Hymns to the Mystic Fire

[6]

RV I.1

[word] - word(s) omitted by the author or lost through damage to the manuscript that are required by grammar or sense, and that could be supplied by the editors.

1) अग्निमीळे पुरोहितं यज्ञस्य देवमृत्विजम् । होतारं रत्नधातमम् ॥

अग्निम् The primitive root अ, to be, when combined with certain consonants क्, ग्, ज्, र्, contracted a sense of existence in the superlative, क् giving more the sense of height & intensity, ग् of strength, solidity or quantity, ज्, र्, of rapidity, vigour, activity, command. All strong action or quality could be denoted by अग्, as in अग्रः, Gr. ἄχρος, topmost, first, foremost; ἄϒω, ago, I lead, act; ἀϒαθóς, good, brave; ἄϒαν, excessive; names like Agis, Agamemnon, Agamedes (cf Sanscrit अजः, अजमीढः); ἀϒλαóς, brilliant; etc. In Sanscrit the root अर् is much preferred to the guttural combination. There can be no doubt, however, that अग् in अग्निः meant strong, brilliant, forceful. Nasalised, we have it in अंगति fire (also a conveyance, cf ἄϒω & S. अंग्), अंगारः a live coal, अंग् to stir, move; and in अंगिरः and अगस्ति,—the former term often applied to Agni. There was another signification, to cling, embrace, love, which we find in the Greek

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ἀϒάπƞ, love, ἀϒανóς, tender, gentle, charming, which seems to have been another meaning of अंगिरः, loving, and appears in the mode of address अंग, in अंकः, अंगम् etc, & in अनंग the god of love. Agni is the bright and strong, the bright god of fire, the strong, burning god of Tapas, heat and force.

ईळे The root is इल् or ईल्, ळ् being a modification which now survives only in the Southern Aryan tongues, Marathi, Tamil etc. इल् is itself a secondary root from इ to go, move, go after, wish for, desire, go to, reach, embrace, possess, control (cf ईह्, इच्छ्, ईश्). The liquid increases the closeness of contact, steadiness of action, or soft intensity of feeling. ईल् is to love, woo, desire, adore, embrace, press upon physically or mentally urge, crowd. The meaning, praise, is of later development from the sense of wooing or adoration. In words like इला, the earth, इल् has the original sense of motion. I adore or desire, or I praise will equally fit the first line, but in view of the second, where the coincident root ईड् means obviously desirable or adorable, not praiseworthy, the more primitive meaning must be preferred.

पुरोहितं Not Purohit, but placed in front. Unless we take Yajna in the sense of sacrifice, there is no need to take पुरोहितम् in any but its original and primitive sense. Agni may be described as the Purohita or representative of the gods in the sacrifice, he is in no sense a sacrificer at the ceremony, in no sense either Purohit or Ritwik. He is the eater of the sacrifice not its priest. Even if Yajna is taken to mean sacrifice, Agni cannot rightly be called its priest, and पुरोहितम् will still have to mean standing in front, but with the idea of the Gods supplied and the genitive यज्ञस्य understood of general relation without any idea of possession, "who stands forth for the gods at the sacrifice". But the language of the Vedas is always precise and sufficient and no such omission of a word need be supplied.

यज्ञस्य । यज्ञ is acknowledged to be a name for Vishnu, for the Supreme Lord, and the Supreme is not a sacrifice. We must find some other meaning for यज्ञ in the etymology of the word. We find the kindred यमः which means he who controls, governs,

