The Satapatha Brahmana
translated by Julius Eggeling
THE SATAPATHA-BRÂHMANA
ACCORDING TO THE TEXT OF THE MÂDHYANDINA SCHOOL
Translated by
Julius Eggeling
SATAPATHA-BRÂHMANA.
FIRST KÂNDA.
SIXTH ADHYÂYA. FIRST BRÂHMANA.
1:6:1:11. Now the Seasons were desirous to have a share in the sacrifice among the gods, and said, 'Let us share in the sacrifice! Do not exclude us from the sacrifice! Let us have a share in the sacrifice!'1:6:1:22. The gods, however, did not approve of this. The gods not approving, the Seasons went to the Asuras, the malignant, spiteful enemies of the gods.
1:6:1:33. Those (Asuras) then throve in such a manner that they (the gods) heard of it; for even while the foremost (of the Asuras) were still ploughing and sowing, those behind them were already engaged in reaping and threshing: indeed even without tilling the plants ripened forthwith for them.
1:6:1:44. This now caused anxiety to the gods: 'That owing to that (desertion of the Seasons), enemy
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[paragraph continues] (viz. the Asuras) seeks to injure enemy (viz. us) is of little consequence; but this indeed goes too far: try to find out how henceforth this may be different 1!'
1:6:1:55. They then said, 'Let us invite the Seasons!'--'How? Let us offer prayer to them first of all at the sacrifice!'
1:6:1:66. Agni then said, 'But whereas hitherto you used to offer prayer to me in the first place, what is now to become of me?' 'We will not remove you from your place!' said they. And since, in inviting the Seasons, they did not remove Agni from his place, for that reason Agni is immutable 2; and verily, he who knows that Agni to be immutable, does not move from the place where he bides.
1:6:1:77. The gods said to Agni, 'Go and invite them hither!' Agni went to them and said, 'O Seasons, I have obtained for you a share in the sacrifice among the gods.' They said, 'In what form hast thou obtained it for us?' He replied, 'They will offer prayer to you first at the sacrifice.'
1:6:1:88. The Seasons said to Agni, 'We will let thee share along with us in the sacrifice who hast obtained for us a share in the sacrifice among the gods!' And because Agni has been allowed a share along with the Seasons (the offering-prayers are): 'The Samidhs, O Agni, (may accept the butter) 3 . . . !'
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[paragraph continues] 'Tanûnapât, O Agni . . .!' 'The Ids, O Agni . . .!' 'The Barhis, O Agni. . .!' 'Svâhâ Agni!' And verily, whosoever knows that Agni is thus allowed to share (in the sacrifice) along with the Seasons, he is allowed to participate in whatever auspicious rite is performed by one who professes to be equal (in that knowledge) to him;--for him, being possessed of Agni, the Seasons, themselves possessed of Agni, ripen the plants and everything here.
1:6:1:99. Now, as to this point, some raise the objection, 'But since they invite the fore-offerings last of all (at the two libations of butter) 1, why do they offer prayer to them first of all?'--Because they established them last of all in the sacrifice 2; and because they said, 'we will offer prayer to you first:' for that reason they invite them last, and offer prayer to them first.
1:6:1:1010. By the fourth fore-offering the gods, assuredly, obtained the sacrifice, and by the fifth they firmly established it; and by what part of the sacrifice after that remained unaccomplished they gained the world of heaven.
1:6:1:1111. In going to heaven they were afraid of an attack from the Asuras and Rakshas. They placed Agni at their head, as the Rakshas-killer, the repeller of the Rakshas; they placed Agni in their midst, as the Rakshas-killer, the repeller of the Rakshas; they placed Agni in their rear, as the Rakshas-killer, the repeller of the Rakshas.
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1:6:1:1212. And if the Asuras and Rakshas wished to attack them in front, Agni repelled them, as the Rakshas-killer, the repeller of the Rakshas; if they wished to attack in the centre, Agni repelled them, as the Rakshas-killer, the repeller of the Rakshas; and if they wished to attack in the rear, Agni repelled them, as the Rakshas-killer, the repeller of the Rakshas: being thus guarded on all sides by Agnis, they reached the world of heaven.
1:6:1:1313. And in the same way this one now obtains the sacrifice by means of the fourth fore-offering, and by means of the fifth he establishes it; and by what part of the sacrifice after that remains un-accomplished, he gains the world of heaven.
1:6:1:1414. Now when he pronounces the offering-prayer over Agni's butter-portion, he thereby places Agni in front, as the Rakshas-killer, the repeller of the Rakshas; and when Agni's sacrificial cake is (offered), he thereby places Agni in the midst, as the Rakshas-killer, the repeller of the Rakshas; and when he pronounces the offering-prayer to Agni Svishtakrit (the maker of good offering), he thereby places Agni in the rear, as the Rakshas-killer, the repeller of the Rakshas.
1:6:1:1515. And if the Asuras and Rakshas try to attack him (the sacrificer) in front, Agni repels them, as the Rakshas-killer, the Repeller of the Rakshas: if they try to attack him in the centre, Agni repels them, as the Rakshas-killer, the repeller of the Rakshas; and if they try to attack him from behind, Agni repels them, as the Rakshas-killer, the repeller of the Rakshas: being thus guarded on every side by Agnis, he gains the world of heaven.
1:6:1:1616. And if any one were to imprecate evil on him
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previously to (or, in the fore-part of) the (chief) sacrifice, let him be thus spoken to, 'Thou shalt suffer some disease of the face! thou shalt become either blind or deaf!' for these, in truth, are diseases of the face: and thus it would indeed fare with him.
1:6:1:1717. If any one were to imprecate evil on him in the middle of the sacrifice, let him be thus spoken to, 'Thou shalt be without offspring, without cattle!' for offspring and cattle, indeed, constitute the centre (i.e. the substantial possession of man): and thus it would indeed fare with him.
1:6:1:1818. If any one were to imprecate evil on him after the completion of the (chief) sacrifice, let him be thus spoken to, 'Unstable and poor, thou shalt swiftly go to yonder world!' for thus it would indeed fare with him. One should not therefore utter imprecations: for whosoever thus understands this has the advantage.
1:6:1:1919. He who gains by means of the fore-offerings, assuredly, gains the year 1. But he alone gains it who knows its doors; for what were he to do with a house who cannot find his way inside? Even as those (fore-offerings) are (the doors) of this (sacrifice), so is the spring a door, and so is the winter a door, of that (year). This same year he enters, as the world of heaven; for, assuredly, the year is all, and the All (universe) is imperishable: his thereby becomes imperishable merit, the imperishable world.
THE TWO BUTTER-PORTIONS (ÂGYABHÂGA) TO AGNI AND SOMA.
1:6:1:2020. Here now some say, 'To what deity belong the butter-portions?' Let him reply, 'To Pragâpati;'p. 160
for, assuredly, Pragâpati is undefined 1 (mysterious); and undefined are the butter-portions, because they have the sacrificer for their deity; for the sacrificer is Pragâpati at his own sacrifice, since it is by his order that the priests spread and produce it.
1:6:1:2121. Having basted the havis with butter and made two cuttings from it, he pours some of the butter thereon: thus the oblation is offered combined with butter, and thereby indeed it is offered combined with the sacrificer; and for one who knows this,--whether he has a sacrifice performed for him while he is far away, or while he is near,--the sacrifice is performed in the same way as it would be performed if he were near; and he who knows this, even though he do much evil, is not shut out from the sacrifice.
Footnotes
156:1 'Kanîya in nv ato dvishan dvishate ’râtîyati kim v etâvanmâtram upagânîta yathedam ito ’nyathâsad iti.' The Kânva MS. has, 'tad u vai devânâm atathâsa kanîya in nu tam dvishan dvishate ’râtîyed atha kim tâvanmâtram. Te hokuh katham idam ito no ’nyathâ syâd iti.'156:2 Akyuta, literally 'not fallen,' hence invariable, indispensable is an epithet frequently applied to Agni's sacrificial cake; cf. I, 4, 2, 16; I, 6, 2, 5.
156:3 See p. 148, note 2.
157:1 In the devatânâm âvahanam or invitation of the deities, the last formula, addressed to the butter-drinking deities, is supposed to refer to the fore- and after-offerings. Cf. I, 4, 2, 16-17.
157:2 See I, 5, 3, 23.
159:1 See I, 5, 3, 3.
SECOND BRÂHMANA.
1:6:2:11. Verily, by means of the sacrifice the gods made that conquest (of the world of heaven). When they had conquered, they said, 'How may this (celestial region) be made unattainable by men?' They then sipped the sap of the sacrifice, as bees would suck out honey; and having drained the sacrifice and effaced the traces of it with the (sacrificial) post 2, theyp. 161
concealed themselves: and because they effaced (ayopayan, viz. the sacrifice) with it, therefore it is called yûpa (sacrificial post). Now this was heard by the Rishis:
1:6:2:22. 'Verily, by means of the sacrifice the gods gained this conquest. When they had conquered, they said, "How may this (celestial region) be made unattainable by men?" They then sipped the sap of the sacrifice, as bees would suck out honey; and having drained the sacrifice and effaced the traces of it with the (sacrificial) post, they concealed themselves.' They (the Rishis) thereupon set about searching for it.
1:6:2:33. They went on praising and toiling; for by (religious) toil, the gods indeed gained what they wished to gain, and (so did) the Rishis. Now whether it be that the gods caused it (the sacrifice) to attract (or, peep forth to) them, or whether they took to it of their own accord, they said, 'Come, let us go to the place whence the gods obtained possession of the world of heaven!' They went about saying (to one another), 'What attracts? What attracts 1?' and came upon the sacrificial cake which had become a tortoise and was creeping about. Then they all thought, 'This surely must be the sacrifice!'
1:6:2:44. They said, 'Stand still for the Asvins! stand still for Sarasvatî! stand still for Indra!' still it
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crept on;--'Stand still for Agni!' at this it stopped. Having then enveloped it in fire (Agni), knowing, as they did, that it had stopped for Agni, they Offered it up entirely, for it was an oblation to the gods. Then the sacrifice pleased them 1; they produced it, they spread it. And this same sacrifice is taught by the former to the later; the father (teaches it) to his son when he is a student (brahmakârin).
1:6:2:55. Now that (cake), which caused the sacrifice to attract (or, appear to) them, first (puras) bestowed (dâs) it upon them: hence it is (called) purodâsa, for purodâsa, doubtless, is the same as purodâsa 2. This same cake on eight potsherds for Agni is indispensable on both occasions (at the new- and full-moon ceremonies).
1:6:2:66. That (cake for Agni) does not constitute the (special) sacrificial food (havis) either at the full-moon, or at the new-moon, sacrifice; since the one for Agni and Soma constitutes the havis at the full-moon, and the Sânnâyya 3 at the new-moon sacrifice. That one (for Agni) constitutes rather the regular (or, corresponding) sacrifice on both occasions, and because of its fearing lest it should become detached from the sacrifice, it is offered up at the beginning of both the full-moon and the new-moon sacrifice: this is the reason why it is offered at this particular time.
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1:6:2:77. And if any one (householder) were to resort to him (the Adhvaryu) and say, 'Perform an ishti for me!' let him perform it. Whatever desire the Rishis entertained when they performed that sacrifice, that desire of theirs was accomplished; and accordingly whatever desire he (the sacrificer) entertains in having this sacrifice performed, that desire of his is accomplished. For whatever deity sacrificial food is taken, to that deity they offer it up in the fire (Agni);--and if he is about to offer it up in the fire, why should he announce it to another deity? To Agni alone therefore (it is announced).
