Hymns to the Mystic Fire

Note on the Texts

HYMNS TO THE MYSTIC FIRE consists primarily of translations of hymns to Agni (the "mystic fire") from the Rig Veda. It also contains prose pieces in which Sri Aurobindo commented on hymns to Agni or expounded his theory of Vedic interpretation with reference to Agni hymns. Other material on the Veda and on philology that was not published during the author’s lifetime is reproduced in Vedic and Philological Studies, volume 14 of THE COMPLETE WORKS OF SRI AUROBINDO. Prose writings on the Veda and translations of Vedic hymns that were first published between 1914 and 1920 in the monthly review Arya are reproduced in The Secret of the Veda with Selected Hymns, volume 15 of THE COMPLETE WORKS.

Sri Aurobindo took up the study of the Veda within a year or two after he arrived in Pondicherry in 1910. Between 1912 and 1914 he wrote a number of incomplete prose works on various aspects of the Veda and produced many translations of Vedic hymns. A large number of these were hymns to Agni, whom he considered "the most important, the most universal of the Vedic gods". Between 1914 and 1920 he published essays on the Veda and translations of Vedic hymns in the Arya, a monthly journal of which he was the editor. He continued to work on Vedic translations and commentaries from time to time until the 1940s. He allowed some of these translations to circulate among his disciples, but told those who read them that they were "not final", but "provisional" and "incomplete". In 1946 he published a selection of translations of hymns to Agni in a small book entitled Hymns to the Mystic Fire. Subsequent editions of this book included translations of hymns to Agni and other materials related to Agni from his manuscripts of various periods.

PART I: HYMNS TO THE MYSTIC FIRE

This part comprises the complete contents of Hymns to the Mystic

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Fire: Hymns to Agni from the Rig Veda Translated in their Esoteric Sense, a book that Sri Aurobindo published in 1946. It included a specially written foreword by the author and an extract from an earlier essay entitled "The Doctrine of the Mystics". These prose pieces were intended to explain Sri Aurobindo’s theory of Vedic interpretation to readers of the translations.

Foreword. Written by Sri Aurobindo for the 1946 edition of Hymns to the Mystic Fire.

The Doctrine of the Mystics. The complete essay, an extract from which is reproduced here, appeared in the monthly review Arya in September 1915 as a general introduction to a series of translations entitled "Hymns of the Atris". The portion chosen by Sri Aurobindo for inclusion in Hymns to the Mystic Fire comprises approximately the last half of the original essay, which is reproduced on pages 370 - 84 of The Secret of the Veda, volume 15 of THE COMPLETE WORKS.

Hymns of Gritsamada. Translation of the first ten Suktas (hymns) of the second Mandala (book) of the Rig Veda. Gritsamada Bhargava is the name of the Rishi to whom most of the hymns of this book are attributed; however, Suktas 4 to 7 are traditionally ascribed to Somahuti Bhargava. Note that in the established text of the Rig Veda, hymns to Agni are placed before those to other gods in each book (where the book contains the hymns of a single Rishi or family) or each section of a book (in books that are compilations of hymns of different Rishis or families).
The published text is a revised version of a translation found in a notebook used by Sri Aurobindo probably in the late 1920s or early 1930s. The version in the notebook has the heading "Hymns to the Mystic Fire / Gritsamada". It begins immediately after a translation of the Agni hymns of the sixth Mandala and is followed by a translation of hymns of the fifth Mandala. The 1946 text incorporates changes that are likely to have been dictated by Sri Aurobindo to A. B. Purani shortly before the book was published.

Hymns of Bharadwaja. Translation of Suktas 1 - 16 of the sixth Mandala of the Rig Veda. All the hymns of this book are attributed to Bharadwaja or his descendants.
The 1946 text is a revised version of a translation found in two

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notebooks used by Sri Aurobindo probably in the late 1920s or early 1930s. In the first notebook he wrote the heading "Hymns to the Mystic Fire / Bharadwaja".

