Canto 15Vishwamitra Gathina · Suktas 24–29

Book 2. Part Two: Other Hymns to Agni

1. O Fire, overpower the hostile armies, hurl them from us;

hard to pierce, pierce the enemy-powers, found thy splen-

dour in him who carries through the sacrifice.

2. O Fire, thou art kindled by the word of revelation, the

5immortal who comes to the offering, accept wholly our

pilgrim-sacrifice.

3. O Fire, ever-wakeful with thy light, O son of force, invoked

sit on my seat of sacrifice.

4. O Fire, with all thy divine fires greaten in our sacrifices the

10word that has sight.

5. O Fire, give to the giver a wealth full of hero-strengths

enclosing us; intensify the force in us having with us the

Son.

Other Hymns to Agni

15SUKTA 25

Edv

20n

rEs

tAtnA

25ET yA

30-Dd

;

yjA

35EcEkv

1. O Fire, thou art the son of heaven by the body of the earth,

the conscious knower, even the omniscient. Sacrifice to each

god in turn, O thou who knowest.

aEn

40snoEt

vFyA

Ev7AsnoEt

vAjmm

45tAy

50no

;

55vhA

2. Fire the knower wins the hero-energies, wins the plenitudes

striving towards immortality. So do thou bring to us the

60gods, O giver of the manifold plenty.

aEnA

vAp

ETvF

65vjy

BAEt

70am

75yn

vAj

80cd

nmoEB

3. The Fire, free from all ignorance, illumines Earth and

Heaven the divine and immortal mothers of all things;

85possessing all he is manifold in his delights by his plenitudes

and his dispensations.

90dAf

roZ

95tAvto

y.Emhop

yAtm

amD

100somp

yAy

4. O Fire, and O Indra, here in the gated house of the giver who

105offers the wine, come to the sacrifice, gods unforgetting, for

the drinking of the Soma-wine.

apA

sEmys

110d

roZ

Eny

115no

shso

jAtv

sDTAEn

120mhymAn

UtF

5. O Fire, thou shinest high, eternal in the house of the waters,

O son of force, O knower of all things born, greatening

under thy guard the worlds of thy session.

125Mandala Three

SUKTA 26

vAnr

130mnsAEn

EncA?yA

hEvmto

135vEv

dAn

140v

rETr

yvo

145gFBF

r@v

EfkAso

hvAmh

1501. We the Kushikas, bringing the offering, desiring the Trea-

sure, call by our words Fire, the universal godhead, dis-

cerning him by the mind, as the follower of the truth, who

finds the world of the sun, the great giver, the divine and

rapturous charioteer.

155t

mEnmvs

hvAmh

160v

vAnr

mAtEr

vAnm

1658Lym

hpEt

170d

vtAty

2otArmEtET

175ydm

2. We call to guard us that brilliant Fire, the universal god-

head, who grows in the mother, the master of the word, the

speaker and the hearer, for the human being’s forming of the

godhead, the illumined Seer, the guest, the swift Traveller.

180a

5d)jEnEB

sEmyt

185v

vAnr

Efk

190EBy

195no

aEn

vFy

200 y

dDAt

r&mm

205jAg

3. As if the neighing Horse by the mothers, the universal god-

head is kindled high by the Kushikas from generation to

generation; may that Fire wakeful in the Immortals give to

210us the hero-strength and good power of the Horse and the

ecstasy.

vAjAtEvqFEBrny

215B

220qtFry

225mzto

230pyEt

;

adA yA

2354. Let them go forward, the plenitudes with the strengths, thy

Fires; they have yoked the dappled mares mingled together

to reach bliss and make the mountains tremble, before them

the life-gods, omniscient, pouring the Vast, inviolable.

Other Hymns to Agni

240aEnE2yo

mzto

245aA

250Imh

vym

vAEnno

zEd

255yA

EnEZ

260hA

q5tv

265dAnv

5. The life-gods with their glory of fire, universal in the peo-

ples,57 we desire as our brilliant and forceful guard; great

givers are they, thunderous and terrible, clothed as if in

raiment of rain, they are like roaring lions.