1:6:2:88. Agni (the fire), assuredly, represents all the deities, since it is in the fire that they make offering to all deities: to Agni alone therefore (he should announce it), since he thereby has recourse to all the deities.
1:6:2:99. Agni, assuredly, is the safest 1 among the gods: let him then have recourse to him whom he considers the safest among the gods, and therefore (announce the sacrifice) to Agni.
1:6:2:1010. Agni, assuredly, is the most tender-hearted of gods: let him then have recourse to him whom he considers the most tender-hearted of gods, and therefore (announce the sacrifice) to Agni.
1:6:2:1111. Agni, assuredly, is the nearest of the gods: let him then have recourse to him whom he considers as the nearest of those to be approached, and therefore (let him announce the sacrifice) to Agni.
1:6:2:1212. If (beside the full-moon sacrifice) he perform an ishti (with a view to the accomplishment of some
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special desire) 1, let him recite seventeen kindling verses; (and in that case) he utters the offering-prayer (yâgyâ) in a low voice, for this is the characteristic form of an ishti; the yâgyâ and the anuvâkyâ should contain the word 'head 2;' the two butter-portions should be offered to the Vritra-slayer (Indra); and the two samyâgyâs 3 should be in the virâg metre.
Footnotes
160:1 Because he (? as lord of creatures) represents all the deities, and one cannot say 'he is such or such a one,' Sâyana. Cf. also I, 1, 1, 12.160:2 Yûpena yopâyitvâ, literally 'having made it level by means of the yûpa,' = yûpenâkkhâdya, 'having covered it over with the yûpa,' Sâyana (cf. also on Rig-veda I, 104, 4). For other versions of the same myth, cf. Ait. Br. II, 1 ['they debarred them (ayopayan, viz. the men and Rishis from the sacrificial knowledge) by means of the yûpa,' Haug]; Taitt. S. VI, 3, 4, 7; 5, 3, 1. p. 161 The legend is intended to supply, by means of a fanciful etymology, a symbolical meaning for the yûpa or sacrificial post to which the victim is tied.
161:1 Kim prarokate = 'what thinkest thou?' Sâyana. The primary meaning of pra-ruk is 'to shine forth.' Here it has apparently to be taken in the double sense of 'to peep forth, to appear,' and 'to please.' The German 'einleuchten' (St. Petersburg Dictionary) approaches more nearly to the original.
162:1 Or 'appeared to them, shone forth to them,' prârokata; see preceding note.
162:2 In the compound purodâsa or purodâs the original dental d has been changed to the lingual d, apparently through the influence of the preceding r.
162:3 See I, 6, 4, 9. One would expect the Sânnâyya (to Indra) or the cake to Indra-Agni. The full-moon offering is sacred to Agni-Soma: and the new-moon offering to Indra-Agni; see I, 8, 3, 1 seq.
163:1 Addhâtamâm, adv., literally 'most surely;' according to Sâyana = atisayena pratyakshaphaladam, 'pre-eminently a giver of perceptible benefits.'
THIRD BRÂHMANA.
1:6:3:11. Tvashtri had a three-headed, six-eyed son. He had three mouths; and because he was thus shaped, his name was Visvarûpa ('All-shape').1:6:3:22. One of his mouths was Soma-drinking, one spirit-drinking, and one for other kinds of food. Indra hated him and cut off those heads of his.
1:6:3:33. Now from the one which was Soma-drinking, a hazel-cock (francoline partridge) sprang forth; whence the latter is of brownish colour, for king Soma is brown.
1:6:3:44. From the one which was spirit-drinking, further, a sparrow sprang; whence the latter talks as if stammering, for he who has drunk spirits, talks as if he stammered.
1:6:3:55. Then from the one which served for other kinds of food, a partridge sprang; whence the latter
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is much variegated in colour: on its wings, namely, butter-drops, as it were, have dropped in one place and honey- (or mead-) drops in another, for suchlike, as it were, was the food which he consumed with that (mouth).
1:6:3:66. Tvashtri was furious: 'Has he indeed slain my son?' he exclaimed. He brought Soma-juice from which Indra was excluded; and just as the Soma-juice on being produced had Indra excluded from it (apendra), so it remained (when it was offered up).
1:6:3:77. Indra thought with himself, 'They are now excluding me from Soma!' and though uninvited, he consumed what pure (Soma) there was in the tub, even as the stronger (consumes) that of a weaker. That (Soma) however, injured him; it flowed in all directions from (the openings of) his vital airs; from his mouth alone it did not flow, but from all the other (openings of the) vital airs it flowed; hence (was instituted) at that time the ishti, called Sautrâmanî: on the occasion of that (ceremony) it is explained how the gods healed him 1.
1:6:3:88. Tvashtri was furious, and exclaimed, 'Has he indeed consumed my Soma uninvited?' However, he himself desecrated the sacrifice, for what pure (Soma) there was left in the tub he let flow (into the fire), saying, 'Grow thou, having Indra for thy foe 2!' The moment it reached the fire, it
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developed (into human shape), or, as some say, it so developed whilst on its way (to the fire). It became possessed of 1 Agni and Soma, of all sciences, all glory, all nourishment, all prosperity.
1:6:3:99. And since it so developed whilst rolling onwards (vrit), it became Vritra; and since he sprang forth footless, therefore he was a serpent. Danu and Danâyû received him like mother and father 2, whence they call him Dânava.
1:6:3:1010. And because he (Tvashtri) said, 'Grow thou, having Indra for thy foe!' therefore Indra slew him (Vritra). Had he said, 'Grow thou, the foe (slayer) of Indra!' he (Vritra) would certainly have forthwith slain Indra.
1:6:3:1111. And because he (Tvashtri) said, 'Grow thou!' therefore he (Vritra) grew an arrow's range sideways and an arrow's range forward: he forced back both the western ocean and the eastern one; and in proportion as he extended did he devour the food.
1:6:3:1212. In the fore-noon the gods offered him food, at mid-day the men, and in the after-noon the Fathers.
1:6:3:1313. Now while Indra was thus moving on (in pursuit of Vritra), he addressed Agni and Soma, 'Ye belong to me and I belong to you! That one is nothing to you: why then do ye support that Dasyu against me? Come over to me!'
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1:6:3:1414. They replied, 'What is to be our reward in that case?' He offered them that Agni-Soma cake on eleven potsherds: this is the reason why there is a cake on eleven potsherds for Agni and Soma.
1:6:3:1515. They went over to him, and after them went forth 1 all the gods, all the sciences, all glory, all nourishment, all prosperity: thus by offering that (cake to Agni and Soma) Indra became what Indra now is. Such then is the significance of the full-moon offering; and he who, knowing this, performs the full-moon offering in this wise, attains to the same state of prosperity, becomes thus endowed with glory, becomes such a consumer of food (as Vritra).
1:6:3:1616. Now Vritra, on being struck, lay contracted like a leather bottle drained of its contents, like a skin bag with the barley-meal shaken out. Indra rushed at him, meaning to slay him.
1:6:3:1717. He said, 'Do not hurl (thy thunderbolt) at me! thou art now what I (was before) Only cut me in twain; but do not let me be annihilated!' He (Indra) said, 'Thou shalt be my food!' He replied, 'So be it!' He accordingly cut him in twain; and from that (part) of his which was of the Soma nature 2, he made the moon, and that which was demoniacal (asurya) he made enter these creatures as their belly; hence people say 3: 'Vritra was then a consumer of food, and Vritra is so now.' For even now, whenever that one (the moon) waxes fuller, it fills itself out of this world 4; and whenever
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these creatures crave for food, they pay tribute to this Vritra, the belly. Whosoever knows that Vritra as a consumer of food, becomes himself a consumer of food.
1:6:3:1818. Those deities then said, 'Ye, Agni and Soma, whom we have followed hither, take the best part (of the sacrificial food): do let us share along with you in what ye have!'
1:6:3:1919. They both said, 'What (share) shall then be ours?' They replied, 'For whatever deity they shall take out sacrificial food, they shall in the first place offer to you some clarified butter!' Whenever, therefore, they take out sacrificial food for any deity, they in the first place offer two butter-portions to Agni and Soma. This does not take place at the Soma-sacrifice, nor at the animal offering; for they said, 'for whatever deity they take out . . . 1.'
1:6:3:2020. Agni then said, 'In me they shall sacrifice for all of you, and thus I give you a share in me!' For this reason they sacrifice in Agni (the fire) to all the gods; and for this reason they say that Agni is all the deities.
1:6:3:2121. Soma then said, 'Me they shall offer up to all of you, and thus I give you a share in me!' For this reason they offer up Soma to all the gods; and hence they say that Soma is all the deities.
1:6:3:2222. And further, since all the gods were abiding in Indra, for that reason they say that Indra is all the deities, that the gods have Indra for their chief (sreshtha). Thus the gods came in a three-fold
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way to consist of one deity; and he who knows this becomes individually the chief of his own (people).
1:6:3:2323. Twofold, verily, is this, there is no third: to wit, the moist and the dry; and what is dry, that relates to Agni; and what is moist, that relates to Soma. But (it may be objected) if this is twofold only, why then this manifold performance:--the two butter-portions for Agni and Soma, the low-voiced offering to Agni and Soma, and the rice-cake for Agni and Soma,--when by means of any one of these he obtains all, why then this manifold performance? [The answer to this objection is that] so manifold is the power, the generative force of Agni and Soma.
1:6:3:2424. The sun, indeed, relates to Agni, and the moon to Soma; the day relates to Agni, and the night to Soma; the waxing half-moon relates to Agni, and the waning one to Soma.
1:6:3:2525. 'By means of the two butter-portions he obtains the sun and the moon; by means of the low-voiced offering he obtains the day and the night; and by means of the rice-cake he obtains the two half-moons,' thus say some.
1:6:3:2626. Âsuri, on the other hand, said: 'By means of the two butter-portions he gains any two (of those objects 1); by means of the low-voiced offering he obtains any (other) two; and by means of the rice-cake he obtains any (other) two: "all has been obtained, all has been conquered by me! with that All I will slay Vritra; with the All I will slay the
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spiteful enemy!" thus he thinks, and for that reason there is this manifold performance.'
1:6:3:2727. On this point it has also been remarked: 'Why this sameness (of performance)? By what is introduced between the butter(-offering) to Agni and Soma and the rice-cake to Agni and Soma, a repetition of performance (is committed) 1.' Sameness (of performance), nevertheless, is avoided in this way: the one (viz. the low-voiced offering) consists of butter, and the other of a rice-cake, hence the one is different from the other. Moreover, after reciting a Rik-verse as anuvâkyâ, he pronounces the yâgyâ with the word 'pleased' (in the case of the butter-portions to Agni and Soma); and after reciting a Rik-verse as anuvâkyâ, he pronounces the yâgyâ in the form of a Rik-verse (in the case of the low-voiced offering to Agni and Soma), hence the one is (again) different from the other 2. Sameness of performance is also avoided in this way: in a low voice (he utters the formulas when) he offers of the butter, and with a loud voice of the cake; and what is (uttered) in a low voice, that is the manner of Pragâpati: hence he recites for that (low-voiced
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offering) an anushtubh-verse as the invitatory formula (anuvâkyâ), for the anushtubh represents speech, and Pragâpati also is speech.