Hymns of Parashara. Translation of Suktas 65 - 73 of the first Mandala of the Rig Veda, which contains hymns from various Rishis and their families. These hymns were numbered from "I" to "IX" in the 1946 edition of Hymns to the Mystic Fire.
The 1946 text is a revised version of translations published in a different order in the Arya in February, June, July and August 1920 under the heading "Parashara’s Hymns to the Lord of the Flame". The original translations are reproduced on pages 576 - 90 of The Secret of the Veda, volume 15 of THE COMPLETE WORKS. The revision for Hymns to the Mystic Fire was dictated by Sri Aurobindo to A. B. Purani.

Hymn of Paruchchhepa. Translation of Sukta 127 of the first Mandala of the Rig Veda. Sri Aurobindo translated only the first of Paruchchhepa’s two hymns to Agni.
The 1946 text is a revised version of a typed translation, probably intended for the Arya, found among Sri Aurobindo’s papers.

PART II: OTHER HYMNS TO AGNI

The translations in this part are reproduced from manuscripts, typescripts and transcripts of dictation representing work done by Sri Aurobindo at different times between around 1912 and the 1940s. Except for the translations of Suktas 59, 77, 94 and 97 of the first Mandala (see below), they were not published during his lifetime.

The editors have arranged these hymns by Mandala and Sukta, following the order in the standard text of the Rig Veda. Translations of many of the hymns to Agni in Mandala One and almost all of those in Mandalas Three, Four, Five, Seven, Eight and Ten appear in this part of the present volume. (Translations of the Agni hymns in Mandalas Two and Six and some of those in the first Mandala appear in Part One. There are no hymns to Agni in the ninth Mandala.) The editors have followed tradition by grouping the hymns under the Rishis to whom they are attributed. Sri Aurobindo often put the Rishis’ names as part of the headings of his translations. He sometimes wrote the text in Devanagari before each verse of the translation. Where he did

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not do so, the editors have supplied it.

Sri Aurobindo sometimes translated a given hymn more than once. In such cases the editors have reproduced the last translation only, ignoring the earlier ones unless they contained significant annotations or discussions. Such translations with commentaries or notes have been included in Part Three. However, in the Appendix to Part Two the editors have reproduced Sri Aurobindo’s complete translations of the first hymn of the Rig Veda as an illustration of how his approach to translating the Veda developed over the years.

Mandala One

Madhuchchhandas Vaishwamitra. Sukta 1. Early 1940s. This is the last of the many translations of the first hymn of the Rig Veda made by Sri Aurobindo between 1912 and the 1940s. The complete set is reproduced in the Appendix to Part Two (pages 451 - 61).
Medhatithi Kanwa. Sukta 12. Date unknown. Two other translations of this hymn are found in notebooks used by Sri Aurobindo in 1913 and 1917. The present translation may have been dictated in the 1940s to A. B. Purani, who included it in the second (enlarged) edition of Hymns to the Mystic Fire, published in 1952 after Sri Aurobindo’s passing. Sukta 13.1 - 5. Source and date unknown. Published in the 1952 edition of Hymns to the Mystic Fire. This version does not include verses 6 - 12, which are addressed to gods other than Agni. A complete translation of the hymn is found in a notebook used by Sri Aurobindo around 1913. It is published in Vedic and Philological Studies, volume 14 of THE COMPLETE WORKS. Sukta 14. Reproduced from a notebook used by Sri Aurobindo around 1913.
Shunahshepa Ajigarti. Suktas 26 - 27. Reproduced from a notebook used by Sri Aurobindo around 1913. He translated each of these hymns as a single paragraph without verse numbers.
Kanwa Ghaura. Sukta 36. Reproduced from a notebook of a type that Sri Aurobindo was using mostly in 1913 and early 1914.
Nodhas Gautama. Suktas 58 - 60. Circa 1919. Sri Aurobindo translated these three hymns together on loose sheets of paper under the heading "Hymns of Nodha Gautama". He published a slightly different version of Sukta 59 (with verse 6 omitted, evidently due to lack of