270v

275gZ

fEtEBrn

280mztAmoj

Imh

vAso

285anvB

rADso

gtAro

EvdT

290q

DFrA

6. Host upon host, troop upon troop with their proclaimings

of the Fire we desire the luminous energy of the life-gods;

they come to the sacrifice driving their dappled horses,

295their achievement cannot be taken from them, they are wise

thinkers in the discoveries of knowledge.

aEnrEm

jmnA

jAtv

300dA

305rm

aAsn

310EDAt

rjso

EvmAno'j*o

Gmo

315hEvrEm

nAm

7. I am the Fire, I am from my birth the knower of all things

born; light is my eye, in my mouth is immortality; I am the

triple Ray, I am the measurer of the mid-world, I am the

320unceasing illumination, I am the offering.

EEB

pEv

#rp

pod

325yk

}dA

mEt

6yoEtrn

jAnn

330vEq

r&mk

vDAEBrAEdd

335AvAp

ETvF

3408. He has purified through the three filters the Ray, follow-

ing the thought with the heart he has reached knowledge

of the light; he has created by the self-laws of his nature

the supreme ecstasy and his sight has embraced earth and

heaven.

34557 Or, dragging all with them,

Mandala Three

ftDArm

smFymAZ

EvpE

350ct

Eptr

v8vAnAm

355mdt

EpozpT

rodsF

Epp

360t

syvAcm

9. He is a fountain with a hundred streams that is never ex-

hausted, with his illumined consciousness he is the father

and accorder of all that must be spoken; he takes his rapture

365in the lap of the Father and Mother and earth and heaven

fill him full, the speaker of truth.

SUKTA 27

vAjA

370aEBvo

hEvmto

tAQyA

375vAE)jgAEt

1. Forward move the luminous plenitudes bearing the offering

with the ladle of light; the seeker of bliss travels to the gods.

380I0

aEn

EvpE

EgrA

385y.y

sADnm

FvAn

EDtAvAnm

2. I pray by the word the Fire with its illumined consciousness,

390who accomplishes the sacrifice, who has the inspiration,

who has the firm holding.

395t

400vAEjn

aEt

405m

3. O Fire, may we have the power to rein thee, the divine steed

of swiftness, may we cross through the hostile forces.

sEmymAno

avr

410'En

pAvk

foEck

415ftmFmh

4. Fire high-blazing in the rite of the path, Fire whom we must

pray, who purifies, with his tresses of flame — him we desire.

Other Hymns to Agni

420T

pAjA

amyo

tEnEZ

425k

vAh

aEny

430h yvAV

5. He is the immortal, wide in might, clothed in raiment of

light; well-fed with the oblation, Fire is the carrier of the

offerings in the sacrifice.

435sbADo

yt*

iTA

EDyA

440y.vt

rEnm

445ty

6. Assailed by the opponent the doers of sacrifice, setting to

work the ladle, keeping the true thought, have made the Fire

to guard them.

hotA

450d

amy

rtAd

455Et

mAyyA

EvdTAEn

codyn

7. The immortal, the godhead, the priest of the call goes in

460our front with his mage wisdom, impelling the discoveries

of knowledge.

vAjF

vAj

465DFyt

'vr

ZFyt

Evo

470y.y

sADn

8. He is held as the Horse in the plenitudes, he is led along in the

rites of the path, he is the illumined seer who accomplishes

the sacrifice.

475EDyA

@yo

480$

tAnA

485dy

Eptr

tnA

9. He was made by the Thought, one Supreme;58 it held the

child of beings, the father of the Understanding in the

490body.59

58 Or, the desirable one;

59 Or, the daughter of the Understanding set him in us the child born from creatures

and their father.

Mandala Three

495En

500dy

shk

505s

dFEtm

Efjm

10. The word of revelation born from the understanding sets

510thee within, one supreme, O thou forcefully created, O Fire,

the perfect thinker and the aspirant.

aEn

rmP

515rm

yog

520EvA

vAj

sEmDt

11. Fire the swift in motion, who crosses through the waters,

525the illumined seers desiring to conquer in the union with the

Truth set ablaze by the plenitudes.

