy texts command.

Closely we cling to Your guidance.

HYMN CXXXVI. The Long-haired Ascetic.

1 He with the long loose locks supports the light, and moisture, heaven, and earth:

He is all sky to look upon: he with long hair is called this light.

2 The ascetics, girdled with the wind, wear garments soiled of yellow hue.

They, following the wind's swift course, go where the righteous have gone before.

3 Transported with our devotion we have pressed on into the winds:

You therefore, mortal men, behold our natural bodies and no more.

4 The ascetic, made associate in the holy work of every servant of God,

Looking upon all varied forms flies through the region of the air.

5 The steed of the wind, the friend of the breeze, the ascetic, by the righteous impelled,

In both the oceans hath his home, in eastern and in western sea.

6 Treading the path of sylvan beasts, he with long locks, who knows the wish,

Is a sweet most delightful friend.

HYMN CXXXVII. Healing.

1 Ye righteous, raise up once more the man whom ye have humbled and brought low.

O Lord, restore to life again the man who hath committed sin.

2 Two several winds are blowing here, from the Indus, from a distant land.

May one breathe energy to thee, the other blow disease away.

3 Hither, O Wind, blow healing balm, blow all disease away, thou Wind;