________________
MANDALA III, HYMN I.
219
MANDALA III, HYMN 1.
ASHTAKA II, ADHYÂYA 8, VARGA 13-16.
1. Thou wilt have me, O Agni, as a strong (master) of Soma1: therefore thou hast made me the carrier (of the gods?) to perform worship at the sacrifice. Sending my thoughts to the gods3 I make the (press-) stone ready*; I toil, O Agni: find thou pleasure in thy own body".
2. Eastward we have turned the sacrifice; may the prayer increase. They honoured Agni with fuel and adoration. They have taught (him) the sacrificial ordinances of the sages of Heaven 3. Though he (Agni) is clever and strong, they have sought a way for him.
3. He has conceived freshness', the wise one of pure 2 powers, he who is by his birth well allied with Heaven and Earth. The gods have found Agni the conspicuous one in the waters, in the work of the sisters.
4. The seven young (wives)1 made the blessed one grow who had been born white, ruddy in his growth. They ran up to him like mares to a newborn foal. The gods wondered at Agni at his birth.
1
5. Spreading with his bright limbs to the aerial space, purifying his power by wise purifications, clothing himself in light, the life of the waters2, he creates mighty, perfect beauty.
6. He has gone to (the waters) who do not eat, the undeceived ones, the young (daughters) of Heaven who are not clothed and (yet) are not naked.
Digitized by Google