1:6:3:2828. By means of that low-voiced offering the gods stealing near slew, with that thunderbolt, the vashat-call, whichever they wished of the Asuras; and so does this one, after stealing near by means of that low-voiced offering, slay with that thunderbolt, the vashat-call, the wicked, spiteful enemy 1. This is why he performs the low-voiced offering.
1:6:3:2929. Having recited (at the butter-portions) a Rik-verse as the anuvâkyâ, he recites the yâgyâ with the word 'pleased:' in consequence of this, creatures are brought forth here with teeth on one side (in one jaw); for the Rik means bone and the tooth also is bone, so that he thereby produces bone on one side.
1:6:3:3030. Having recited (at the low-voiced offering) a Rik-verse as the anuvâkyâ, he recites as the yâgyâ a (second) Rik-verse: in consequence of this, creatures with teeth on both sides are brought forth here; for the Rik means bone and the tooth also is bone, so that he thereby produces bone on both sides. These creatures, indeed, are of two kinds, viz. such as have teeth on one side only, and such as have teeth on both sides 2; and verily he who sacrifices, knowing
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thus the generative power of Agni and Soma, becomes rich in offspring and cattle.
1:6:3:3131. When he (the sacrificer) is about to enter upon the fast of the full-moon ceremony, he may not be entirely sated. He therefore now compresses (that part of) his belly which relates to the Asuras; and next morning, by means of the oblations, that which relates to the gods. Now the practice regarding the full-moon ceremony is as follows:
1:6:3:3232. One may (enter on the) fast at the very time (of full moon), thinking, 'Now I will slay Vritra, now I will slay the spiteful enemy!'
1:6:3:3333. One may also fast only on the following day. Now he who (enters on the) fast at the very time (of full moon), gets, as it were, into collision 1 (with some one); and when two come into collision with one another, it is indeed doubtful which of the two will get the better of the other. He, on the other hand, who prefers to fast on the second day (only), is as one who crushes from behind a retreating (enemy) before he is able to resist the attack: striking in one direction 2, in fact, is he who thus keeps the fast on the second day only.
1:6:3:3434. Let him therefore enter on the fast at the very time (of full moon). He who keeps the fast on the following day only is as one who finally crushes one struck down by some one else; he only does what has been done before by some one else, he only
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follows another's lead; let him therefore enter on the fast at the very time (of full moon).
1:6:3:3535. After Pragâpati had created the living beings, his joints (parvan) were relaxed. Now Pragâpati, doubtless, is the year, and his joints are the two junctions of day and night (i.e. the, twilights), the full moon and new moon, and the beginnings of the seasons.
1:6:3:3636. He was unable to rise with his relaxed joints; and the gods healed him by means of these havis-offerings: by means of the Agnihotra they healed that joint (which consists of) the two junctions of day and night, joined that together; by means of the full-moon and the new-moon sacrifice they healed that joint (which consists of) the full and new moon, joined that together; and by means of the (three) Kâturmâsyas (seasonal offerings) they healed that joint (which consists of) the beginnings of the seasons, joined that together.
1:6:3:3737. With his joints thus repaired he betook himself to this food,--to the food which is here (offered) to Pragâpati; and he who, knowing this, enters upon the fast at the very time (of full moon), heals Pragâpati's joint at the proper time, and Pragâpati favours him. Thus he who, knowing this, enters upon the fast at the very time (of full moon) becomes a consumer of food: let him therefore enter on the fast at the very time (of full moon).
1:6:3:3838. These two butter-portions (to Agni and Soma), truly, are the eyes of the sacrifice; he, therefore, offers them in front (of, or before, the havis), for these eyes are in the front (of the head). Hence he thereby places the eyes in the front; and for this reason these eyes are in the front (of the head).
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1:6:3:3939. Some people offer Agni's butter-portion in the north-eastern part (of the fire), and Soma's butter-portion in the south-eastern part, thinking, 'Thereby we place the eyes in the front (of the head).' This, however, is rather unintelligible; for the several dishes of sacrificial food (havis) represent the body of the sacrifice; when therefore he offers in front of (or before) the havis, he thereby places the eyes in the front. Let him rather make the offerings (in that part of the fire) where he thinks the fiercest blaze is; for only by being offered in blazing (fire) are oblations successful 1.
1:6:3:4040. Having recited (at the butter-portions) a Rik-verse as anuvâkyâ (invitatory formula), he recites by way of yâgyâ (offering-prayer) the (formula containing the word) 'pleased;' thereby these boneless eyes are set in what is bone. If, on the other hand, after reciting a Rik-verse as anuvâkyâ, he
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were to use a Rik-verse as the yâgyâ, he would make it bone instead of eye.
1:6:3:4141. Those two (qualities), truly, are related to the natures of Agni and Soma: that which is white is related to Agni, and that which is black is related to Soma. If, however (it were asserted), on the contrary, that what is black is related to Agni, and what is white is related to Soma,--[the answer would be:--] what sees is of the nature of Agni, for dry, as it were, are the eyes of one who looks, and that which is dry relates to Agni;--and what sleeps is of the nature of Soma, for moist, as it were, are the eyes of one who is asleep, and moist also is Soma. And, verily, he who thus knows those two butter-portions to be eyes, remains endowed with eye-sight till old age in this world, and starts in yonder world possessed of eye-sight.
Footnotes
164:1 See I, 3, 5, 10.164:2 For these verses, the first of which begins 'Agni is the head of the sky,' see Vâg. S. XIII, 14 and 15.
164:3 That is, the yâgyâ (offering-prayer) and puro’nuvâkyâ (invitatory prayer) at the Svishtakrit, or oblation to Agni, as the maker of good offering, at the end of the chief oblations. The two virâg formulas are Rig-veda VII, 1, 3 (Vâg. XVII, 76; Taitt. S. IV 5, 4) preddho agne dîdihi, and Rig-veda VII, 1, 18 (Taitt. S. IV, 3, 13, 6) imo agne. Cf. Ait. Br. I, 5.
165:1 See V, 5, 4, 2 seq., where the whole legend is repeated; and Taitt. S. II, 4, 12, 1. One of the objects of the Sautrâmanî is the expiation of an immoderate consumption of Soma by a priest.
165:2 According to Taitt. S. II, 4, 12, 1, also the fault committed by Tvashtri consisted in his faulty accentuation of the compound indrasatru in the formula. What he intended to say was that Agni, on drinking the Soma, should grow strong so as to be 'the foe (slayer) of Indra,' and the compound should therefore have been accented on the second member, viz. indrasátru (the foe of p. 166 Indra); but by accenting it on the first member, indrasatru, he made it 'having Indra for his foe (slayer).' According to the version of the Taitt. S., Agni, the fire, on the Soma being poured into it, rose up (spirted) as if to execute Tvashtri's wish; but immediately relapsed into its former state of inertness on hearing the mis-pronounced word.
166:1 Abhisambabhûva, 'he grew by consuming,' &c. Sâyana.
166:2 The Kânva text has, 'Danu and Dânavî received him as mother and father.'
167:1 Preyuh, 'the gods &c. that were in Vritra's mouth went out,' Sâyana; see preceding page, note 1.
167:2 'Yat saumyam nyaktam âsa' ['yat saumyo nyaṅga âsa,' Kânva rec.], 'what was imbued with Soma,' 'what had Soma inherent in it.' Cf. 'yat somasya nyaktam âsa,' I, 7, 1, 1.
167:3 'People say so when anybody eats much food.' Sâyana.
167:4 See I, 6, 4, 15.
168:1 The nirvapanam, or taking out (literally throwing out) of (handfuls of) havis from the receptacle and putting it into the winnowing basket (or other vessels), does not apply to these two kinds of sacrifices. Cf. I, 1, 2, 5 seq.
169:1 'Yatame vâ yatame vâ dve âpnoti.' Sâyana supplies vastunî, 'objects.' The Kânva recension, on the other hand, reads, 'Yatame vâ yatame vâ dve devate âpnoti.'
170:1 See p. 80, note 2. The objection here raised is, that the low-voiced offering, which is intermediate between the two above-mentioned oblations to Agni-Soma, is made to the same two deities.
170:2 When the two butter-portions to Agni and Soma are offered, the Hotri recites the verses Rig-veda VI, 16, 34 (Vâg. S. 33, 9), and Rig-veda, I, 95, 5 (Vâg. S. 19, 42) respectively, as anuvâkyâs, or invitatory prayers, each of which is followed by the yâgyâ (offering-formula): 'We who pronounce the offering-prayer to Agni (or Soma respectively),--may Agni (Soma) pleased (gushânah) accept of the butter-oblation! Vâushat!' At the low-voiced offering (upâmsuyâga) to Agni-Soma, on the other hand, he first utters (in a low voice) as anuvâkyâ the verse Rig-veda I, 93, 2, and thereupon as yâgyâ Rig-veda I, 93, 6.
171:1 The two prayers of the low-voiced offering are muttered in a low voice; but the 'Vâushat!' at the end of the offering-prayer (as the 'Om!' at the end of the invitatory prayer) is uttered aloud. Hence the above symbolical explanation.
171:2 The same distinction is made in Rig-veda X, 90, 10, where it is stated that from the Purusha sprang the horse and what other animals with two rows of teeth (viz. the ass and mule, according to Sâyana) on the one hand, and cows, goats, and sheep on the other. In Taitt. II, 2, 6, 3, also the horse is mentioned along with man as belonging to the former class of living beings. Cf. also Taitt. V, 1, 2, 6; Ath.-veda V, 19, 2; 31, 3; Weber, Ind. Stud. X, 58.
172:1 Sam-kramate, literally 'comes together with, meets (somebody).' This symbolical explanation was probably suggested by the circumstance that the full moon marks the junction (sandhi) of the two pakshas or half months; whereas the new moon (amâvâsyâ, 'dwelling together') marks the point of least distance between sun and moon.
172:2 Anyatoghâtin, ? thus St. Petersburg Dictionary.
174:1 Katy. III, 3, 20-22 admits either mode of offering the butter-portions. These oblations are effected in the following way:--The Adhvaryu, having called on the Hotri to recite the anuvâkyâ, takes with the dipping-spoon (sruva) butter from the dhruvâ and puts it into the guhû; he then draws some with the sruva from the butter-pot and replenishes the dhruvâ with it [according to the Kânvas, with the text 'May the dhruvâ fatten with the havis-butter, sacrifice after sacrifice, for those who go to the gods,--the udder of Sûryâ in the lap of Aditi: may the earth flow abundantly at this sacrifice!']. The same process is then repeated three (additional) times (with a Gamadagni four times): hence the offering is said to consist of four (or five) cuttings. The Hotri then recites the anuvâkyâ (see note on I, 6, 3, 27), which is followed by the Adhvaryu's call 'om srâvaya' and the Âgnîdhra's response 'astu sraushat.' Thereupon the Hotri, having been called upon by the Adhvaryu to give the offering-prayer to Agni (or Soma), recites the respective yâgyâ, at the concluding vaushat of which the oblation is poured into the fire, (whilst the sacrificer utters the usual dedicatory formula, 'This for Agni (Soma), not for me!')
FOURTH BRÂHMANA.
SPECIAL PRELIMINARY RITES OF THE NEW-MOON SACRIFICE.
1:6:4:11. When Indra had hurled the thunderbolt at Vritra, thinking himself to be the weaker, and fearing lest he had not brought him down, he concealed himself and went to the farthest distances 1. Now the gods knew that Vritra had been slain and that Indra had concealed himself.1:6:4:22. Agni of the deities, Hiranyastûpa 2 of the Rishis, and the Brihatî of the metres, set about searching for him. Agni discovered him and stayed
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with him (as a guest) that (day and) night. He (Indra), namely, is the Vasu 1 of the gods, for he is their hero.
