6 Soma hath flowed to him whom naught can equal, the earth, the heavens, the firmament, the mountains,—

When heightened in his ire his indignation shatters the firm and breaks the strong in pieces.

7 As an axe fells the tree so he slew Vritra, brake down the strongholds and dug out the rivers.

He cleft the mountain like a new made pitcher. Iudra brought forth the kine with his Companions.

8 Wise art thou, Punisher of guilt, O Indra. The sword lops limbs, thou smitest down the sinner,

The men who injure, as it were a comrade, the lofty Law of Varuņa and Mitra,

9 Men who lead evil lives, who break agreements, and injure Varuna, Aryaman, and Mitra,—

Against these foes, O Mighty Indra, sharpen, as furious death, thy Bull of fiery colour.

10 Indra is Sovran Lord of Earth and Heaven, Indra is Lord of waters and of mountains.

Indra is Lord of prosperers and sages: Indra must be invoked in rest and effort.

11 Vaster than days and nights, Giver of increase, vaster than firmament and flood of ocean,

Vaster than bounds of earth and wind's extension, vaster than rivers and our lands is Indra.

12 Forward, as herald of refulgent Morning, let thine insatiate arrow fly, O Indra,

And pierce, as 't were a stone launched forth from heaven, with hottest blaze the men who love deception.

13 Him, verily, the moons, the mountains followed, the tall trees followed and the plants and herbage.

Yearning with love both Worlds approached, the Waters waited on Indra when he first had being.

7 His Companions: the Maruts, who assisted him in performing his exploit. 8 Punisher of guilt: here Indra is said to discharge the duties which in more ancient hymns are ascribed to Agni and to Mitra and Varuņa.

9 Thy Bull: thy thunderbolt. 'The heavy strong red weapon.'-M. Müller.

10 In rest and effort: 'for the acquirement and preservation of wealth.Wilson.

13 The moons: or, the months. Waited on Indra: as the representative of the Sun, the originator of all life.-Ludwig.

14 Where was the vengeful dart when thou, O Indra, clavest the demon ever bent on outrage?

When fiends lay there upon the ground extended like cattle in the place of immolation?

15 Those who are set in enmity against us, the Ogaņas, O Indra, waxen mighty,

Let blinding darkness follow those our foemen, while these shall have bright shining nights to light them.

16 May plentiful libations of the people, and singing Rishis' holy prayers rejoice thee.

Hearing with love this common invocation, come unto us, pass by all those who praise thee.

17 O Indra, thus may we be made partakers of thy new favours that shall bring us profit.

Singing with love, may we the Visvamitras win daylight even now through thee, O Indra.

18 Call we on Maghavan, auspicious Indra, best Hero in the fight where spoil is gathered,

The Strong who listens, who gives aid in battles, who slays the Vritras, wins and gathers riches.

A THOUSAND heads hath Purusha, a thousand eyes, a thousand feet.

On every side pervading earth he fills a space ten fingers wide. 2 This Purusha is all that yet hath been and all that is to be; The Lord of Immortality which waxes greater still by food.

14 Fiends: mitrakrúvaḥ: the exact meaning of the word is uncertain. Prof. Ludwig takes it as a genitive case: What time they lay there on the earth extended like oxen in a demon's place of slaughter.'

15 Oganas: probably the name of some hostile clan. According to Sâyaṇa, enemies assembled in numbers. These: us and our friends here.

16 All those who praise thee: all other worshippers.

18 This is the concluding stanza of several hymns of the Visvamitras. See III. 30. 22; 31. 22; 32. 17; 34. 11; 35. 11; 36. 11.

1 Purusha, embodied spirit, or Man personified and regarded as the soul and original source of the universe, the personal and life-giving principle in all animated beings, is said to have a thousand, that is, innumerable, heads, eyes, and feet, as being one with all created life. A space ten fingers wide:

the region of the heart of man, wherein the soul was supposed to reside. Although as the Universal Soul he pervades the universe, as the Individual Soul he is enclosed in a space of narrow dimensions. See Hymns of the Atharva-veda, XIX. 6. 1, note.

