o without harm have entered
into the spirit (-world); may these Fathers, knowing the
seasons, aid us at our call. This reverence be to-day to the
Fathers, who of old and afterwards departed; those who have
settled in an earthly sphere,[35] or among peoples living in
fair places (the gods?). I have found the gracious Fathers,
the descendant(s) and the wide-step[36] of Vishnu; those
who, sitting on the sacrificial straw, willingly partake of
the pressed drink, these are most apt to come hither....
Come hither with blessings, O Fathers; may they come hither,
hear us, address and bless us.... May ye not injure us for
whatever impiety we have as men committed.... With those who
are our former Fathers, those worthy of _soma_, who are come
to the _soma_ drink, the best (fathers), may Yama rejoicing,
willingly with them that are willing, eat the oblations as
much as is agreeable (to them). Come running, O Agni, with
these (fathers), who thirsted among the gods and hastened
hither, finding oblations and praised with songs. These
gracious ones, the real poets, the Fathers that seat
themselves at the sacrificial heat; who are real eaters of
oblation; drinkers of oblation; and are set together on one
chariot with Indra and the gods. Come, O Agni, with these, a
thousand, honored like gods, the ancient, the original
Fathers who seat themselves at the sacrificial heat....
Thou, Agni, didst give the oblations to the Fathers, that
eat according to their custom; do thou (too) eat, O god, the
oblation offered (to thee). Thou knowest, O thou knower (or
finder) of beings, how many are the Fathers--those who are
here, and who are not here, of whom we know, and of whom we
know not. According to custom eat thou the well-made
sacrifice. With those who, burned in fire or not burned,
(now) enjoy themselves according to custom in the middle of
the sky, do thou, being the lord, form (for us) a spirit
life, a body according to (our) wishes.[37]

Often the Fathers are invoked in similar language in the hymn to the
"All-gods" mentioned above, and occasionally no distinction is to be
noticed between the powers and attributes of the Fathers and those of
the gods. The Fathers, like the luminous gods, "give light" (x. 107.
1). Exactly like the gods, they are called upon to aid the living, an