Canto 13Gathin Kaushika · Suktas 19–22
Book 2. Part Two: Other Hymns to Agni
the pouring of the clarity, for speed, for strength. Until I
have the mastery,49 adoring with the Word I lift to thee for
the conquest of the hundreds this thought divine.
4. Affirmed by our lauds rise up with thy flame of light, O son
5of force, found the vast expansion in us who labour at the
work, found opulently in the Vishwamitras the peace and
the movement, O Fire. We make bright many times over thy
body.
5. O conqueror of the riches, create for us the ecstasy, such
10thou becomest when thou art high kindled. Opulently in
the gated house of thy felicitous adorer thou upholdest thy
gliding bodies streaming their radiance.
GATHIN KAUSHIKA
SUKTA 19
151. Fire I choose, the priest of the call in the sacrifice, the wise,
the seer, the omniscient, free from ignorance: he shall do
worship for us strong for sacrifice, in the formation of the
godheads; for the wealth, for the plenitude he wins all kinds
of amassings.
2049 Or, as long as I have the power,
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2. O Fire, I mission towards thee a power of giving bearing
my oblation, luminous, full of lustres. May he come to the
sacrifice with his givings, with his treasures turning round
it and widening the formation of the godheads.
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3. So am I guarded by thee with a mind of shining energy;
70then do thou teach us of the riches that teach and that give
us good children of our works. O Fire, may we become
affirmers of thee by our lauds and rich in the power of a
wealth most full of the strength of the gods.
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954. For, many flame-forces they have founded in thee, O Fire,
men who have the will to sacrifice to the godhead. So, bring
to us the formation of the godhead, O youthful god, when
thou worshippest with sacrifice the divine host today.
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5. Since the gods seating thee for sacrifice have anointed thee
as priest of the call in the rite, so do thou, O Fire, awake here
as our protector and found thy inspirations in our bodies.
125Other Hymns to Agni
SUKTA 20
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1. Fire and dawn and the two riders of the horse and Dadhi-
kravan the Carrier of the offerings calls by his words in the
dawnings. May the gods full of the Light hear us; may they
desire and accept with a common pleasure our sacrifice.
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2. O Fire, three are thy steeds, three the worlds of thy session;
three are thy tongues, O thou born from the Truth, they are
many: three too are thy bodies desired by the gods, with
175them protect undeviatingly our words.
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3. Many are the names of thee, the Immortal, O Fire, O knower
of the births, O god who bearest with thee the self-law of
nature; all the manifold magic of the Lords of magic they
205have combined in thee, O all-ruler, O builder of the levels.
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4. The Fire is as the Enjoyer the leader of the divine worlds, he
is the divine guardian of the fixed time of things, and with
235him is the Truth. He is the slayer of the Coverer, the eternal,
the omniscient; may he carry one who hymns him with the
word beyond all the difficulty and stumbling.
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5. Dadhikravan I call here, and the Fire, and the divine Dawn,
Brihaspati and the god Savitri, the two riders of the horse,
and Mitra and Varuna and Bhaga, the Vasus, the Rudras,
the Adityas.
270SUKTA 21
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1. Found this our sacrifice in the immortals, accept these offer-
ings, O knower of things born. O priest of the call sitting as
first and supreme, taste of the drops of understanding50 and
295light.
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2. O purifying Fire, full of light there drip for thee drops of
315understanding; give us the supreme desirable thing in thy
self-law for the advent of the gods.
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3. To thee, the illumined seer, come these drops dripping light,
O right and true, O Fire; then thou blazest up as the supreme
Rishi. Become the protector of our sacrifice.
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50 Or, strength
Other Hymns to Agni
O unseizable51 Ray! O thou with whom is the puissance!
360Declared by the seers of truth thou hast come with the vast
light. Accept our offerings, O wise intelligence!
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5. Most full of energy is the understanding held up in the
middle for thee, this is our gift to thee. The drops drip over
385thy skin, O shining one,52 take them to thee in the way of
the gods.
SUKTA 22
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1. This is that Fire in which Indra, desiring the wine, held it in
his belly; our laud rises to thee because thou hast won the
thousandfold plenitude as if a steed of swiftness, O knower
of all things born!
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2. O Fire, that splendour of thine which is in heaven and which
is in the earth and its growths and its waters, O lord of
sacrifice, by which thou hast extended the wide mid-air, it
is a brilliant ocean of light in which is divine vision.
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3. O Fire, thou goest towards the ocean of the sky, thou
51 Or, uncontrollable
52 Or, Lord of riches,
460Mandala Three
speakest towards the gods who are masters of knowledge,53
towards the waters that abide above in the luminous world
of the sun and the waters that are below.
4. Let thy Fires that dwell in the waters joining with those that
465descend the slopes accept the sacrifice, mighty impelling
forces, in which there is no harm nor any distress.
5. O Fire, achieve at my call the Revealing Speech, the many-
actioned, the lasting conquest of the Light. May there be for
us a Son of our begetting pervading in his birth;54 O Fire,
470may there be created in us that true thinking of thine.
DEVASHRAVAS AND DEVAVATA BHARATA