1:6:4:33. The gods said, 'Our Vasu, who has gone to live away from us, is this day dwelling together (amâ vas, viz. with Agni 2);' and as one would cook a dish of rice or a goat in common for two relatives or friends who have come to stay with him,--for such-like is human (fare), as the sacrificial food (havis) is that of the gods,--in like manner they offered to those two together that sacrificial food, the rice-cake on twelve potsherds for Indra and Agni. This is the reason why there is a rice-cake on twelve potsherds for Indra and Agni.
1:6:4:44. Indra said, 'When I had hurled the thunderbolt at Vritra, I was terrified, and (in consequence of this fright) I am much emaciated. This (cake) does not satiate me: prepare for me what will satiate me!' The gods replied, 'So be it!'
1:6:4:55. The gods said, 'Nothing but Soma will satiate him: let us prepare Soma for him!' They prepared Soma for him. Now this king Soma, the food of the gods, is no other than the moon 3. When he
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[paragraph continues] (the moon, masc.) is not seen that night either in the east or in the west, then he visits this world; and here he enters into the waters (f.) and plants (f.). He is indeed a treasure for the gods, he is their food. And since during that night he here dwells together 1 (amâ vas), therefore that (night of new moon) is called amâvâsyâ (the dwelling together, or at home).
1:6:4:66. They prepared it 2 (Soma for Indra), after having it collected, part by part, by the cows: in eating plants (they collected it) from the plants, and in drinking water (they collected it) from the waters. Having prepared and coagulated it, and made it strong (pungent), they gave it to him 3.
1:6:4:77. He said, 'This does indeed satiate me, but it does not agree with me 4: devise some means by which it may agree with me!' They made it agree with him by means of boiled (milk).
1:6:4:88. Now although this (mixture of sweet and sour milk) is, indeed, one and the same substance--it being milk (payas) and belonging to Indra--they,
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nevertheless, declare it to be (two) different (substances). Since he said 'it satiates (dhî) me,' therefore it is sour milk (dadhi); and since they made it agree (sri) with him with boiled milk (or, by boiling), therefore it is (fresh) boiled milk (srita) 1.
1:6:4:99. In the same way as the Soma stalk becomes strong 2 (by being touched or sprinkled with water), so he (Indra) became strong (by the Soma being mixed with boiled milk) and overcame that evil, the jaundice 3. Such is likewise the significance of the new-moon ceremony (and the Sânnâyya, or libation of sweet and sour milk offered to Indra thereat); and verily he who, knowing this, mixes (sweet and sour milk at the new-moon sacrifice) in like manner increases in offspring and cattle, and overcomes evil: let him therefore mix together (sweet and sour milk) 4.
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1:6:4:1010. In reference to this point they say, 'One who has not performed the Soma-sacrifice 1, must not offer the Sânnâyya; for, indeed, the Sânnâyya is (of the same significance as) a Soma libation, and the latter is not permitted to one who is not a Soma-sacrificer: hence he who has not performed the Soma-sacrifice, must not offer the Sânnâyya.'
1:6:4:1111. He may nevertheless offer the Sânnâyya; for have we not heard within this place 2 that he (Indra) said, 'Do ye now offer Soma to me, and then ye will prepare for me that invigorating draught (âpyâyana, viz. the Sânnâyya)!' 'This does not satiate me, prepare for me what will satiate me!' That invigorating draught they indeed prepared for
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him, and therefore even one who has not performed the Soma-sacrifice, may offer the Sânnâyya.
1:6:4:1212. The full-moon oblation, assuredly, belongs to the Vritra-slayer, for by means of it Indra slew Vritra; and this new-moon oblation also represents the slaying of Vritra, since they prepared that invigorating draught for him who had slain Vritra.
1:6:4:1313. An offering in honour of the Vritra-slayer, then, is the full-moon sacrifice. Vritra, assuredly, is no other than the moon 1; and when during that night (of new moon) he is not seen either in the east or in the west, then he (Indra) completely destroys him by means of that (new-moon sacrifice), and leaves nothing remaining of him. And, verily, he who knows this, overcomes all evil and leaves nothing remaining of evil.
1:6:4:1414. Here now some people enter upon the fast when they (still) see (the moon, on the fourteenth day of the half-month), thinking, 'To-morrow he will not rise: already, then, there is unfailing food for the gods in yonder heaven 2, and to this we will offer them more from hence (to-morrow)!'--He, indeed, is in a prosperous state with whom, while the old food is still unfailing, fresh food is accruing; for such a one has indeed abundant food. However, he is not now offering Soma, but he is offering milk (i.e. the Sânnâyya), and that (milk) becomes king Soma 3 (in yonder world):
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1:6:4:1515. But as they (the cows), previously (to the new moon), eat mere plants (not imbued with the moon or Soma), and drink mere water, and yield mere milk,--so that (milk which they offer on the day before new moon, is not imbued with Soma, is ordinary milk). For king Soma, the food of the gods, indeed, is no other than the moon. When he is not seen that night either in the east or in the west, then he visits this world, and here enters into the waters and plants. Having then collected him from the water and plants, he (the performer of the Sânnâyya) causes him to be reproduced from out of the libations; and he (Soma, the moon), being reproduced from the libations, becomes visible in the western sky.
1:6:4:1616. Now it is only when that food of the gods is unfailing that it comes back (to men): for him, therefore, who knows this, there is unfailing food in this, and imperishable righteousness in yonder, world.
1:6:4:1717. Thus during that night (of new moon) food moves away from the gods and comes to this world. Now the gods were desirous as to how that (food) might (be made to) come back to them; how it might not perish away from them. For this they put their trust in those who prepare the libation of sweet and sour milk (sânnâyya), thinking, 'when they have prepared it, they will offer it to us.' And, verily, in him, who knows this, both his own kin and strangers put their trust; for in him, who attains to the highest rank, people indeed put their trust.
1:6:4:1818. Now the one that burns there (viz. the sun)
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is, assuredly, no other than Indra, and that moon is no other than Vritra. But the former is of a nature hostile to the latter, and for this reason, though this one (the moon, Vritra) had previously (to the night of new moon) risen at a great distance from him (the sun, Indra), he now swims towards him and enters into his open mouth.
1:6:4:1919. Having swallowed him, he (the sun) rises; and that (other) one is not seen either in the east or in the west. And, verily, he who knows this, swallows his spiteful enemy, and of him they say, 'He alone exists, his enemies exist not 1.'
1:6:4:2020. Having sucked him empty, he throws him out; and the latter, thus sucked out, is seen in the western sky, and again increases; he again increases to serve that (sun) as food: and verily if the spiteful enemy of one who knows this, thrives either by trade or in any other way, he thrives again and again in order to serve him as food.
1:6:4:2121. Now some people offer (the Sânnâyya) to (Indra under the name of) 'Mahendra' (the great Indra), arguing, 'Before the slaying of Vritra he was Indra, it is true; but after slaying Vritra he became Mahendra, even as (a râgan, or king, becomes) a Mahârâga after obtaining the victory: hence (the Sânnâyya should be offered) to Mahendra.' Let him, nevertheless, offer it to 'Indra;' for Indra he was before the slaying of Vritra, and Indra he is after slaying Vritra: therefore let him offer it to 'Indra 2.'
Footnotes
175:1 Parâh parâvatah, literally to the most distant distances, 'zu den fernsten Fernen.'175:2 Hiranyastûpa, of the family of the Aṅgiras, is the reputed author (or seer) of the hymns Rig-veda I, 31-35; IX, 4; 69. Of these, I, 32 and 33, which celebrate the exploits of Indra, seem to have been especially prized.
176:1 That is, as would seem, the benefactor, or the treasure (dhanarûpa, Sâyana) of the gods. Indra is the chief of the Vasus. Indra being so beneficent and important a personage, it was, according to Sâyana, worth Agni's while to stay with him. Possibly also a play on the word Vasu, and vas, 'to dwell,' is intended here.
176:2 Thus Sâyana; but it probably means, 'he is staying at a home, or at home (amâ) to-day.'
176:3 The identification of the Soma (plant and juice) with the moon already occurs in some of the hymns of the Rig-veda, all of which, however, probably belong to the later ones. According to the St. Petersburg Dictionary, the identification was probably suggested by the circumstance that indu, 'drop, spark,' applies both to the Soma and the moon. Rig-veda X, 85, 3 says that of that Soma which the priests know, no one ever eats.'
177:1 Viz. with the waters and plants (or, he stays at home).
177:2 It should be borne in mind that Soma is masculine in Sanskrit.
177:3 In Taitt. S. II, 5, 3, 2 seq. the corresponding story is applied directly to the Sânnâyya. In consequence of the struggle with Vritra., Indra lost his energy, which fell to the earth and produced plants and shrubs. He thereupon complained to Pragâpati, who bade the cattle collect (sam-nî) it again by browsing the plants and shrubs. It was then milked out from them, and as the milk did not agree with Indra, it was boiled, and as it still did not satisfy Indra, it was mixed with sour milk.
177:4 Na mayi srayate, 'literally it does not stay in me' = na tishthati, na sâtmyam bhagate, Sâyana. The author here (as in I, 8, I, 17) connects, or confounds, the verb sri with srâ, 'to cook, make done,'--hence, 'it does not boil in me;' the milk being warm, or, as it were, boiled, when it comes from the cow, see II, 2, 4, 15. Hence also boiled milk is mixed with the Soma.
178:1 The author here endeavours to establish some connection between the Sânnâyya (or offering of sweet and sour milk to Indra, which may take the place of the second sacrificial cake offered, at the new-moon sacrifice, to Indra and Agni) and the Soma libations. Sâyana refers to the passage Taitt. Br. I, 4, 7, 6-7, where it is stated that for the morning libation the Soma is to be mixed with boiled milk, for the mid-day libation with sour milk, and for the third (or evening) libation with sour milk that is partly changed into butter (nîtamisra).
178:2 Âpyâyeta. On the strengthening or increasing (âpyâyanam) of the Soma-plant by sprinkling it with water before the juice is extracted, see III, 4, 3, 12 seq. Sâyana seems to take the passage thus: 'In the same way as the Soma would make strong (? or become strong), so also the sânnâyyam destroys that evil, the jaundice, in those who drink it.'
178:3 By the admixture of milk the Soma-juice loses its brownish colour, and is therefore apparently considered to produce the same effect in those who drink the mixture.
178:4 The preparation of the sânnâyya, as it is now practised by priests in Western India, is thus described by Haug (Ait. Br. II, p. 443): p. 179 'The Adhvaryu takes the milk from three cows called Gaṅgâ, Yamuna, and Sarasvatî, on the morning and evening, and gives it to the Âgnîdhra. Half the milk is first drawn from the udder of each of the three cows under the recital of mantras; then the same is done silently. The milk is taken from these cows on the evening of the new-moon day, and on the morning of the following day, the so-called Pratipad (the first day of the month). The milk drawn on the evening is made hot, and lime-juice poured over it to make it sour; whereupon it is hung up. The fresh milk of the following morning is then mixed with it, and both are sacrificed along with the Purodâsa. Only he who has already performed the Agnishtoma is allowed to sacrifice the Sânnâyya at the Darsapûrnima ishti. (Oral information.)' In Vâg. S. I, 4 (Sat. Br. I, 7, 1, 17; Katy. IV, 2, 25, 26) the names of the three cows are given as Visvâyu, Visvakarman, and Visvadhâyus, unless these are intended merely for epithets or mystic names. Cf. p. 188 note; Weber, Ind. Stud. IX, 232. Instead of the lime-juice, mentioned by Haug as used for rennet, Katy. IV, 2, 33 prescribes that the milk remaining from the Agnihotra of the preceding evening, and since become sour, should be used.