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space) on the last page of the January 1920 issue of the Arya under the heading "A Hymn of the Universal Divine Force and Will". This version is reproduced on pages 574 - 75 of The Secret of the Veda, volume 15 of THE COMPLETE WORKS.
Gotama Rahugana. Sukta 74. Reproduced from a notebook of a type that Sri Aurobindo was using mostly in 1913 and early 1914. Italicised words were supplied by him to clarify the meaning. The translation is followed in the manuscript by a paraphrase and notes. These are omitted here, but reproduced in Part Three (pages 556 - 59). Sukta 77. This translation was published with a commentary in the October 1914 issue of the Arya as part of a series entitled "Selected Hymns". The translation and commentary are reproduced on pages 276 - 84 of The Secret of the Veda, volume 15 of THE COMPLETE WORKS. Only the translation is included in the present volume.
Kutsa Angirasa. Sukta 94. This translation (really a free paraphrase) was published in the September 1917 issue of the Arya. It is also reproduced on pages 568 - 72 of The Secret of the Veda, volume 15 of THE COMPLETE WORKS. The second half of the last verse, a refrain that occurs at the end of many of the hymns of Kutsa Angirasa, was not translated. A few years earlier, Sri Aurobindo had begun to write a detailed commentary on this hymn. This is included in Part Three (pages 585 - 99). Suktas 95 - 96. Reproduced from a notebook of a type that Sri Aurobindo was using mostly in 1913 and early 1914.
Sukta 97. This translation was published in the September 1917 issue of the Arya. It is also reproduced on pages 572 - 73 of The Secret of the Veda, volume 15 of THE COMPLETE WORKS.
Dirghatamas Auchathya. Sukta 140. Reproduced from a notebook of a type that Sri Aurobindo was using mostly in 1913 and early 1914. The translation is accompanied by notes which are omitted here, but included in Part Three (pages 600 - 602).

Mandala Three

Vishwamitra Gathina. Suktas 1 - 7, 9 - 29. (Note that Sukta 8 is not addressed to Agni.) The translation of these hymns was dictated by Sri Aurobindo to A. B. Purani in the 1940s and published in 1952 in the second (enlarged) edition of Hymns to the Mystic Fire. A handwritten

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copy of a previous translation of verses 2 - 14 of the first hymn, published in Chapter 11 of The Secret of the Veda in the July 1915 issue of the Arya, was used as a starting-point for the dictated translation of Sukta 1. Early translations of several hymns to Agni in the third Mandala (1 - 2, 11 - 16, 18 and 20) are found in notebooks used by Sri Aurobindo between 1913 and 1917.

Mandala Four

Vamadeva Gautama. Suktas 1 - 15. The translation of these hymns was dictated by Sri Aurobindo to A. B. Purani in the 1940s and published in 1952 in the second (enlarged) edition of Hymns to the Mystic Fire. Earlier translations of a few Agni hymns in the fourth Mandala (1 - 3, 8 - 10 and 13) are found mainly in notebooks that Sri Aurobindo used for this purpose around 1913. His annotated translations of Suktas 1 - 6 and three verses of Sukta 7, belonging to the same period or somewhat later, are reproduced in Part Three.

