In the sacred unfolding of the marriage rite, the couple is blessed: “Stay here, do not part, enjoy the full span of life; play with sons and grandsons, rejoice, and be blessed with well-being.” The powers of past and future are invoked, and two divine children, playful and wise, reach the ocean; one surveys all beings while the other arranges the seasons, marking the bride’s rebirth into her new role. Each dawn brings her forth anew, the sign of days, coming first with the morning light. She will share offerings with the gods, and may she attain long life, radiant and brilliant. Discord is to be removed, wealth divided among priests, and as rites are fulfilled, the wife enters her husband’s path, becoming one with him. Attachment to harmful acts is revealed as dark and red; her kin increase, yet the husband is bound in bonds. The body may become stained by evil, especially when the husband covers himself with the wife’s garment. Expectation, chastisement, and even severe cutting—these are forms of Sūryā, which the priest purifies. Some things are parched, bitter, like a bone without marrow, like poison—not to be given. Only the priest who knows the Sūryā rite is worthy of the bride. He alone removes misfortune, knowing the auspicious garment and the expiation by which the wife remains unharmed. The couple is called to bring together fortune, abundance, and immortality, as spoken at the wedding. The Lord of Prayer is invoked to make the husband pleasing to his wife, and let the charming companion speak kindly. “Here you shall stay, do not go elsewhere; may these cows increase with offspring; whatever is auspicious in Sūryā and Soma’s radiance, may all the gods turn their minds to you.” May the cows enter with offspring, and may the husband not diminish the gods’ share. Pūṣan, the Maruts, Dhātṛ, and Savitṛ are called to grant prosperity. May the paths be straight and true, by which friends come to choose the couple; Bhaga, Aryaman, and Dhātṛ together grant radiance. Whatever radiance is in dice or strong drink, whatever is set among cows, the Aśvins are asked to protect the bride with that radiance. By which the sinless one was struck, or by which dice and drink were anointed, the Aśvins are called to protect her. He who shines among the waters without fuel, praised by the wise in sacrifice, is invoked: “O child of the waters, grant sweet waters by which Indra grew strong.” The radiant grasp that defiles the body is washed away with water; what is bright and shining is raised up. Priests bring her bathing waters to drive away barrenness. Pūṣan circles the fire of Aryaman, while her father-in-law and brother-in-law wait for her. May gold, waters, union, and yoke be auspicious; may the waters with a hundred purifications be auspicious, and may she touch her husband’s body in harmony. In the sky is the chariot, the axle, and the yoke; O Indra of a hundred powers, you made the skin of Sūryā without blemish. With hope, seeking well-being, prosperity, and abundance for her people, devoted to her husband, she unites with us for immortality. Just as the river Sindhu brought sovereignty among rivers, so may the bride become sovereign as she enters her husband’s home. She is blessed to be sovereign among her husband’s fathers, brothers, sisters-in-law, and mothers-in-law. Those who did not cut or divide, who wove and gave the garment all around, are invoked to join her to old age. She is to put on this garment, full of life. Tears are shed as the living woman is led to the ritual, men shine forth in a long line; what pleases the ancestors brings joy to the husbands, and the bride is embraced. A firm, enduring stone is set for her offspring on the lap of the divine earth; she stands upon it, radiant, and Savitar grants her long life. With that which Agni took the right hand of the earth, the groom takes her hand: “Do not tremble—be with me, with offspring and wealth.” Savitar is invoked to take her hand, King Soma to make her fruitful, and Agni to make her fortunate and long-lived for her husband. The groom takes her hand for good fortune, that together they may grow old; Bhaga, Aryaman, Savitar, and Purandhi are called to grant her for household prosperity. Bhaga and Savitar have taken her hand; she is the wife by law, and he is her householder. May she be prosperous, Bṛhaspati gives her to him; together, bearing children, they are to live a hundred autumns. Tvaṣṭṛ made a beautiful garment by Bṛhaspati’s guidance; with that, Savitar and Bhaga clothe her with offspring, as Sūryā. Indra and Agni, Heaven and Earth, Mātariśvan, Mitra and Varuṇa, Bhaga, the Aśvins, Bṛhaspati, the Maruts, Brahman, and Soma are invoked to make her increase with offspring. Bṛhaspati first arranged Sūryā’s hair; with that, the Aśvins adorn her for her husband. The nature of a woman is described: the wife, seeking to know her husband, moves in thought; the groom follows her with new companions, asking who has loosened these bonds. He answers: “I will loosen them; her form is in me, I know it, seeing the nest of the mind; I have not stolen, I am not released by the mind; I myself loosen the bonds of Varuṇa.” He releases her from Varuṇa’s bonds, with which Savitar bound her; he makes for her a wide world, an easy path, together with her husband. She is called to rise, drive away demons, and be placed with the good; the wise Creator has found her a husband, and King Bhaga is called to beget offspring. Bhaga has fashioned four feet and four wheels, Tvaṣṭṛ has shaped the middle and spokes; may she be auspicious. She is to bear a beautiful covering, of many forms, golden, well-joined, with good wheels. Ascend, O bride, to the immortal realm of the sun; make the path for the husbands pleasant for you. Thus, the sacred marriage is woven, invoking blessings, radiance, and prosperity, as the bride and groom unite in harmony, guided by the gods, to live a life full of joy, offspring, and immortality.