179:1 Thus Taitt. S. II, 5, 5, 1.
179:2 Atrântarena; atra vishaye antarena madhye, Sâyana; ? within this our range of hearing; or, in the course of the present ceremony.
180:1 See I, 6, 3, 17.
180:2 Viz. in the form of Soma, i.e. the moon, still shining in the heavens during the night preceding the new moon.
180:3 Who, as we saw, resides in the plants and waters at the time of new moon and consequently in the milk used for the Sânnâyya. If, however, one were to enter upon the fast (and hence on the p. 181 sacrifice) previously to the new moon, he would be offering mere milk, not imbued with, and not liable to change into, Soma, and therefore unfit for the gods.
182:1 With this explanation of the disappearance of the moon may be compared the later notion of the sun and moon being swallowed by the demon Râhu, at the time of the eclipses.
182:2 Kâty. IV, 2, 10 leaves it optional whether the libation of mixed p. 183 sweet and sour milk is to be offered to Indra or to Mahendra. According to IV, 5, 25, however, such option seems to be permitted only so far as the first performance is concerned, after which one is apparently bound to go on offering during the rest of one's life to whichever deity one has chosen at the beginning. Taitt. S. II, 5, 4, 4, lays it down as the rule that only a gatasrî (one who has reached the highest grade of prosperity), viz. a brâhmana versed in the three Vedas (susruvân = vedatrayâbhigña, Sâyana, the head of a village (grâmanî), and a râganya, can make offering to Mahendra, since he is their special deity. Others, however, may do the same, after offering the sânnâyyam to Indra for a whole year, and on the expiration of it a rice-cake on eight potsherds to Agni, as the Keeper of Vows.
SEVENTH ADHYÂYA. FIRST BRÂHMANA.
1:7:1:11. He (the Adhvaryu) drives the calves away (from the cows) with a parna branch 1. The reason why he drives the calves away with a parna branch is this. When the Gâyatrî flew towards Soma (the moon), a footless archer aiming at her while she was carrying him off, severed one of the feathers (parna) either of the Gâyatrî or of king Soma 2; and on falling down it became a parna (palâsa) tree; whence its name parna. May thatp. 184
which then was of the Soma nature 1 be here with us now!' so he thinks, and for this reason he drives away the calves with a parna branch.
1:7:1:22. That (branch) he cuts off 2, with the formula (Vâg. S. I, 1 a, b), 'For sap (I cut) thee! for pith thee!'--'for rain thee' he means to say, when he says 'for sap thee;' and when he says 'for pith thee' he means to say 'for that food-essence which springs from the rain.'
1:7:1:33. They then let the calves join their mothers. He thereupon touches (each) calf (in order to drive it away from the cow), with the formula (Vâg. S. I, 1 c), 'The winds are ye!'--for, indeed, it is this wind that here blows 3, it is this (wind) that makes swell all the rain that falls here; it is it that makes those (cows) swell; and for this reason he says 'the winds are ye!' Some people add here the formula 4, 'Going near are ye!' but let him not say this, because thereby another (an enemy) approaches (the sacrificer).
1:7:1:44. After separating one of the mothers from her calf, he touches her, with the text (Vâg. S. I, I d), 'May the divine Savitri animate you--' for Savitri, indeed, is the impeller (prasavitri) of the gods:
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[paragraph continues] 'may they, impelled by Savitri, prepare the sacrifice!' so he thinks, and for this reason he says, 'May the divine Savitri animate you!'
1:7:1:55. '--To the most glorious work!' for assuredly the sacrifice is the most glorious work: hence, when he says 'to the most glorious work!' he means to say 'to the sacrifice.'
1:7:1:66. 'Make swell, ye invincible (or inviolable) ones, the share for Indra!' In like manner as then 1, taking the sacrificial food (rice), he announces it to the deity, so now also he announces that (libation of milk) to the deity when he says 'make swell, ye invincible ones, the share for Indra!
1:7:1:77. 'Over you that are rich in offspring, over you that are free from suffering and disease--;' in this there is nothing that is obscure; '--no thief, no ill-wisher may lord it!'--he thereby means to say, 'may the evil spirits, the Rakshas, not lord it over you!'--'May ye be numerous and constant to this lord of cattle!'--thereby he means to say 'may ye be numerous with this sacrificer, and not abandon him.'
1:7:1:88. He then hides the branch on the front (eastern) side either of the Âhavanîya or the Gârhapatya house, with the formula (Vâg. S. I, 1 e), 'Protect the sacrificer's cattle!' he thus makes over the sacrificer's cattle to it for protection by means of the Brahman (sacred writ).
1:7:1:99. On it he fastens a strainer (pavitram) 2, with
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the formula (Vâg. S. I, 2 a), 'Vasu's means of purification (ventilator, strainer, pavitram) art thou!' Vasu, indeed, is the sacrifice: for this reason he says, 'Vasu's means of purification art thou!'
1:7:1:1010. That night he performs the Agnihotra with rice-gruel (yavâgû). That milk, namely, (which he milks that night) has already been announced as sacrificial food to a (special) deity; hence, if he were to make the offering with milk, he would offer to one deity that which has been set apart as sacrificial food for another deity: this is the reason why on that night he performs the Agnihotra with rice-gruel. As soon as they have performed the Agnihotra, the pot is made ready. He (the Adhvaryu) thereupon says, 'Announce that she (the cow) has been let loose to (the calf)!' When he (or she, the milker 1) announces, 'She has been let loose!'--
1:7:1:1111. He puts the pot on (the Gârhapatya hearth), with the text (Vâg. S. I, 2 b, c): 'Thou art the sky! thou art the earth!'--he praises and eulogises her by thus saying, 'thou art the sky! thou art the earth!'--'Mâtarisvan's cauldron (gharma) art thou 2!' he thereby makes it (a means of) sacrifice, and puts it on just as if he were putting on the
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[paragraph continues] (pravargya-) cauldron (gharma) 1.--'All-holding art thou! stand firm by the highest law! do not waver!'--thereby he steadies it, renders it firm.--'May thy Lord of Sacrifice not waver!'--the Lord of Sacrifice, doubtless, is the sacrificer, hence it is for the sacrificer that he thereby prays for steadiness.
1:7:1:1212. He then puts the strainer (on the pot). He puts it down with the top turned eastwards, for the east is the region of the gods; or with the top turned northwards, for the north is the region of the men; means of purification (pavitram) assuredly is that (wind) which here blows, it sweeps across these worlds: let him therefore put it down with the front northwards 2.
1:7:1:1313. Just as then (i.e. at the Soma-sacrifice) they clarify king Soma with a strainer, in like manner he now clarifies (the milk); and since the strainer wherewith on that occasion they clarify king Soma has its fringe directed towards the north, therefore let him now also put it down with the top northward.
1:7:1:1414. He puts it down, with the text (Vâg. S. I, 3 a), 'Vasu's means of purification (pavitram) art thou!'--Vasu, indeed, is the sacrifice: for this reason he says, 'Vasu's means of purification art thou! flowing in a hundred streams, flowing in a thousand streams!'--he praises and eulogises it when he says, 'flowing in a hundred streams, flowing in a thousand streams.'
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1:7:1:1515. He now maintains silence as long as the milking of the three (cows) lasts, for the sacrifice, doubtless, is speech: 'May I perform the sacrifice undisturbed!' so he thinks.
1:7:1:1616. When it (the milk of each of the three cows) is poured (by the milker from the wooden pail through the strainer into the pot), he (the Adhvaryu) consecrates it by (whispering each time) the formula (Vâg. S. I, 3 b), 'May the divine Savitri purify thee with Vasu's means of purification, well cleansing and flowing in a hundred streams!' for just as then (at the Soma-sacrifice) they clarify king Soma with a strainer, so he thereby clarifies (the milk).
1:7:1:1717. He then says (Vâg. S. I, 3-4), 'Which didst thou milk?' 'Such and such a one,' (the milker replies.) 'This one is Visvâyu (containing all life),' he (the Adhvaryu) says. He then 1 asks regarding the second one, 'Which didst thou milk?' 'Such and such a one,' is the reply. 'This one is Visvakarman (all-doing),' he says. He then asks regarding the third, 'Which didst thou milk?' 'Such and such a one,' is the reply. 'This one is Visvadhâyas (all-sustaining),' he says. The reason why he thus asks is that he thereby bestows certain energies on them. Three (cows) he milks, for three are these worlds: he thereby renders them fit for these worlds. He is now at liberty to speak.
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1:7:1:1818. After having the last (cow) milked, and having poured a drop of water into the pail which he has made the milker use, and stirred it, he pours it to (the milk) 1, thinking 'what milk was left there, let that also be here!'--(he does so) for the completeness of the sap; for when it rains here, then plants spring up, and on the plants being eaten and the water drunk, thence is this juice produced: and therefore (the water is poured to the milk) for the completeness of the sap. Having then taken it off (the fire), he coagulates it 2: he thereby makes it sharp (pungent); for this reason he coagulates it, after taking it off (the fire).
1:7:1:1919. He coagulates it, with the formula (Vâg. S. I, 4 d), 'With Soma I coagulate thee, the portion of Indra!' Just as on a former occasion 3, when taking sacrificial food for a deity, he announces it (to that deity), in like manner he now announces it to the deity, saying, 'Thee, the portion of Indra!' By saying 'with Soma I coagulate thee,' he makes it palatable to the gods.
1:7:1:2020. He then covers it over by a vessel 4, with the hollow part upwards and containing water, 'lest the evil spirits, the Rakshas, should touch it from above;' for water, indeed, is a thunderbolt; hence
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he thus drives away from it the evil spirits, the Rakshas, with a thunderbolt: this is the reason why he covers it over by a vessel with the hollow part upwards and containing water.
1:7:1:2121. He covers it over, with the formula (Vâg. S. I, 4 e), 'O Vishnu, protect the oblation!' for Vishnu, indeed, is the sacrifice; hence he thereby makes over this sacrificial food to the sacrifice for protection: for this reason he says, 'O Vishnu, protect the oblation!'
Footnotes
183:1 Parna = palâsa, Butea Frondosa.183:2 Gâyatryai vâ somasya vâ='both of G. and of S.,' Sâyana. Apâd astâ, 'a footless shooter,' is a doubtful reading and perhaps an old corruption; Sâyana reads apâdhastâ (? adhastât); cf. Weber, various readings, p. 133. The Kânva MS. reads, 'devebhyas tasyâ âharantyâ avâdastâbhyâyatya parnam prakikheda.' According to Rig-veda IV, 27, 3, it was the archer Krisânu, who hit the falcon when it was carrying off the Soma from heaven, and brought down one of its feathers. On the whole myth, see A. Kuhn, Herabkunft des Feuers and des Göttertranks, p. 137 seq. Cf. Taitt. S. III, 5, 7, 1; Taitt. Br. I, 1, 3, 10, 'Soma was in the third heaven from here; Gâyatrî fetched him away; one of his feathers was cut off, it became a parna (palâsa) tree.' Similarly Taitt. Br. I, 2, 1, 6; see also Sat. Br. I, 8, 2, 10.