Mandala Five

The Atris. Suktas 1 - 23 (verse 3). The translation of these hymns was dictated to A. B. Purani in the 1940s and published in 1952 in the second (enlarged) edition of Hymns to the Mystic Fire. The fifth Mandala of the Rig Veda contains hymns attributed to members of the Atri clan. Sri Aurobindo’s first translations of hymns of this book — including those to Agni and some to other gods — were published in the Arya between August 1915 and December 1917 in "Hymns of the Atris". The Arya text of these translations, along with introductory chapters and commentary, is reproduced in Part Three of The Secret of the Veda, volume 15 of THE COMPLETE WORKS. The translations of the first twenty-eight hymns of the Mandala, all of which are addressed to Agni, appeared in the Arya between October 1915 and July 1916. Sri Aurobindo’s most significant retranslation of these hymns between the Arya period and the 1940s is found in three notebooks which he used probably in the late 1920s or early 1930s. This translation begins near the end of the first notebook, immediately after the Agni hymns of the second Mandala (see the note above on the "Hymns of Gritsamada" in

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Part One). It continues in another notebook with the heading "Hymns to the Mystic Fire / The Atris (V.4 - 28)". A third notebook contains a revised version of the hymns translated in the second notebook. Up to the third verse of Sukta 23, the translation in these notebooks is superseded by the one that was dictated by Sri Aurobindo in the 1940s to A. B. Purani and published in the second edition of Hymns to the Mystic Fire, from which it is reproduced here. Suktas 23 (verse 4) - 28. The first three verses of the translation of Sukta 23 were typed from the same source as the translation of Suktas 1 - 22. After the third verse, this note is found in the typescript: "As the revision stops here, the following translations are taken from the Arya where they originally appeared in their first unrevised version, in order to complete this series." From here on, the Arya translation of the Agni hymns of this Mandala was used in the second edition of Hymns to the Mystic Fire. This translation, published on pages 458 - 70 of The Secret of the Veda, volume 15 of THE COMPLETE WORKS, is not duplicated here. Instead, the version found in the notebook containing Sri Aurobindo’s last handwritten translation of these hymns is used from this point onwards. It is not known why the dictated translation of the hymns to Agni in the fifth Mandala, which was evidently being prepared for the first edition of Hymns to the Mystic Fire, was not completed and published in 1946.

Mandala Seven

Vasishtha Maitravaruni. Suktas 1 - 17. The translation of these hymns was dictated to A. B. Purani in the 1940s and published in 1952 in the second (enlarged) edition of Hymns to the Mystic Fire. The only evidence of earlier work by Sri Aurobindo on the Agni hymns of the seventh Mandala consists of a translation of Sukta 6 and the first three verses of Sukta 1, found in notebooks he used in 1914 - 15, and the notes on a verse of the first hymn reproduced at the end of Part Three.

Mandala Eight

The eighth Mandala contains hymns of various Rishis. Sri Aurobindo translated all of the sixteen hymns to Agni scattered through this book,

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including two hymns (Suktas 38 and 40) addressed to Indra and Agni. The translation of these hymns was dictated to A. B. Purani in the 1940s and published in 1952 in the second edition of Hymns to the Mystic Fire. Sri Aurobindo’s manuscripts show no sign of previous work on the Agni hymns of this Mandala.

Mandala Ten

The tenth Mandala, like the first and the eighth, contains hymns of various Rishis and families of Rishis. Sri Aurobindo translated most of the hymns to Agni in this book. The translation of these hymns was dictated to A. B. Purani in the 1940s and published in 1952 in the second edition of Hymns to the Mystic Fire. Sri Aurobindo’s manuscripts show no sign of previous work on the Agni hymns of this Mandala.

Appendix to Part Two

Translations of the First Hymn of the Rig Veda. While studying, translating and commenting on the Rig Veda, Sri Aurobindo returned frequently to the first hymn to Agni (Mandala One, Sukta 1). He translated it into English in its entirety on at least fourteen occasions. In this appendix, the editors have reproduced these translations in rough chronological order to give an idea of the development of his ideas about the Veda and his manner of rendering Vedic hymns into English. The notes or commentaries that went with some of the translations have been omitted from this appendix. They can be found in Part Three, as indicated below. The first ten items in Part Three also include several partial translations of the first hymn and renderings of separate verses in the course of more elaborate commentaries.

