Durga Sooktham

जातवेदसे सुनवाम सोममरातीयतो निदहाति वेदः।
स नः पर्षदति दुर्गाणि विश्वा नावेव सिन्धुं दुरितात्यग्निः॥१॥
तामग्निवर्णां तपसा ज्वलन्तीं वैरोचनीं कर्मफलेषु जुष्टां।
दुर्गाम् देवी शरणमहं प्रपद्ये सुतरसि तरसे नमः॥२॥
अग्ने त्वम् पारया नव्यो अस्मान् स्वस्तिभिरति दुर्गाणि विश्वा।
पूश्च पृथ्वी बहुळा न उर्वी भवा तोकाय तनयाय शंयो॥३॥
विश्वानि नो दुर्गहा जातवेदः सिन्धुं न नावा दुरितातिपर्षि।
अग्ने अत्रिवन्मनसा गृणानोऽस्माकं बोध्यविता तनूनां॥४॥
पृतनाजित सहमानमुग्रमग्नि हुवेमपरमात्सधस्थात्।
स नः पर्षदति दुर्गाणि विश्वा क्षामद्देवो अति दुरितात्यग्निः॥५॥
प्रत्नोषिकमीड्यो अध्वरेषु सनाच्च होता नव्यश्च सत्सि।
स्वं चाग्ने तनुवं पिप्रयस्वास्मभ्यं च सौभगमायजस्व॥६॥
गोभिर्जुष्टमयुजो निषिक्तं तवेन्द्र विष्णोरनुसंचरेम।
नाकस्य पृष्ठमभि संवसानो वैष्णवीं लोक इह मादयन्तां॥७॥
महानारायणोपनिषत्  तैत्तरीयसम्हितायाम्  दुर्गासूक्तं।
jātavedase sunavāma somamarātīyato nidahāti vedaḥ|
sa naḥ parṣadati durgāṇi viśvā nāveva sindhuṁ duritātyagniḥ ||1||
tāmagnivarṇāṁ tapasā jvalantīṁ vairocanīṁ karmaphaleṣu juṣṭāṁ|
durgām devī śaraṇamahaṁ prapadye sutarasi tarase namaḥ||2||
agne tvam pārayā navyo asmān svastibhirati durgāṇi viśvā|
pūśca pṛthvī bahuḻā na urvī bhavā tokāya tanayāya śaṁyo||3||
viśvāni no durgahā jātavedaḥ sindhuṁ na nāvā duritātiparṣi|
agne atrivanmanasā gṛṇāno'smākaṁ bodhyavitā tanūnāṁ||4||
pṛtanājita sahamānamugramagni huvemaparamātsadhasthāt|
sa naḥ parṣadati durgāṇi viśvā kṣāmaddevo ati duritātyagniḥ||5||
pratnoṣikamīḍyo adhvareṣu sanācca hotā navyaśca satsi|
svaṁ cāgne tanuvaṁ piprayasvāsmabhyaṁ ca sauabhagamāyajasva||6||
gobhirjuṣṭamayujo niṣiktaṁ tavendra viṣṇoranusaṁcarema|
nākasya pṛṣṭhamabhi saṁvasāno vaiṣṇavīṁ loka iha mādayantāṁ||7||
mahānārāyaṇopaniṣat  taittarīyasamhitāyām  durgāsūktaṁ|
jātavedase sunavāma somamarātīyato nidahāti vedaḥ|
sa naḥ parṣadati durgāṇi viśvā nāveva sindhuṁ duritātyagniḥ ||1||
tāmagnivarṇāṁ tapasā jvalantīṁ vairocanīṁ karmaphaleṣu juṣṭāṁ|
durgām devī śaraṇamahaṁ prapadye sutarasi tarase namaḥ||2||
agne tvam pārayā navyo asmān svastibhirati durgāṇi viśvā|
pūśca pṛthvī bahuḻā na urvī bhavā tokāya tanayāya śaṁyo||3||
viśvāni no durgahā jātavedaḥ sindhuṁ na nāvā duritātiparṣi|
agne atrivanmanasā gṛṇāno'smākaṁ bodhyavitā tanūnāṁ||4||
pṛtanājita sahamānamagni huvemaparamātsadhasthāt|
sa naḥ parṣadati durgāṇi viśvā kṣāmaddevo ati duritātyagniḥ||5||
pratnoṣikamīḍyo adhvareṣu sanācca hotā navyaśca satsi|
svaṁ cāgne tanuvaṁ piprayasvāsmabhyaṁ ca sauabhagamāyajasva||6||
gobhirjuṣṭamayujo niṣiktaṁ tavendra viṣṇoranusaṁcarema|
nākasya pṛṣṭhamabhi saṁvasāno vaiṣṇavīṁ loka iha mādayantāṁ||7||
mahānārāyaṇopaniṣat  taittarīyasamhitāyām  durgāsūktaṁ|

