28. Agni, kindled, being kindled, increased with ghee, offered to with ghee—let the overpowering, all-overpowering Agni slay them who are my rivals.
This verse (though there are others having the same pratīka) is doubtless the one quoted (next after vs. 1) in Kāuç. 49. 19, to accompany the laying of bonds upon the "boat" there treated of; ⌊rather, the laying of sticks with strings on them upon the fire: Caland, p. 173⌋. The description of the Anukr. strangely forbids us to make the elision -dho ‘gníḥ in a.
29. Let him slay them, burn [them] away,—the enemy (ári) who fights us; by the flesh-eating fire do we burn away our rivals.
Ppp. reads in a enāṁ; we require enaṁ, as antecedent to b, which, as the verse now stands, seems to describe the subject of the verbs in a. Ppp. has also agnis for aris in b.
30. Do thou, O Indra, having arms, smite them down downward with the thunderbolt; then my rivals have I taken to myself with Agni's brightnesses (téjas).
Ppp. puts the verse after our 31, and reads at the end ā dadhe. ⌊Or ā́diṣi may be referred to dā 'cut' + ā: so W. in a ms. note to his Index, and so BR. But BR's forms from vi. 104 are referred by W. to dā 'tie.'⌋
31. O Agni, make our rivals fall below us; stagger the truculent (utpípāna) fellow, O Brihaspati; O Indra-and-Agni, O Mitra-and-Varuṇa, let them fall below [us], impotent in their fury.
Lit. 'not making their fury effective against' us. The Anukr. apparently understands the structure of the verse as 12 + 14: 8 + 6 + 8 = 48; but there is no good reason for dividing the last redundant pāda into two. Ppp. reads utapidānaṁ (for utpipānam ⌊discussed AJP. xii. 441⌋) in b.
32. Do thou, O heavenly sun, arising, smite down my rivals; smite them down with the stone; let them go to lowest darkness.
Ppp. appears to read avāi ’nāṁ raçmibhir jahi rātrīṇāṁ tantasā vadhīs taṁ hantv adhamaṁ tamaḥ. ⌊We had our d at x. 3. 9 d.⌋
33. The young (vatsá) of the virā́j, the bull of prayers (matí), mounted, bright-backed, the atmosphere; with ghee they sing (arc) the song (arká) unto the young; him, being bráhman, they increase with bráhman.
Ppp. combines in b -pṛṣṭho ant-. TB. (ii. 8. 89) has a corresponding verse, but with numerous variants: pitā́ virā́jām ṛṣabhó rayīṇā́m antárikṣaṁ viçvárūpa ā́ viveça: tám arkāír abhy àrcanti vatsám bráhma sántam bráhmaṇā vardháyantaḥ. ⌊Bloomfield, AJP. xii. 441, would emend arkám to aktám; but the TB. variant is very much against it.⌋ Our verse is quoted in Kāuç. 12. 4, at the end of a charm for securing one's wishes.
34. Both ascend thou to heaven and ascend to earth; both ascend to kingdom and ascend to property; both ascend to progeny and ascend to immortality; make thyself contiguous with the ruddy one.