Ujo

npAtmvr

dFEdvA

530sm

aEnmF0

kEv5t

535m

12. I pray Fire, the seer-will, the Son of Energy flaming out in

heaven in the rite of the path.

540nmyEtrtmA

smEnEryt

545v

13. One to be prayed, to be worshipped with obeisance, one

who sees60 through the darkness, the Fire is kindled high,

the male of the herd.

550v

aEn

sEmyt

555vo

vvAhn

560hEvmt

I0t

14. Mighty and male the Fire is kindled high, he is like a horse

that carries the gods, him they pray who bring the offerings.

60 Or, is seen

565Other Hymns to Agni

570v

sEmDFmEh

575an

dFt

15. Thee, mighty and male, we male and mighty kindle high, O

580Bull of the herds, O Fire, and thou illuminest the Vast.

SUKTA 28

585no

hEv

ro0Af

jAtv

590d

AtsAv

EDyAvso

1. O Fire, accept our offering, the frontal oblation in the dawn

pressing of the wine, O knower of the births, O rich in

595thought.

ro0A

pctt

600 y

pErk

605t

yEvS

6102. O Fire, for thee is the frontal offering prepared and dressed,

that accept, O youthful god.

vFEh

615ro0AfmAh

Etroa>

shs

620s

ryvr

Eht

6253. O Fire, come to61 the frontal offering that is cast to thee

with the disappearance of day; O son of force, thou art

established in the rite of the path.

mAy

Edn

630svn

jAtv

ro0AfEmh

635kv

y4y

640tv

BAgD

EmnEt

645EvdT

DFrA

4. In the noonday pressing of the wine, O seer, knower of all

things born, accept the frontal offering. O Fire, the wise

650thinkers in their discoveries of knowledge impair not thy

portion, who art the mighty one.

61 Or, devour

Mandala Three

655t

tFy

svn

kAEnq

660p

ro0Af

shs

665nvAh

aTA

670vvr

EvpyyA

r&vtmm

675q

jAg

Evm

5. O Fire, in the third pressing also thou hast desire of the

frontal offering cast to thee, O son of force; do thou by the

680illumination establish in the gods the pilgrim sacrifice full

of ecstasy and wakeful in the immortals.

DAn

685aAh

ro0Af

jAtv

690d

Etroa>

6956. O Fire, increasing accept the frontal offering, the oblation

cast with the disappearance of the day, O knower of all

things born.

SUKTA 29

atFdmEDmTnmEt

700jnn

etA

705p&FmA

BrA'En

mTAm

710v

1. This is the churning out, this the bringing to birth that is

done; bring the Queen of the peoples, let us churn out the

Fire as of old.

715ar@yoEn

Ehto

jAtv

720iv

EDto

gEB

ZFq

725Edv

Edv

jAg

730vEYh

EvmEYm

EBrEn

7352. The knower of all births is set in the two tinders, like an

unborn child well-placed in the womb of the mothers, Fire

who is to be prayed from day to day by men wakeful and

bearing their offering.

u1AnAyAmv

740BrA

EcEkvAs

vFtA

745jjAn

azqt

zfdy

750pAj

i0AyAp

755'jEn

3. Waking to knowledge bring him down in her lying supine;

at once penetrated she has brought to birth the male of the

Other Hymns to Agni

herd: a ruddy pile of strength his might shines forth, the son

760of the Word of revelation is born in the manifestation of

knowledge.

i0AyAvA

765nABA

ET yA

aED

jAtv

770do

DFmVn

h yAy

vo[hv

7754. We in the seat of the Word of revelation, on the navel-centre

of the earth, set thee within, O knower of all things born,

for the carrying of the oblations.

mTtA

780kEvm7yt

tsmm

785tFkm

y.y

790p

rtAdEn

nro

jnytA

795f

5. Churn out, O men, the seer who creates no duality, the

immortal thinker and knower with his fair front; Fire who

is the supreme intuition in the sacrifice, the blissful one,

800bring to birth in your front, O men.