2 The second line is explained in various ways. The meaning of the words seems to be: he is lord of immortality or the immortal world of the Gods, which grows greater by food, that is, by the sacrificial offerings of men.

3 So mighty is his greatness; yea, greater than this is Purusha. All creatures are one-fourth of him, three-fourths eternal life in heaven.

4 With three-fourths Purusha went up : one-fourth of him again was here.

Thence he strode out to every side over what eats not and what eats.

5 From him Virâj was born; again Purusha from Virâj was born. As soon as he was born he spread eastward and westward o'er the earth.

6 When Gods prepared the sacrifice with Purusha as their offering,

Its oil was spring, the holy gift was autumn; summer was the wood.

7 They balmed as victim on the grass Purusha born in earliest time. With him the Deities and all Sâdhyas and Rishis sacrificed.

According to Sayana: he is the lord or distributer of immortality because he becomes the visible world in order that living beings may obtain the fruits of their actions and gain moksha or final liberation from their bonds, he is also the lord of immortality; for he mounts beyond (his own condition) for the food (of living beings).'-Wilson. Colebrooke translates the line:' he is that which grows by nourishment, and he is the distributer of immortality.' Dr. Muir renders it by :-' He is also the lord of immortality, since by food he expands. According to the paraphrase in the Bhagavata-Purana, the meaning of the last clause is: since he hath transcended mortal nutriment.' Prof. Ludwig's version is: auch über die unsterblichkeit gebietend, [da er,] was durch speise [ist,] weit überragt,' ruling also over immortality, [since he] far transcends what [exists] through food; but in his Commentary a somewhat different explanation is given. 'Ruling over immortality, he was all that grows by food.'-Peterson.

3 Eternal life: amritam: immortality, or the immortal Gods.

4 Over what eats not and what eats: over animate and inanimate creation. According to Sayana and Mahidhara, over both classes of created things, those capable of enjoyment, that is, who can taste the reward and punishment of good and evil actions, such as Gods, men, and lower animals, and those who are incapable thereof, such as mountains and rivers-chetanam, or conscious, achetanam, or unconscious, creation.

5 From him: or, from that, the 'one-fourth' mentioned in stanzas 3 and 4. Viraj, or, in the nominative form, Virât, is said to have come, in the form of the mundane egg, from Âdi-Purusha, the primeval Purusha, or presiding Male or Spirit, who then entered into this egg, which he animates as its vital soul or divine principle.' Or Virâj may be the female counterpart of Purusha as Aditi of Daksha in X. 72. 4, 5.' See Dr. Muir's exhaustive Note on this passage, O. S. Texts, V. pp. 369, 370; and Wallis, Cosmology of the Rigveda, p. 87. Eastward and westward: or, before and behind.

6 The sacrifice: mânasam yajñam, a mental or imaginary sacrifice, according to Siyana. Summer: grishmá does not occur in any other R. V. hymn. Spring: vasantá occurs in only one other R. V. hymn.

7 On the grass: on the sacred grass used in sacrifices. of celestial beings, probably ancient divine sacrificers,

Sadhyas: a class

8 From that great general sacrifice the dripping fat was gather

ed up.

He formed the creatures of the air, and animals both wild and

tame.

9 From that great general sacrifice Richas and Sâma-hymns. were born;

Therefrom were spells and charms produced; the Yajus had

its birth from it.

10 From it were horses born, from it all cattle with two rows of teeth:

From it were generated kine, from it the goats and sheep were born.

11 When they divided Purusha how many portions did they make? What do they call his mouth, his arms? What do they call his thighs and feet?

12 The Brahman was his mouth, of both his arms was the Râjanya made.

His thighs became the Vaisya, from his feet the Sûdra was produced.

13 The Moon was gendered from his mind, and from his eye the Sun had birth;

Indra and Agui from his mouth were born, and Vâyu from his breath.

