5 Through thy protection may we come to even the height of affluence

Which Bhaga hath dealt out to us.

6 Ne'er have those birds that fly through air attained to thy high dominion or thy might or spirit;

Nor those the waters that flow on for ever, nor hills, abaters of the wind's wild fury.

7 Varana, King, of hallowed might, sustaineth erect the Tree's stem in the baseless region.

Its rays, whose root is high above, stream downward. Deep may they sink within us, and be hidden.

8 King Varuna hath made a spacious pathway, a pathway for the Sun wherein to travel.

Where no way was he made him set his footstep, and warned áfar whate'er afflicts the spirit.

9 A hundred balms are thine, O King, a thousand; deep and wide-reaching also be thy favours.

Far from us, far away drive thou Destruction. Put from us e'en the sin we have committed.

10 Whither by day depart the constellations that shine at night, set high in heaven above us?

Varunas holy laws remain unweakened, and through the night the Moon moves on in splendour.

11 I ask this of thee with my prayer adoring; thy worshipper

craves this with his oblation.

Varuna, stay thou here and be not angry; steal not our life from us, O thou Wide-Ruler.

12 Nightly and daily this one thing they tell me, this too the thought of mine own heart repeateth.

May he to whom prayed fettered Sunaḥṣepa, may he the Sovran Varuna release us.

5 Which Bhaga hath dealt out to us the riches which the distributer of wealth, Bhaga, Fate or Fortune, has allotted to us, 7 Vánasya stupam in the text appears to mean 'the stem of the tree,' and Sâyana's explanation 'the mass or pile of light' seems forced and unnatural. The phrase is not clear, but perhaps the ancient myth of the world-tree, the source of life, may be alluded to. 9 Nirriti is Decay or Destruction parouined, the Goddess of death and corruption. Sâyana calls her papadevat, the deity of sin. 10 Varuna's holy laws : Varuna is the chief of the lords of natural order. His activity displays its-lf preeminently in the control of the most regular phenomena of See Wallis, Cosmology of the Rigveda, p. 97 f. The connexion appears to be: Fear not the laws of Varuna are inviolable, and the constellations will duly reappear.

:

32

THE HYMNS OF

[BOOK 1 13 Bound to three pillars captured Sunaḥṣepa thus to the Adity made his supplication.

Him may the Sovran Varuna deliver, wise, ne'er deceived loosen the bonds that bind him.

14 With bending down, oblations, sacrifices, O Varuna, we depre cate thine anger :

Wise Asura, thou King of wide dominion, loosen the bonds of sins by us committed.

15 Loosen the bonds, O Varuna, that hold me, loosen the bonds above, between, and under.

So in thy holy law may we made sinless belong to Aditi, O thou Aditya.

HYMN XXV.

Varuna.

WHATEVER law of thine, O God, O Varuna, as we are men,
Day after day we violate,

2 Give us not as a prey to death, to be destroyed by thee in
wrath,

To thy flerce anger when displeased.

3 To gain thy mercy, Varuna, with hymns we bind thy heart, as binds

The charioteer his tethered horse.

4 They flee from me dispirited, bent only on obtaining wealth, As to their nests the birds of air.

5 When shall we bring, to be appeased, the Hero, Lord of warrior might,

Him, the far-seeing Varuna?

6 This, this with joy they both accept in common: never do they fail

The ever-faithful worshipper.

7 He knows the path of birds that fly through heaven, and, Sovran of the sea,

He knows the ships that are thereon,

13 Three pillars, or, trees, apparently the sacrificial post, a sort of tripod. The Aditya is Varuna one of the sons of Aditi. See I. 14. 3. 14 Asura: an incorporeal, spiritual, divine being; the Zend Ahura, 15 The bonds: according to Sâyana, the ligatures fastening the head, the waist and the feet. But the bonds of sin are here intended. May we belong to Aditi: May we be restored to freedom and the enjoyment of nature.

4 They flee apparently, my enemies; but the passage is very obscure. 6 Both: Varuna and Mitra. Why Mitra is thus suddenly introduced is not clear. The stanza breaks the connexion between stanzas 5 and 7 ; and is probably an interpolation. 7 Varuna is

King of the air and of the sea, the latter being often regarded as iden tical with the former,

GRAP

[BOOK

to the Adit

ne'er deceive

una, we depr

n the bonds

sen the bond to Aditi,

Varu

e are men,

in

progeny:

He knows the moon of later birth.

