Translation of the Sanhitá of the Sáma Veda

Front matter

BOOK No

Central Lending

1Rewcastle = upon=Usne

Part 1. Prapathaka 1

FIRST DASATI.

Rich 1. By Bharadwdja Rtshi. Come, O Agni,^ to the banquet of him who celebrates thy praise, to forward the offering. Herald^ (of the gods), sit down on the sacred grass.

2. Thou, O Agni, hast been solemnly ordaiij by the gods to be inviter to all sacrifices perfo in the world inhabited by men.

3. By Medhdtithi, We invoke Agni, the

senger and herald of the gods, the possessor 6 wealth,^ that he may prosperously conduct our pre sent sacrifice. /

4. By Bharadwdja. Agni has ever been the slaughterer of our foes. He is the possessor of

^ Agni is the god of fire. ^ Hota, the original word, means inviter or caller to the sacrifice.’ ^ Or knowledge.

B

PRAPATHAKA I.

[part wealth ; ^ he is celebrated in many various songs of praise ; he is the shining and resplendent divinity, the object of our invocatory hymns.

5. By Usand. O Agni, I praise thee our be- ‘ loved guest, ^ dear to me as a friend ; like a chariot

(for celerity), and worthy of being considered the source of wisdom.^

6. By Purumidha, O Agni, save thou us, by thy mighty aids, from every foe, and from every man that hates us.^

7. By Bharadwdja. O Agni, whether I now speak with true intonations or with false, I mean to praise thee. Come hither, therefore, and grow great by drinking this moon-plant juice.

8. By Vatsa. O Agni, I Vatsa, captivating thy mind, desire, by my song of praise, thy presence ; therefore do thou come to me, even from the highest heavens.

9. By Bharadwdja. O Agni, the Rishi Atharvan churned thee, in the beginning, from the lofty fir¬ mament, for the benefit of every offerer of sacrifice.

10. By Vdmadeva. O Agni, destroyer of dark¬ ness, come to us for our effectual preservation, and to grant us an audience ; for thou art a divine per¬ sonage.

^ Or desirer of sacrifice. ^ Or goer to sacrifices.

^ Or wealth. ^ Or, literally, rid us of every foe, &c.

DAS ATI II.

SECOND DASATI.

1. By AM. O divine Agni, these men praise thee, that they may obtain strength. Destroy their foes, together with their diseases.

2. By Vdmadeva. I propitiate you ^ by my praises, who are the messenger of the gods, the possessor of all wealth, the presenter of the offering, the immortal, the great performer of sacrifice.

3. In thy immediate presence are ranged thy sacrifice-devouring, wealth-bestowing, offering-pro¬ duced, everywhere-going sisters.^

4. By Madhuchhanda. O Agni, dispeller of dark- See Rig v.

1 Adh.

ness, day by day do we approach thee with en- i v. i r. lightened minds, making our prostrations.

5. By Sunahsepha, when ordered to praise Rudra.

O (Agni) , acquainted with the method of offering 24 v. up praise,^ thou knowest that kind of praise which procures the favour of Rudra, who carries on to perfection every sacrifice performed in the abodes of men.

6. By Medhdtithi. Thou art invited to the ex-i^igv.

^ . . . . 1

cellent sacrifice, to drink the moon-plant juice ; 36 v.

therefore, O Agni, come attended by the Maruts.^

^ The text has here the plural for the singular, which in this place I have followed. ^ Flames. ^ Or who by

praises invites the gods. 4 do thou perform. ^ i. e.

the winds.

[part

PRAPATHAKA I.

7. By Sunahsepha. I desire to worship thee, with religious rites, who art like a war-horse and blazest over the sacrifices.^

8. As Aurva and Bhrigu called on him, so do I call on the pure Agni, who resides in the ocean. ^

9. Let the man who lights up Agni perform the ceremony^ with an attentive mind. I am the man who lights up Agni with darkness-dispelling offerings.

10. By Vatsa. Now men gaze at the surpassing radiance, which in the days of old was united to the waters, and now shines forth in the firmament.

THIRD DASATI.

1. I long for thee, Agni, who growest super¬ eminently great amid sacrifices, that thou mayest strengthen our children.

2. By Bharadwdja. Agni, by his fierce irradi¬ ations, restrains every cannibal foe. Agni gives us wealth equal to our desires.

3. By Vdmadeva. O Agni, thou art great, and in motion all around ; confer happiness on the people who desire to perform sacrifices to the gods.