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as in नियन्ता and other members of the य family of roots. The sense of force put forth to reach, obtain or control is a common significance in this group. "Restraint" is a sense of the word यः, "obtaining" of या; "effort, control, mastery" is found in यत्, यतः, यतिः, यत्न, यन्ता, यन्त्र्, यम्, यमः (नियमः, संयमः), यामः; ययी is a name of Shiva; यज्ञः itself is a name of Agni, the master of तपः or force in action and exertion; यशः is fame, glory, beauty, wealth,—in Bengali, success, attainment, probably a survival of its original sense; in यविष्ठ youngest, from a lost यवः, not lost to the Veda, युवन् youth etc, & in यव barley, यवसः grass, the root sense is "strong, flourishing, vigorous"; यस्, यासः (आयासः, प्रयासः) bring us back to the idea of effort and labour. These significations arise [as] developments from the sense of "going", (combined with effort or an original impetus), with its common, almost invariable development of going after, seeking, striving, desiring, (या, याच्), also reaching, meeting, mixing, acquiring, joining, embracing, enjoying (यु, युज्, योगः, यामी, योषा, युध्, योनि) and the sense of reaching to, joining to or handing, from which we have the idea of giving, यच्छ, यज् in the sense of sacrifice, cf याजयति. The sense of strong one, master, controller, lord is established for यज्ञः by the application to Vishnu and Agni, continued at a time when the etymological justification had been lost; the sense of sacrifice is established by the universal later use. But it is also capable of the same senses as योगः, यत्न or the lost यत् from which we have यतिः, यतः etc; it could mean effort, action, tapasya, Yoga; this sense is the basis of the idea attached to the word यज्ञः in the Gita and of the meaning of adhiyajna there as the One in whom all action, tapasya and Yoga rest and to whom they are consciously or unconsciously devoted. The modern form of the Gita is there trying to assimilate an older form in which यज्ञ had its naturalmeaning,—Yoga, action, tapasya.

देवम् । The root दिव्, दीव् commonly means either "to shine" or "to play". It is the former sense that gives us देवः, the shining ones, referring to the luminous tejomaya bodies proper to the inhabitants of the Swarloka where tejah is the primary element

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in all forms. देव by detrition of the व gives Latin deus and Greek θεóς; from the long root दीव् we have divus and diva.

ऋत्विजम् । For a reason already alleged, this word need not & should not be taken in the modern sense. The modern derivation ऋतु & इज्, sacrificing in season, is a forced etymology, imposed after the word had contracted its modern meaning. The Ritwik was not a sacrificer in season any more than the Purohit, Hota, Brahma or Adhwaryu. The word meant originally "seer or knower of the truth, the right, the law, the Ritam", and in this sense it was applied to the priest whose duty it was to see that everything was done according to the fixed rule and rationale of the sacrifice. But originally it had no such narrow significance. It meant "the seer of the ritam" and as applied to Agni it had the same sense as "jatavedah", he to whom the Veda or direct vision of truth has appeared,—for jata in this word has nothing to do with birth. Even if we take the etymology to be ऋतु + इज्, this sense is perfectly possible, ऋतु will then be used in its original sense of established truth, ascertained thought, fixed law (from which the sense of "proper time, season" arose) and इज् in the sense "obtain, acquire, know", common to the groups of roots which have the sense of motion towards. I suggest, however, that the combination is ऋत् truth, and विज् to see perfectly or decisively. The combination is not contrary to the old laws of sandhi, eg वर्त् + म = वर्त्म, पत् + नी = पत्नी etc. The liquid and nasal consonants did not originally call for the modification of the preceding hard consonant in composition.

The root ऋत् contracts the sense of truth from the original force of ऋ to go, move, go to, to reach, find, know, think, fix. We find in Sanscrit ऋजु, fixed, straight, honest; ऋत, right, proper, true; ऋतम्, rule, law, truth, right; ऋतु, a fixed time, season, period, a fixed order or rule; ऋभु, ऋभ्व, wise, skilful; ऋषि, thinker, knower, sage; ऋषु, wise. In Latin we have reor, I think, judge; ratus, thought, fixed, settled, valid; ratio, rule, method, reason, view, principle; also calculation, account etc; rectus, straight, right; regula, a rule.

