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MANDALA III, HYMN 20.
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MANDALA III, HYMN 20. ASHTAKA III, ADHYÅYA 1, VARGA 20. 1. The carrier (of the gods) ' calls by his hymns Agni, Ushas (dawn), the two Asvins, Dadhikrâ at daybreak. May the gods rich in light, unanimously longing for our sacrifice, hear us.
2. Agni, threefold is thy strength; three are thy abodes; three are thy many tongues, O thou who art born in Rita! And three, O Agni, are thy bodies beloved by the gods. With these protect our prayers unremittingly,
3? Agni! Many are the names, O Gâtavedas, of thee the immortal one, O self-dependent god! And whatever the secret powers of the powerful ? are, thou all-enlivener, in thee they have placed together (those) many (powers), O (god) after whose relations men asks.
4. Agni is the divine leader of the divine tribes like Bhaga, the guardian of the seasons!, the righteous. May He, the killer of Vritra”, the ancient one, the possessor of all wealth, bring the singer across all troubles.
5. I invite hither1 Dadhikrå?, Agni, and the goddess Ushas, Brihaspati and the god Savitri, the Asvins, Mitra and Varuna and Bhaga, the Vasus, Rudras, and Âdityas.
NOTES. The same Rishi and metre.—Verse 2 = TS. II, 4, 11, 2; III, 2, 11, 1; MS. II, 4, 4. Verse 3 = TS. III, 1, 11, 6.
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