iii. 5. 4.

a The gods, destroying the sacrifice, stealing the sacrifice,
That are seated on earth,
May Agni protect me from them;
May we go to those that do good deeds.
b We have come, O noble ones, Mitra and Varuna,
To the share of the nights that is yours,
Grasping the firmament, in the place of good deeds,
On the third ridge above the light of the sky.
c The gods, destroyers of the sacrifice, stealers of the sacrifice,
That sit in the atmosphere,
From them may Vayu guard me;
May we go to those that do good deeds.
d The nights of thine, O Savitr [1], that go, traversed by gods,
Between sky and earth,
With all your houses and offspring,
Do ye first mounting the light traverse the regions.
e The gods, destroyers of the sacrifice, stealers of the sacrifice,
That sit in the sky,
From them may Surya guard me;
May we go to those that do good deeds.
f That highest oblation wherewith, O All-knower,
Thou didst collect milk for Indra,
Therewith, O Agni, do thou make him grow;
Bestow on him lordship over his fellows.

The gods are destroyers of the sacrifice, stealers of the sacrifice [2]; they sit these worlds taking and destroying from him who gives and sacrifices. 'The gods, destroyers of the sacrifice, that sit on the earth, that (sit) in the atmosphere, that sit in the sky', he says; verily traversing the worlds, he goes to the world of heaven with his household, with his cattle. From him who has sacrificed with the Soma (sacrifice), the deities and the sacrifice depart; he should offer to Agni on five potsherds as the final act; all the deities are Agni [3], the sacrifice is fivefold; verily he wins the deities and the sacrifice. Now Agni is connected with the Gayatri and has the Gayatri as his metre; he severs him from his metre, if he offers on five potsherds; it should be made on eight potsherds; the Gayatri has eight syllables, Agni is connected with the Gayatri and has the Gayatri for his metre; verily he unites him with his own metre. The Yajya and the Anuvakya are in the Pañkti metre the sacrifice is fivefold; verily thereby he does not depart from the sacrifice.