ANUVÁKA VII.

SÚKTA I. (XXXI.)

This Hymn is addressed to AGNI; the Rishi is HIRANYASTÚPA, the son of ANGIRAS. The eighth, sixteenth, and eighteenth stanzas are in the Trishtubh metre; the rest, in Jagati.

1. Thou, AGNI, wast the first ANGIRAS Ṛishi:a a Varga XXXII. divinity, thou wast the auspicious friend of the deities. In thy rite, the wise, the all-discerning, the bright-weaponed MARUTS were engendered.

2. Thou, AGNI, the first and chiefest ANGIRAS, gracest the worship of the gods;-sapient, manifold," for the benefit of all the world, intelligent, the offspring of two mothers, and reposing in various ways, for the use of man.

3. AGNI, preeminent over the wind," become manifest to the worshipper, in approbation of his worship. Heaven and earth tremble (at thy power).

a

According to Sáyaña, he was the first, as being the progenitor of all the Angirasas; they being, according to the Bráhmaña, as before quoted, nothing more than the coals or cinders of the sacrificial fire. There is no explanation of the origin assigned, in this verse, to the Maruts.

↳ Vibhu, according to the Scholiast, means "of many kinds;" alluding to the different fires of a sacrifice.

с

c Dwimátá, either of two mothers, i.e., the two sticks, or, the maker of two, i.e., heaven and earth.

a Literally, first in, or on, or over, the wind,—prathamo mátariśwane; alluding, according to the Scholiast, to the text, agnir váyur ádityah, fire, air, sun,-in which Agni precedes Váyu.

Varga XXXIII.

Thou hast sustained the burthen, in the rite for which the priest was appointed. Thou, VASU, hast worshipped the venerable (gods).

4. Thou, AGNI, hast announced heaven to MANU: a thou hast more than requited PURÚRAVAS, doing homage to thee. When thou art set free by the attrition of thy parents, they bear thee, first, to the east, then, to the west, (of the altar).

5. Thou, AGNI, art the showerer (of desires), the augmenter of the prosperity (of thy worshipper): thou art to be called upon, as the ladle is lifted up. Upon him who fully understands the invocation and makes the oblation, thou, the provider of sustenance, first bestowest light, and, then, upon all

men.

d

6. AGNI, excellently wise, thou directest the man who follows improper paths, to acts that are fitted to reclaim him;-thou who, in the strife of heroes, (grateful to them) as widely-scattered wealth, destroyest, in the combat, the mighty, by the feeble.

a It is said that Agni explained to Manu, that heaven was to be gained by pious works.

b The agency of Purúravas, the son of Budha, the son of Soma, in the generation of fire by attrition, and its employment in the form of three sacrificial fires, as told in the Puráñas (Vishnu Purána, p. 397), may be here alluded to: but the phrase is only sukrite sukrittarah, doing more good to him who did good.

The fire is first applied to kindle the Ahavaniya fire, and, then, to the Gárhapatya, according to the Scholiast.

a He who knows the áhuti, with the vashať kriti, or utterance of the word vashať at the moment of pouring the butter on the fire.

7. Thou sustainest, AGNI, that mortal (who worships thee), in the best immortality, by daily food: thou bestowest on the sage, who is desirous (of creatures) of both kinds of birth, happiness and sustenance.

a

8. AGNI, who art praised, by us, for the sake of wealth, render illustrious the performer of the rite. May we improve the act by a new offspring, (given by thee). Preserve us, heaven and earth, along with the gods.

9. Irreproachable AGNI, a vigilant god amongst the gods, (abiding) in the proximity of (thy) parents, and bestowing upon us embodied (progeny), awake us. Be well-disposed to the offerer of the oblation; for thou, auspicious AGNI, grantest all riches.

10. Thou, AGNI, art well-disposed to us; thou art our protector; thou art the giver of life to us: we are thy kinsmen. Uninjurable AGNI, hundreds and thousands of treasures belong to thee, who art the defender of pious acts, and attended by good men.