The root विज् usually means an intense state of existence,

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as in Latin vigor, strength, vigour; vigere, to flourish; cf vireo, to flourish, be green, vir, a hero, S. वीरः from a brother root; S. विज् to be excited (उद्वेगः), वेगः speed, intensity; but it has other meanings, eg to discriminate, decide, judge. The primary वि means to appear, burst out, be divulged, to split open, separate, and, transitively, to see, know, discriminate, separate, divulge, expose, etc. A great regiment of words in Tamil & a few in Latin bear evidence to this sense, especially the Tamil for eye விழி and the root விள் with its numerous derivatives; a number of words meaning open, public, sale, auction, publication etc; Latin vile, common, cheap; villa, open place, country place, county seat; vendo, I sell; venalis, to be sold; but especially video, I see. In Sanscrit we have विद् to know; विज् to separate, discriminate; विच् in the same sense; वि itself always implying in some form division or separation; विना, except, without, from the same sense; विप् and विप्र a wise man, seer; आविर् manifest; विल् to divide, break, & in the causal form to send forth, throw out (originally, to divulge, manifest); बिलम् (विलम्) a hole, fissure; विश् to enter in, penetrate; विष् to separate, disjoin; वी to be born or produced, appear; shine, produce; वीपा lightning; वियत् the open sky; and others. विज् may therefore mean either to see, or to separate and discriminate.

होतारम् । The word होता again means a sacrificial priest, and it is curious, if these senses are to be taken, that three different words meaning different kinds of sacrificial priests, should be applied to Agni in the course of a short line composed of eight words and not one with any definite appropriateness either to Agni himself or to the context.We must seek a more appropriate meaning.

The root हु like all ह् roots must have had originally the sense of "to use force violently or aggressively, to come into aggressive contact, to throw, throw out, strike, kill". This sense we find in हा to throw away, abandon; हत from ह, slain, killed; हन् to strike, injure, kill; हिंस्; हिंसा injury, slaughter; हेतिः a weapon; हंसः a swan (one who flies flapping the wings); हठः violence, force, rapine; हद् to discharge (excrement), (cf Bengali হাগা); हनुः

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weapon, disease, death, (Greek θάνατος, death, θνƞτóς, mortal); हथः a blow, killing, death; हय् to be weary; हयः horse (galloper); हृ to seize, ravish; हरिः anything strong, swift, brilliant, bright coloured (cf हरिणः, हरित्); हल् to plough, move strongly (we find traces of the idea of moving strongly in the vernaculars, cf हिल्, हिल्लोल, ह्वल्); हस् to ridicule, originally to insult, slight, humiliate; cf हिण्ड् to disregard, slight; हि to cast, shoot; हिक्क् to hurt, injure, kill; हुण्ड a tiger; हुल् to injure, kill; हुडः a ram (butter, fighter); हेड्, हेल् to slight; हेठ् to vex, hurt; होड्ट a robber; होड्, हौड् to slight; हू to rob, take away; ह्रस् to waste, diminish; ह्राद् & ह्रेष् to sound loudly, roar, neigh; ह्री to be put to shame. So insistent are these senses of this violent root that it is impossible to believe that हु alone, unlike its secondary roots, हुण्ड्, हुड् & हुल्, should not have shared in them. As a matter of fact we find that the sense of sacrifice comes from the idea of throwing; to throw in the fire, hence to sacrifice. We have also the sense of calling, हवः a cry, call; हूो to call, where the idea is of the violent throwing out of the sound from the throat (cf ह्राद्, ह्रेष्, हेष् etc) and finally आहवः, battle. It is in this word आहवः that we get the key to the ancient sense of हु to slay, strike, fight. If it had this sense in the time of the Veda we may take होता as slayer, fighter, हव as meaning both battle & cry, call, होत्रं as war, battle. On this supposition Agni hota is the slayer, the warrior, the smiter of the foe.