9 He knows the pathway of the wind, the spreading, high, and mighty wind:

11

He knows the Gods who dwell above.

Varuna, true to holy law, sits down among his people; he,
Most wise, sits there to govern all.

From thence perceiving he beholds all wondrous things, both
what hath been,

And what hereafter will be done.

12 May that Aditya, very wise, make fair paths for us all our days: May he prolong our lives for us.

by thee i 13 Varuna, wearing golden mail, hath clad him in a shining robe :

d thy heart,

ng wealth,

of

His spies are seated round abont.

14 The God whom enemies threaten not, nor those who tyrannize

o'er men,

Nor those whose minds are bent on wrong.

15 He who gives glory to mankind, not glory that is incomplete, To our own bodies giving it.

ro, Lord 16 Yearning for the wide-seeing One, my thoughts move onward

n: never de

eaven, and

t, a sort of See I. 14. 3. end Ahura ng the head, e intended.

om and the

ge is very us suddenly n between Varuna is

ed as iden

unto him,

As kine unto their pastures move.

17 Once more together let us speak, because my meath is brought : priest-like

Thou eatest what is dear to thee.

18 Now saw I him whom all may see, I saw his car above the earth:

He hath accepted these my songs.

19 Varuna, hear this call of mine: be gracious unto us this day Longing for help I cried to thee,

20 Thou, wise God, art Lord of all, thou art the King of earth and heaven:

Hear, as thou goest on thy way.

13 His

8 The twelve moons with their progeny: the twelve months with the days which are their offspring. The moon of later birth: the thirteenth, the supplementary or intercalary month of the luni-solar year. spies Varuna's spies, messengers or angels, are probably the rest of the Adityas, See M. Müller, A. S. Literature, p. 536. meath or honey (mádhu), the libation of Soma juice.

17 My 18 Now

saw I him: I saw Varuna, visible to the mental eye of his worshippers.

5

's, assume th

hful, through

n worshippet

ryaman,

d fellowship:

to God and

pleasant an

ed precious

rtal men

ur sacrifice,

of flames. er from the Father for hi friend to his

monly inve ver twilight che sacrifice ength: the ed to Indra gni, al udes s of wood

WITH Worship will I glorify thee, Agni, like a long-tailed steed,.
Imperial Lord of sacred rites.

2 May the far striding Son of Strength, bringer of great
felicity,

Who pours his gifts like rain, be ours.

3 Lord of all life, from near, from far, do thou, O Agni evermore Protect us from the sinful man.

4 0 Agni, graciously announce this our oblation to the Gods, And this our newest song of praise.

5 Give us a share of strength most high, a share of strength that is below,

A share of strength that is between.

6 Thou dealest gifts, resplendent One; nigh, as with waves of Sindhu, thou

Swift streamest to the worshipper.

7 That man is lord of endless strength whom thou protectest in the fight,

8 Him, whosoever he may be,no man may vanquish, mighty One : Nay, very glorious power is his.

9 May he who dwells with all mankind bear us with war-steeds through the fight,

And with the singers win the spoil.

10 Help, thou who knowest lauds, this work, this eulogy to Rudra, him

Adorable in every house.

11 May this our God, great, limitless, smoke-bannered, excellently bright,

Urge us to strength and holy thought.

1 Like a long toiled steed: Agni, or Fire, is likened to a horse, probably, on account of his impetuosity; and his long flames, curled and driven by the wind, are compared to the horse's flowing tail. Sâyana explains: scattering our foes with thy flames as a horse brushes away the fiies that trouble him. 6 Sindhu: the Indus; or the word may stand for any river, and the expression mean, with great abundance. 9 With the singers: the priests who sing hymns of praise at the sacrifice. 10 Thou who knowest lauds (jardbodha) seems to refer to the Rishi or poet of the hymn, not to Agui. Rudra the Roarer, or Howler, is here a name of Agni, on account of the loud crackling or roaring of his flames. Or the word may signify red, bright. See Pischel, Vedische Studien, 1. pp. 55 sqq.