iv. 6. 4.
a. Swift, like a bull sharpening his horns, the warrior
Fond of slaughter, disturber of the people,
Bellowing, unwinking, sole hero,
Indra at once conquered a hundred hosts.
b. With the bellowing, unwinking, conquering,
Fighter, hard to overthrow, and daring Indra,
With Indra do ye conquer, do ye withstand
The foe, O heroes, with the strong one who holdeth the arrow in his hands.
c. He is mighty with those who have arrows in their hands and quivers,
Indra who joineth hosts with his band,
Conquering in combat, drinker of Soma, with many a band,
With bow uplifted, and shooter with well-drawn arrows.
d. O Brhaspati, fly round with thy chariot [1],
Slaying the foe, driving away the enemy;
Defeating hosts, destroyer, victor in battle,
Be thou protector of our chariots.
e. The cleaver of the cowstalls, finder of the cows, with the thunderbolt on his arm,
Victorious, crushing in might a host,
Be heroes, O my fellows, like him;
O comrades, follow in Indra’s footsteps.
f. Conspicuous by might, strong, heroic,
Enduring, mighty, steadfast, dread,
Surpassing heroes and warriors born of strength,
Do thou, winning kine, mount, O Indra, thy victorious car.
g. In might penetrating the cowstalls,
Impetuous [2], the hero, Indra, with wrath a hundredfold,
Hard to resist, enduring in battle, unovercomable,
May he aid our armies in the battles.
h. Indra (be) their leader, and let Brhaspati,
The sacrificial fee, the sacrifice and Soma go before;
Let the Maruts precede the hosts divine,
That overthrow and conquer.
i. Of Indra, the strong, of Varuna, the king,
Of the Adityas, of the Maruts the mighty host–
The voice hath ascended of the gods
Great-hearted that shake the worlds as they conquer.
k. Ours (be) Indra, when the standards meet;
Ours be the arrows that conquer [3];
Ours be the heroes who are victors,
And us do ye aid, O gods, at our invocations.
l. Exalt our weapons, O bounteous one,
Exalt the might of my warriors;
Exalt the strength of the steed, O slayer of Vrtra,
Let the sound of the conquering chariots arise.
m. Go ye forward, O heroes; conquer;
Be your arms strong;
May Indra accord you protection
That ye may be unassailable.
n. Let loose, fly forward,
O arrow, expelled with holy power;
Go to our foes, and enter [4] them;
Not one of them do thou spare.
o. Thy vital parts I clothe with armour;
May Soma, the king, cover thee with immortality,
Space broader than broad be thine;
May the gods take delight in thy victory.
p. When the arrows fly together
Like boys unshorn,
Then may Indra, slayer of foes,
Accord us protection for ever.
iv. 6. 5.
a. Along the eastern quarter do thou advance, wise one;
Be thou, O Agni, of Agni the harbinger here;
Illumine with thy radiance all the regions;
Confer strength on our bipeds and quadrupeds.
b. Mount ye, with Agni, to the vault,
Bearing him of the pan in your hands;
Having gone to the ridge of the sky, to the heaven,
Do ye eat, mingled with the gods.
c. From earth have I mounted to the atmosphere;
From the atmosphere have I mounted to the sky;
From the ridge of the vault of the sky
Have I attained the heaven, the light [1].
d. Going to the heaven, they look not away;
They mount the sky, the two worlds,
They who extended, wisely,
The sacrifice, streaming on every side.
e. O Agni, advance, first of worshippers,
Eye of gods and mortals;
Pressing on in unison with the Bhrgus,
Let the sacrificers go to heaven, to prosperity.
f. Night and the dawn, one-minded, but of various form,
United suckle one child;
The radiant one shineth between sky and earth;
The gods, granters of wealth, support Agni.
g. O Agni, of a thousand eyes [2], of a hundred heads,
A hundred are thy expirations, a thousand thine inspirations;
Thou art lord of wealth a thousandfold;
To thee as such let us pay homage for strength, hail!
h. Thou art the winged bird, sit on the earth; sit on the ridge of earth; with thy blaze fill the atmosphere, with thy light establish the sky, with thy brilliance make firm the quarters.
i. Receiving offering, fair of face, O Agni;
Sit down in front in thine own birthplace, in due order;
In this higher place,
O All-gods [3], do ye sit with the sacrificer.
k. Enkindled, O Agni, shine before us,
O most youthful, with unfailing beam;
Ever upon thee strength awaiteth.
l. Let us pay homage to thee in thy highest birth, O Agni;
Let us pay homage with praises in thy lower abode;
The place of birth whence thou didst come, to that I offer;
In thee when kindled they offered the oblations.
