Inspirations

9 [The gods:] ‘The pre-sacrifices and the post-sacrifices will be for you alone, the nourishing parts of the offering. This whole sacrifice will be for you, Agni; the four quarters of the sky will bow to you.’

Indra Lures Agni from Vtra

1 [Indra:] ‘Agni! Come to this sacrifice of ours, that has five roads, three layers, and seven threads. Be our oblation-bearer and go before us. For far too long you have lain in darkness.’

2 [Agni:] ‘Secretly going away from the non-god, being a god and seeing ahead I go to immortality. Unkindly I desert him who was kind to me, as I go from my own friends to a foreign tribe.’

3 [Varua:] ‘When I see the guest of the other branch, I measure out the many forms of the Law. I give a friendly warning to the Asura father: I am going from the place where there is no sacrifice to the portion that has the sacrifice.’

4 [Soma:] ‘I have spent many years within him. Now I choose Indra and desert the father. Agni, Soma, Varua – they fall away. The power of kingship has turned around; therefore I have come to help.’

5 [Indra:] ‘Varua, these Asuras have lost their magic powers, since you love me. O king who separates false from true, come and rule my kingdom.

6 ‘This was the sunlight, this the blessing, this the light and the broad middle realm of space. Come out, Soma, and let us two kill Vtra. With the oblation we sacrifice to you who are the oblation.’

7 The poet through his vision fixed his form in the sky; Varua let the waters flow out without using force. Like his wives, the shining rivers make him comfortable; they swirl his colour along their current.

8 They follow his supreme Indra-power; he dwells in those who rejoice in their own nature. Choo

sing him as all the people choose a king, they have deserted Vtra whom they loathe.

9 They say that the yoke-mate of those full of loathing is a swan who glides in friendship with the divine waters. The poets through their meditation have seen Indra dancing to the Anuubh.

The Mystery of Agni

1 How shall we with one accord give homage to the benevolent Agni Of-all-men? Great light, by his great and full growth he has propped up the sky as a buttress props a rampart.

2 Do not reproach the self-ruled god who gave this gift to me, for I am a simple mortal, while he is the clever immortal, the insightful, most manly and impetuous Agni Of-all-men.

3 The strong bull with sharp horns and seed a thousandfold has a mighty and double tone. As one reveals the hidden footprint of a cow, Agni has declared to me the inner meaning.

4 Let the generous Agni, sharp-toothed with white-hot flame, devour those who break the dear, firm commandments of Varua and the watchful Mitra.

5 Wilful as women without brothers, wicked as wives who deceive their husbands, those who are evil, without Order or truth, have engendered this deep place.

6 O Agni, who makes things clear, who am I, that upon me when I have broken no commandments you have boldly placed like a heavy burden this thought so high and deep, this fresh question with seven meanings for the offering?

7 Let our vision that clarifies through sacrificial power reach him who is the same everywhere; the precious substance of the dappled cow is in the leather-skin of food, and the disc of the sun has mounted to the head of the earth-cow.

8 What of this speech of mine should I proclaim? They murmur about the secret hidden in the depths: when they have opened the mystery of the cows of dawn, like a door upon a flood, he protects the beloved head of the earth-cow, the place of the bird.

9 This is that great face of the great gods, that the cow of dawn followed as it went in front. I found it shining in the place of the Order, moving swiftly, swiftly.

10 As he blazed beside his parents with his open mouth, he thought of the precious hidden substance of the dappled cow. In the farthest place of the mother, facing the cow, the tongue of the bull, of the flame, stretches forth.

11 When questioned I speak reverently of the Order, if I may, trusting in you who know all creatures. You rule over all this, over all the riches in heaven and all the riches on earth.

12 What is ours of this, what riches, what treasure? Tell us, for you understand, you who know all creatures. Hidden is the farthest end of our road, where we have gone as those who fail follow a false path.

13 What are the limits? What are the rules? What is the goal? We wish to go there as racehorses speed towards the victory prize. When will the Dawns, goddesses and wives of immortality, spread over us their light with the colour of the sun?

14 Those whose speech is empty and contrary, insipid and petty, who leave one unsatisfied, what can they say here, Agni? Unarmed, let them fall defeated.

15 The face of the bull, of this deity kindled for beauty, shone forth in the house. Clothed in white, beautiful in form and rich in gifts, he glowed like a home full of riches.

Agni and the Young Poet

1 The dark day and the bright day, the two realms of space, turn by their own wisdom. As Agni Of-all-men was born, like a king he drove back the darkness with light.