[1] This version occurs in a notebook that also contains entries in the Record of Yoga for 1912. It is followed by a linguistic analysis which is published in Part Three, pages 466 - 68.

[2] Sri Aurobindo wrote this translation at the end of the commentary published in Part Three, pages 488 - 510. It is found near the beginning of a ledger he used around 1912 - 13 for much of his early work on the Veda.

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[3] This translation, with the text in Devanagari before each verse, was written in the same ledger as [2], [4] and [6]. The sequence of these four translations has been inferred partly from internal evidence.

[4] Written in the same ledger as versions [2] and [3]. This was the first in an intended series of translations of the eleven hymns of Madhuchchhandas with which the Rig Veda opens. The series was discontinued in this format after the second hymn. Sri Aurobindo began again a few pages later with version [6].

[5] This translation begins in the same way as [4] and is closely related to it and version [6]. It evidently belongs to the same period.

[6] This translation occurs in the same ledger as versions [2] - [4] and appears to be the latest of this series. On the next page Sri Aurobindo wrote the notes reproduced in Part Three, page 540.

[7] Found between entries in the Record of Yoga for September 1913.

[8] - [9] Reproduced from two similar notebooks of a type that Sri Aurobindo was using mostly in 1913 and early 1914.

[10] The format of this translation, with title, argument and explanatory footnote, resembles that of the translations published in the Arya in 1915 - 17 in "Hymns of the Atris". It presumably belongs to the same period. Sri Aurobindo translated the first seven hymns of Madhuchchhandas in a similar way, each on a separate sheet of paper. He did not complete the series or publish it.

[11] This typed translation, perhaps intended for the Arya, is related to version [10] and was evidently done around the same time. A similar version, whose source is no longer available, was later published in the second edition of Hymns to the Mystic Fire.

[12] This translation is found after entries in the Record of Yoga for February and March 1917. It is followed in the manuscript by a translation of Sukta 12 of the first Mandala, which is the next hymn to Agni.

[13] This translation was written on a sheet used also for work connected with the revision of The Life Divine (1939 - 40).

[14] Reproduced from a notebook used by Sri Aurobindo in the early 1940s mainly for the revision of Savitri.

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PART III: COMMENTARIES AND ANNOTATED TRANSLATIONS

In the course of his study of the Rig Veda, Sri Aurobindo translated many hymns with notes or wrote commentaries to explain or justify his interpretation of them. This work went through several stages and reflected various aspects of his approach to understanding the Veda: philological, psychological and mystical. The resulting commentaries and annotated translations may be viewed as stepping stones toward the interpretation presented in The Secret of the Veda and the development of that interpretation in the years after the Arya ceased publication.

In this part the editors have collected the commentaries on and significantly annotated translations of hymns to Agni found among Sri Aurobindo’s manuscripts. Translations with lighter annotation have been placed in Part Two rather than in this part. Commentaries and translations that appeared in the Arya are published in The Secret of the Veda, volume 15 of THE COMPLETE WORKS. Commentaries on and translations of hymns addressed to gods other than Agni are included in Vedic and Philological Studies, volume 14 of THE COMPLETE WORKS.

The items in this part have been arranged according to Mandala and Sukta of the Rig Veda (RV). Treatments of the same hymn or group of hymns are arranged chronologically. Sri Aurobindo’s headings are reproduced as they occur in the manuscripts. Square brackets have been used to number each item and indicate the Mandala and Sukta to which it pertains. Verse numbers are given where only part of a hymn has been translated or commented on.

[1] Translation of RV I.1 (= [1] of Appendix to Part Two), with a linguistic analysis of most of the words in the first verse. Reproduced from a notebook that contains, a few pages later, material for the Record of Yoga dated May and June 1912. The project of "an etymological reconstruction of the Old Sanscrit or Aryan tongue", mentioned in the introductory note, is explained more fully in "The Origins of Aryan Speech"and other writings on philology published in Vedic and Philological Studies. The abbreviations "O.S." and "O.A." for "Old Sanscrit" and "Old Aryan" in some of the following items refer to this project.