रत्नधातमम् । Again we have a word we cannot take in its modern sense. रत्न in the sense of jewel comes from the idea of glittering, coruscating which is an original sense of the root र & its derivatives. This root र & its brother root रा, meant originally to vibrate, to be intense in movement, contact, feeling, so to coruscate, glitter, break up, play, rush, shout, rejoice, feel ecstasy. We have रः in the sense of fire, heat, love, desire, speed; रा gold; रं brightness, lustre; रंह् to go swiftly; रंहतिः, रंहस् speed, impetuosity; रकः the sunstone, crystal or a hard shower; रक् to taste, (take delight of); रक्त painted, brilliantly coloured, impassioned, playful; रघु swift; रंगः colour, amusement, passion; राजतं silver; रजस् originally strength, swiftness, passion, force; the dancing of broken dust, etc, cf रद्, रन्ध्रं; रंज् to colour, be

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enamoured, delighted; रट् to shout, call out; रणः (literally a charge), war, combat, ringing sound; रथः a chariot, a hero or fighter (महारथः, अतिरथः, अधिरथः where the sense is evidently a fighter and has nothing to do with chariot); ecstasy, delight; रभ् to clasp, embrace; start off, begin; रभस् impetuosity, vehemence, in Bengali, violent delight or ecstasy; cf S. राभस्यं delight, violence; रम् to play, rejoice, delight; रंभ् to bellow; रय् to stream, go; रश्मिः ray, beam; रस् to cry out, scream; taste, relish; रसः delight, taste, liquid, (from "to flow"). Cf also रागः, राधा, राम, रामा, रावः, रवः etc. The root रत् from which रत्न may come (unless we compound र + त्न, but this is contrary to the evidence of यत्नः, पत्नी etc) is not found except in रात्रिः and रातिः where it is significant that राति means a friend, a gift, ready or generous, which may all have come from the sense of delight, play etc; रात्रिः & रजनी may also mean the time of enjoyment. We have too रतिः, delight, which is usually derived from रम्. In any case the evidence of the other roots gives as the most probable meanings of a root रत्, delight, light or vehemence of feeling, motion or action. In this passage the two first alone will enter naturally into the sense of the verse. Agni is addressed either as the giver of light, ritwij and jatavedas—for physically Agni is the disposer of light only through Surya—or as the giver of delight, because tapas is the basis of all ananda. But this metaphorical sense of "light" is a doubtful use and for other reasons as well, foreign to the etymological considerations, I prefer the sense of "delight" to the other and more obvious significance.

Translation.

Agni I desire, who stands before the Lord, the god who seeth truth,—the warrior, who disposeth utterly delight.

2) अग्निः पूर्वेभिः ऋषिभिरीड्यो नूतनैरुत । स देवाँ एह वक्षति ॥

ईड्यो । ड and ल are often interchangeable in Sanscrit; cf हुड् & हुल्, हेड् and हेल्. There is no difference of force or use between इड् & इल्.

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नूतनैर् । नु or नू is evidently an old Aryan word for "now" used both of time & logical sequence and in asking questions; this is evident from the adverbs formed from it—Sanscrit नु, Greek νυ, Latin num, nunc. Hence नवः in the sense of new, lit. "belonging to now", नवीन = तत्कालीन. न, नि, नु seem to have pointed out an immediate object; whence the Sanscrit नि of close relation, Lat. in, Gr. ἐν (from इ-नि, अ-नि, the इ and अ being expletive for the sake of more exact demonstration); also the use of नः to mean us, and of நாம், நம் in Tamil to mean I, us.

उत .. इद् । ¹ In the old Aryan language अ, इ, उ were evidently used as demonstrative pronouns, इ being this here near me, अ this a little farther off, उ that. We have precisely this use in Tamil; அவன், இவன், உவன் the demonstrative pronouns where வ் is euphonic & அன் honorific; so too அது, இது. The three are liberally used to define other pronouns and adverbs, eg அப்போது, இப்போது etc. We have similarly in Sanscrit अयम्, इयम्, where य् is euphonic and अम् definitive (as in वयं, यूयं); अव, इव, अति, इति, अतः, इतः etc. We have in Latin the two forms ille and olle, to say nothing of the suggestions in aliquis etc; we have is, ea, id, for the ordinary demonstrative pronoun. अः, इः, उः appear to have been the masculine forms, अत्, इत्, उत् or अद्, इद्, उद् the neuter. These neuter forms were used latterly only as emphatic adverbs, prepositions or conjunctions.We find similarly अ, इ, उ used by themselves as emphatic particles, or compounded with the adverbial neuters as in इति, अति. We have in Sanscrit इत्, उत, अति & इति; in Latin at, et, ad, ut, uti; in Greek ἔτɩ which is evidently the Sanscrit अति, in the sense of still, besides, "encore". उत here is emphatic with something of the sense "of course". इत् corresponds to the later एव. स इत् = स एव. इत् is also found in इत्था, इदा, इदानीम्. इति is इत् farther emphasised and used to mark off reported speech or to fill the place taken in English by inverted commas.

