iii. 2. 4.

a The wooden sword is safety, the hammer is safety, the knife, the sacrificial enclosure, the axe is safety; sacrificial ye art, makers of the sacrifice; do ye invite me to this sacrifice.
b May sky and earth invite me;
(May) the place of singing, the bowl, Soma, the fire (invite me);
(May) the gods, the sacrifice,
The Hotras call upon me in invitation.
c 'Homage to Agni, slayer of Makha; may the glory of Makha impel me' - (with these words) he reverences the Ahavaniya. Makha is the sacrifice [1]; verily he slays the sacrifice; verily paying homage to him he creeps to the Sadas, for his own safety.
d 'Homage to Rudra, slayer of Makha; for this homage guard me' (with these words he reverences) the place of the Agnidh; verily paying homage to him he creeps to the Sadas, for his own safety.
e 'Homage to Indra, slayer of Makha; injure not my power and strength' - (with these words he reverences) the place of the Hotr; verily he invokes this blessing, for the preserving of his power and strength [2].
f He who creeps forward knowing the gods who cause ruin at the Sadas is not ruined at the Sadas. 'Homage to Agni, slayer of Makha', he says. These gods cause ruin at the Sadas. He, who knowing them thus creeps forward, is not ruined at the Sadas.

g Ye two are firm, loose; united guard me from trouble.
h May the sun, the god, guard me from trouble from the sky, Vayu from the atmosphere [3], Agni from earth, Yama from the fathers, Sarasvati from men.
i O ye divine doors, oppress me not.
k Homage to the Sadas, homage to the lord of the Sadas, homage to the eye of the friends who go before, homage to sky, homage to earth.
l Ho! son of a second marriage, get thee hence; sit on the seat of another more foolish than we are.
m From the low, from the high may I go.
n O sky and earth protect me from this day to-day.

o When he creeps forward to the seat [4], the fathers creep along after him; they have power to injure him; having crept to the seat he should look along the south side (saying), 'Come, O ye fathers; through you may I possess the fathers; may ye have good offspring in me'; verily paying reverence to them he creeps to the Sadas, for his own safety.