14 Forth from his navel came mid-air; the sky was fashioned from his head;

Earth from his feet, and from his ear the regions. Thus they formed the worlds.

He:

8 The dripping fat: 'the mixture of curds and butter.'--Wilson. or, it; the sacrificed victim Purusha, or the sacred clarified butter. The creatures of the air: those animals over whom Vayu presides.'-Wilson.

9 Spells and charms: probably those of the later collection of the Atharvaveda. The Yajus: the Yajurveda.

12 RAjanya: the second or Kshatriya caste, the regal and military class. Vaisya: the husbandman; he whose business is agriculture and trade. Súdra : the labourer. The Brahman is called the mouth of Purusha, as having the special privilege, as a priest, of addressing the Gods in prayer. The arms of Purusha became the Râjanya, the prince and soldier who wields the sword and spear. His thighs, the strongst parts of his body, became the agriculturist and tradesman, the chief support of society; and his feet, the emblems of vigour and activity, became the Badra or labouring man on whose toil and industry all ultimately rests. This is the only passage in the Rigveda which enumerates the four castes.

14 Cf. the creation myth of the world-giant Ymir or Hymir in old Northern poetry. The hills are his bones, the vault of the sky his skull, the sea his blood, and the clouds his brains.-Corpus Poeticum Boreale, Vol. II. p. 468.

15 Seven fencing-sticks had he, thrice seven layers of fuel were prepared,

When the Gods, offering sacrifice, bound, as their victim,
Purusha.

16 Gods, sacrificing, sacrificed the victim: these were the earliest holy ordinances.

The Mighty Ones attained the height of heaven, there where the Sadhyas, Gods of old, are dwelling.

BRISK, at the place of Ilâ, hymned by men who wake, our own familiar Friend is kindled in the house;

Hotar of all oblation, worthy of our choice, Lord, beaming, trusty friend to one who loveth him.

2 He, excellent in glory, guest in every house, finds like a swiftwinged bird a home in every tree.

Benevolent to men, he scorns no living man: Friend to the tribes of men he dwells with every tribe.

3 Most sage with insight, passing skilful with thy powers art thou, O Agni, wise with wisdom, knowing all.

As Vasu, thou alone art Lord of all good things, of all the treasures that the heavens and earth produce.

4 Foreknowing well, O Agni, thou in Ilâ's place hast occupied thy regular station balmed with oil.

Marked are thy comings like the comings of the Dawns, the rays of him who shineth spotless as the Sun.

15 Fencing-sticks: guards, or pieces of wood laid round the sacrificial fire to enclose it. Sâyana explains paridhayaḥ as the seven metres, or as six shallow trenches dug round the fire, and an imaginary one round the Sun. Mahîdhara says that the seven oceans may be intended.

This pantheistic hymn, which is generally called the Purushasûkta, is of comparatively recent origin, and appears to be an attempt to harmonize the two ideas of sacrifice and creation. For further information regarding it, see Muir, O S. Texts, I. pp. 6-11, and V. 368-377, Prof. Max Müller, Ancient Sanskrit Literature, pp. 570f, and Dr. Scherman, Philosophische Hymnen aus der Rig-und Atharva-veda-Sanhita, pp. 11-23. The hymn has also been translated by Colebrooke, Miscellaneous Essays, pp, 167, 168; by Wallis, Cosmology of the Rigveda, pp. 87, 88; and by Peterson, Hymns from the Rigveda, pp. 289, 290; also by Burnouf, Bhagavata Purana, Preface to Vol. I., and by Weber, Indische Studien, IX. p. 5. Grassmann's Translation in his Appendix to Vol. II., and Ludwig's Translation and Commentary should be consulted. See also Hymns of the Atharva-veda, XIX. 6, which is a reproduction of this hymn with transpositions and variations.

1 The place of Ita: the shrine where clarified butter is poured upon the fire. Our own familiar Friend: Agni, the Friend of the house.

2 Swift-winged bird: or, bird of prey. 'Hunter,' according to Ludwig. 3 Vasu the word meaning also good and treasure.