2. Let his coursers convey INDRA, in an easymoving chariot, hither, where these grains (of parched barley), steeped in clarified butter, are strewn (upon the altar).

3. We invoke INDRA, at the morning rite; we invoke him, at the succeeding sacrifice; we invoke INDRA to drink the Soma juice."

4. Come, INDRA, to our libation, with thy longmaned steeds. The libation being poured out, we invoke thee.

5. Do thou accept this our praise, and come to this our sacrifice, for which the libation is prepared: drink, like a thirsty stag.b

6. These dripping Soma juices are effused upon Varga XXXI. the sacred grass. Drink them, INDRA, (to recruit thy) vigour.

7. May this our excellent hymn, touching thy heart, be grateful to thee; and, thence, drink the effused libation.

8. INDRA, the destroyer of enemies, repairs, assuredly, to every ceremony where the libation is poured out, to drink the Soma juice, for (his) exhilaration.

9. Do thou, S'ATAKRATU, accomplish our desire, with (the gift of) cattle and horses. Profoundly meditating, we praise thee.

a Although not more particularly named, the specification implies the morning, midday, and evening worship.

Like the gaura, said to be a sort of deer.

Varga XXXII.

SÚKTA VI. (XVII.)

Metre and Rishi, as before; divinities, INDRA and VARUÑA,

conjointly.

1. I seek the protection of the sovereign rulers," INDRA and VARUÑA. May they, both, favour us accordingly;

2. For you are ever ready, guardians of mankind, to grant protection, on the appeal of a minister such as I am.

3. Satisfy us with wealth, INDRA and VARUÑA, according to our desires. We desire you ever near

us.

4. The mingled (libations) of our pious rites, the mingled (laudations) of our right-minded (priests, are prepared). May we be (included) among the givers of food."

a

Samrájoh, of the two emperors; but rájá is, in general, equivocally used,—meaning, shining, bright, as well as royal; so that Sáyaña explains the term, "possessed of extensive dominion," or "shining very brilliantly." Indra may claim the title of rájá, as chief of the gods; but it seems to be, in a more especial manner, appropriated to Varuña.

The stanza is rather elliptically and obscurely worded; and the sense of the leading term, yuváku, is not very clear: it usually denotes a mixture of curds and ghee. We have, in the text, yuváku * śachinám; yuváku sumatinám. The former (śachínám) is explained, a mixture of buttermilk, water, and meal, suited for acts of religious worship; the latter, the combination of choice expressions and praises which are the suitable phraseology of the right-minded or pious (sumatinám). The final clause is, simply, may we be of (amongst) the givers of food.

5. INDRA is a giver among the givers of thousands: VARUNA is to be praised among those who are deserving of laudation.

6. Through their protection we enjoy (riches), and heap them up; and, still, there is abundance.

7. I invoke you both, INDRA and VARUÑA, for manifold opulence. Make us victorious (over our enemies).

8. INDRA and VARUÑA, quickly bestow happiness upon us; for our minds are devoted to you both.

9. May the earnest praise which I offer to INDRA and VARUÑA reach you both,—that conjoint praise which you (accepting,) dignify.

ANUVÁKA V.

SÚKTA I. (XVIII.)

The metre and Rishi as in the preceding. The first five stanzas are addressed to BRAHMANASPATI, associated, in the fourth, with INDRA and SOMA, and, in the fifth, with them and DAKSHINÁ: the three next are addressed to SADASASPATI; and the ninth, to the same, or to NARÁśansa.

a

1. BRAHMAÑASPATI, make the offerer of the liba

a The Scholiast furnishes us with no account of the station or functions of this divinity. The etymology will justify Dr. Roth's definition of him, as the deity of sacred prayer, or, rather, perhaps, of the text of the Veda; but whether he is to be considered as a distinct personification, or as a modified form of one of those already recognized, and, especially, of Agni, is doubtful. His giving wealth, healing disease, and promoting nourishment, are properties not peculiar to him; and his being associated with Indra and Soma, whilst it makes him distinct from them, leaves him

Varga XXXIII.

Varga XXXIV.

tion illustrious among the gods, like KAKSHÍVAT, the son of UśIJ.a

2. May he, who is opulent, the healer of disease, the acquirer of riches, the augmenter of nourishment, the prompt (bestower of rewards), be favourable to us.

3. Protect us, BRAHMAÑASPATI, So that no calumnious censure of a malevolent man may reach us.

4. The liberal man whom INDRA, BRAHMAÑASPATI, and SOMA protect never perishes.

Agni as his prototype. His being, in an especial manner, connected with prayer appears more fully in a subsequent passage, Hymn XL. Agni is, in an especial degree, the deity of the Brahman; and, according to some statements, the Rig- Veda is supposed to proceed from him; a notion, however, which, according to Medhátithi, the commentator on Manu, was suggested by its opening with the hymn to Agni, Agnim ile.

This story is to be found in several of the Puráñas, especially the Matsya and Váyu, as well as in the Mahábhárata, Vol. I., p. 154. Kakshivat was the son of Dirghatamas, by Uśij, a female servant of the queen of the Kalinga Rájá, whom her husband had desired to submit to the embraces of the sage, in order that he might beget a son. The queen substituted her bondmaid Uśij: the sage, cognizant of the deception, sanctified Uśij, and begot, by her, a son, named Kakshivat, who, through his affiliation by Kalinga, was a Kshattriya, but, as the son of Dirghatamas, was a Brahman. He was, also, a Rishi; as, in another passage, he says of himself, aham kakshíván Ṛishir asmi,-I am the Rishi Kakshivat. The Taittiriyas also include him among the holy persons who are qualified to conduct sacrifices and compose hymns. In the Mahábhárata, Dirghatamas disallows the right of the king, there named Bali, to the sons of a Súdra female, and claims them as his own.

5. Do thou, BRAHMAÑASPATI, and do you, SOMA, INDRA, and DAKSHINA,a protect that man from sin.

6. I solicit understanding from SADASASPATI," the Varga XXXV. wonderful, the friend of INDRA, the desirable, the bountiful

;

7. Without whose aid the sacrifice even of the wise is not perfected: he pervades the association of our thoughts.

8. He rewards the presenter of the oblation: he brings the sacrifice to its conclusion: (through him) our invocation reaches the gods.

d

9. I have beheld NARÁSANSA, the most resolute, the most renowned, and radiant as the heavens.

a Dakshiná is, properly, the present made to the Brahmans,– at the conclusion of any religious rite,-here personified as a female divinity.

Properly, the master or protector (pati) of the assembly (sadas): it is, here, a name of Agni. He is the friend or associate of Indra, as, on this occasion, partaking of the same oblations.

• Dhinám yogam inwati, which may mean, "he pervades the association of our minds," or, "the objects of our pious acts;" as dhi means either, as usual, buddhi, understanding, or has the Vaidik sense of karma, act.

a This has already occurred, [p. 32] as an appellative of Agni, and confirms the application of Sadasaspati and Brahmanaspati to the same divinity. According to Kátthakya, it means the personified yajna, or sacrifice, at which men (naráh) praise (śansanti) the gods; according to Sákapúni, it is, as before (Hymn XIII., v. 3), Agni, he who is to be praised of men. The same explanation is quoted from the Brahmana: "I beheld (with the eye of the Vedas,) that divinity, Sadasaspati, who is to be praised by men, who is also called Naráśansa.”