4. God Savit_ri_ stepped on his jewelled chariot, The strong, the many-hued, its pins all golden[39], And he, the worshipful, in brightest splendour, Displays his strength across the darkest welkin. 5. Black with white hoofs the horses shone upon us, Dragging along the golden-shafted chariot; All men, all creatures here for ever rested, Safe in the lap of Savit_ri_ in heaven. 6. Three skies are there of Savit_ri_, two places, And one in Yama’s realm that holds our heroes[40], Immortals[41] mounted on the chariot’s axle,— Let him speak out who understands this saying. 7. The glorious bird[42] has lighted-up the heaven, The guide divine, whose wings are deeply sounding; Where is the sun? Who knows it now, to tell us, Which of the heavens his ray may have illumined? 8. The earth’s eight quarters has the sun illumined, Three miles of land, and all the seven rivers, God Savit_ri_, the golden-eyed, has neared us, And brought choice treasures to the liberal mortals. 9. The golden Savit_ri_, who never rested, Is moving forward, straight ‘tween earth and heaven, He strikes disease, and hales the sun from yonder; Through darkest clouds up to the sky he hastens. 10. The guide divine, with golden arms appearing, May come to us, the rich and gracious giver, Praised every night, the god did come towards us, Chasing away the noxious evil spirits. 11. O Savit_ri_, come hither on thy pathways, The old, well-made ones, dustless in the heavens, And on those paths be thou our sure protector, And grant to us to-day thy gracious blessing! Is there one verse in this hymn that is not perfectly clear and intelligible, as belonging to a hymn addressed to the personified deity of the sun? Let us once understand that Savit_ri_ was a name of the sun, and why should he not be invoked for protection and for every kind of blessing? Of course, as soon as the sun was addressed by a poet, he ceased to be a mere sight. He became subjective, personal, and human, whether we like it or not. After that it does not require a great effort of imagination to address him as standing on a golden chariot, drawn by brilliant horses and all the rest. Surely the Vedic poets stood not alone in indulging in such imagery.