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एह । The word is undoubtedly an adverb, but it is a question whether it is a mere variation of इह, as एव or एवम् undoubtedly were variations of इव. There is another possible signification. I suggest that the root इह् was used in the ancient tongue to signify "strength, force". That this sense of strength was inherent in the इ roots is evident from the Sanscrit इन्द्रः, इन् to invigorate, force, compel, इनः able, mighty, lord, master, इभ्य wealthy, opulent, rich, a king, इषः full of sap or strength, ईश् to rule, master, Greek ἶφɩ, ἴφθɩμος. एह would be an adverb formed from इह् by gunation to एह् and the addition of अ either adverbially or as an accusative termination and would mean strongly, forcibly, with strength.

वक्षति । I take वक्ष् as a habituative or intensive form tertiary from वह् = वह् + स्, like रक्ष् from रह्, दक्ष् from दह्, जक्ष् from जस् & a lost जह् (जहकः, जहत्), नक्ष् from नस्. Agni ever bears up the gods with strength.

Translation.

Agni desirable to the seers of old no less than to those of today, mightily he beareth up the gods.

3) अग्निना रयिमश्नवत् पोषमेव दिवे दिवे । यशसं वीरवत्तमम् ॥

रयिम् । We have seen that the र roots have a strong sense of swift motion. To the instances already alleged may be added री going, motion; रु to go, move; रंध् to hasten; रन्तु a way, road, river (cf रस्ता); रय् to go, move; रयः a current, river; speed, vehemence; रहस् swiftness; Gr.ῥέω, I flow; ῥóος, stream; ῥεῦμα, flow; Lat. rivus, a river.We have seen also that it bears the frequent sense of light and of delight. रयिः from रय् may mean either light, delight, motion or anything that moves, or from the old identification of substance with motion, it may mean matter, substance, wealth, force, substantial object. Compare the Latin res, thing, matter, affair. रयिः certainly has the sense of Matter in the Upanishad.

अश्र्नवत् । Rt अश् to have, get, enjoy. Greek ἔχω. I have, hold.

एव । Literally "so"; here evidently used to mean, "so also, also, as well".

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वीरवत्तमम् । The word वीर here is a noun adjectivised by the addition of वत्. There must therefore have been a noun वीरः meaning not only hero, strong man, but strength, like vis, viris, in Latin. See under ऋत्विज् in the first shloka. Another possible meaning of वीर would be manifest, intense, splendid, shining. See the same. In either case यशः means not fame but either mastery or strength. See under यज्ञः ibid. We may translate it either strength most glorious or strongest, most vigorous mastery. The latter seems more probable.

Translation.

By Agni one getteth substance and increase too day by day, yea, mightiest mastery.

4) अग्ने यं यज्ञमध्वरं विश्वतः परिभूरसि । स इद् देवेषु गच्छति ॥

अध्वरम् । Not sacrifice, but an adjective from अध् a secondary root of अ to be. The sounds ध & व appear to have given an idea of weight, solidity and dullness, with which the ideas of dense matter or downward motion were easily associated. We have अव of descent. We have अधः, a formation from अध् by the addition of the nominal अस् used in the neuter adverbially; we have अधरः & अधमः, lower & lowest from some lost adjective अधः low; we have अध्वन् a path, originally perhaps a way of descent, a path down, but this is not certain as we have अट् to wander and there are other proofs of a sense of motion in अ roots. Given a word अध्व descent, as we have इत्वन् & इत्वरः formed from a lost इत्व, so we shall have अध्वन् & अध्वरः formed from this lost अध्व, & meaning descending or descended, lower. अध्व must also have been capable of the sense substantial or material being, like अन्नम् a kindred root, but अध्वर in the Veda evidently refers to more than the annamaya existence. It embraces the whole aparardha or lower hemisphere of existence believed in by the Vaidic thinkers. It is the opposite of उत्तरः.

