MANDALA I, HYMN 66.

ASHTAKA I, ADHYAYA 5, VARGA 10.

1. Like unto excellent wealth, like unto the shine of the sun, like unto living breath, like unto one's own son--

2. Like unto a quick takvan he (Agni) holds the wood, like milk, like a milch cow , bright and shining.

3. He holds safety, pleasant like a homestead, like ripe barley, a conqueror of men,

4. Like a Rishi uttering (sacred) shouts, praised among the clans; like a well-cared-for race-horse , Agni bestows vigour.

5. He to whose flame men do not grow accustomed , who is like one's own mind , like a wife on a couch, enough for all (happiness).

6. When the bright (Agni) has shone forth, he is like a white (horse [?]) among people, like a chariot with golden ornaments, impetuous in fights.

7. Like an army which is sent forward he shows his vehemence, like an archer's shaft with sharp point.

8. He who is born is one twin; he who will be born is the other twin--the lover of maidens, the husband of wives .

9 . As cows go to their stalls, all that moves and we, for the sake of a dwelling, reach him who has been kindled.

10. Like the flood of the Sindhu he has driven forward the downwards-flowing (waters) . The cows lowed at the sight of the sun .

NOTES.

The same Rishi and metre.

Verse 1.

Note [1:66:1:1]1. Comp. I, 166, 2; 185, 2; X, 39, 14. The second passage (nityam na sunum pitroh upasthe dya'va rakshatam prithivi nah abhvat) would be sufficient to show that we cannot translate 'wie ein uberlebender sohn' (Ludwig).

Verse 2.

Note [1:66:2:1]1. We do not know what animal the takvan is. Comp. I, 134, 5 with M. M.'s note.

Note [1:66:2:2]2. See Bergaigne, Mel. Renier, 101; Gaedicke, 253.

Verse 4.

Note [1:66:4:1]1. Comp. X, 101, 7. prinita asvan hitam gayatha.

Verse 5.

Note [1:66:5:1]1. Comp. VII, 4, 3. durokam agnih ayave susoka.

Note [1:66:5:2]2. Prof. Max Muller believes that kratu here means, 'like kartri, a sacrificer, so that kratuh na nityah sounds like sunuh na nityah, one's own sacrificing son. But all this is very obscure.'

Verse 6.

Note [1:66:6:1]1. The second Pada is translated by Grassmann: 'wie Licht in Hausern;' by Ludwig: 'fast weiss, bei den menschenstammen.' I think that there can be no doubt that the words svetah na contain a comparison like all the other comparisons of which these hymns are full; this comparison is unduly effaced in Ludwig's translation. Nor is Grassmann right in translating svetah bei 'Licht;' the word is an adjective meaning 'white' and nothing else. We must supply here, as in many passages, a substantive, and I do not see any reason why this should not be that