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VIII KANDA, 5 ADHYAYA, I BRAHMANA, 12. 85
drive back, O knower of beings, those unborn! cheer us with kindly feeling! may we prevail! drive off our foes!' as the text so the sense.
9. That which is (placed) in front is Agni, and that behind is Agni: with Agni he (Pragâpati) then drove away evil both in front and in the rear; and in like manner now does the Sacrificer with Agni drive away evil both in front and in the rear.
10. Then on the right (south) side, with (Vâg. S. XV,3), 'The sixteenfold Stoma, vigour, wealth!' The Trishtubh consists of eleven syllables, and-the air being of Trishtubh nature-there are (in the air) four quarters. The thunderbolt is fifteenfold, and yonder sun is the sixteenfold wielder of that thunderbolt with that thunderbolt, with that Trish/ubh, he (Pragâpati) drove away evil in the south; and in like manner does the Sacrificer, with that thunderbolt, with that Trishtubh, now drive away evil in the south.
II. Then on the left (north) side, with, 'The forty-four-fold Stoma, lustre, wealth!' The Trishtubh consists of forty-four syllables, and the thunderbolt is of Trish/ubh nature: with that fortyfour-fold thunderbolt, with that Trishtubh, he (Pragâpati) drove away evil in the north; and in like manner does the Sacrificer, with that thunderbolt, with that Trish/ubh, now drive away evil in the north.
12. Then in the middle (the fifth), with, 'Agni's soil-cover thou art!'-the fourth layer indeed is the Brahman, and the Brahman is Agni, and this, the fifth layer is, as it were, the (soil-)cover of that (fourth layer); 'his sap, in truth: may the Allgods sing thy praises! Seat thee here, laden with Stomas, and rich in fat! Gain for us, by
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