MANDALA III, HYMN 6.

ASHTAKA II, ADHYAYA 8, VARGA 26-27.

1. Bring forward, ye pious singers, stirred in your thoughts , (the ladle) which is turned towards the gods. Carrying (the sacrificial butter) from left to right it turns eastward, rich in strength, bringing the offering to Agni, full of ghee.

2. When born thou hast filled the two worlds, nay thou hast even exceeded them, O friend of sacrifices . May, O Agni, thy seven-tongued horses move along, by the greatness of heaven and earth .

3. Heaven and Earth the worshipful establish thee as Hotri for the house, whenever the pious human tribes offering food magnify the bright light.

4. (Thou art) seated, the great one, in a firm place , between the two mighty Heavens , thou who art longed for--(between) the two united never-ageing, inviolable wives, the two juice-yielding milch-cows of the far-reigning one .

5. Thy, the great (god's) laws, O Agni, are great. Through the power of thy mind thou hast spread out the two worlds. Thou hast become a messenger at thy birth, thou, O bull, the leader of the tribes.

6. Or bind to the pole by means of thy (art of) harnessing the two long-maned, red (horses) of Rita, that swim in ghee , and carry hither, O god, all gods; perform splendid worship, O Gatavedas!

7 . Even from heaven thy shining lights have shone; thy splendour follows many resplendent dawns, when the gods, O Agni, praised the cheerful Hotri's work who eagerly burns in the forests .

8. Whether it be the gods who rejoice in the wide air, or those who dwell in the heavenly light, or those who are helpful , ready to hear our call, and worshipful; or whether the horses of thy chariot, O Agni, have turned themselves hither--

9. Come hither with them, O Agni, on one chariot or on many chariots, for thy horses are powerful. Bring hither, after thy nature, the thirty and the three gods with their wives, and rejoice (in the Soma).

10. He is the Hotri whose sacrifice even the two wide worlds salute over and over again for the sake of prosperity. Turned to the east , the two well-established (goddesses, Heaven and Earth), the righteous, true ones stand as at the sacrifice of (Agni) the right-born.

11 = III, 1, 23.

NOTES.

The sane Rishi and metre.--Verse 1 = TB. II, 8, 2, 5; MS. IV, 14, 3. Verse 9 = AV. XX, 13, 4.

Verse 1.

Note [3:6:1:1]1. The translation of manana' is conjectural, and based only on the etymology. The passage a't it ra'ganam manana'h agribhnata, IX, 70, 3, does not help us much. 'Does not X, 47, 7. stomah hridisprisah manasa vakyamanah, indicate the original reading, manasa vakyamanam?' M. M.

Note [3:6:1:2]2. The srukah are called dakshinavritah, I, 144, 1. By the word dakshinava't the poet probably intended to designate the ladle also as procuring a Dakshina (sacrificial fee) to the priest.

Verse 2.