18 Grasp in, thine arms the thunderbolt, O thunderarmed, to slay the fiends:

Mayst thou subdue the foemen's host.

19 I call the ancient friend, allied with wealth, who speeds the lowly man,

Him to whom chiefly prayer is brought.

20 For he alone is lord of all the treasures of the earth: he speeds

Hither, chief lover of the song.

21 So with thy yoked teams satisfy our wish with power and wealth in steeds

And cattle, boldly, lord of kine!

22 Sing this, what time the juice is pressed, to him your hero, much-invoked,

To please him as a mighty steer.

23 He, excellent, withholdeth not his gift of power and wealth in kine,

When he hath listened to our songs.

24 May he with might unclose for us the cows' stall, whosesoe'er it be,

To which the Dasyu-slayer goes.

25 O Indra Şatakratu, these our songs have called aloud to thee,

Like mother cows to meet their calves.

26 Hard is thy love to win: thou art a steer to him who longs for steers:

Be to one craving steeds a steed.

24 Whosesoe'er it be the meaning of kuvitsasya here is somewhat uncertain. Sâyana explains it as, of Kuvitsa, a certain person who does much harm. The meaning appears to be, may Indra open for us the cow-stall and give us the cattle of any Dasyu whom he, that is, we under his guidance, may attack.

26 Thou art a steer: gavám pradata, a giver of cattle.-Sâyana. A steed: asvapradaḥ, a giver of horses.-Sayana.

1

27 Delight thee with the juice we pour for thine own great munificence:

Yield not thy singer to reproach.

28 These songs with every draught we pour come, lover of the song, to thee,

As milch-kine hasten to their young.

29 To thee most oft invoked, amid the many singers' rivalry

Who beg with all their might for wealth.

30 Nearest and most attractive may our laud, O Indra, come to thee.

Urge thou us on to ample wealth.

31 Bribu hath set himself above the Panis, o'er their highest head,

Like the wide bush on Ganga's bank.

32 He whose good bounty, thousandfold, swift as the rushing of the wind,

Suddenly offers as a gift.

33 So all our singers ever praise the pious Bribu's noble deed,

Chief, best to give his thousands, best to win his thousands in return.

27 This stanza is repeated, word for word, from III. 41. 6.

31 Bribu: according to Sayana, the carpenter or artificer of the Panis. The Panis here are, in accordance with the original meaning of the words, merchants or traders, and the merchant Bribu is eulogized for his piety and liberality, qualities which were not the usual characteristics of the class to which he belonged. A legend, referred to by Sâyaṇa, and recorded in the Mânava-dharma ṣástra or Laws of Manu, 10. 107., relates that Bharadvâja, when distressed by hunger in a lonely forest, accepted many cows from the carpenter Bribu; the moral being that men of inferior caste and low condition may distinguish themselves by their liberality. See Wilson's Note, Vol. III. p. 466.

The wide bush: the belt of underwood. Others would read Urukaksha as one word instead of uruḥ kaksha, and explain it as the name of a man, son of a woman called Gangâ.

33 Chief: sûri, as institutor of the sacrifice.

THAT we may win us wealth and power we poets, verily, call on thee:

In war men call on thee, Indra, the hero's lord, in the steed's race-course call on thee.

2 As such, O wonderful, whose hand holds thunder, praised as mighty, caster of the stone!

Pour on us boldly, Indra, kine and chariot-steeds, ever to be the conqueror's strength.

3 We call upon that Indra who, most active, ever slays the foe:

Lord of the brave, most manly, with a thousand powers, help thou and prosper us in fight.

4 Richîshama, thou forcest men as with a bull, with anger, in the furious fray.

Be thou our helper in the mighty battle fought for sunlight, water, and for life.

5 O Indra, bring us name and fame, enriching, mightiest, excellent,

Wherewith, O wondrous god, fair-visored, thunderarmed, thou hast filled full this earth and heaven. 6 We call on thee, O king, mighty amid the gods, ruler of men, to succour us.