184:1 'Somasya nyaktam,' see p. 167, note 2.
184:2 This act as well as that of letting the calves join the cows, of course, precedes the driving away of the calves. These proceedings take place on the day before the new moon, after the agnyanvâdhâna. According to Kâty., the sacrificer enters on the vow of abstinence, after the branch has been cut. Previously to these rites, however, the so-called Pinda-pitriyagña, or oblation of obsequial pindas (balls, dumplings) to the deceased ancestors, has to be performed; for which see II, 4, 2, 1 seq.
184:3 Pavate, 'blows, purifies.'
184:4 Thus Taitt. S. I, 1, 1, 1.
185:1 Viz. on the occasion of his taking from the cart the rice for the oblations, see I, 1, 2, 17-19.
185:2 See p. 19, note 1. According to Karka this takes place before the hiding of the branch, Scholl. on Kâty. IV, 2, 15. According to Kâty. IV, 2, 12, 13, the upavesha (see I, 2, 1, 3) is cut at this juncture--with the text, 'Accomplishing (vesha) art thou'--from the bottom part of the palâsa branch on the remaining part p. 186 of which he thereupon fixes the strainer. When the sânnâyya oblation is not made (and consequently no palâsa branch is used), the upavesha is made of varana wood.
186:1 The milker may be anybody except a Sûdra, Taitt. Br. III, 2, 3, 9; Kâty. IV, 2, 22; Âpast. I, 12, 25.
186:2 Mâtarisvan's cauldron is identified in Taitt. Br. III, 2, 3, 2 with the atmosphere. Mâtarisvan, though sometimes identified with the wind, is more generally either a name of Agni, or the name of a mythic personage who (Prometheus-like) is supposed to have fetched the fire from heaven and brought it to the Bhrigus, who communicated it to man. See Roth, Nir. p. 111; Kuhn, Herabkunft des Feuers and des Göttertranks, p. 5 seq.
187:1 See I, 2, 2, 7, and note. Compare also the interesting introduction to Dr. Garbe's edition and translation of Âpastamba's aphorisms on the Pravargya ceremony, Zeitsch. der D. Morg. Ges. XXXIV, p. 319 seq.
187:2 The direction from west to east is the chief one in all sacrificial arrangements: hence that from south to north is the one that lies across the former.
188:1 That is, when the milk has been poured through the strainer as before. The Taittirîya school make the mystic names (or epithets) of the three cows Visvâyu, Visvavyakas (all-embracing), and Visvakarman, cf. Taitt. S. I, 1, 3; Taitt. Br. III, 2, 3, 7. In the latter passage these names are, as here, identified with the earth, atmosphere, and heavens respectively. The milker, in replying to the Adhvaryu, apparently calls the cows by their ordinary names. Cf. p. 178, note 4.
189:1 According to Taitt. S. I, 1, 3, Kâty. IV, 2, 32, &c., he, whilst doing so, pronounces the text, 'Unite, ye that follow the eternal law, ye waving ones (with the wave, Katy.), ye sweetest,--[filling the milk with honey, Kâty.],--ye delightful ones, for the obtainment of wealth!'
189:2 Viz. by adding to it the (sour) milk that is left from the performance of the Agnihotra.
189:3 See I, 1, 2, 18.
189:4 According to Taitt. Br. III, 2, 3, 11, it may be either a metal or wooden vessel, but not an earthen one (Kâty. IV, 2, 34).
SECOND BRÂHMANA.
THE CHIEF OFFERINGS.
1:7:2:11. Verily, whoever exists, he, in being born, is born as (owing) a debt to the gods, to the Rishis, to the fathers, and to men 1.1:7:2:22. For, inasmuch as he is bound to sacrifice, for that reason he is born as (owing) a debt to the gods: hence when he sacrifices to them, when he makes
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offerings to them, he does this (in discharge of his debt) to them.
1:7:2:33. And further, inasmuch as he is bound to study (the Veda), for that reason he is born as (owing) a debt to the Rishis: hence it is to them that he does this; for one who has studied (the Veda) they call 'the Rishis' treasure-warden.'
1:7:2:44. And further, inasmuch as he is bound to wish for offspring, for that reason he is born as (owing) a debt to the fathers: hence when there is (provided by him) a continued, uninterrupted lineage, it is for them that he does this.
1:7:2:55. And further, inasmuch as he is bound to practise hospitality, for that reason he is born as (owing) a debt to men: hence when he harbours them, when he offers food to them, it is (in discharge of his debt) to them that he does so. Whoever does all these things, has discharged his duties: by him all is obtained, all is conquered.
1:7:2:66. And, accordingly, in that he is born as (owing) a debt to the gods, in regard to that he satisfies (ava-day) them by sacrificing; and when he makes offerings in the fire, he thereby satisfies them in regard to that (debt): hence whatever they offer up in the fire, is called avadânam (sacrificial portion) 1.
1:7:2:77. Now this (oblation) consists of four cuttings; (the reason for this is, that) there is here first, the invitatory prayer (anuvâkyâ), then the offering-prayer (yâgyâ), then the vashat-call, and as the fourth, the deity for which the sacrificial food is
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[paragraph continues] (destined): for in this way the deities are dependent on the sacrificial portions, or the portions are dependent on the deities: hence what fifth cutting there is (made by some), that is redundant, for--for whom is he to cut it? For this reason it consists of four cuttings.
1:7:2:88. But a fivefold cutting also takes place (with some people): fivefold is the sacrifice, fivefold the animal victim, and five seasons there are in the year,--such is the perfection of the fivefold cutting; and he, assuredly, will have abundant offspring and cattle for whom, knowing this, the fivefold cutting is made. The fourfold cutting, however, is the approved (practice) among the Kuru-Pañkâlas, and for this reason a fourfold cutting takes place (with us 1).
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1:7:2:99. Let him cut off only a moderate quantity; for were he to cut off a large quantity, he would make it human; and what is human is inauspicious at the sacrifice. Let him therefore cut off only a moderate quantity, lest he should do what is inauspicious at the sacrifice.
1:7:2:1010. Having made an under-layer of butter (in the guhû-spoon) and cut off twice from the havis, he then pours over it some butter. There are, indeed, two (kinds of) oblations; the oblation of Soma being one, and the oblation of (or rather, with) butter being the other. Now the one, viz. the Soma-oblation, is (an oblation) by itself; and the other, viz. the butter-oblation, is the same as the offering of havis (rice, milk, &c.) and the animal offering 1; hence he thereby makes it (the cake) butter, and therefore butter is on both sides of it. Butter, doubtless, is palatable to the gods; hence he thereby renders it palatable to the gods: for this reason butter is on both sides of it.
1:7:2:1111. The invitatory prayer (anuvâkyâ, f.), doubtless, is yonder (sky), and the offering-prayer (yâgyâ, f.) is this (earth)--these two are females. With each of these two the vashat-call (vashatkâra, m.) makes up a pair 2. Now the vashat, indeed,
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is no other than that scorching one (the sun). When he rises he approaches yonder (sky); and when he sets he approaches this (earth): hence whatever is brought forth here by these two, that they bring forth through that male.
1:7:2:1212. Having recited the invitatory prayer and pronounced the offering-prayer 1, he afterwards (paskât) utters the vashat formula; for from behind (paskât) the male approaches the female: hence, after placing those two in front, he causes them to be approached by that male, the vashat. For the same reason let him make the offering either simultaneously with the vashat or (immediately) after the vashat has been pronounced.
1:7:2:1313. A vessel of the gods, doubtless, is that vashat. Even as, after ladling, one would mete out (food) into a vessel, so here. If, on the other hand, he were to make the offering before the vashat, it would be lost, as would be that (food) falling to the ground: for this reason also let him make the offering either simultaneously with the vashat or after it has been pronounced.
1:7:2:1414. As seed is poured into the womb, so here. If, on the other hand, he were to make the offering before the vashat, it would be lost, as would be the seed poured not into the womb: for this reason also let him make the offering either simultaneously with the vashat or after it has been pronounced.
1:7:2:1515. The invitatory formula, doubtless, is yonder (sky), and the offering-formula is this (earth). The gâyatrî metre also is this (earth), and the trishtubh
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is yonder (sky) 1 He recites the gâyatrî verse, thereby reciting yonder (sky), for the invitatory formula (anuvâkyâ) is yonder (sky). He recites this (earth), for the gâyatrî verse (viz. the offering-formula) is this (earth).
1:7:2:1616. He then presents the offering with a trishtubh verse 2, thereby presenting it by means of this
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[paragraph continues] (earth), for the offering-formula (yâgyâ) is this (earth). Over yonder (sky) he places the vashat, for yonder (sky) also is the trishtubh. Thereby he makes those two (sky and earth) yoke-fellows; and as such they feed together; and after their common meal all these creatures get food 1.
1:7:2:1717. Let him pronounce the invitatory formula lingering, as it were: the invitatory formula, namely, is yonder (sky), and the brihat(-sâman) also is yonder (sky), since its form is that of the brihat. With the offering-formula let him, as it were, hurry on fast: the offering-formula, doubtless, is this (earth), and the rathantara(-sâman) also is this (earth), since its form is that of the rathantara 2. With the invitatory formula he calls (the gods), and with the
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offering-formula he presents (food to them): hence the invitatory formula (anuvâkyâ) has some such form as 'I call,' 'We call,' 'Come hither!' 'Sit on the barhis!' for with it he calls. With the offering-formula (yâgyâ) he offers: hence the offering-formula has some such form as, 'Accept the sacrificial food!' 'Relish the sacrificial food!' 'Accept the potation (âvrishâyasva)!' 'Eat! Drink! There 1!' for by it he offers that which (is indicated by) 'there!'
1:7:2:1818. Let the invitatory formula be one that has its distinctive indication (in the form of the name of the respective deity) at the beginning (in front): for the invitatory formula is yonder (sky); and that (sky) yonder has the moon, the stars, and the sun for its mark below 2.
1:7:2:1919. The offering-formula then should be one that has its characteristic indication (further) back 3; for the offering-formula is this (earth), and this same (earth) has plants, trees, waters, fire, and these creatures for its mark above.
1:7:2:2020. Verily, that invitatory formula alone is auspicious, in the first word of which he utters the (name of the) deity; and that offering-formula alone is auspicious in the last word of which he pronounces the vashat upon the deity 4; for the (name
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of the) deity constitutes the vigour of the Rik (verse): hence after thus enclosing it 1 on both sides with vigour, he offers the sacrificial food to that deity for which it is intended.
1:7:2:2121. He pronounces (the syllable) vauk 2; for, assuredly, the vashat-call is speech; and speech means seed: hence he thereby casts seed. 'Shat' (he pronounces), because there are six seasons: he thereby casts that seed into the seasons, and the seasons cause that seed so cast to spring up here as creatures. This is the reason why he pronounces the vashat.
1:7:2:2222. Now the gods and the Asuras, both of them sprung from Pragâpati, entered upon their father Pragâpati's inheritance 3, to wit, these two half-moons. The gods entered upon the one which waxes, and the Asuras on the one which wanes.