11. The gods formerly made thee, AGNI, the living general of the mortal NAHUSHA: they made

a It is not very clear what is meant the expression is, who is very desirous, or longing, for both births. The Scholiast says, for the acquirement of bipeds and quadrupeds,-dwipadám chatushpadám lábháya.

The parents are here said to be heaven and earth.

© Nahusha was the son of Ayus, son of Purúravas, who was elevated to heaven, as an Indra, until precipitated, thence, for his arrogance. The circumstance alluded to in the text does not appear in the Pauráńik narrative.— Vishnu Puráña, p. 413.

Varga XXXIV.

ILÁ the instructress of MANUS, when the son of my father was born."

12. AGNI, who art worthy to be praised, preserve us, who are opulent, with thy bounties, and, also, the persons (of our sons). Thou art the defender of cattle, for the son of my son," who is ever assiduous in thy worship.

13. Thou, four-eyed AGNI, blazest,-as the protector of the worshipper,-who art at hand, for the (security of the) uninterrupted (rite): thou cherish

This circumstance is not related, in the Puráñas, of Ilá, the daughter of Faivaswata Manu.—Vishnu Puráña, p. 349. Frequent passages in the Vedas ascribe to Ilá the first institution of the rules of performing sacrifices. Thus, in the text, she is termed śásaní, which the Scholiast explains dharmopadeśakartri, the giver of instruction in duty. The Taittiriyas are quoted for the text, "Idá, the daughter of Manu, was the illustrator of sacrifice” (yajnánukáśiní); and the Vájasaneyis, for the passage: "She [Ilá,] said to Manu, 'Appoint me, to officiate in sacrifices, principal and supplementary; for by me shalt thou obtain all thy desires””—Prayájánuyájánám madhye mám avakalpaya mayá sarván avápsyasi kámán. M. Burnouf questions if Ilá ever occurs in the sense of daughter of Manu, in the Vedas, and restricts its meaning to 'earth' or to 'speech.' The passage of the text, Ilám akṛinwan manushasya śásaním, he translates, les Dieux ont fait d'Ila la préceptrice de l'homme, and considers it equivalent to les Dieux ont fait de la parole l'institutrice de l'homme. Introduction to the Bhágavata Purána, III., pp. LXXXIV.-XCI. We are scarcely yet in possession of materials to come to a safe conclusion on this subject. b We must conclude that this hymn was composed by the author in his old age, as he speaks of his grandson.

est, in thy mind, the prayer of thine adorer, who offers the oblation to thee, the harmless, the benevolent.

14. Thou, AGNI, desirest (that the worshipper may acquire) that excellent wealth which is requisite for the many-commended priest thou art called the well-intentioned protector of the worshipper, who ever needs protection. Thou, who art all-wise, instructest the disciple, and (definest) the points of the horizon.a

15. AGNI, thou defendest the man who gives presents (to the priests), on every side, like wellstitched armour." The man who keeps choice viands in his dwelling, and, with them, entertains (his guests), performs the sacrifice of life, and is the likeness of heaven.

с

This is said to allude to a legend in which the gods, intending to offer a sacrifice, were at a loss to determine the cardinal points, until the perplexity was removed by Agni's ascertaining the south.

b Varma syútam, sewn armour. The kavacha was, perhaps, a quilted jacket, such as is still sometimes worn: the Scholiast says, formed with needles, without leaving a fissure.

• The expression is rather ambiguous,—jívayájam yajate, sacrifices a life-sacrifice. Rosen renders it vivam hostiam mactat; but, in this place, it seems, rather, to denote an offering (food and hospitality) to a living being, the nṛiyajna, worship of man, of Manu. The expression, however, is not incompatible with the practice of killing a cow for the food of a guest, thence denominated, as M. Langlois remarks, goghna, a cow-slayer. The Scholiast sanctions either sense, explaining the phrase either jivayajanasahitam yajnam, a sacrifice with sacrifice of life, or jivanishpádyam,