Canto 55Devas and Agni Sauchika · Sukta 51
Book 2. Part Two: Other Hymns to Agni
1. Large was the covering and it was dense in which thou wert
wrapped when thou didst enter into the waters; one was the
god who saw thee but many and manifold were thy bodies
which he saw, O Fire, O knower of all things born.
52. Which of the gods was he who saw everywhere my bodies
in many forms? O Mitra and Varuna, where then dwell all
the blazings of the Fire which are paths of the gods?
3. We desire thee, O Fire, O knower of all things born, when
thou hast entered manifoldly into the growths of the earth
10and into the waters; there the lord of the law grew aware of
thee, O thou of the many diverse lights, shining luminous
beyond the ten inner dwelling-places.
Other Hymns to Agni
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354. O Varuna, fearing the sacrificants’ office that so the gods
might not yoke me to that work, so my bodies entered
manifoldly, for I, Fire, was not conscious of this goal of
the movement.
eEh
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5. Come to us; the human being, god-seeking, is desirous of
sacrifice, he has made all ready but thou dwellest in the dark-
ness, O Fire. Make the paths of the journeying of the gods
easy to travel, let thy mind be at ease, carry the offerings.
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856. The ancient brothers of the Fire chose this goal to be reached
as charioteers follow a path; therefore in fear I came far
away, O Varuna. I started back as a gaur from the bowstring
of the archer.
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90m
t
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100n
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7. Since we make thy life imperishable, O Fire, O knower of
all things born, so that yoked with it thou shalt not come
115to harm, then with thy mind at ease thou canst carry their
share of the offering to the gods, O high-born Fire.
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8. Give me the absolutes that precede and follow the sacrifice
as my share of the oblation packed with the energy; give me
145the light from the waters and the soul from the plants and
let there be long life for the Fire, O gods.