गच्छति । In the original sense of moving, not of going towards a particular direction. Cf गा the moving earth, जगती etc.

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Translation.

O Agni, the Lord below whom thou encompassest with thy being on every side, is the same that moveth in the gods.

5) अग्निर्होता कविकतुः सत्यश्चित्रश्रवस्तमः । देवो देवेभिरागमत् ॥

कविकतुः । कतुः again has nothing to do with a sacrifice. It meant activity, mastery, strength, doing, action, or the adjectives of these significations. It also meant like केतुः a word of the same root family Will or Force. Cf Greek χράτος, χρατερóς, χραταɩóς, χρείσσων (ऋतीयान्), χράτɩστος. The Vedic शतक्रतुः does not mean Indra of a hundred sacrifices, but Indra of destroying strength. It is notable in how many cases the obsession of the idea of sacrifice has perverted the original sense of words. The perversion is beyond doubt. The only question is whether it was done before or after the composition of the Vedic hymns.

कविः. The root कु from the initial sense of curve, hollow, took the derivative idea of containing, holding, knowing, or forming, constructing, writing, drawing etc (cf the similar association of ideas in the म् roots). We have, therefore, the double idea of a sage and a poet or artist, familiar throughout Sanscrit literature. But for कविः in this passage we must suppose the sense not of the knower, but of knowledge. The addition of the nominal इः had always this double utility of indicating the agent or the state or action. कविः means the comprehensive knowledge, the art or science of a subject. Cf कोविदः.

चित्रश्रवः । श्रवः from श्रु to hear may indicate either fame, Gr. χλύω, χλέος or knowledge gained by श्रुति. We must take it in the latter significance when it is applied in a poem where all the words and circumstances are designed to show the principal qualities and activities of the god Agni, the jataveda. Sruti is one of the three processes of ideal knowledge by which Veda is conveyed.

देवेभिः । The third case used not to indicate the instrument, but the accompaniment.

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Translation.

Agni, the warrior, the strong in knowledge, the true, the rich in revelation, has come a god with the gods.

6) यदंग दाशुषे त्वमग्ने भद्रं करिष्यसि । तवेत्तत्सत्यमंगिरः ॥

अंग्. From अग् to cling, embrace, love, nasalised. Originally "dear", answering to the Greek φίλος or πέπων, it became a familiar style of address, "ὦ φίλε", "ὦ πέπον", and lost its original shade.

दाशुषे । This is a word of considerable importance. In the sacrificial interpretation of the Vedas it must mean a giver, sacrificer; in the religious interpretation it means an enemy, one who hurts or kills or desires to hurt or kill. Both significances are possible etymologically, both give a good sense in this verse. The ceremonial interpretation will run, "That thou wilt do good to the sacrificer, this is that truth of thee, O Agni Angiras"; the religious, "O beloved, that thou, O strong Agni, meanest to do good to him that would hurt thee, this is that truth in thee, O lord of might & love." Satyam refers us back to the "satya" in the last shloka and indicates like every other epithet there used the truth to the right nature of things, the ritam, in the vijnana, the ideal or spiritual plane of existence, where hatred ceases and evil ceases, because these are asatyam, perversions and misunderstandings of the play of God in the universe.

अंगिरः । When applied to Agni, this epithet means etymologically the brilliant or mighty, like अग्निः itself, but there is an unmistakable allusion here to the other significance of "loving, tender, attached", deduced from अंग् to love. In अनंग, the other notable Sanscrit word denoting this sense of अंग्, the अन् is obviously intensive or reduplicative, not privative. Cf अनर्च from अर्च् etc for reduplication; दिदिविः etc for its intensive force. When the idea of the true Nirukta was lost, the false idea of "bodiless" was conveyed into this name of Kamadeva and the story of the Kumarasambhava brought in to explain so inapt an epithet.