^ This and the three preceding verses will be found in the specified places of the Rig Veda. Vdravcmtam, here rendered war, is there interpreted long-tailed ; because, says the commentator, he drives away our foes, as a long-tailed horse drives away the flies. " Or the firmament. ^ Or receive instruction.

I.] DASATI III.

And come thou, and take thy seat on the sacred grass. ^

4. By Vasishtha. O divine Agni, preserve us from sin, and also from murder ; and consume hy thy burning flames every one who celebrates not thy praise.

5. By Bharadwdja. O divine Agni, yoke thy horses, those excellent horses, that speedily convey thy chariot, and are manifested in all directions.

X

6. By Vasishtha. O Agni, lord of the world, and the subject of our invocations, having laid hold of thee all-resplendent, and supereminently heroic, we place thee (in thy sacred recess).

7. By Virupa. Agni, as the head of the heavenly hosts, stands pre-eminent, like the hump on a bulks neck. He, too, is lord of the earth, and refreshes us with the waters of the sky.

8. By Sunahsepha. Do thou, O Agni, mention 2 A(Hi.

among the gods this our gift, and repeat to them 4 r. ‘ this our immortal hymn of praise.

9. By Gopavana. O Agni, maintainer of our bodily heat, the Rishi Gopavana first brought thee forth by his songs. Do thou, our purifier, listen to our invocations.

10. By Vdmadeva. The lord of provisions, the

^ The original is Varhi, and is the same as the famous Dharbha or Kus'a grass used at sacrifices, being spread on the floor in¬ stead of a mat, for the attendant Brahmans to sit on.

6 PRAPATHAKA I. [part

wise Agni, forwards the offerings to the gods, and

*

confers rich rewards on the sacrificer.

11. By Kanw a. The vivifying rays draw forth, into the view of all, the divine Sun, the parent ' of wealth.

12. By Medhdtithi. Praise Agni the wise, the divine, whose actions are guided by equity, who bestows gifts in lieu of sacrifice, and who is the destroyer of diseases.

13. By Sindhudwipa and Ambansha. May the water-goddesses become to us sources of pleasure, in supplying us with water for ablutions ; and of pleasure, by supplying us with water for drinking ; and may they abundantly rain down happiness on us.

14. O lord of holy men, whose enlarged mind dost thou now fill with pleasure ? — his, whose voice is employed in praising thee during this moon-plant sacrifice.

FOURTH DASATI.

1. By Bharadwdja. We extol in every sacrifice, and in every song of praise, you, the powerful Agni, the immortal, the parent of wealth, and who is dear to us as a friend.

2. By Bharga. Save us, O Agni, by the first save us by the second save us, O lord of pro-

* Or parent of wisdom. 3 The Yajur Veda.

^ The Rig Veda.

DASATI IV.

visions, by the songs of the three ; save us, O pos¬ sessor of wealth, by those of the four (Vedas).

3. By Trmpani. O Agni, the source of manifold irradiations ; O divinity encircled with unsullied splendour, as thou manifestedst thy glory in Bharadwaja Rishi, so, O possessor of riches, our purifier, ever-young, do thou irradiate me.

4. By Vasishtha. O Agni, who assumest the form of the sacred oblation, let the wise men be dear to thee, who invoke thee, and come laden with sacrificial goods, and divide among themselves the vast herds of cows ^ given by the host at sacrifices.^

5. By Bharadwdja. O divine Agni, thou art the utterer of our praise, the sovereign of men, fiery in thy disposition, and ever watching the Rakshas. O lord of houses, thou art the mighty guardian of the heavens, and lovest the abodes of men.

6. By Prashanwa. O immortal Agni, origin of wealth, do thou, this morning, carry aloft thy va¬ riegated, darkness-dispelling treasures, for the benefit of the maker of the sacrifice, to the gods, who rise at the early dawn.

7. By Trmpani. O thou mine of wealth, thou art possessed of all various glories : along with pro¬ tection, confer on us riches. Thou, O Agni, art

1 Twelve hundred are reckoned in the Bhashya the portion of one Brahman ! ^ These words are a paraphrase of jandndm.

[part

PRAPATHAKA I.

the forwarder to us of wealth ; do thou also re¬ member to give us deep cisterns of water for our sons.

8. By Bharga. O Agni, thou art truly great in every place ; thou art the preserver, the faithful, the wise. O all-resplendent, all-bounteous ; the learned Brahmans ever take up their abode close by thee.

