Vaisampayana continued.--"Having addressed one another thus, the sons of Manda pala then each devotedly addressed an eulogistic hymn to Agni. Listen now, O monarch, to those hymns as I recite them.
"Jaritari said, "Thou art, O fire, the soul of air! Thou art the body of the Earth's vegetation ! O Sukra, water is thy parent as thou art the parent of water ! O thou of great energy, thy flames, like the rays of the sun, extend themselves above, below, behind, and on each
side.
"Sarisrikka said, 'O smoke-bannered god, our mother is not to be seen, and we know not our father! Our feathers have not grown as yet. We have none to protect us save thee! Therefore, O Agni, infants that we are, O protect us! O Agni, as we are distressed, protect us with that auspicious form thou hast and with those seven flames of thine! We seek protection at thy hands? Thou alone, O Agni, are the giver of heat (in the universe)! O lord, there is none else (save thee) that giveth heat to the rays of the sun! O protect us who are young and who are Rishis! O Havyavaha (carrier of sacrificial butter). be pleased to go hence by some other route.'
"Stamvamitra said, "Thou alone, O Agni, art everything ! This whole universe is established in thee! Thou sustainest every creature, and thou supportest the universe! Thou art the carrier of the sacrifcial butter, and thou art the excellent sacrificial butter itself ! The wise know thee to be one (as cause) and many (as effects) I Having created the three worlds, thou, O Havyavaha, again destroyest them when the time cometh, swelling thyself forth! Thou art the productive cause of the whole universe, and thou also art the essence in which the universe dissolveth itself !'
"Drona said.'0 lord of the universe, growing in strength and remaining within their bodies, thou causest the food that living creatures eat to be digested. Everything therefore, is established in thee. O Sukra, O thou from whose mouth the Vedas have sprung, it is thou who assumest the form of the sun, and sucking up the waters of the Earth and every liquid juice that the Earth yields, givest them back in time in the form of rain and causest everything to grow ! From thee, O Sukra, are these plants and creepers with green foliage! From thee have sprung these tanks and pools, and the great ocean also that is ever blessed! O thou of fierce rays, this our (human) body dependeth on Varuna (the water-god)! We are unable to bear thy heat. Be thou, therefore, our auspicious protector 1 0. destroy us not! O thou of copper-hued eyes, O thou of red neck. O thou whose path is marked by a black colour, save us by going along any rernote route, as indeed, the ocean saveth the house on its banks I*
