human
Run past straightway the two four-eyed dogs, the spotted and (the dark), the brood of Saram[=a]; enter in among the propitious fathers who hold high feast with Yama.
gpt
To the two dogs born in the house of (Yama) Vivasvant's son, to the dark and the spotted, I have given a cake; do ye guard me ever on my road!
human
The two brown, broad-nosed messengers of Yama, life-robbing, wander among men. May they restore to us to-day the auspicious breath of life, that we may behold the sun. Evidently the part of the Cerberi here is not in harmony with their function in stanza 10: instead of debarring men from the abodes of bliss they pick out the dead that are ultimately destined to boon companionship with Yama. The same idea is expressed simply and clearly in prayers for long life in the _Atharva-Veda_:
gpt
The two dogs of Yama, the dark and the spotted, that guard the road (to heaven), that have been dispatched, shall not (go after) thee! Come hither, do not long to be away! Do not tarry here with thy mind turned to a distance. (viii. 1. 9.) And again:
human
Remain here, O man, with thy soul entire! Do not follow the two messengers of Yama; come to the abodes of the living.
gpt
May we live a hundred autumns, surrounded by lusty sons. Homer's Hades has wiped out this inconsistency, only to substitute another. Odysseus, on returning from his visit to Hades, exclaims baldly:
human
Better a swineherd on the surface of the earth in the light of the sun than king of the shades in Hades.