[2] Text of RV I.1, followed by a word-by-word analysis of most of

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the first three verses. This is the first writing in a ledger with the title page: "The Rigveda / with a Translation and Commentary in English". The next five items are found in the same ledger. All this material was probably written in 1912, since it occurs before an item whose likely date is near the beginning of January 1913.

[3] Text (verse by verse) of RV I.1, with a word-by-word philological analysis, followed by a full translation (= [2] of Appendix to Part Two). This commentary begins immediately after the last page of the preceding item.

[4] Text of the first verse of RV I.1, followed by a translation of this verse and a discursive commentary relating Veda to Vedanta. This item is separated from the preceding one by an incomplete analysis of the second hymn (not addressed to Agni).

[5] Text and translation of the first verse of RV I.1 with an incomplete commentary related to the preceding one, which it follows in the manuscript.

[6] Word-by-word philological analysis of RV I.1; the text and translation of each verse are given. This commentary begins immediately after the last page of the preceding item.

[7] Translation of RV I.1 (= [6] of Appendix to Part Two), with notes on certain words. This occurs later in the same ledger as the preceding five items. It is followed by translations of the next three hymns and an analysis of RV I.5 which seems to be the "grammatical commentary on the fifth hymn of the Rigveda" mentioned on 7 January 1913 in the Record of Yoga (volume 10 of THE COMPLETE WORKS, page 184).

[8] Text (verse by verse) and word-by-word notes on RV I.1.1 - 5, with a "ritualistic" and a "psychological" translation of each verse. This item is found in a ledger that is similar to the one in which the preceding six items occur and was used by Sri Aurobindo around the same time; a date in April 1913 occurs later on in this ledger. [9] Discursive commentary on RV I.1, focusing on verses 5 - 8 (beginning with 8). These are the four verses that Sri Aurobindo later selected for his first published discussion of a Vedic text in The Secret of the Veda, Chapter 6, "Agni and the Truth" (volume 15 of THE COMPLETE WORKS, pages 61 - 69, originally published in the Arya in February 1915). Reproduced from a notebook of a type he was using mostly in 1913 and early 1914.

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[10] Two translations of the first verse of RV I.1 — one more literal, the other bringing out the psychological sense — followed by a discursive commentary. Written on pages facing notes in Sanskrit on RV VI.70 - 71. These are evidently among the notes mentioned on 22 August 1914 in the Record of Yoga (volume 10 of THE COMPLETE WORKS, page 610); the commentary on the facing pages is not directly related to these notes, but was presumably written around the same time.

[11] Two short commentaries on the first verse of RV I.12, the first mainly in Sanskrit, the second mainly in English. They were written one after the other in a notebook of a type that Sri Aurobindo was using mostly between 1915 and 1917.

[12] Text of four verses (1, 2, 4 and 5) of RV I.31, with notes referring to Sayana (abbreviated "Say." or "S.") and a translation of each verse. Written after the preceding item, in the same notebook.

[13] Translation of RV I.74 (also reproduced in Part Two), followed by a free paraphrase of the psychological sense and notes on some words in the first two verses. Written in a notebook of a type that Sri Aurobindo was using mostly in 1913 and early 1914. The appendixes referred to in the notes to this item and the next have not been found.

[14] Text of RV I.74 - 76, verse by verse, with notes on selected words and translations of most verses according to Sayana and according to the psychological interpretation. Written in a notebook used previously for work on "The Life Divine: A Commentary on the Isha Upanishad [Draft B]" (circa 1913 or early 1914, published in Isha Upanishad, volume 17 of THE COMPLETE WORKS, pages 429 - 550).