ydF

mTEt

bAh

EBEv

805roct

vA6yzqo

810vn

Eco

yAm3E

815vnorEnv

pEr

Z8y

820mnt

dhn

6. When they churn him out by the strength of their arms wide

he shines, he is like a horse of swiftness, he is luminous in the

825woodlands; he is like a richly hued chariot in the journeying

of the two riders, none can impede him; burning around the

rocks he tears the grasses.

jAto

anF

830roct

EktAno

vAjF

835kEvft

dAn

840vAs

vEvd

845h yvAhmdD

rvr

7. Agni when he is born shines waking to knowledge, he is the

Horse, the illumined who is declared by the seers, the great

850giver, whom the gods have set in the pilgrim sacrifices as the

carrier of the offerings, the one to be prayed, the omniscient.

Mandala Three

sFd

hot

855v

lok

EcEkvAsAdyA

860s

yonO

865vAvFd

vAn

hEvqA

yjAyn

870hd

yjmAn

vyo

8. Sit, O priest of the call, in that world which is thy own

875waking to knowledge, accomplish the sacrifice in the native

seat of deeds well done; manifesting the godheads62 thou

sacrificest to the gods with the offering, — O Fire, found in

the sacrificer the vast expansion.

880Zot

885qZ

sKAyo'*

itn

vAjmQC

890aymEn

tnAqAV

vFro

895y

vAso

asht

900dy

9. O Friends, create his mighty smoke, go with unerring steps

towards the plenitude; this is the Fire conqueror in the battle,

905by whom the gods overcame the destroyers.

yoEn-

Evyo

910yto

jAto

arocTA

jAn3n

915aA

sFdA'TA

920Egr

10. This is thy native seat where is the order of the Truth whence

born thou shonest forth, know it and take there thy session,

then give increase to our words.

925tn

npAd

Qyt

930aAs

nrAf

BvEt

935yd

EvjAyt

mAtEr

ydEmmFt

940mAtEr

vAty

sgo

aBvt

srFmEZ

94511. A mighty child in the womb he is called the son of the body;

when he is born he becomes one who voices the godhead:

when as life who grows in the mother he has been fashioned

in the mother he becomes a gallop of wind in his movement.

950Enm

Enm

ETt

955EnDA

EnEht

kEv

vvrA

960k

vAn

965vyt

12. Churned out with the good churning, the seer set within

with a perfect placing, — O Fire, make easy the paths of the

sacrifice, offer sacrifice to the gods for the seeker of godhead.

97062 Or, bringing the gods

Other Hymns to Agni

ajFjn3m

myA

975so'*

mAZ

trEZ

vF0

jMBm

980df

vsAro

smFcF

985p

jAtmEB

990rBt

13. Mortals have brought to birth the Immortal, Fire with his

strong tusk, the unfailing deliverer.63 The ten sisters who

move as companions passion over the male that is born.

sPhotA

995snkAdroct

mAt

zpT

ydfocd

1000DEn

EmqEt

1005rZo

Edv

yds

1010jWrAdjAyt

14. He shone out from the eternal with his seven priests of the

call when he blazed on the lap of the mother, in her bosom

of plenty. He is full of joy and closes not his eyes from day

to day, once he has been born from the belly of the Almighty

1015One.

aEmAy

mztAEmv

1020TmjA

vEmd

1025Evd

<vd

EfkAs

1030eErr

ekeko

aEn

smFEDr

103515. Fighting down the unfriendly powers like the marching

hosts of the life-gods the first-born of the Word come to

know all that is: the Kushikas have sent forth the luminous

word, one by one they have kindled the Fire in the house.

1040vA

yEt

aEmn

hotE

1045cEkvo'v

ZFmhFh

vmyA

1050vm

tAfEmSA

jAnn

Ev7A

;

1055up

yAEh

somm

16. Because here today in the going forward of this sacrifice we

have chosen thee, O Priest of the call, O thou who wakest

1060to knowledge, thou hast moved to the Permanent, thou hast

achieved by thy toil the Permanent; knowing, come as one

possessed of knowledge to the Soma-wine.

63 Or, one who unfailing crosses through all.