MANDALA I, HYMN 26.

ASHTAKA I, ADHYAYA 2, VARGA 20-21.

1. Clothe thyself, with thy clothing (of light), O sacrificial (god), lord of all vigour; and then perform this worship for us.

2. Sit down, most youthful god, as our desirable Hotri, through (our prayerful) thoughts , O Agni, with thy word that goes to heaven.

3. The father verily by sacrificing procures (blessings) for the son , the companion for the companion, the elect friend for the friend.

4. May Varuna, Mitra, Aryaman, triumphant with riches (?) , sit down on our sacrificial grass as they did on Manu's.

5. O ancient Hotri, be pleased with this our friendship also, and hear these prayers.

6. For whenever we sacrifice constantly to this or to that god, in thee alone the sacrificial food is offered.

7. May he be dear to us, the lord of the clan, the joy-giving, elect Hotri; may we be dear (to him), possessed of a good Agni (i. e. of good fire).

8. For the gods, when possessed of a good Agni, have given us excellent wealth, and we think ourselves possessed of a good Agni.

9. And may there be among us mutual praises of both the mortals, O immortal one, (and the immortals) .

10. With all Agnis (i. e. with all thy fires), O Agni, accept this sacrifice and this prayer, O young (son) of strength .

NOTES.

This hymn, as well as the whole collection to which it belongs, is ascribed to Sunahsepa Agigarti (comp. 24, 12.13). The metre is Gayatri. Bergaigne (Recherches sur l'histoire de la Samhita, II, 7) divides this hymn into Trikas, with one single verse added at the end. I cannot find sufficient evidence for this; the appearance in the Sama-veda (II, 967-9) of a Trika composed of the verses 10. 6. 7 of our hymn is rather against Bergaigne's opinion.

Verse 2.

Note [1:26:2:1]1. Manmabhih may possibly mean, 'with thy (wise) thoughts;' comp., for instance, III, 11, 8. pari visvani sudhita agneh asyama manmabhih, 'may we obtain every bliss through Agni's (wise) thoughts,' or 'may we obtain all the blessings of Agni for our prayers.'

Note [1:26:2:2]2. Vakas stands for vakasa. See the passages collected by Lanman, Noun-Inflection, 562, and comp. Roth, Ueber gewisse Kurzungen des Wortendes im Veda, 5; Joh. Schmidt, Die Pluralbildungen der indogermanischen Neutra, 304 seq. Ludwig also takes vakas as instrumental.

Verse 3.

Note [1:26:3:1]1. Agni is the father, the mortal whose sacrifice he performs, the son.

Verse 4.