m. That various lovingkindness given to all men,
Of Savitr the adorable, I choose,
That mighty fat cow of his which Kanva milked,
Streaming with a thousand (draughts) of milk [4].
n. Seven are thy kindling-sticks, O Agni, seven thy tongues,
Seven seers, seven dear abodes;
Seven Hotras sevenfold sacrifice to thee
Seven birthplaces with ghee do thou fill.
o. Such like, other like, thus like, similar, measured, commensurate, harmonious;
p. Of pure radiance, of varied radiance, of true radiance, the radiant, true, protector of holy order, beyond distress [5];
q. Winning holy order, winning truth, host-conquering, having a good host, with foes within, with foes afar, the troop;
r. Holy order, true, secure, supporting, supporter, upholder, upholding;
s. Such like, thus like, do ye come to us, similar and equal.
t. Measured and commensurate, to aid us, harmonious, at this sacrifice, O Maruts.
u. On Indra attend the divine folk, the Maruts; even as the divine folk, the Maruts, attend on Indra, so may the folk divine and human, attend on this sacrificer.
The Horse Sacrifice
iv. 6. 6.
a. As of a thunder-cloud is the face of the warrior
As he advanceth to the lap of the battles;
Be victorious with unpierced body;
Let the might of thine armour protect thee.
b. By the bow cows, by the bow the contest may we win,
By the bow dread battles may we win;
The bow doth work displeasure to the foe;
By the bow let us win in all the quarters.
c. As if about to speak it approacheth the ear,
Embracing its dear comrade,
Like a woman this bowstring twangeth stretched over the bow [1],
Saving in the battle.
d. They coming together as a maiden to the assembly,
As a mother her child, shall bear (the arrow) in their lap;
In unison shall they pierce the foes,
These two ends springing asunder, the enemies.
e. Father of many (daughters), many his sons,
He whizzeth as he goeth to battle,
The quiver, slung on the back, yielding its content,
Doth conquer every band and army.
f. Standing on the chariot be guideth his steeds before him
Wheresoever he desireth, good charioteer;
The might of the reins [2] do ye admire;
The reins behind obey the mind (of the driver).
g. Shrilly the strong-hooved horses neigh,
As with the cars they show their strength;
Trampling with their forefeet the enemy
They unflinchingly destroy the foe.
h. The chariot-bearer is his oblation by name,
Where is deposited his armour and his weapon;
Then may we sit on the strong car,
All the days, with friendly hearts.
i. The fathers with pleasant seats, granting strength,
A support in trouble mighty and profound,
With varied hosts, with arrows to strengthen them, free,
With real heroes, broad conquerors of hosts.
k. The Brahmans [3], the fathers worthy of the Soma,
And sky and earth, unequalled be propitious to us;
May Pusan guard us from misfortune, us that prosper holy order
Do thou guard; may no foe overpower us.
l. A feather her garment, a deer her tooth,
Tied with cowhide she flieth shot forth;
Where men run together and apart,
There may the arrows accord us protection.
m. O thou of straight path, avoid us;
Be our body as of stone
May Soma favour us,
And Aditi [4] grant protection!
n. Their backs it smites,
Their thighs it belabours;
O horse-whip, do ye stimulate
The skilled horses in the battles.
o. Like a snake with its coils it encircleth his arm,
Fending off the friction of the bowstring,
Let the hand-guard, knowing all cunning,
Manfully guard the man on all sides.
p. O lord of the forest, be strong of limb,
Our comrade, efficacious, of great strength;
Thou art tied with cowhide, be thou strong;
Let him that mounteth thee conquer what is to be conquered.
q. From sky, from earth [5] is might collected,
From trees is strength gathered;
The might of the waters surrounded with the kine,
Indra’s thunderbolt, the chariot, do thou adore with oblation.
r. The thunderbolt of Indra, the face of the Maruts,
The embryo of Mitra, the navel of Varuna,
Do thou, accepting this our sacrifice,
O chariot divine, take to thyself the oblations.
s. Roar to earth and sky;
Let the scattered world be ware of thee in many places;
Do thou, O drum, in unison with Indra and the gods [6],
Drive away the foe further than far.
t. Roar thou! Grant us force and might.
Thunder, overthrowing obstacles;
Snort away, O drum, misfortune hence;
Indra’s fist art thou; show thy strength.
u. Drive to us those, and these make to come to us;
The drum speaketh aloud for a signal (of battle)
Our heroes winged with steeds meet together;
Be our chariotmen victorious, O Indra.