All that is weak in us, excellent god, make firm: make our foes easy to subdue.

The Rishi is Samyu. The metre is Brihati (8 + 8 + 12 + 8) and Satobrihati (12+8+ 12 +8) in alternate stanzas.

3 With a thousand powers: sahasramushka. The reading of the Sâmaveda, sahasramanyo, is, as Professor Ludwig remarks, much more æsthetic.

4 Richishama: or, worthy of praise! But the exact meaning of the epithet is somewhat uncertain.

5 Fair-visored: or, fair of cheek.

7 All strength and valour that is found, Indra, in tribes of Nahushas, and all the splendid fame that the five tribes enjoy,

Bring, yea, all manly powers at once.

8 Or, Maghavan, what vigorous strength in Trikshi lay, in Druhyus or in Pûru's folk,

Fully bestow on us, that, in the conquering fray, we may subdue our foes in fight.

9 O Indra, grant a happy home, a triple refuge triply strong.

Bestow a dwelling-place on the rich lords and me, and keep thy dart afar from these.

10 They who with minds intent on spoil subdue the foe, boldly attack and smite him down,

From these, O Indra Maghavan who lovest song, be closest guardian of our lives.

11 And now, O Indra, strengthen us: come near and aid us in the fight,

What time the feathered shafts are flying in the air, the arrows with their sharpened points.

12 Give us, where heroes strain their bodies in the fight, the shelter that our fathers loved.

To us and to our sons give refuge: keep afar all unobserved hostility.

7 Nahushas: people, apparently distinct from the five Åryan tribes par excellence, and dwellers on or near the Indus. According to Sâyana, human beings in general are meant, and Professor Roth explains the word as men generally, but with the special sense of stranger, or neighbour. See Muir, O. S. Texts, I. 179, 180.

8 Trikshi: a king so named, says Sâyana. In another place he has the patronymic Trâsadasyava, son of Trasadasyu. In Druhyus or in Puru's folk literally, in Druhyu or in Pâru,' the names of the eponymi of these tribes being used for the tribes themselves.

12 To us and to our sons give refuge: the commentator takes achittam, 'unobserved,' with chardih, and explains the words as 'armour unknown by the enemies.'

13 When, Indra, in the mighty fray thou urgest chargers to their speed,

On the uneven road and on a toilsome path, like falcons, eager for renown.

14 Speeding like rivers rushing down a steep descent, responsive to the urging call,

That come like birds attracted to the bait, held in by reins in both the driver's hands.

HYMN XLVII.

Indra, Etc.

YEA, this is good to taste and full of sweetness, verily it is strong and rich in flavour.

No one may conquer Indra in the battle when he hath drunken of the draught we offer.

2 This sweet juice here had mightiest power to gladden: it boldened Indra when he slaughtered Vṛitra, When he defeated Sambara's many onslaughts, and battered down his nine-and-ninety ramparts.

3 This stirreth up my voice when I have drunk it: this hath aroused from sleep my yearning spirit. This sage hath measured out the six expanses from which no single creature is excluded.

The deities or deified objects are various. Soma is the deity of stanzas 1-5, Indra of 6—19, of part of 20, of 21, and part of 31. The gods are the deities of the first Pâda of stanza 20, the Earth of the second, and Brihaspati of the third. The liberality of Prastoka son of Sṛinjaya is eulogized in stanzas 22-25. The Car is the deified object of 26-28, and the Drum of 29, 30, and part of 31.

The Rishi is Garga Bhâradvâja. The metre is Brihatî in stanza 19, Anushṭup in 23, Gâyatrî in 24, Dvipadâ in 25, Jagati in 27, and Trishṭup in the rest.

3 This sage hath measured out: the creative acts of Indra are ascribed to Soma which inspirits him to perform them. The six expanses, are the two worlds, heaven and earth, and the three subdivisions of each; or, according to the commentator, heaven, earth, day, night, water, and plants.