2. Do not deliver us unto death, nor to the blows of the furious, nor to the wrath of the spiteful!

3. To propitiate thee we unbend thy mind with songs, as the charioteer a weary steed.

7. He who knows the place of the birds, who knows the . ships on the waters.

8. He, the upholder of order, who knows the twelve months.

with the offspring of each.

among his people to govern.

and what will be done.

He, the wise, sits down

* He sees what has been,

Yearning for Him, the far-seeing, my thoughts move onward, as kine move to their pastures.

HYMN TO AGNI.

1. Agni, who art immortal, and cognizant of all begotten things, bring from the dawn to the donor of the oblation wealth of many sorts, with an excellent habitation; bring hither to-day the gods, awaking with the morning.

2. For thou, Agni, art the accepted messenger of the gods, the bearer of oblations, the vehicle of sacrifices.

3. We select to-day, Agni, the messenger, the giver of dwellings, the beloved of many, the smoke-bannered, the lightshedding, the protector of the worship of the worshipper at the break of day.

4. I praise Agni at the break of day, the best and youngest (of the gods), the guest (of man), the universally invoked, who is friendly to the man that offers (oblations), who knows all that are born, that he may go (to bring) the other divinities.

5. Agni, immortal sustainer of the universe, bearer of oblations, deserving of adoration, I will praise thee, who art exempt from death, the preserver, the sacrificer.

HYMN TO SOMA.

Accepting this our sacrifice, and this our praise, approach Soma, and be to us as the augmenter of our rite.

Acquainted with hymns, we elevate thee with praise. Do thou who art benignant approach.

The experienced sage-commends the mortal who, through affection, divine Soma, praises thee.

Protect us from calumny; preserve us from sin; pleased with our service, be our friend.

May the milky juices flow around thee; may sacrificial offerings and vigor be concentrated in the destroyer of foes; and, being duly nourished, do thou provide, Soma, excellent viands in heaven for our immortality.

PRAYER IN AFFLICTION.

Where, Agni, is thy benevolence? What new being now possesses it? Heaven and earth be conscious of this (my affliction.)

Where the ancient

Gods who are present in the three worlds, who abide in the light of the sun, where now is your truth? invocation (that I have addressed) to you? be conscious of my affliction.

Heaven and earth

I am he who formerly recited your praise when the libation was poured out, yet sorrows assail me like a wolf a thirsty deer. The ribs of the well close around me like the rival wives of one husband; cares consume me, as a rat the weaver's thread.

FROM ATHARA VEDA.

DIVINE OMNIPRESENCE.

1. The great Lord of these worlds sees as if he were near. If a man thinks he is walking by stealth, the gods know it all. 2. If a man stands, or walks, or hides, if he goes to lie down or get up; what two people whisper together, King Varuna knows it-he is there as a third.

3. He who should flee far beyond the sky, even he would not be rid of Varuna, the King. His spies proceed from heaven towards this world; with thousand eyes they overlook this earth.

3. Varuna sees all this; what is between heaven and earth, and what is beyond. He has counted the twinkling of the eyes of men. As a player throws the dice he settles all things.

THE DIVINE IN MAN.

They who know Brahman in man, they know the Highest. He who knows the Highest, and he who knows the lord of all creatures, and they who know the oldest Brahmana, they know the ground.

FROM SAMA VEDA.

INSPIRATION.

O Indra, do thou, entertaining for us the affection a father does for his son, bring to us wisdom; do thou, the object of worship to adoring multitudes, grant this sacrificial assembly of the gods, that we, the possessors of natural life, may obtain divine illumination.

CARE AND POWER OF DEITY.

Do not, O Indra, cast us off; thou art the only source of our delight, and of that of thousands of immortal beings; thou art our protection, thy favor we must obtain.

O, thunderbolt-wielding Indra, were there an hundred heavens and earths, and a thousand suns, and any other supposable creatures, they could not contain thee; for thou encirclest heaven and earth.

SPIRITS OF OUR FATHERS.

O, Indra and Agni; the footless Morn is advancing, outstripping all the tribes of men, and even the Sun himself, with her silver tongue (bird-songs) and swift pace.

Come close to us, O Indra, bringing with thee aids result ing from sacrifices to the spirits of the departed. Come, O most felicitous divinity, with those happy beings to whom we, in a special manner, offer oblations.

Come, O, Great Father, along with the spirits of our fathers.

Indra, who watches over the thousands of human beings, the intelligence of the wise, the all-glorious, the performer of many religious acts, the mighty hero, who knows the dwelling of the Morn, and sends forth the purifying, life-giving, clear, earth-born waters.

HYMN TO AGNI.

I praise, in this sacrifice, with an enkindling voice, the enkindled Agni. I urge forward him who is himself pure, and the purifier of others, and stable as the pole. I worship with delight-inspiring hymns, the possessor of wisdom, the inviter of the gods, who is extolled by multitudes and without malice; the all-wise god, who is intimately acquainted with every living creature. O, Agni, gods and men have consecrated thee, age

after age, as the herald of the gods, the immortal, the offerer of oblations, the preserver, the god who ought to be extolled, and have worshipped thee as the ever-wakeful, the all-pervading, and the lord of men.

O, Agni, who renderest glorious both worlds during the performance of our rites, thou goest backward and forward through the two worlds as the messenger of the gods; since therefore we apply ourselves to the sacred rites and sacred hymns, be thou manifested as the prosperer of the three habitable regions (of earth, air, and heaven.)

PRAYER TO THE TRIUNE DIVINITY.

May we, who propitiate the gods, arrive at the age laid down by the divinity with undiminished mental and bodily vigor.

May Indra, served with sacrificial viands, grant us prosperity. May the nourishing Sun, who knows all things, grant us prosperity.

May Tarkshya Rishi, the ring of whose chariot-wheel could not be cut, grant us prosperity. (O, triune divinity!) May Vrihuspati grant us prosperity. Triune divinity! grant us prosperity.

VEDAS.*

Any place where the mind of man can be undisturbed, is suitable for the worship of the Supreme Being.

The vulgar look for their gods in water; the ignorant think they reside in wood, bricks, and stones; men of more extended knowledge seek them in celestial orbs; but wise men worship the Universal Soul.

There is one living and true God; everlasting, without parts or passion; of infinite power, wisdom, and goodness; the Maker and Preserver of all things.

* From Progress of Religious Ideas, by Mrs. L. M. Childs.