Sukta 18

Mantra 1

सोमानं स्वरणं कृणुहि ब्रह्मणस्पते । कक्षीवन्तं य औशिजः ॥

O Lord of the Word (Brahmaṇaspati), make the Soma a shining gold of consciousness; (make) Kakṣīvant—offspring of the Uśij—fit and radiant for the work of inspired speech.

Mantra 2

यो रेवान्यो अमीवहा वसुवित्पुष्टिवर्धनः । स नः सिषक्तु यस्तुरः ॥

He who is rich in luminous abundance, who slays the inner affliction, who finds the true wealth and increases our growth—may that swift power join himself to us and move us forward.

Mantra 3

मा नः शंसो अररुषो धूर्तिः प्रणङ्मर्त्यस्य । रक्षा णो ब्रह्मणस्पते ॥

Let not the hostile proclamation, nor the deceiver’s assault of the mortal, strike us down. Guard us, O Lord of the Word—protect the right vibration of our speech and mind.

Mantra 4

स घा वीरो न रिष्यति यमिन्द्रो ब्रह्मणस्पतिः । सोमो हिनोति मर्त्यम् ॥

That hero indeed does not perish—whom Indra, the Lord of the Word, and Soma impel forward. The mortal is driven toward victory when force, true speech, and delight unite within him.

Mantra 5

त्वं तं ब्रह्मणस्पते सोम इन्द्रश्च मर्त्यम् । दक्षिणा पात्वंहसः ॥

O Lord of the sacred Word, may you—together with Soma and Indra—protect that mortal from the constriction of wrong and error; and may Dakṣiṇā (the right-giving power) guard him by setting him in the true exchange between human effort and divine increase.

Mantra 6

सदसस्पतिमद्भुतं प्रियमिन्द्रस्य काम्यम् । सनिं मेधामयासिषम् ॥

I have sought to win the wondrous Lord of the Assembly—dear to Indra and desirable—so that he may grant us the gaining of medhā, the formed intelligence that holds and orders the truth.

Mantra 7

यस्मादृते न सिध्यति यज्ञो विपश्चितश्चन । स धीनां योगमिन्वति ॥

Without whom the sacrifice does not succeed—even for the seer of clear perception—he it is who fosters the joining of the thoughts: he brings our dhī into a right yoking with the Truth-order.

Mantra 8

आदृध्नोति हविष्कृतिं प्राञ्चं कृणोत्यध्वरम् । होत्रा देवेषु गच्छति ॥

He perfects the making-ready of the offering; he turns the path of the sacrifice forward; by the power of the Hotṛ he moves among the gods—establishing the right passage between human speech and divine hearing.

Mantra 9

नराशंसं सुधृष्टममपश्यं सप्रथस्तमम् । दिवो न सद्ममखसम् ॥

I have beheld Narāśaṃsa, most firmly established and most wide-spreading—like a house of heaven for the sacrifice: a divine habitation where the offering becomes a luminous dwelling in us.