[15] Text of the first two verses of RV I.77, with notes on many of the words and translations of the first verse according to Sayana and according to the psychological interpretation. Written in the same type of notebook as the preceding two items and around the same time.

[16] Partial text and verse-by-verse translation of the first ten verses of RV I.94 with verbal notes. Written in the same ledger as item [8] (circa 1913). The "Aryan Word Book" referred to in the notes on the first verse has not been found.

[17] Translation, with notes, of RV I.140. The same translation, without the notes, is included in Part Two. Written in a notebook of a type used by Sri Aurobindo mostly in 1913 and early 1914.

[18] Notes on RV II.4.1 - 5, with renderings of most of the verses

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as interpreted by Sayana (abbreviated "Sy." or "S.") and by Sri Aurobindo. Found in a notebook used previously for a writing published as "Notes on Images Seen in March 1914" in the Record of Yoga (volume 11 of THE COMPLETE WORKS, pages 1323 - 35).

[19] Incomplete commentary on RV III.1.1 - 12, with renderings of each verse except the last according to Sayana’s commentary and as interpreted by Sri Aurobindo. Reproduced from a notebook of a type he was using mostly in 1913 and early 1914.

[20] Translation of RV III.1.1 - 12, with notes on Sayana’s interpretation. Written in the same type of notebook as the preceding item. Internal evidence suggests that this translation is intermediate between that version and the translation of verses 2 - 14 of this hymn published in the Arya in July 1915 in Chapter 11 of The Secret of the Veda (volume 15 of THE COMPLETE WORKS, pages 115 - 16).

[21] Text and translation of the first verse of RV IV.1, with notes referring to Sayana ("S."). Written in a notebook with calendars for 1913 and 1914 printed inside the front cover.

[22] Translation of RV IV.1, with transliterated text and notes referring to Sayana (usually "Sy."). Written in a notebook of a type that Sri Aurobindo was using mostly in 1913 and early 1914. The system of transliteration adopted by him in this item and the next has some features in common with the one used in the Sacred Books of the East (Oxford University Press, 1879 - 1910), where some consonants were distinguished by printing them in italics.

[23] Translation of RV IV.2, with the text in transliteration and notes referring to Sayana. Written after the preceding item, in the same notebook.

[24] Translation of RV IV.3, with the text in Devanagari and notes referring to Sayana. Written after the preceding item, in the same notebook.

[25] Translation of RV IV.4, with the text in Devanagari and notes referring to Sayana. Written after the preceding item, in the same notebook.

[26] Translation of RV IV.5, with the text in Devanagari and notes referring to Sayana. Written after the preceding item, in the same notebook.

[27] Translation of the first three verses of RV IV.6, with the text in

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Devanagari and notes referring to Sayana. Written after the preceding item, in the same notebook. Sri Aurobindo copied the Sanskrit text of the fourth verse, but did not continue.

[28] Text of RV IV. 6, verse by verse, with notes mostly copied from Sayana’s commentary, followed by an English translation according to Sayana’s interpretation and (except for the fourth verse) by Sri Aurobindo’s own translation. Reproduced from a photocopy of an unknown manuscript. The handwriting appears to belong to a later period than that of the preceding items from the fourth Mandala.

[29] Introduction to a proposed work entitled "The Vamadeva Hymns to Agni", followed by the text and a word-by-word translation of the first three verses of Rig Veda IV.7, with critical notes, translation and discussion of each verse. Written in a notebook identical to those used for the Record of Yoga in 1920. The reference to a series of articles on the Veda written "a few years ago" — evidently meaning The Secret of the Veda, published in the Arya between 1914 and 1916 — is consistent with dating the present item to circa 1920.

[30] Translation of RV V.1 and a discursive commentary on the first half of the Sukta. Written in a notebook of a type used by Sri Aurobindo mostly in 1913 and early 1914.

