MANDALA I, HYMN 67.

ASHTAKA I, ADHYAYA 5, VARGA 11.

1. Victorious in the forests, a friend among men, he demands obedience like a king, the undecaying one .

2. Like good peace, like fortunate wisdom, may he (Agni) be a kind Hotri, a carrier of offerings.

3. Having taken in his hand all manly powers, he has made the gods fear, when sitting down in his hiding-place.

4. There the thoughtful men find him, when they have recited the spells which they had fashioned in their heart.

5. As the goat (supports) the earth , thus he supports the earth ; he upholds the sky by his efficacious spells.

6. Protect the dear footsteps of the cattle . O Agni, thou who hast a full life, thou hast gone from covert to covert .

7. He who has seen him the hidden one, he who has got near to the stream of Rita --

8. They who get him off, doing service to Rita, to him he then indicates riches.

9. He who grows up with might within the plants, and within the children , and within the sprouting grass --

10. The splendour [?] in the home of the waters , the full-lived. The sages made him as if building a seat.

NOTES.

The same Rishi and metre.

Verse 1.

Note [1:67:1:1]1. 'Gayuh: aus gyayuh, wie der compar. gyayan gyeshthah zeigt,' Ludwig. But what shows that gyayan is the comparative of gayuh and that the utterly impossible change of gy into g is possible? Ludwig's translation 'uberwindend' is right; comp. I, 119, 3.

Note [1:67:1:2]2. I propose to read aguryah. Prof. Max Muller conjectures--as Roth (Pet. Dict.) has done--that srushti may mean 'obedient, servant;' he translates: 'He desires a servant (or worshipper) who is not aged.'

Verse 5.

Note [1:67:5:1]1. On the mythical goat whose office it is to support the worlds, comp. I, 164, 6; VIII, 41, 10; X, 82, 6; Bergaigne, III, 21; H. O., Religion des Veda, 72.

Note [1:67:5:2]2. For 'earth' the text has two different words, ksha'm and prithivi'm. Prof. Max Muller conjectures dya'm for ksha'm: 'He, Agni, supports the earth, as the buck the sky.'

Verse 6.

Note [1:67:6:1]1. Literally, 'the dear footsteps;' but the meaning of priya may be compared to that of the Homeric filos, his own.

Note [1:67:6:2]2. One could be tempted to refer the word pasu to Agni, whose footsteps (pada'ni) the 'wise ones' follow (65, 2), and whom they find out in his hiding. Thus we could translate, 'Look at the dear footsteps of the beast.' But the comparison of 70, 6 makes it more probable that the imperative ni pahi is addressed to Agni. I believe therefore that Grassmann is right in translating 'Die lieben Statten der Heerden schutze.' Ludwig's translation is