Sacred Texts Hinduism Index Previous Next
Buy this Book at Amazon.com
Vedic Hymns, Part II (SBE46), by Hermann Oldenberg [1897], at sacred-texts.com
1. Agni, have mercy! Thou art great, who hast come to this pious man to sit down on the sacrificial grass.
2. He who cannot be deceived, the zealous, the immortal has among men become the messenger of all.
3. He, the joy-giving Hotri, is led around the sacred seat at the heaven-aspiring sacrifices. And he sits down as the Potri also.
4. Agni sits down also as (the sacrificer's) wife 1 at the sacrifice, and as the master of the house in the house, and as the Brahman 2.
5. Thou zealously approachest as the Upavaktri 1 of the people who perform the sacrificial service, and (thou approachest) the offerings of men.
6. And thou zealously performest the messenger-ship for the man in whose sacrifice thou takest pleasure, in order to bear the mortal's offering (to the gods).
7. Find pleasure 1 in our rites, in our sacrifice, O Aṅgiras. Hear our call!
8. May thy unerring chariot, by which thou protectest the worshippers, encompass us from every side.
The same Rishi and metre.—Verse I = SV. I, 23. Verse 8 = VS. III, 36; MS. I, 5, 4. 5. 11.
Note 1. 'Wir vermuten: utâgnâ agnir adhvare … die correctur dürfte evident sein.' Ludwig. The same conjecture has been proposed already in 1868 by Prof. Max Müller (Chips, 2nd ed., vol. iii, p. 157). In my opinion the traditional text is correct.
Note 2. The Brahman very probably is not the Brahman of the later ritual, but the Brâhmanâkkhamsin. See H. O., Religion des Veda, p. 396.
Note 1. The Upavaktri is identical with the Prasâstri or Maitrâvaruna of the later ritual. H. O., Religion des Veda, p. 390.
Note 1. On goshi, cf. Bartholomae, Studien zur Indog. Sprachgeschichte, I, 21.