[31] Translation of RV V.10, with an incomplete commentary on the first five verses. Written on two large sheets of paper folded to make eight pages. The manuscript is in poor condition, much of it hardly legible, with holes mostly at the top and bottom edges of the pages where a number of words have been lost. Another, similarly folded sheet found with this one contains Vedic work related to material in the ledger that was used, probably in 1913, for items [8] and [16].

[32] Translation of RV VI.1.1 - 4, with verse-by-verse annotations in Sanskrit and (except for the first verse and a half) in English. This is followed by more extensive notes on the first three verses, including contrasting translations according to Sayana’s interpretation and Sri Aurobindo’s and a discursive explanation of each verse. A similar commentary on the fourth verse was begun, but discontinued. Written on twenty pages of a notebook of the same type as was used for the Record of Yoga in 1920 and for items [29] and [33]. The appendix referred to in the notes to the first and third verses has not been found.

[33] Translation and text of the first verse of RV VII.1 with notes on

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selected words. Written on a page of a notebook of the same type as the preceding item, probably around 1920. The next page and a half of the notebook contain a Sanskrit commentary on the same verse (see Writings in Bengali and Sanskrit, volume 9 of THE COMPLETE WORKS).

PUBLICATION HISTORY

Sri Aurobindo had begun to translate hymns from the Rig Veda by 1912. He continued to work on this project until at least the early 1940s. In 1946 he made a selection of his translations of hymns to Agni, the Vedic god of fire, and published them along with some prose material in a small volume entitled Hymns to the Mystic Fire. This book was published by Sri Aurobindo Ashram and printed in Pondicherry at the Sri Aurobindo Ashram Press (Imprimerie de Sri Aurobindo Ashram). Its complete contents are reproduced in Part One of the present volume.

A second edition of Hymns to the Mystic Fire was published in 1952, two years after Sri Aurobindo’s passing. This edition included most of his translations of hymns to Agni that were then available. Its length was several times that of the first edition, whose contents were integrated with material not published during his lifetime.

A third edition was published in 1971 as Volume 11 of the Sri Aurobindo Birth Centenary Library. It included a few translations not found in the 1952 edition. Some unrevised notes and studies found in Sri Aurobindo’s early manuscripts were added at the end of the volume. Most of this material had previously been published in journals associated with the Sri Aurobindo Ashram. In 1973, translations of two further hymns to Agni were included in the Supplement, volume 27 of the Sri Aurobindo Birth Centenary Library.

The present, fourth edition of Hymns to the Mystic Fire contains most of the material that had appeared in the third edition along with a considerable amount of additional material, most of it in the last part. Some of this was first published in the journal Sri Aurobindo: Archives and Research between 1977 and 1981. Other material reproduced from Sri Aurobindo’s manuscripts appears here for the first time. Two items that appeared in the third edition — the translation of RV IV.40, a hymn addressed to Dadhikravan, and the short piece on "Word-

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Formation" — have been omitted from this volume and included in Vedic and Philological Studies, volume 14 of THE COMPLETE WORKS.

This book has been arranged in three parts. Part One contains the complete contents of the 1946 edition of Hymns to the Mystic Fire in their original order as published by Sri Aurobindo. In Part Two, his translations of hymns to Agni other than those that he included in that edition are presented in the order of the Mandalas of the Rig Veda. These translations were made at different times and given varying amounts of attention, as indicated in the notes on Part Two. Most of them were found among Sri Aurobindo’s papers in the form of his handwritten drafts or as transcripts of dictation and have been prepared for publication by editors since 1952. A few items in Part Two originally appeared in the Arya and are also published in The Secret of the Veda, volume 15 of THE COMPLETE WORKS. They are duplicated here for completeness. Part Three of this volume consists of commentaries on hymns to Agni and translations with more extensive annotation than the occasional footnotes Sri Aurobindo provided for many of the translations in Parts One and Two. This part corresponds to the last section of the third edition, but includes about four times as much material, much of it previously unpublished.

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