Tr. May Ila, Sarasvati, Mahi, the three Goddesses of delight come to the seat, unharmed.
As the three goddesses are heard of elsewhere too in the Apri hymns, as the association of these three is known and as Bharati is celebrated as one of them, Mahi here is undoubtedly Bharati. iļā she of this name ; sarasvati of this appellation ; mahi the great, Bharati; tisraḥ deviḥ three goddesses, divine Powers, Personalities ; barhiḥ the seat made ready; sidantu may they arrive at; of what kind are they? mayobhuvaḥ maya is the term for happiness; generators – bhuvaḥ, implied causal-of that happiness; again of what kind ? asridhaḥ unharmed, unassailed or undrying (the root sridha has both meanings-drying up and harm).
It is to be noted that briefly put, Ila is the divine power of Revelation.
The three Goddesses, Ila, Sarasvati, and Bharati, are seen to be celebrated in all the ten Apri hymns all over the Rig Veda. At places they are lauded singly. Their nature and form need to be distinguished and described. The Puranas speak of no difference between Bharati and Saras-vati. According to the Puranic story, Iļa, male head of the lunar dynasty, son of Manu, attained womanhood and became Iļā. But in the Veda, it is to be noted, these three associated together, conferring Sight, Hearing and Vastness on the sacrificer, the Rishi, have their dwelling in Svar. Of these, Bharati signified by the term Mahi, the divine Power connected with the Vast Light, issuing from the Hoine of Svar, brings first to the Seer-Poet vastness; Ila favours him with the consciousness-sight commensurate with this vast-ness. But Sarasvati, the carrier of inspiration makes the Seer capable of hearing the divine inspiration, the hearer of Truth. The truth of Bharati is to be seen in the passages commenting on sünrtā virapšī gomati mahi. What was said regarding Sarasvati in the passage codayitri sūnrtānām is to be kept in mind. Though the adjective siinrtā, codayitrī, etc. are used for all the three deities, yet the distinction of each of them is to be grasped; Ila, Sarasvati and Bharati, conferring Sight, Hearing and Vastness respectively, are divine, born of the Truth-Light, powers of the Sun of the Light of Truth impeller supreme of the Universe. The adjective visvatūrtiḥ (who carries all) used for Her of the Vastness, establishes the relation of Bharati to the very Impeller who is sought to impel our thoughts. All these three create supreme happiness --mayobhuvaḥ. They are not to be taken as some indistinct or formless divine powers ; though they are mutually associated, the seers see their form as distinct, beautiful, supeś asaḥ, of good form. Mantras like: May they seated guard unbroken our home (2.3.8), laud these Goddesses as guarding in the human seer their own glories as described, without break, without defect. The Vajasaneyins also proclaim : "The unbroken thread, with draught, Sarasvati, Ila, the Goddess Bharati who carries all.” We give reference in the Rig Veda (in the order of the Mandalas) where there is mention of these deities for the scrutiny and study of the purport by the reader: 1.13.9; 1.142.9; 1.188.8; 2.3.8; 3.4.8; 5.5.8; 7.2.8; 9.5.8; 10.70.8; 10.110.8.