Gathered for a sacred rite, the community sits together, seeking stability and firmness. With reverent praise, they separate themselves from discord, aspiring to surpass all in beauty and to humble any adversary. A woman is sent forth, urged to return quickly, for she has entered the cow-pen, ready for the bearing of offspring. The worshipful ones are to take those who strive, while the wise and discerning leave behind what is divided. Young women, radiant and shining, rise up and seize strength. As a good wife, blessed with children and progeny, the sacrifice leads her to the vessel—she is to grasp it firmly. The nourishment portion, set aside for her by the wise and seers, is to be brought forth. May this sacrifice become a path-finder and protector, abundant with offspring, cattle, and heroes. Agni, the pleasing and worshipful one, enters—pure and full of heat. Let him heat the offering with his warmth, as seers and gods gather to heat the portion in accordance with the seasons. Pure, cleansed women, worshipful in their conduct, let the pure waters flow upon the pleasing offering. May abundant offspring and cattle be granted, and through the cooked food, may the world of the righteous be attained. Purified by Brahman and cleansed with ghee, the worshipful grains are Soma’s portions. Let them enter the waters, and may the great earth receive the offering. With the cooking complete, may the world of the righteous be reached. The vast offering spreads wide, with great greatness—a thousand-backed presence in the world of the righteous. For grandfathers, fathers, and offspring, fifteen portions are cooked. These thousand-backed, hundred-streamed, undiminished, Brahman-cooked, divine, and heavenly offerings are placed there with offspring, so that the ancestors may rejoice and be gracious. The altar is to be raised with offspring, the demon driven away, and a crossing established for it. Surpassing all in beauty, the enemy is placed in a lowly position. The woman is to return together with the cattle, accompanied by the deities and the gods. No hostile path or sorcery should reach her; she is to reign, free from sickness, in her own field. With truth, the carpenter and the well-wisher established the altar for the sacrificial porridge at the forefront. The pure, sacred shoulder-piece is to be placed by the woman, who prepares the porridge for the gods there. The ladle, the second hand of Aditi, fashioned by the Seven Sages, is to know the limbs of the porridge, and the spoon is to arrange it at the center of the altar. The gods are invited to approach the cooked oblation, which, having poured forth from Agni, sits again. Purified by Soma, the offering settles in the stomachs of the Brahmans, and may the descendants of the seers, the eaters, not come to harm. King Soma is invoked to bestow understanding, and the well-spoken one is called near with favor. The seers and their descendants, born of austerity, are invited as gracious guests to the sacrificial porridge. Pure, purified, and worthy women are set apart in the hands of the Brahmans. For whatever desire the anointing is done, may Indra, with the Maruts, grant it. This offering is light, immortality, gold, cooked food, and the wish-yielding cow from the field. This wealth is placed among the Brahmans, making the path to the ancestors, which is heavenly. The husks are cast into Agni, Jātavedas, and the outer chaff is removed far away. The share of the house-lord is heard, and the portion assigned to Nirṛti is known. The path to heaven is recognized for the weary, the cook, and the offerer, raising them up to the heavenly way—the ascent by which one reaches the highest, the supreme heaven, the highest firmament. The Adhvaryu is called to cleanse the mouth of the ram, making it fit for ghee, knowing well. All its limbs are anointed with ghee, establishing the heavenly path to the ancestors. The ram is invoked to drive away the demon; the well-spoken one is called near with favor. The first, ancient ancestors, and the descendants of seers, the eaters, are protected from harm. Among the descendants of seers, the porridge is placed, and other descendants of seers are present. Agni is the protector, along with all the Maruts and gods, who guard the cooked food. The sacrifice is ever-yielding, ever-fattened, the bull, the cow, the seat of riches. May offspring, immortality, long life, and wealth with abundance come together. The bull, heavenly, is sent to the seers, descendants of seers, to settle the prepared offering in the world of the righteous. All gather and proceed in order, as Agni prepares the path of the gods. Through good deeds, the sacrifice is followed to the heaven where the seven-rayed one abides. By the same path by which the gods ascended to heaven with light, having cooked the sacrificial porridge and entered the world of the righteous, may the community ascend likewise, reaching the highest heaven. Turning to the divine, Bhava and Sarva are invoked for grace, not harm. Lords of beings and cattle are honored, and prayers are offered that no missile, once aimed, be released, and no injury come to any, whether two-footed or four-footed. The bodies of dogs, jackals, outcastes, vultures, and black, flesh-eating birds are not to be harmed. The flies are recognized as the Lord of cattle’s birds, and prayers are made that devourers do not find the community. To the cry, breath, and planted roots of Rudra, salutations are offered. Reverence is made to Rudra, thousand-eyed and immortal, in all directions—east, north, below, above, sky, and midspace. His mouth, eyes, skin, form, vision, and western aspect are honored. All limbs, belly, tongue, mouth, teeth, and fragrance are revered. With the weapon of the blue-crested, thousand-eyed, swift Rudra, the half-striker, the community seeks not to contend. May Bhava encompass and protect them on all sides, as water or fire surrounds, and may he not attack. Reverence is offered repeatedly—four times, eight times, ten times—to Bhava, Lord of Beings. His five creatures—cows, horses, men, goats—are acknowledged. All directions, heaven, earth, and fierce midspace belong to him, as does everything that breathes upon the earth. The earth is his broad vessel, holding all worlds. Prayers are made for grace, asking that distant howlers, loud barkers, far-going, and fierce-haired ones stay away. Rudra’s green, golden bow, striking a thousand and slaying a hundred, is honored; the arrow and its direction are revered. Whoever seeks to harm Rudra is to be struck from behind, like the track of a wounded one. Bhava and Rudra, united and knowing together, both fierce and moving for strength, are honored, along with the direction of their weapon. Thus, through ritual, offering, and reverence, the community seeks protection, abundance, and the path to the righteous, ascending toward the highest heaven.