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Rig Veda · 1012 of 1027
1.MAY Savitar the God, O Stones, stir you according to the Law: Be harnessed to the shafts, and press.
2.Stones, drive calamity away, drive ye away malevolence: Make ye the Cows our medicine.
3.Of one accord the upper Stones, giving the Bull his bull-like strength, Look down with pride on those below.
4.May Savitar the God, O Stones, stir you as Law commands for him Who sacrifices, pouring juice.
Asked of Guide
Why does the hymn address stones and ask Savitar to 'stir' them?
The hymn treats the press-stones as active participants in the sacrifice: they are asked to “press” and be “harnessed to the shafts,” so their motion turns the juice into offering and medicine for the community. Savitar is invoked to animate the stones “according to the Law,” locating divine agency in the ritual mechanism rather than only in human hands.
Calling stones to “drive calamity away” and to give the Bull “bull-like strength” ties the physical pressing to social and cosmic effects; the rite makes cows and cattle vitality through a divinely sanctioned force. This is similar to the Rig Veda’s other hymns where craftsmen or tools receive divine speech and help, as in hymns that sanctify the chariot or the sacrificial ladle.
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