Aitareyabrahmana 3.20

3.20

Indra, when about to slay Vṛtra, said to all the deities: / 'Stand by me! Call unto me!' Saying 'So be it', / they ran up when he was about to slay [him]. He perceived: / 'Verily, they are running up when I am about to slay [him]; come, let me frighten them.' / He blew forth against them; fleeing away from his snorting, all the gods ran away. / The Maruts, however, did not abandon him. / 'Strike, O Lord! Slay! Act heroically!'—so speaking these words they stood by him. / The seer, seeing this, recited: / 'Fleeing away from the snorting of Vṛtra, all the gods, who were your companions, abandoned you; / let there be friendship between you and the Maruts, O Indra; then shall you conquer all these armies' [RV 8.96.7]. / He perceived: 'These indeed are my helpers; these have favoured me; / come, let me make them share in this uktha.' / He made them share in this uktha. / Now at that time both these ukthas were niṣkevalya alone. / He draws the Marutvatīya cup; he recites the Marutvatīya pragātha; / he recites the Marutvatīya hymn; he places the Marutvatīya nivid: / that is the share of the Maruts. / Having recited the Marutvatīya uktha, he offers with the Marutvatīya offering verse; / according to their share he thereby pleases the deities: / 'They who magnified you at the slaying of the dragon, O bounteous one, who at Śambara's [slaying], O lord of bay steeds, who in the quest for kine, / who now cheer along, the poets: drink the Soma, O Indra, accompanied by the host, with the Maruts' [RV 3.47.4]. / Wherever he conquered along with them, wherever he performed virile deed, / having made known all that, he makes them partakers in the Soma-drink along with Indra.