"May we pay oblations of Soma juice to Jaataveda the fire.  May the all-knowing  Agni destroy all that is not in our favour. He, is the divine fire leads all through his energy and resplendence.  While so leading us may He protect us  by carrying us across all perils of life even as the captain of a ship leads his ship all through the vagaries of the weather.  1

I take refuge in Goddes Durga, who is having the lustre of fire, and is radiant  with yogic penance, who is the Pover of the supreme being who manifests itself in many forms, who  is manifesting herself in all actions and the results thereof   O Mother Durga, You , the expert in showing good path and taking us through difficult terrains, may You be pleased  to take us through the well of mundane existence, which we will not be able to cross by our own skills..2

Oh, Fire, you are worthy of all praise by us.  With your happy methods,  you may be pleased to take us  beyond all difficulties.   May our homes, towns and homeland become extensive  and may our arable plots of land be ample and well nourished.  May You be pleased to join us, our children, and their children all in joy together.  3

May lord Jataveda the Agni, who is  the destroyer of all our sins and sorrows,  be pleased to lead us away from all sins and troubles and protect us in the manner of one who leads people across the ocean in a boat without the passengers feeling any fear or difficulty.  May Agni the Jataveda be pleased to protect our bodies, ever mindful of its safety, just like Sage Atri, who is always repeating in his mind  that "May everyone be whole and happy"  4

We, assembling ourselves in the highest forum. invoke the fire God who is the highest leader of all among us and even beyond us.  The Jataveda, the Agni, charges against and vanquishes all our enemies, with His fierce valour.   May that fire God Jataveda be pleased to  protect us and make our path bereft of all difficulties and wrongs that come by nature to us, and may He be  pleased to wean us away from all that is perishable to lead us to immortality. 5

Oh Agni, the Jataveda, You are lauded in all sacrifices and in turn you bless us with happiness.  In the place of sacrifice you abide as the person who performs the sacrifice, ancient and recent, and even as the place of sacrifice.  Oh Agni, may You be pleased to recognize always as Your own kin  and therefore be pleased to make us happy always.  May you be pleased through your magnificence, to endow us with fortune coming from all sides.  6

Oh Agni, you are unconnected with sin and sorrow and destroy them wherever they manifest.  You pervade all sacrifices in the shape of all that is present in the place of sacrifice.  We serve you, Oh Agni,  desirous of being blessed with good fortune of having  a lot of cattle.  May we, overflowing with blissful devotion to You, serve you without any interruption.   May Gods in the highest region of Heaven share their happiness and delight of sharing devotion to Vishnu with me. May such shared worship bring delight and fortune to me on earth. 7"

Devi Durga in Vedas is worshiped as one with the God of fire.  So every fire, every oblation that goes to the sacrificial fire ultimately is shared by Durga..And all our prayers to Agni the Jatavedaa goes to  Devi Durga.

The Vedic hymn clearly indicate that the people of that period depended for their happy life on cattle and wide expanse of arable land.. Absence of rancour to anyone, and complete sense of happiness and peaceful co-existence, leaving  themselves to the will of the benevolent God, who, they believed would lead them in the right path, was the hall-mark of the Vedic epoch.

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