9. By Bharga. O Agni, our purifier and our creator, liberally bestow on us, in reputable ways, food-increasing wealth, such as may make us ho¬ noured, such as is desired by many and is attended with the highest fame.

10. By Baubhari. The inviter of the gods, praised by all men, confers all the wealth any one possesses. The principal dishes of sweet liquid (moon-plant juice) are reserved for Agni ; and let these eucharistic songs also be dedicated to the same divinity.

FIFTH DASATI.

1. By Vasishtha. I invite, by this act of worship, Agni, the grandson of food,^ the beloved, the om¬ niscient, who repairs to (the sacrificial hall), the conductor of sacrifices to a fortunate issue, the herald appointed for the benefit of all the im¬ mortals.

2. By Bharga. Men cause thee to blaze forth

1 The genealogy is thus reckoned in the Bhashya. Food*raakes the Brahman, and he the sacred fire.

I.] DAS ATI V. 9

for the benefit of their descendants, and to obtain those primeval waters from which the world has sprung. Thou, full of activity, bearest away the offering and the accompanying praises, and shines t among the gods.

3. By Saubhari. He, in whose hands the gods have placed all sacred rites, is eminently skilled in discerning the justness of sacred music ; therefore let our voices spread abroad the praises of Agni, who has been produced in propitious circumstances, and exalts the insti tutor of sacrificial rites.

4. By Manu. During the sacred recitations, and while offering the oblations, I supplicate, in lau¬ datory verses, to obtain special protection, Agni, the high-priest, the lifter up of the pestle, who sits on the sacred grass ; and also the Maruts, Brahmanaspati, and the other gods.

5. By Purumidha. (O my soul,) do thou, in songs of praise, extol Agni, whose head is sur¬ rounded with glory, ^ that he may protect thee. O Purumidha, for the attaining of wealth and the procuring of excellent gifts for your family, extol the famous Agni, who assumes the human form.

6. Hear, O open-eared Agni, and ye sacrifice¬ receiving divinities that accompany him. Let Mitra and Aryama, along with all the gods who come to

^ Or whose glory resides within, as digester and purifier.

PRAPATHAKA I.

[part our morning ceremonies, sit down on the sacred grass during the sacrifice.

7. By Saubhari. The divine Agni, brought down by Divodasa, employs himself about mother Earth, with his mighty energy, after the manner of Indra,^ and afterwards proceeds to the celestial mansions.

8. By Medhdtithi. O possessor of all merit, do thou come from the earth, or from the lofty shining heavens, and obtaining increase in thy bodily pro¬ portions, by my songs, satisfy the desires of our children.

9. By Viswdmitra. O Agni, when worshipped, thou comest to the sacred wood and the maternal waters, nor dost thou sufifer dissolution w^hen thou disappear est to us, for thou art still present with us.

10. By Praskanwa. O Agni, Kanwa Manu first established thee, the possessor of radiance (in a sacred recess, as an object of worship,) to men for ever ; then didst thou, oblation-born, all-expansive, whom men worship, display thy radiance.

SIXTH DASATI.

1 . By Vasishtha. The divine Agni, the conferrer of wealth, longs for your well-filled ladles ; there¬ fore pour them out (on the sacred fire) after you

1 Either in educing the grain by his heat, or causing the rain to fall by means of lightning.

DASATI VI, have filled them, in order that the god may prosper you.

2. By Kanwa. Let Brahmahaspati ^ come, let the sweet- voiced goddess come, to obtain the heroproducing, man-preserving sacrifice in which the peritoneum ^ is offered ; and let the gods bear away for themselves our sacrifice.

3. By Kanwa. Stand up on high for our pro¬ tection, like the divine Sun, (stand) on high to grant us food, when we call in sublime hymns and by our oblation-presenting priests.

4. By Saubhari. O possessor of riches, the man, who, to obtain wealth, takes thee from the sacred household recess, to place thee in the sacrificial recess, and gives thee offerings, he, O Agni, receives an heroic son, an adept in sacred song, and the supporter of thousands.

5. By Kanwa. We pray to thee, the lord para¬ mount of the multitudes whose minds are intent on the performance of sacrifice. (We praise,) in lau¬ datory hymns, that Agni whom our friends cause to shine forth (in all his splendour).

6. By Trayukil. This Agni has the conferring of vital power ; he has the conferring of happiness, producing wealth, and of renowned descendants,

^ i. e. Agni, as lord of food : the goddess afterwards mentioned is his wife. ^ Relative to the word ‘ peritoneum ’ see the