Rig Veda 10.51

mahat tad ulbaṃ sthaviraṃ tad āsīd yenāviṣṭitaḥ praviveśithāpaḥ viśvā apaśyad bahudhā te agne jātavedas tanvo deva ekaḥ

Large was that covering, and firm of texture, folded wherein thou enteredst the waters. One Deity alone, O Jatavedas Agni, saw all thy forms in sundry places.

ko mā dadarśa katamaḥ sa devo yo me tanvo bahudhā paryapaśyat kvāha mitrāvaruṇā kṣiyanty agner viśvāḥ samidho devayānīḥ

What God hath seen me? Who of all their number clearly beheld my forms in many places? Where lie, then, all the sacred logs of Agni that lead him God-ward, Varuna and Mitra?

aicchāma tvā bahudhā jātavedaḥ praviṣṭam agne apsv oṣadhīṣu taṃ tvā yamo acikec citrabhāno daśāntaruṣyād ati rocamānam

In many places, Agni Jatavedas, we sought thee hidden in the plants and waters. Then Yama marked thee, God of wondrous splendour! effulgent from thy tenfold secret dwelling,

hotrād ahaṃ varuṇa bibhyad āyaṃ ned eva mā yunajann atra devāḥ tasya me tanvo bahudhā niviṣṭā etam arthaṃ na ciketāham agniḥ

I fled in fear from sacrificial worship, Varuna, lest the Gods should thus engage me. Thus were my forms laid down in many places. This, as my goal, I Agni saw before me.

ehi manur devayur yajñakāmo 'raṅkṛtyā tamasi kṣeṣy agne sugān pathaḥ kṛṇuhi devayānān vaha havyāni sumanasyamānaḥ

Come; man is pious and would fain do worship, he waits prepared: in gloom thou, Agni, dwellest. Make pathways leading God-ward clear and easy, and bear oblations with a kindly spirit.

agneḥ pūrve bhrātaro artham etaṃ rathīvādhvānam anv āvarīvuḥ tasmād bhiyā varuṇa dūram āyaṃ gauro na kṣepnor avije jyāyāḥ

This goal mine elder brothers erst selected, as he who drives a car the way to travel. So,Varuna, I fled afar through terror, as flies the wild-bull from an archer's bowstring.

kurmas ta āyur ajaraṃ yad agne yathā yukto jātavedo na riṣyāḥ athā vahāsi sumanasyamāno bhāgaṃ devebhyo haviṣaḥ sujāta

We give thee life unwasting, Jatavedas, so that, employed, thou never shalt be injured. So, nobly born! shalt thou with kindly spirit bear to the Gods their share of men's oblations.

prayājān me anuyājāṃś ca kevalān ūrjasvantaṃ haviṣo datta bhāgam ghṛtaṃ cāpāṁ puruṣaṃ cauṣadhīnām agneś ca dīrgham āyur astu devāḥ

Grant me the first oblations and the latter, entire, my forceful shares of holy presents, The soul of plants, the fatness of the waters, and let there be long life, ye Gods, to Agni.

tava prayājā anuyājāś ca kevala ūrjasvanto haviṣaḥ santu bhāgāḥ tavāgne yajño 'yam astu sarvas tubhyaṃ namantām pradiśaś catasraḥ

Thine be the first oblations and the latter, entire, thy forceful shares of holy presents. Let all this sacrifice be thine, O Agni, and let the world's four regions bow before thee.