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Translation.

That thou, O beloved, O strong Agni, meanest to do good to him that would hurt thee, this is that truth of thee, O lord of might and love.

7) उप त्वाग्ने दिवे दिवे दोषावस्तर्धिया वयम् । नमो भरन्त एमसि ॥

उप । The preposition expresses relation or subjection.

दोषावस् । दोषा is twilight or darkness; अवः, protector.

तर् । An old adverb still preserved in the compound form तर्हि and the Mahratti तर्. It seems here to have the force of "if".

धिया । Used throughout the Veda of the Buddhi, the discerning reason. The reference in this line is to the buddhiyoga and yogic atmasamarpanam enjoined afterwards in the Gita.

नमो । Rt नम् to bend, submit. नमो means submission or obeisance (cf Grk. νóμος, rule, law, custom, that to which one is subject). But भरन्तः from the root भृ does not mean here to fill, but is used in the older sense of to bear (cf भारः, Greek φέρω, Lat. fero). We may therefore more appropriately take नमो in the active sense of that which bends, controls; as in the Greek νóμος,—law, rule, mastery. The participle here used as a verbal adjective dispenses with the necessity of a finite verb.

एमसि । We have seen that the इ roots develop the idea of strength; this sense is particularly appropriate to the combination with म् which means limit, extreme; cf Latin imus, originally extreme, farthest, afterwards lowest. एमसि means, on this supposition, thou growest to thy full or extreme strength.

Translation.

O Agni who protectest us in the darkness day by day, if under thee we bear by the discerning mind the law of thy full control, then growest thou to thy perfect strength.

8) राजन्तमध्वराणां गोपामृतस्य दीदिविम् । वर्धमानं स्वे दमे ॥

राजन्तम् । Either shining, brilliant or ruling, governing. In

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connection with अध्वराणाम् we must take it in the latter sense, which is, besides, especially appropriate after the नमो भरन्तः of the last line.

अध्वराणाम् । of all things here below.

गोप । Protector, from गुप् to embrace, shelter, protect. There can be no doubt that this is the significance. The introduction of a vocative, however, is out of place in a series of accusatives. I suggest that गोप is an old form of the accusative preserved by tradition. That there was such an accusative form appears from the Greek ϒύψ, ϒύπα etc, where there is no trace of a terminal m. The nominative then would be not गोपः but गोप्.

दीदिविम् । A strong reduplicated form from दिव् to shine, meaning tejas, force, energy, brilliance, splendour. There is a doubt here as to the relation of am अमृतस्य. If it is with गोप, it must be taken to mean nectar or immortality and Agni is the protector of the amrita in the body or of the immortality of the body; if with दीदिविम्, it must mean the Immortal, God, and Agni is a splendid energy of the Immortal. The general sense of the verse will be the same, since अमृतस्य दीदिविम् in the latter interpretation explains how Agni has the force to be the protector of all creatures here below.

दमे । house, home, territory. Greek δóμος house; cf also δῆμος people or deme. The root is दम् to master, conquer, own, from which we have the Greek δμῶες (दमायाः), servants, δέμας (दमस्), body, δάμαρ, δάμαρτος wife (दम्रस्), δῆμος, territory or people conquered or owned, the Latin domus, house, dominus, master. In all probability दमः, δóμος, domus, originally meant the people of the household, the slaves etc, or the whole family as subject to the master, and was afterwards transferred to the house itself.

Translation.

Thee, the ruler and protector of all creatures here below, a splendour of the Immortal increasing in its home.

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9) स नः पितेव सूनवेऽग्ने सूपायनो भव । सचस्वा नः स्वस्तये ॥

स has the force of therefore and sums up the hymn, but with special reference to the last line.

सूपायनो । Rt इ to go and उप to, with the idea of subjection or inferiority; easy to approach.

सचस्व । Cleave, in the ordinary sense of the root.

Translation.

Therefore be thou easy of approach to us as a father to his child, cleave to us for our bliss.