1:7:2:2323. The gods were desirous as to how they might appropriate also the one that had fallen to the Asuras. They went on worshipping and toiling. They saw this haviryagña, to wit, the new- and full-moon sacrifices, and performed them; and by performing them they likewise appropriated the one--
1:7:2:2424. Which belonged to the Asuras. Now when these two revolve, then the month is produced; and month (revolving) after month, the year (is produced). But the year, doubtless, means all; hence the gods thereby appropriated all that belonged to
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the Asuras, they deprived their enemies, the Asuras, of all. And in the same way he (the sacrificer) who knows this appropriates all that belongs to his enemies, deprives his enemies of all.
1:7:2:2525. That (half-moon) which belonged to the gods is (called) yavan, for the gods possessed themselves (yu, 'to join') of it; and that which belonged to the Asuras is ayavan, because the Asuras did not possess themselves of it.
1:7:2:2626. But they also say contrariwise:--That which belonged to the gods is (called) ayavan, because the Asuras did not get possession of it; and that which belonged to the Asuras is yavan, because the gods did get possession of it. The day is (called) sabda, the night sagarâ, the months yavya, the year sumeka 1: sveka ('eminently one'), doubtless, is the same as sumeka. And since the Hotri is concerned with these--to wit, the yavan and the ayavan, which (according to some) is yavan--they call (his office) yâvihotram 2.
Footnotes
190:1 The wording of this passage is very ambiguous; so much so indeed, that it could also be taken in the sense that 'whoever exists, is born as (one to whom) a debt (is owed) from the gods,' &c.; cf. I, 1, 2, 19: 'Whichever deities are chosen (for the oblations), they consider it as a debt (clue from them), that they are bound to fulfil whatever wish he entertains while taking the oblation.' But see Taitt. Br. VI, 3, 10, 5: 'Verily, a Brâhmana who is born, is born as owing a debt in respect to three things: in the shape of sacred study (brahmakarya) to the Rishis, in the shape of sacrifice to the gods, and in the shape of offspring to the fathers. Free from debt, verily, is he who has a son, who is a sacrificer, who lives (for a time with a guru) as a religious student.' Ath.-veda VI, 117, 3 (Taitt. Br. III, 7, 9, 8): 'May we be debtless in this, debtless in the other, debtless in the third, world! What worlds (paths, Taitt. Br.) there are trodden by the gods and trodden by the fathers,--may we abide debtless on all (those) paths!'191:1 The word is really derived from ava-dâ (do), 'to cut off.' The Taitt. Br. gives the same fanciful etymological explanation of the term as here.
192:1 The four 'cuttings' of which each oblation of rice-cake consists are made in the following way: first, some clarified butter, 'cut out' or drawn from the butter in the dhruvâ-spoon by means of the sruva (dipping-spoon) and poured into the guhû (this is called the upastarana or under-layer of butter); second and third, two pieces of the size of a thumb's joint, cut out from the centre and the fore-part of the rice-cake and laid on that butter; and fourth, some clarified butter poured on these pieces of cake (the technical name of this basting of butter being abhighârana). The family of the Gamadagnis, which is mentioned as always making five cuttings (Kâty. I, 9, 3-4), take three pieces of cake instead of two, viz. an additional one from the back (or west) part of the cake. Yâgñika Deva on Kâty. quotes a couplet from some Smriti, in which the Vatsas, the Vidas, and the Ârshtishenas are mentioned beside the Gamadagnis, as pañkâvattinah or making five cuttings. At the Upâmsuyâga (low-voiced offering),--which is performed between the cake-oblation to Agni and that to Agni-Soma at the full moon, and between the cake-oblation to Agni and that to Indra-Agni (or the sânnâyya, or oblation of sweet and sour milk, to Indra) at the new moon, and which consists entirely of butter,--the four cuttings are effected in the same way as described p. 193 page 174 note. At the sânnâyya, two (or three) sruva-fuls of both the sweet and the sour milk take the place of the two (or three) pieces of cake.
193:1 See page 26, note 1. The parts of the cakes or the sânnâyya, from which cuttings have been made, he bastes, each once, with butter taken with the sruva from the butter-pot; and whenever butter is ladled with the sruva from the dhruvâ into the guhû, the former is replenished from the butter-pot.
193:2 Tayor mithunam asti vashatkâra eva, 'to these two the vashat-call is the complement in forming a pair.' On the vashat (vaushat) and the other two formulas, see note on I, 5, 2, 16.
194:1 The usual formalities, which have been detailed before (see page 174 note), have, of course, to be gone through at each oblation.
195:1 In this passage the invitatory formula (anuvâkyâ or puro'nuvâkyâ), which is in the gâyatrî metre, is identified with the sky, and the offering-formula (yâgyâ), which is in the trishtubh metre, with the earth. On the other hand, the gâyatrî also is the earth (cf. I, 4, I, 34), and the trishtubh the sky; so that, according to this mode of reasoning, there is not only an intimate connection between the two metres, but actual identity. The gâyatrî verse, used as invitatory formula, on the occasion of the rice-cake offering to Agni, is Rig-veda VIII, 4.4, 16 [agnir mûrdhâ divah kakut, 'Agni, the head and summit of the sky,' &c.]; with that to Agni and Soma, at the full-moon sacrifice, Rig-veda I, 93, 3 [agnîshomau savedasau, sahûtî vanatam girah, 'O Agni and Soma, of self-same wealth and invocation, accept this song!' &c.]; and to Indra and Agni, at the new moon, Rig-veda VII, 94, 7 [indrâgnî avasâ gatam, 'O Indra and Agni, come to us with favour I' &c.] or with the (optional) milk-offering (sânnâyyam), at the new moon, Rig-veda I, 8, 1 [endra sânasim rayim, hither, O Indra, bring abundant treasure!!' &c.], if to Indra; or Rig-veda VIII, 6, 1 [mahâṅ indro ya ogasâ parganyo vrishtimâṅ iva, 'the Great Indra, who in might is equal to the rainy thunder-cloud,' &c.], if to Mahendra.
195:2 The trishtubh verse, used as offering-formula with the oblation of cake to Agni, both at the new and full moon, is Rig-veda X, 8, 6 [bhuvo yagñasya ragasas ka netâ . . . agne . . ., 'be thou the leader of the sacrifice and welkin, . . . O Agni!' &c.]; with that to Agni and Soma, at the full moon, Rig-veda I, 93, 5 [yuvam etâni divi rokanâni . . . agnîshomau . . ., 'you, O Agni and Soma, (fixed) those lights in the heaven,' &c.]; with that to Indra and Agni, at the new moon, Rig-veda VII, 93 4 [gîrbhir viprah pramatim ikkhamâna, .. indrâgnî . . ., 'the bard, seeking your grace by songs . . ., O Indra and Agni,' &c.]; and with the milk-offering, at the same sacrifice, if to Indra, Rig-veda X, 180, 1 [pra sasâhishe puruhûta satrûn . . . indrâ . . ., thou, O Indra, the much-invoked, hast vanquished the enemies!' &c.]; or, if to Mahendra, Rig-veda X, 50, 4 [bhuvas p. 196 tvam indra brahmanâ mahân, 'mighty, O Indra, mayest thou be through (our) prayer!' &c.].
196:1 For the notion that there is rain (and consequently food) when heaven and earth are on friendly terms with each other, see I, 8, 3, 12. The rain is the food of the earth; and the food, produced thereby, in its turn furnishes food for the sky (or the gods) in the form of oblations.
196:2 The brihat-sâman (tvam id dhi havâmahe, 'on thee, indeed, we call,' &c., Sâma-veda II, 159-160 = Rig-veda VI, 46, 1-2) and the rathantara-sâman (abhi tvâ sûra nonumah, 'to thee, O Hero, we call,' &c., Sâma-veda II, 30-31 = Rig-veda VII, 32, 22-23) are two of the most highly prized Sâma-hymns, which are especially used in forming the so-called prishthas, or combinations of two hymns in such a way that one of them (being a mystic representation of the embryo) is enclosed in the other, which is supposed to represent the womb. In these symbolical combinations the brihat and rathantara, which must never be used together, are often employed as the enclosing chants, representative of the womb. They are already mentioned in Rig-veda X, 181. See also Sat. Br. IX, 1, 2, 36-37. Taitt. S. VII, 1, I, 4, Pragâpati is said to have first created from his mouth Agni together with the Gâyatrî, the Rathantara-sâman, the Brâhmana, and the goat; and then from his chest and arms Indra, the Trishtubh, the Brihat-sâman, the Râganya, and the ram.
197:1 Literally, 'forwards, thither (pra).'
197:2 Avastâllakshma, 'the sign below or on this (the, to us, nearest or front) side.' See the formulas above, p. 195, note 1.
197:3 Or upwards, on the upper side, uparishtâllakshanam. See the offering-formulas above, p. 195, note 2.
197:4 Vashat, or rather vâushat ['may he (Agni) carry it (to the gods)!'], is pronounced after each yâgyâ or offering-formula, which contains the name of the deity towards the end, or at least not at the very beginning.
198:1 Viz. the invitatory and offering-formulas.
198:2 The sacrificial call vaushat (for vashat, irregular aorist of vah, 'to bear,' cf. p. 88, note 2) is here fancifully explained as composed of vauk, for vâk, 'speech,' + shat, 'six.'
198:3 Pragâpati, or Lord of Creatures, is here, as often (cf. I, 2, 5, 13), taken as representing the year, or Time.
199:1 Sumeka is taken by the St. Petersburg Dictionary to mean 'firmly established;' by Grassmann, 'bountiful,' literally 'well-showering.' Our author identifies it with su-eka. The words sabdam (sabdam, Kânva rec., ? = the sounding one) and sagarâ are obscure; yavya here apparently means, 'consisting of the yavas or half-months.'
199:2 The term yâvihotram is obscure, and does not seem to occur anywhere else. The Kânva MS. reads yâmihotram (? = gâmihotram). Sâyana's comment is corrupt in several places and affords little help.
THIRD BRÂHMANA.
OBLATION TO AGNI SVISHTAKRIT, [AND THE BRAHMAN'S PORTIONS.]
1:7:3:11. Now by means of the sacrifice the gods ascended to heaven. But the god who rules overp. 200
the cattle was left behind here: hence they call him Vâstavya, for he was then left behind on the (sacrificial) site 1 (vâstu).
1:7:3:22. The gods went on worshipping and toiling with the same (sacrifice) by which they had ascended to heaven. Now the god who rules over the cattle, and who was left behind here,--
1:7:3:33. He saw (what occurred, and said), 'I have been left behind: they are excluding me from the sacrifice!' He went up after them, and with his raised (weapon) 2 rose up on the north--the time (when this happened) was that of the (performance of the) Svishtakrit.
1:7:3:44. The gods said, 'Do not hurl!' He said, 'Do not ye exclude me from the sacrifice! Set apart an oblation for me!' They replied, 'So be it!' He withdrew (his weapon), and did not hurl it; nor did he injure any one.
1:7:3:55. The gods said (to one another), 'Whatever portions of sacrificial food have been taken out by us, they have all been offered up. Try to discover
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some means by which we may set apart an oblation for him!'
1:7:3:66. They said to the Adhvaryu priest, 'Sprinkle the sacrificial dishes (with butter) in proper succession; and replenish them for the sake of one (additional) portion, and again render them fit for use; and then cut off one portion for each!'
1:7:3:77. The Adhvaryu accordingly sprinkled the sacrificial dishes in proper succession, and replenished them for the sake of one (additional) portion, and again rendered them fit for use, and cut off one portion for each. This then is the reason why he (Rudra) is called Vâstavya 1, for a remainder (vâstu) is that part of the sacrifice which (is left) after the oblations have been made: hence, if sacrificial food is offered to any deity, the Svishtakrit (Agni, 'the maker of good offering') is afterwards invariably offered a share of it; because the gods invariably gave him a share after themselves.
