O Desire, I call upon you with fervent intent—let your power strike down those who rival me, casting them into blind darkness. May they stumble and fall, drained of all strength and essence, not one of them surviving even a single day. Let your force, O Desire, be the slayer of my adversaries and, in their place, prepare for me a vast world—one that is open and fit for wisdom. May all four directions bow before me, and let six broad streams of clarified butter flow toward me as signs of abundance. Let those who oppose me, once cast down, drift away like boats cut loose from their moorings, never to return—just as those struck by arrows find no way back. May the gods who delight in barley—Agni, Indra, and Soma—drive away these rivals, for barley is their sacred offering. Let my adversaries, cast down, wander without offspring, shunned by friends and kin, sinking into the earth as a thunderbolt does. May the mighty god strike them down for me. See, this great one has already fallen, while the lightning that stays aloft bears all the thunderings. Just as the sun rises, radiant and rich, so may the mighty one drive my rivals down. O Desire, surround my adversaries with your triple-shielded protection, that unfailing armor stretched out by the Brahman. With this, let breath, cattle, and life itself choose me over them. By the same force with which the gods drove away the Asuras, and Indra led the Dasyus into the lowest darkness, O Desire, drive my rivals far from this world. Just as the gods triumphed over the Asuras and Indra overcame the Dasyus and the darkness, so too, O Desire, cast my adversaries far away. You, Desire, were born before all; neither gods nor ancestors nor mortals could attain you. Therefore, you are greater, all-conquering and mighty. To you, O Desire, I offer my reverent salutation. As vast as heaven and earth, as far as the waters extend, as far as Agni reaches—so great are you, O Desire, and to you I bow in homage. As many directions, intermediate ways, and shining regions as exist in the sky, you surpass them all, O Desire, mighty one. Greater than the beetles, insects, kurūras, and tree-serpents that have come to be—greater than all these are you, O Kāma, destroyer of all. To you, I bow in homage. You are greater than one who blinks, greater than one who stands still, greater than the ocean, O Kāma, O wrath. Not even the wind, nor fire, nor the sun, nor the moon can surpass you. You are the destroyer of all, the mighty one, and to you, O Kāma, I bow in homage. Let your auspicious and gracious forms, by which truth arises when you so will, come and dwell among us. Let those forms drive away the thoughts of the wicked, sending them elsewhere. Now, within the all-encompassing hall, whatever is measured, counter-measured, and limited, whatever is bound—we loosen and set free. Whatever snares and knots have been made in you, O hall, we untie, just as Bṛhaspati undoes with speech. We have come, we have strengthened, and we have made your knots firm; knowing the obstacles, like Indra with his weapon, we loosen all that is bound. Of your bamboos and fastenings, the breath of the living and the grass—of the wings, O hall, whatever is bound, we loosen and set free. Of the pincers, the plates, and the clasp of the embrace—these bindings of the mind’s wife, we loosen and set free. Whatever lies inside your baskets, whatever is pierced for pleasure—we loosen and set free, so that the wife of the mind does not rise up against her own form. The offering place, the fire hall, the seat of the wives, the assembly—O hall, you are the seat of the gods, O divine hall. The axle, the yoke, the thousand-eyed, the crossbeam—whatever is bound, whatever is declared by the Brahman, we loosen and set free. Whoever receives you, O hall, and by whom you are measured—may both, the mind’s wife, live long together, growing old in unity. May the recipient not go to the other world; whatever is firmly bound, whatever is adorned—of whom we loosen and set free every limb, every joint. He who measured you, O hall, who joined together the trees—Prajāpati, the supreme lord, made you for the sake of offspring. To him we offer homage, to the giver, to the lord of the hall; homage to Agni who moves, and to you, O person, our reverence. Homage to the cows, to the horses, and to whatever is born in the hall; in this hall rich in offspring and progeny, we loosen your bonds. You shelter men with fire, together with cattle; in this hall of prosperity and children, we loosen your bonds. With that which stretches between heaven and earth, I take hold of this shelter; that which is the expanse of the atmosphere, the domain of dust, I make as a womb for the auspicious ones. With this, I take hold of the shelter for him. Rich in nourishment, abundant in milk, established upon the earth, measured and bounded, bearing all food—O shelter, do not harm the one who receives you. Covered with grass, bearing fruit, clothed like the night, the shelter is the resting place of the world. Measured, you stand upon the earth like an elephant with footprints. I loosen what is bound of yours, O iṭa, and fill it up. May Mitra release what Varuna has bound, in the morning. By Brahman the shelter is established, by the sages it is measured and set. May Indra and Agni protect this shelter, the immortal seat of Soma. Within the nest upon the nest, within the vessel the vessel is placed. There, a mortal is born, from whom all creation arises. Those with two wings, four wings, six wings, those that are measured, eight-winged, ten-winged—O shelter, wife of the mind, you lie as the embryo of fire. Facing west, I approach you, O shelter, unharmed. Fire and the inner waters are the first doors of truth. I bring forth these waters, free from disease, destroyers of sickness. I enter the houses together with immortality and with Agni. Do not bind us with a heavy burden; let it be light. Like a bride, O shelter, wherever we wish, we carry you.