True too it is that thou art born from the two Workings1 like a new-born infant, thou who art the upholder of the human peoples, Will that leads aright the sacrifice.Sri Aurobindo
The Secret of the Veda
with Selected Hymns
The Ninth Hymn to Agni
Divine Will Ascendent from the Animal to Mentality
[The Rishi speaks of the birth of the divine Will by the working of the pure mental on the material consciousness, its involved action in man’s ordinary state of mortal mind emotional, nervous, passionate marked by crooked activities and perishable enjoyments and its emergence on the third plane of our being where it is forged and sharpened into a clear and effective power for liberation and spiritual conquest. It knows all the births or planes of our existence and leads the sacrifice and its offerings by a successive and continuous progress to the divine goal and home.]
5.9.1
त्वाम॑ग्ने ह॒विष्म॑न्तो दे॒वं मर्ता॑स ईळते ।
मन्ये॑ त्वा जा॒तवे॑दसं॒ स ह॒व्या व॑क्ष्यानु॒षक् ॥१॥
tvām agne haviṣmantaḥ devam martāsaḥ īḷate
manye tvā jāta-vedasam saḥ havyā vakṣi ānuṣak
Thee the godhead mortals with the oblation seek, O Will; on thee I meditate who knowest the births; therefore thou carriest to the goal our offerings without a break.
5.9.2
अ॒ग्निर्होता॒ दास्व॑त॒: क्षय॑स्य वृ॒क्तब॑र्हिषः ।
सं य॒ज्ञास॒श्चर॑न्ति॒ यं सं वाजा॑सः श्रव॒स्यवः॑ ॥२॥
agniḥ hotā dāsvataḥ kṣayasya vṛkta-barhiṣaḥ
sam yajñāsaḥ caranti yam sam vājāsaḥ śravasyavaḥ
Will is the priest of the oblation for man who gives the offering and forms the seat of sacrifice and attains to his home; for in him our works of sacrifice converge and in him our plenitudes of the Truth’s inspirations.
5.9.3
उ॒त स्म॒ यं शिशुं॑ यथा॒ नवं॒ जनि॑ष्टा॒रणी॑ ।
ध॒र्तारं॒ मानु॑षीणां वि॒शाम॒ग्निं स्व॑ध्व॒रम् ॥३॥
uta sma yam śiśum yathā navam janiṣṭa araṇī iti
dhartāram mānuṣīṇām viśām agnim su-adhvaram
True too it is that thou art born from the two Workings1 like a new-born infant, thou who art the upholder of the human peoples, Will that leads aright the sacrifice.
5.9.4
उ॒त स्म॑ दुर्गृभीयसे पु॒त्रो न ह्वा॒र्याणा॑म् ।
पु॒रू यो दग्धासि॒ वनाग्ने॑ प॒शुर्न यव॑से ॥४॥
uta sma duḥ-gṛbhīyase putraḥ na hvāryāṇām
puru yaḥ dagdhā asi vanā agne paśuḥ na yavase
True too it is that thou art hard to seize as a son of crookednesses2 when thou devourest the many growths of delight like an Animal that feeds in his pasture.
5.9.5
अध॑ स्म॒ यस्या॒र्चयः॑ स॒म्यक्सं॒यन्ति॑ धू॒मिनः॑ ।
यदी॒मह॑ त्रि॒तो दि॒व्युप॒ ध्माते॑व॒ धम॑ति॒ शिशी॑ते ध्मा॒तरी॑ यथा ॥५॥
adha sma yasya arcayaḥ samyak sam-yanti dhūminaḥ
yat īm aha tritaḥ divi upa dhmātā-iva dhamati śiśīte dhmātari yathā
But afterwards thy fiery rays with their smoky passion meet together entirely; oh then, the third Soul3 forges him in our heavens like a smith in his smithy; ‘tis as if in the smith himself that he whets him into a weapon of sharpness.4
5.9.6
तवा॒हम॑ग्न ऊ॒तिभि॑र्मि॒त्रस्य॑ च॒ प्रश॑स्तिभिः ।
द्वे॒षो॒युतो॒ न दु॑रि॒ता तु॒र्याम॒ मर्त्या॑नाम् ॥६॥
tava aham agne ūtibhiḥ mitrasya ca praśastibhiḥ
dveṣaḥ-yutaḥ na duḥ-itā turyāma martyānām
O Will, may I by thy expandings and thy expressings of the Lord of Love,– yea, may we, as men assailed by enemies, so besieged by discords, pass through and beyond these stumblings of mortals.
5.9.7
तं नो॑ अग्ने अ॒भी नरो॑ र॒यिं स॑हस्व॒ आ भ॑र ।
स क्षे॑पय॒त्स पो॑षय॒द्भुव॒द्वाज॑स्य सा॒तय॑ उ॒तैधि॑ पृ॒त्सु नो॑ वृ॒धे ॥७॥
tat naḥ agne abhi naraḥ rayim sahasvaḥ ā bhara
saḥ kṣepayat saḥ poṣayat bhuvat vājasya sātaye uta edhi pṛtsu naḥ vṛdhe
Bring to us human souls that felicity, O Will, thou forceful one! May he shoot us forward on our path, may he nourish and increase us and be in us for the conquest of the plenitude. March with us in our battles that we may grow.
1 The two Aranis or tinders by which the fire is struck out; the word can also mean workings and is related to arya. Heaven and Earth are the two Aranis which produce Agni; Heaven his father, Earth his mother.
2 Literally, of the crooked ones, possibly the seven rivers or movements of our being winding through the obstructions of our mortal existence.
3 Trita Aptya, the Third or Triple, apparently the Purusha of the mental plane. In the tradition he is a Rishi and has two companions significantly named Eka, one or single, and Dwita, second or double, who must be the Purushas of the material and the vital or dynamic consciousness. In the Veda he seems rather to be a god.
4 The original is very compressed in style and suggestion beyond even the common Vedic pregnancy of structure and phrase, “When, oh, him Trita forges in heaven like a smith, sharpens as in the smith”. In English we have to expand in order to bring out the meaning.