You are Ashadha, steadfast and resolute, the conqueror of enemies and the vanquisher of those who lead armies. Possessed of a thousandfold strength, you stand as the embodiment of enduring power. With you, may I find victory. Night and dawn are sweet, and so is this earthly realm. May the sky, our father above, be sweet for us as well. May the trees of the forest and the radiant sun bring us sweetness, and may our cows be filled with abundance and delight. Let yourself settle deep within the waters; may neither the burning sun nor Agni Vaiśvānara scorch you. May your offspring remain unbroken through their line, accompanied always by the celestial rains. The lord of waters, the mighty bull among the bricks, has flowed together through three vast oceans and the heavens, clothed even in the humblest forms, journeying to the world of good deeds—go now where the ancestors have already gone. May the great heaven and earth measure out this sacrifice for us and nourish us with their abundance. Behold the wondrous deeds of Vishnu, from whom the sacred laws are made manifest—he is the fitting friend of Indra. You are firm, the unwavering support, born first from these origins, O Jātavedas. May you, who know all, carry our offering to the gods with the sacred Gāyatrī, Triṣṭubh, and Anuṣṭubh meters. Delight in nourishment, wealth, strength, glory, vigor, and offspring—you are sovereign and self-ruling. May Sarasvatī and the two rivers grant you abundance. Agni, yoke your virtuous horses, O god, for they swiftly carry the offering. Yoke, indeed, those horses called by the gods, like skilled charioteers, and let the ancient Hotar take his seat. The rivers flow together like cows, purified within heart and mind. I behold streams of ghee and golden reeds shining in the midst of Agni. For the hymn, for radiance, brilliance, and light, you have arisen as the steed of the world, of Agni and Vaiśvānara. Agni, radiant with light, resplendent with gold and brilliance, you are the thousand-giver—for the thousand, you. Mix the essence with the embryo of the sun, the image of a thousand forms. Expand with vigor, do not falter, and make him a hundred years as you grow. The movement of the wind, the navel of Varuṇa, the horse born in the midst of the body, the child of the rivers, the tawny one rooted in the mountain—Agni, do not harm him in the highest heaven. With reverence, I praise Agni, the ceaseless, red, shining one, ancient in wisdom, as he arranges himself seasonally with the mountains. Do not harm the earth, Aditi, or the shining one. The covering of Tvaṣṭṛ, the navel of Varuṇa, the sheep born from the highest realm, the great, thousandfold magic of the Asura—Agni, do not harm her in the highest heaven. He who is Agni, born from Agni, from the heat of the earth or from the sky, by whom the creator fashioned the offspring—Agni, may your favor encompass him. The wondrous face of the gods has arisen—the eye of Mitra, Varuṇa, and Agni. It fills the heavens, earth, and space; Sūrya is the soul of all that moves and stands. Do not harm this two-footed animal, O thousand-eyed, as he grows for sacrifice. Accept the sacrificial animal, Agni, and with it, settle yourself in the body. May the one we hate go to your flame; may your flame take him. Do not harm this one-hoofed animal, the neighing steed among steeds. I direct the wild bull to you, and with it, settle yourself in the body. May the one we hate go to your flame; may your flame take him. This thousand-streamed, hundred-flowing fountain, flowing in the midst of the body and yielding ghee—Aditi for the people—Agni, do not harm her in the highest heaven. I direct the wild ox to you, and with it, settle yourself in the body. May the one we hate go to your flame; may your flame take him. This wool-bearing navel of Varuṇa, the skin of animals both two-footed and four-footed, the first progenitor of Tvaṣṭṛ’s offspring—Agni, do not harm it in the highest heaven. I direct the camel to you, and with it, settle yourself in the body. May the one we hate go to your flame; may your flame take him. The goat was born from Agni’s heat and saw the creator at the beginning. With it, the gods attained divinity and the priests attained the sacrificial offering. I direct the wild deer to you, and with it, settle yourself in the body. May the one we hate go to your flame; may your flame take him. You, youngest, protect the worshippers and listen to their words; guard the offspring and yourself. I settle you at the end of the waters, in the middle of the waters, in