'
"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 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, art 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 sacrificial butter,
and thou art the excellent sacrificial butter itself! The wise know thee
to be one (as cause) and many (as effects)! 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, 'O 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 assumests 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.
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