1 To splendid Agni seated by the altar, loving well his home, I bring the food as 'twere his place of birth. 2 Child of a double birth he grasps at triple food; in the year's course what he hath swallowed grows anew 3 The pair who dwell together, moving in the dark bestir themselves: both parents hasten to the babe, 4 For man, thou Friend of men, these steeds of thine are yoked, impatient, lightly running, ploughing 5 Dispelling on their way the horror of black gloom, making a glorious show these flames Of his fly forth 6 Amid brown plants he stoops as if adorning them, and rushes bellowing like a bull upon his wives. 7 Now covered, now displayed he grasps as one who knows his resting−place in those who know him wel 8 The maidens with long, tresses hold him in embrace; dead, they rise up again to meet the Living One. 9 Licking the mantle of the Mother, far and wide he wanders over fields with beasts that flee apace. 10 O Agni, shine resplendent with our wealthy chiefs, like a loud−snorting bull, accustomed to the house. 11 May this our perfect prayer be dearer unto thee than an imperfect prayer although it please thee well. 12 Grant to our chariot, to our house, O Agni, a boat with moving feet and constant oarage, 13 Welcome our laud with thine approval, Agni. May earth and heaven and freely flowing riversRV 140 · Rig Veda · null
RV 140
Rig Veda · translated by Ralph T.H. Griffith
Themes in this passage
FamilyNaturePrayerChildrenThe DivineFriendshipLoveMarriage
Family in other traditions
The same theme, as Christianity, Islam, Hellenism and Taoism address it.
The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father; the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother; the mother in law against her daughter in law, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.Luke 12:53 · Bible · Luke
Unto the men (of a family) belongeth a share of that which parents and near kindred leave, and unto the women a share of that which parents and near kindred leave, whether it be little or much - a legal share.Quran 4:7 · Quran · Women
“O wretched husband of a wretched wife! Born with one fate, to one unhappy life! For sure one star its baneful beam display’d On Priam’s roof, and Hippoplacia’s shade. From different parents, different climes we came. At different periods, yet our fate the same! Why was my birth to great Aëtion owed, And why was all that tender care bestow’d? Would I had never been!—O thou, the ghost Of my dead husband! miserably lost! Thou to the dismal realms for ever gone! And I abandon’d, desolate, alone! An only child, once comfort of my pains, Sad product now of hapless love, remains! No more to smile upon his sire; no friend To help him now! no father to defend! For should he ’scape the sword, the common doom, What wrongs attend him, and what griefs to come! Even from his own paternal roof expell’d, Some stranger ploughs his patrimonial field. The day, that to the shades the father sends, Robs the sad orphan of his father’s friends: He, wretched outcast of mankind! appears For ever sad, for ever bathed in tears; Amongst the happy, unregarded, he Hangs on the robe, or trembles at the knee, While those his father’s former bounty fed Nor reach the goblet, nor divide the bread: The kindest but his present wants allay, To leave him wretched the succeeding day. Frugal compassion! Heedless, they who boast Both parents still, nor feel what he has lost, Shall cry, ‘Begone! thy father feasts not here:’ The wretch obeys, retiring with a tear. Thus wretched, thus retiring all in tears, To my sad soul Astyanax appears! Forced by repeated insults to return, And to his widow’d mother vainly mourn: He, who, with tender delicacy bred, With princes sported, and on dainties fed, And when still evening gave him up to rest, Sunk soft in down upon the nurse’s breast, Must—ah what must he not? Whom Ilion calls Astyanax, from her well-guarded walls,[279] Is now that name no more, unhappy boy! Since now no more thy father guards his Troy.Iliad 22.46a · Iliad · 22
When the mother is found, we know what her children should be. When one knows that he is his mother's child, and proceeds to guard (the qualities of) the mother that belong to him, to the end of his life he will be free from all peril.Tao Te Ching 52.2 · Tao Te Ching
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