As the sun’s rays swiftly fly across the sky, so too is the cough urged to depart, following the vast, rolling currents of the ocean. In its journey and return, may the sacred dūrvā grass flourish, bearing blossoms; may a fresh spring arise, or a pond filled with lotuses bloom in its wake. This is the descent of waters, the ocean’s resting place; amid the lake lie our homes—let their faces turn away from us, so that affliction does not linger. Around the rice fields, we enclose you, cough, with a membrane of frost, for our lands are cold-laked; may Agni, the divine fire, prepare the remedy. Let no harm come to the one who conquers all and protects, for in her care, all our two-footed and four-footed beings, and all that belongs to us, are guarded. Let no harm come to the protector who triumphs over all; in her victory, safeguard all our creatures and possessions. Let no harm come to the one who brings prosperity; in her abundance, guard all our beings. Let no harm come to the one who knows all and brings prosperity; in her wisdom, guard all that is ours. Medhā, the goddess of wisdom, come to us first, bringing cows and horses. You dwell with the rays of the sun and are worthy of our sacrifice. I invoke Medhā, praised by Brāhmaṇas, honored by students, for the aid of the gods. The wisdom known to sages born of truth, the wisdom the gods possess, the auspicious wisdom the seers cherish—may we instill that wisdom within ourselves. The wisdom which wise seers, creators of beings, know—O Agni, grant me that wisdom today. May wisdom fill our mornings, evenings, and midday; may we instill wisdom through the sun’s rays and through speech. The long pepper, whose remedy is well-known and cast by the gods, is sufficient for life. These peppers, speaking together, are placed at the origin of birth; whoever partakes of this living remedy does not perish. Though demons buried it, the gods unearthed it again—a cure for what is wind-caused and what is cast down. You, O Agni, are ancient and worthy of praise in sacrifices, both as the old and new Hotṛ. Cherish your own form and grant us good fortune. Born to destroy the eldest, from the root of Yama’s dispersal, protect this one; lead him past all evils for a long life of a hundred autumns. On the day of the tiger, under a constellation, a hero was born—a strong man; may he not strike his father as he grows, nor harm his mother who bore him. O Agni, release this man for me—he who is bound, who mutters with a loosened tongue; assign him his proper share once he is no longer mad. May Agni calm your mind if it is agitated; I, knowing, prepare the remedy, so that you may be restored from madness. From the gods, from the sinless, from madness, from the mad, from demons—I, knowing, prepare the remedy, so that you may be restored. May the evil spirits return you, may Indra return you, may Bhaga return you, may all unfriendly gods return you, so that you may be restored from madness. O Agni, do not let this one slay the eldest among them; protect him from the root of Yama’s dispersal. Loosen the binding cords, knowing, so that all the gods may recognize you. Release the cords, O Agni, from these thirty-three with which they were bound; loosen the bonds and free the father, son, mother—all of them. Whatever cords bind him, limb by limb—may they be released, for there are releasers. O Pūṣan, remover of evil, cleanse the sins that slay the unborn. The gods cleansed this sin for Trita; Trita cleansed it among men. If the seizure has seized you, may the gods destroy it with the sacred word. Let the rays and smoke disperse—O sin, go to the wide spaces or to the mists; follow the foam of the rivers. O Pūṣan, remover of evil, cleanse the sins that slay the unborn. The guilt of man, set in twelvefold measure, was washed away from Trita; if the seizure has not consumed you from that, may the gods destroy it for you by sacred utterance. Whatever offense against the gods we have committed—O Ādityas, release us from that by truth, by the law of truth. By the law of truth, O worshipful Ādityas, release us here; if, in seeking to perform sacrifice, we have failed in proper conduct. The sacrificers, rich in fat, offer ghee with the ladle; yet, unwilling, all you gods, though we sought to perform, we have not succeeded. Whatever sins we have committed, knowingly or unknowingly, you, all the gods together, release us from them. Whether awake or asleep, if I have committed this sin, may both past and future release me, as the pressing stone releases the stalk. As one released from the pressing stone, as one cleansed after bathing from dirt, as clarified butter purified by the strainer, so may all the gods cleanse me from guilt. If, at the beginning, those who knew food but not knowledge made this binding, as the Kārṣīvaṇas did, I offer this to King Vaivasvata; then may our sacrificial food be sweet. Vaivasvata apportions the share, joining the honeyed portion with honey; whatever the mother desired did not come, or if the father erred, he withdrew. If guilt has come to us from mother, father, brother, or son—however many ancestors are associated with us, may all their intentions be peaceful. Whatever debt I have incurred, unpaid, by which I walk under the power of Yama—by this, O Agni, may I be free from debt; you know all the bonds that are loosened. Here and now, we return this guilt, living among the living we take it away; whatever debt I have incurred by eating another’s grain, by this, O Agni, may I be free from debt. Thus, through invocation, remedy, and prayer, the story flows—a journey from affliction to wisdom, from guilt to release, from bondage to freedom, all under the watchful gaze of the gods and the sacred fire.