Hymns to Indri from the Rig-Veda, Book I

HYMN IV. Indri

1 As a good cow to him who milks, we call the doer of fair deeds,
To our assistance day by day.
2 Come thou to our libations, drink of Soma; Soma-drinker thou!
The rich One's rapture giveth kine.
3 So may we be acquainted with thine innermost benevolence:
Neglect us not, come hitherward.
4 Go to the wise unconquered One, ask thou of Indra, skilled in song,
Him who is better than thy friends.
5 Whether the men who mock us say, Depart unto another place,
Ye who serve Indra and none else;
6 Or whether, God of wondrous deeds, all our true people call us blest,
Still may we dwell in Indra's care.
7 Unto the swift One bring the swift, man-cheering, grace of sacrifice,
That to the Friend gives wings and joy.
8 Thou, Satakratu, drankest this and wast the Vrtras' slayer; thou
Helpest the warrior in the fray.
9 We strengthen, Satakratu, thee, yea, thee the powerful in fight,
That, Indra, we may win us wealth.
10 To him the mighty stream of wealth, prompt friend ot'him who pours the juice,
yea, to this Indra sing your song.

HYMN CLXXIX. Rati.

The deified object of this omitted hymn is said to be Rati or Love, and its Rsis or authors are Lopamudrd, Agastya, and a disciple. Lopamudra is represented as inviting the caresses of her aged husband Agastya, and complaining of his coldness and neglect. Agastya responds in stanza 3, and in the second half of stanza 4 the disciple or the poet briefly tells the result of the dialogue. Stanza 5 is supposed to be spoken by the disciple who has overheard the conversation, but its connexion with the rest of the hymn is not very apparent. In stanza 6 'toiling with strong endeavour' is a paraphrase and not a translation of the original khanamanah khanitraib (ligonibus fodiens) which Sayana explains by 'obtaining the desired result by means of lauds and sacrifices.' M. Bergaigne is of opinion that the hymn has a mystical meaning, Agastya being identifiable with the celestial Soma whom Lopamudra, representing fervent Prayer, succeeds after long labour in drawing down from his secret dwelling place. See La Religion Vedique, ii. 394 f.

1 'Through many autumns have I toiled and laboured, at night and morn, through age-inducing dawnings.
Old age impairs the beauty of our bodies. Let husbands still come near unto their spouses.
2 For even the men aforetime, law-fulfillers, who with the Gods declared eternal statutes,--
They have decided, but have not accomplished: so now let Wives come near unto their husbands.
3 Non inutilis est labor cui Dii favent: nos omnes aemulos et aemulas vincamus.
Superemus in hac centum artium pugna in qua duas partes convenientes utrinque commovemus.
4 Cupido me cepit illius tauri [viri] qui me despicit, utrum hinc utrum illinc ab aliqua parte nata sit.
Lopamudra taururn [mariturn suum] ad se detrahit: insipiens illa sapientem anhelantern absorbet.
5 This Soma I address that is most near us, that which hath been imbibed within the spirit,
6 To pardon any sins we have committed. Verily mortal man is full of longings.
7 Agastya thus, toiling with strong endeavour, wishing for children, progeny and. power,
8 Cherished - a sage of mighty strength - both classes, and with the Gods obtained his prayer's fulfilment.

By 'both classes' probably priests and princes, or institutors of sacrifices, are meant. M. Bergaigne understands the expression to mean the two forms or essences of Soma, the celestial and the terrestrial.
5 Membrum suum virile, quod vrotentum fuerat, mas ille retraxit. Rursus illud quod in juvenem filiam sublatum fuerat, non aggressurus, ad se rerahit.
6 Quum jam in medio connessu, semiperfecto opere, amorem in puellam pater impleverat, ambo discedentes seminis paulum in terrae superficiem sacrorum sede effusum emiserunt.
7 Quum pater suam nilam adiverat, cum ed congressus suum semen supra wrrarn effudit. Tum Dii benigni precem (brahma) prgeduerunt, et Vastoshpatim, legum sacrarum custodem, formaverunt.
8 Ille tauro similis spumam in certamine jactavit, tunc discedens pusillaximis huc profectus est. Quasi dextro pede claudus processit, "inutiles fuerunt illi mei complexus," ita locutus.

9 'The fire, burning the people, does not approach quickly (by day): the naked (Rakasas approach) not Agni by night; the giver of fuel, and the giver of food, he, the upholder (of the rite), is born, overcoming enemies by his might.'