Vedic Hymns, Part II (SBE46), by Hermann Oldenberg [1897], at sacred-texts.com
Vedic Hymns, Part II (SBE46), by Hermann Oldenberg [1897], at sacred-texts.com
1. Clothe thyself, with thy clothing (of light), O sacrificial (god), lord of all vigour; and then perform this worship for us.
2. Sit down, most youthful god, as our desirable Hotri, through (our prayerful) thoughts 1, O Agni, with thy word 2 that goes to heaven.
3. The father verily by sacrificing procures (blessings) for the son 1, the companion for the companion, the elect friend for the friend.
4. May Varuna, Mitra, Aryaman, triumphant with riches (?) 1, sit down on our sacrificial grass as they did on Manu's.
5. O ancient Hotri, be pleased with this our friendship also, and hear these prayers.
6. For whenever we sacrifice constantly 1 to this or to that god, in thee alone the sacrificial food is offered.
7. May he be dear to us, the lord of the clan, the joy-giving, elect Hotri; may we be dear (to him), possessed of a good Agni (i. e. of good fire).
8. For the gods, when possessed of a good Agni, have given us excellent wealth, and we think ourselves possessed of a good Agni.
9. And may there be among us mutual praises of both the mortals, O immortal one, (and the immortals) 1.
10. With all Agnis (i. e. with all thy fires), O Agni, accept this sacrifice and this prayer, O young (son) of strength 1.
This hymn, as well as the whole collection to which it belongs, is ascribed to Sunahsepa Âgîgarti (comp. 24, 12.13). The metre is Gâyatrî. Bergaigne (Recherches sur l’histoire de la Samhitâ, II, 7) divides this hymn into Trikas, with one single verse added at the end. I cannot find sufficient evidence for this; the appearance in the Sâma-veda (II, 967–9) of a Trika composed of the verses 10. 6. 7 of our hymn is rather against Bergaigne's opinion.
Note 1. Mánmabhih may possibly mean, 'with thy (wise) thoughts;' comp., for instance, III, 11, 8. pári vísvâni súdhitâ agnéh asyâma mánmabhih, 'may we obtain every bliss through Agni's (wise) thoughts,' or 'may we obtain all the blessings of Agni for our prayers.'
Note 2. Vákas stands for vákasâ. See the passages collected by Lanman, Noun-Inflection, 562, and comp. Roth, Ueber gewisse Kürzungen des Wortendes im Veda, 5; Joh. Schmidt, Die Pluralbildungen der indogermanischen Neutra, 304 seq. Ludwig also takes vákas as instrumental.
Note 1. Agni is the father, the mortal whose sacrifice he performs, the son.
Note 1. Can risâdas be explained as a compound of ri (Tiefstufe of rai, as gu is the Tiefstufe of gau) and *sâ´das, from the root sad, 'to be triumphant'? Prof. Aufrecht (Bezzenberger's Beiträge, XIV, 83; see also Neisser, Bezz. Beitr. XIX, 143) connects ri- with the Greek ἐρι- (ἐρικυδής) &c.); our hypothesis has the advantage of not leaving the limits of Sanskrit.—Comp. M. M.’s note on V, 60, 7; Ludwig, Ueber die neuesten Arbeiten auf dem Gebiete der Rig-veda-Forschung (1893), p. 7.
Note 1. On sásvatâ tánâ see Lanman, 480, 515, 518.
Note 1. The comparison of verse 8 and the expression ámrita mártyânâm in the second Pâda of this verse seem to show that ubháyeshâm does not refer to two classes of mortals, the priests and their patrons, but to the mortals and the immortals. A genitive amrítânâm, which would make this meaning quite clear, can easily be supplied. A Dvandva compound amritamartyâ´nâm, which one could feel tempted to conjecture, would have, in my opinion, too modern a character.—Prof. Max Müller writes: 'I should prefer amrita martyânâm, not exactly as a compound, but as standing for amritânâm martyânâm. This seems to be Ludwig's opinion too.'
Note 1. In the translation of sahasah yaho I follow Geldner, Kuhn's Zeitschrift, XXVIII, 195; Ludwig's translation is similar.