the ashes of the waters, in the light of the waters, in the movement of the waters, in the abode of the ocean, in the abode of the sea, in the abode of the body, in the dwelling of the waters, in the seat of the waters, in the abode of the waters, in the place of the waters, in the womb of the waters, in the dung of the waters, in the path of the waters. I settle you with the Gāyatrī meter, with the Triṣṭubh meter, with the Jagatī meter, with the Anuṣṭubh meter, and with the Pāśru meter. This is the east, the world; its breath is the breath of the world. Spring is its breath; Gāyatrī is of spring, and Gāyatra for Gāyatrī. From Gāyatrī comes Upāṃśu, from Upāṃśu comes Trivṛt, from Trivṛt comes Rathantara. Vasiṣṭha is the seer. With you, taken by Prajāpati, I take breath for the offspring. This is the south, the all-maker; its mind is the mind of all-making. Summer is its mind; Triṣṭubh is of summer, and Triṣṭubh for Triṣṭubh. From Triṣṭubh comes Svāra, from Svāra comes Antaryāma, from Antaryāma the fifteenth, from the fifteenth comes Bṛhat. Bharadvāja is the seer. With you, taken by Prajāpati, I take mind for the offspring. This is the west, all-pervading; its eye is the eye of all-pervading. The rains are its eye; Jagatī is of the rains, and Jagatī for Jagatī. From Jagatī comes Ṛksamā, from Ṛksamā comes Śukra, from Śukra the seventeenth, from the seventeenth comes Vairūpa. Jamadagni is the seer. With you, taken by Prajāpati, I take the eye for the offspring. This is the heaven from the north. Its ear is the Sauman chant. Sharad is the ear-season; Anuṣṭup is the Sharad meter. The Anuṣṭup is Aiḍam, Aiḍam is the churner, the churner is twenty-one. From twenty-one comes the Vairāja. Viśvāmitra is the seer. With you, taken by Prajāpati, I take the ear for the people. This is the thought above; speech is its mother. Hemanta is the season of speech; Paṅkti is the Hemanta meter. Paṅkti is with a close, and with a close is the Āgrayaṇa. From Āgrayaṇa come the thirty-nine, from the thirty-nine come the Śākvara and Raivata. Viśvakarman is the seer. With you, taken by Prajāpati, I take speech for the people. You are the firm earth, the firm womb; you are steadfast—sit in the firm womb with goodness. Accept the foremost banner of the yoked one. May the Aśvins, the priests, seat you here. O nest-builder, rich in ghee and bounty, sit happily in the seat of earth. May the Rudras and Vasus praise you; protect these prayers for good fortune. May the Aśvins, the priests, seat you here. Sit here with your own powers, O father of skill, in the great favor of the gods for victory. Like a father to his sons, be well-disposed and enter with your body. May the Aśvins, the priests, seat you here. You are the moisture of the earth, and your name is water; may all the gods praise you. O one praised with hymns, rich in ghee, sit here and grant us wealth with offspring. May the Aśvins, the priests, seat you here. I seat you, O Adityas, on the back—supporter and pillar of the midspace, mistress of the directions, wave of the worlds, drop of the waters. You are Viśvakarman, the seer. May the Aśvins, the priests, seat you here. Śukra and Śuci are the summer seasons; you are the inner binding of Agni. May heaven and earth be prepared; may the waters and plants be readied; may the fires be set apart, each with supremacy and firm vows. The fires united between heaven and earth—these summer seasons being prepared—may the gods enter as they do Indra. With that divinity, O Angiras, sit firmly. With the seasons, with the forms, with the gods, with the lords of the womb, for Agni Vaiśvānara, may the Aśvins, the priests, seat you here. With the seasons, with the forms, with the Vasus, with the gods, with the lords of the womb, for Agni Vaiśvānara, may the Aśvins, the priests, seat you here. With the seasons, with the forms, with the Rudras, with the gods, with the lords of the womb, for Agni Vaiśvānara, may the Aśvins, the priests, seat you here. With the seasons, with the forms, with the Ādityas, with the gods, with the lords of the womb, for Agni Vaiśvānara, may the Aśvins, the priests, seat you here. With the seasons, with the forms, with all the gods, with the gods, with the lords of the womb, for Agni Vaiśvānara, may the Aśvins, the priests, seat you here. Protect my breath. Protect my downward breath. Protect my diffused breath. Shine my sight widely upon the earth. Make my hearing renowned. Enrich the waters. Strengthen the plants. Guard the two-footed. Protect the four-footed. Send down rain from the sky.