the metre that is employed in each Súkta, in order to show the variety that prevails. The description of the different kinds will be found in Mr. Colebrooke's Essay on Sanskrit and Prakrit Prosody, in the tenth volume of the Asiatic Researches.

H. H. WILSON.

1st July, 1850.

RIG-VEDA SANHITÁ.

FIRST ASHTAKA.

FIRST ADHYAYA.

ANUVÁKA I.

SÚKTA I.

The first Sukta or Hymn is addressed to AGNI. The Rishi or author is MADHUCHCHHANDAS, the son of VIśwÁMITRA. The metre is Gayatri.

MANDALA I.

1. I glorify AGNI," the high priest of the sacri- Varga I.

A great variety of etymologies are devised to explain the meaning of the term Agni, the most of which are, obviously, fanciful, but the import of which expresses the notions entertained of his character and functions. On earth, he is invoked (niyate) the first (agra) of the gods; in heaven, he is the leader (agrani) of the hosts of the gods; he is the first of the gods (prathamo devatánám); he was the first-born of the gods (sa vá esho'gre devatánám ajáyata). In these derivations, Agni is compounded, irregularly, out of agra, first, and ni, to lead. It is also derived from anga, body; because he offers his own substance, in the lighting of the sacrificial fire. The author of a Nirukta, or glossary, called Sthúláshť hivin, derives it from the root knu, with the negative prefixed (aknopayati), he who does not spare the fuel. Another compiler of a glossary, Sákapúni, derives the word from three roots, i, to go, anj, to anoint, and dah, to burn, collectively; the

a

с

fice, the divine," the ministrant, who presents the oblation (to the gods), and is the possessor of great wealth."

e

2. May that AGNI, who is to be celebrated by both ancient and modern sages, conduct the gods hither.

3. Through AGNI the worshipper obtains that

letters being arbitrarily changed to ag, and ni, from the root ni, being added. See, also, Yáska's Nirukta, 7, 14.

a

Agni is termed the Purohita, the priest who superintends family rites, or because he is one of the sacred fires in which oblations are first (puras) offered (hita).

b Deva, which, in common use, means a god, is ordinarily explained, in the passages in which it occurs in the Veda, as 'the bright, shining, radiant;' being derived from div, to shine: or it is also explained, one who abides in the sky or heaven (dyusthána). It is, here, also optionally rendered, liberal, donor; the sense of giving being ascribed to the same radical.

с

Ritwij, a ministering priest, or, according to some, the Ritwij who is also the Hotri,-the term that follows in the text,the priest who actually presents the oblation, or who invokes or summons the deities to the ceremony, accordingly as the word is derived from hu, to sacrifice, or hve, to call.

a The word is ratnadhátama, lit., holder of jewels: but ratna is explained, generally, wealth, and, figuratively, signifies the reward of religious rites.

• The terms púrva and nútana, former and recent, applied to Rishis, or sages, are worthy of remark, as intimating the existence of earlier teachers and older hymns. The old Rishis are said to be Bhrigu, Angiras, and others; perhaps, those who are elsewhere termed Prajapatis.—Vishnu Puráña, p. 49.

affluence which increases day by day, which is the source of fame, and the multiplier of mankind.

b

4. AGNI, the unobstructed sacrifice" of which thou art, on every side, the protector, assuredly reaches the gods.

5. May AGNI, the presenter of oblations, the attainer of knowledge, he who is true, renowned, and divine, come hither, with the gods.

6. Whatever good thou mayest, AGNI, bestow Varga !!. upon the giver (of the oblation), that, verily, ANGIRAS, shall revert to thee."

a Adhwaram yajnam. The first is usually employed as a substantive, meaning, also, sacrifice: it is here used as an adjective, signifying free from injury or interruption,-that is, by Rakshasas, evil spirits, always on the alert to vitiate an act of worship.

b"On every side" alludes to the fires which, at a sacrifice, should be lighted at the four cardinal points, east, west, south, and north,—termed, severally, the Ahavaniya, Márjáliya, Gárhapatya, and Agnidhriya.

Kavikratu is here explained to signify one by whom either knowledge or religious acts (kratu) have been acquired or performed (kránta). The compound is commonly used as a synonym of Agni.

a That is, the wealth bestowed upon the Yajamána—the person by whom, or on whose behalf, the sacrifice is performed,-will enable him to multiply his oblations, by which Agni, again, will benefit. Instead of Agni repeated, we have, in the second place, Angiras, as a synonym, which, in Manu and all the Puráñas, is the name of a Ṛishi or Prajapati, one of the primitive mind-born sons of Brahmá: and the appellation is used, frequently, in the text of the Veda, in that sense, as the designation of a Rishi, the founder of a family, or of a school. The commentator quotes