1:7:3:88. That (offering) then is certainly made to 'Agni,' for, indeed, Agni is that god;--his are these names: Sarva, as the eastern people call him; Bhava, as the Bâhîkas (call him); Pasûnâm pati ('lord of beasts,' Pasupati), Rudra, Agni 2. The name Agni, doubtless, is the most auspicious
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[paragraph continues] (sânta), and the other names of his are inauspicious: hence it is offered to (him under the name of) 'Agni,' and to (him as) the Svishtakrit.
1:7:3:99. They (the gods) said, 'What we have offered unto thee who art in yonder place 1, do thou render that well-offered (svishta) for us!' He made it well-offered for them; and this is the reason why (it is offered) to (Agni as) the Svishtakrit.
1:7:3:1010. Having recited the invitatory formula 2, he (the Hotri) enumerates (those deities) which (have received oblations at the fore-offerings, butter-portions, &c.), as well as Agni Svishtakrit:--'May Agni offer Agni's favourite dainties!' thereby he refers to Agni's butter-portion 3. 'May he offer Soma's favourite dainties!' thereby he refers to Soma's butter-portion.--'May he offer Agni's favourite dainties!' thereby he refers to that indispensable cake for Agni which is (offered) on both occasions (at the new- and full-moon sacrifices).
1:7:3:1111. And so with the several deities. 'May he offer the favourite dainties of butter-drinking gods!' thereby he refers to the fore-offerings (prayâga) and after-offerings (anuyâga), for, assuredly, the butter-drinking gods (represent) the fore-offerings and after-offerings.--'May he offer Agni the Hotri's
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favourite dainties!' thereby he refers to Agni as Hotri; for after the gods had set apart this oblation for him, they still further propitiated him by this (formula), and invited him to his favourite dainty 1: this is the reason why he thus enumerates.
1:7:3:1212. Here now some make (the name of) the deity precede the 'may he offer (ayât)!' thus--'Of Agni may he offer (the favourite dainties)!' 'Of Soma may he offer!' But let him not do this; for those who make the deity precede the 'may he offer!' violate the proper order at the sacrifice, since it is by pronouncing the 'may he offer,' that he pronounces what comes first here: let him therefore place the 'may he offer' first.
1:7:3:1313. [The Hotri continues to recite]: 'May he sacrifice to his own greatness!' When, on that occasion 2, he asks him (Agni) to bring hither the deities, he also makes him bring hither his own greatness; but before this no worship of any kind has been offered to 'his (Agni's) own greatness:' and he therefore now gratifies him, and thus that (fire) has been established so as to prevent failure on his (the sacrificer's) part. This is the reason why he says 'may he sacrifice to his own greatness.'
1:7:3:1414. 'By sacrifice may he obtain for himself food worthy of sacrifice 3!' the food, doubtless, is these creatures: he thereby makes them eager to sacrifice, and these creatures go on sacrificing, worshipping and performing austerities.
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1:7:3:1515. 'May he, the knower of beings, (perform) 1 the sacred cult; may he graciously accept the sacrificial food!' Thereby he prays for success to this sacrifice; for when the gods graciously accept the sacrificial food, then he (the sacrificer) gains great things 2: for this reason he says 'may he graciously accept the sacrificial food!'
1:7:3:1616. The reason why on this occasion the invitatory and offering-formulas are made closely to correspond to each other (avakliptatama), is that the svishtakrit (is equivalent to) the evening libation, and the evening libation, doubtless, belongs to the Visve Devâh (the 'All-gods ) 3. 'Gladden thou the longing gods, O youngest!' this much in the invitatory formula refers to the Visve Devâh 4. 'O Agni, Hotri of the cult! when this day (thou comest) to the men 5;' this much in the offering-formula refers to the Visve Devâh. And because such is the form of these two (formulas), therefore they are of
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the form of the evening libation; and this is why the invitatory and offering-formulas on this occasion are made closely to correspond to each other.
1:7:3:1717. They are both trishtubh verses; for the svishtakrit is, as it were, the residue (or site, vâstu) of the sacrifice, and the residue (or, a vacant site) is without energy 1. Now the trishtubh means manly power 2, energy: hence he thereby imparts manly power, energy to that residue, the svishtakrit. This is why they are both trishtubh verses.
1:7:3:1818. Or they are both anushtubh verses. The anushtubh is residue (or site, vâstu), and the svishtakrit also is residue: hence he thereby puts a residue to a residue 3. And, verily, one who knows this, and whose (invitatory and offering-formulas) are two anushtubh verses, his homestead (vâstu) is prosperous, and he himself prospers in regard to progeny and cattle.
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1:7:3:1919. Now here Bhâllabeya 1 made the invitatory formula (consist of) an anushtubh verse, and the offering-formula of a trishtubh verse, thinking, 'I thus obtain (the benefits of) both.' He fell from the cart, and in falling, broke his arm. He reflected: 'This has befallen because of something or other I have done.' He then bethought himself of this: '(It has befallen) because of some violation, on my part, of the proper course of the sacrifice.' Hence one must not violate the proper course (of sacrificial performance); but let both (formulas) be verses of the same metre, either both anushtubh verses, or both trishtubh verses.
1:7:3:2020. He cuts (the portions for Agni Svishtakrit) from the north part (of the sacrificial dishes) 2, and offers them up on the north part (of the fire): for this is the region of that god, and therefore he cuts from the north part and offers on the north part. From that side, indeed, he arose 3, and there they (the gods) appeased him: for this reason he cuts from the north part, and offers on the north part.
1:7:3:2121. He offers on this side (in front), as it were, of the other oblations. Following the other oblations cattle are produced, and the Svishtakrit represents Rudra's power: he would impose Rudra's power on
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the cattle if he were to bring it (the Svishtakrit) into contact with the other oblations; and his (the sacrificer's) household and cattle would be destroyed. For this reason he offers on this side, as it were, of the other oblations.
1:7:3:2222. That (fire)---to wit, the Âhavanîya--is, indeed, that sacrifice by which the gods then ascended to heaven; and that (other fire) which was left behind here, is the Gârhapatya: hence they take out the former from the Gârhapatya, (so as to be) before (east) of it.
1:7:3:2323. He may lay it (the Âhavanîya) down at the distance of eight steps (from the Gârhapatya); for of eight syllables, doubtless, consists the gâyatrî hence he thereby ascends to heaven by means of the gâyatrî.
1:7:3:2424. Or he may lay it down at the distance of eleven steps 1; for of eleven syllables, indeed, consists the trishtubh: hence he thereby ascends to heaven by means of the trishtubh.
1:7:3:2525. Or he may lay it down at the distance of twelve steps; for of twelve syllables, indeed, consists the gaga: hence he thereby ascends to heaven by means of the gagatî. Here, however, there is no (fixed) measure: let him, therefore, lay it down where in his own mind he may think proper 2. If he takes it ever so little east (of the Gârhapatya), he ascends to heaven by it.
1:7:3:2626. Here now they say, 'Let them cook the sacrificial
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dishes on the Âhavanîya; for thence, assuredly, the gods ascended to heaven, and therewith they went on worshipping and toiling: therein we will cook the sacrificial dishes; therein we will perform the sacrifice! For, as it were, a displacement 1 of the sacrificial dishes would take place, if they were to cook them on the Gârhapatya. The Âhavanîya is the sacrifice: we will perform the sacrifice in the sacrifice!'
1:7:3:2727. However, they also do cook on the Gârhapatya, arguing, 'The former is indeed âhavanîya (i.e. "suitable for a burnt-offering"); but that one, surely, is not (intended) for this,--viz. that they should cook uncooked (food) on it; but it is (intended) for this,--viz. that they should offer up cooked (food) on it.' He may therefore do it on whichever (fire) he pleases.
1:7:3:2828. That sacrifice spake, 'I dread nakedness.' 'What is unnakedness for thee?' 'Let them strew (sacrificial grass) all round me!' For this reason they strew (sacrificial grass) all round the fire. 'I dread thirst.' 'How art thou to be satiated?' 'May I satiate myself after the priest has been satisfied!' Let him therefore, on the completion of the sacrifice, order that the priest be satisfied; for then he satisfies the sacrifice.
Footnotes
200:1 Or perhaps, he was left behind with, or in, the remains (of the sacrifice);' vâstu being evidently also taken in this sense by our author, in par. 7.200:2 The text has ayatayâ merely, which, to become intelligible, clearly requires some noun, which may have been lost here. Sâyana is silent on this point. In Dr. Muir's version of the legend, Original Sanskrit Texts, IV, p. 202, the word is left untranslated. I am inclined to supply some such noun as heti, 'weapon;' cf. XII, 7, 3, 20, where this very word is used in connection with Rudra: in later times it is also specially applied to Agni's weapon or flame (gihvâ, 'tongue'). It is not impossible, however, that we have to supply tanvâ ('with his raised body, or self'). To mâ vi srâkshîh (for which the Kânva recension reads mâ ’sthâh), 'do not hurl,' and to samvivarha ('he drew back'), Sâyana supplies yagñam, 'sacrifice:' hence he apparently takes it thus,--'do not scatter (the sacrifice),'--'he kept (the sacrifice) together and did not injure it in any way.'
201:1 On the identification of Agni with Rudra, see also VI, 1, 3, 7; and Muir, Original Sanskrit Texts, IV, p. 339 seq.
201:2 Passages such as this and VI, 1, 3, 7 seq. are of considerable interest, as showing, on the one hand, the tendency towards identifying and blending originally distinct and apparently local Vedic gods, especially Rudra, with the person of Agni, the representative of the divine power on earth in the later Vedic triad; and, on the other hand, the origin of the conception of Siva, in the pantheistic system of the post-Vedic period. On our passage, see also Weber, Ind. Stud. II, p. 37; I, p. 189; Muir, Original Sanskrit Texts, IV, p. 328.
202:1 That is, according to Sâyana, on the Âhavanîya fire-place.
202:2 The anuvâkyâ for the Svishtakrit is Rig-veda X, 2, 1: piprîhi devân̐ usato yavishtha ('gladden thou the longing gods, O youngest!') &c. Âsv. S. I, 6, 2.
202:3 See I, 4, 2, 16-17. These formulas (nigada) of enumeration (ayad agnir agneh priyâ dhâmâni, &c.--yakshad agner hotuh priyâ dhâmâni, &c.) form part of the offering-formula. The yâgyâ proper, however, which they precede is Rig-veda VI, 15, 14, agne yad adya viso adhvarasya hotah ['O Agni, Hotri of the cult! when this day (thou comest) to the men '], &c.
203:1 Or, resort, abode, dhâman.
203:2 Viz. at the 'devatânâm âvahanam,' cf. I, 4, 2, 17; p. 118, n. 1.
203:3 'Âyagatâm egyâ ishah.' Mahîdhara, on Vâg. S. XXI, 47, interprets it thus: 'May these (ishah) desirous (creatures), fit for sacrifice, sacrifice properly!' Similarly perhaps Sâyana on our passage.
204:1 Here krinotu is omitted in the text, but cf. Vâg. S. XXI, 47; Taitt. Br. III, 5, 7, 6; Âsv. S. I, 6, 5. Dr. Hillebrandt, Altind. Neu- and Vollmondsopfer, p. 11 construes it with the preceding formula: 'er mache darbringungswerth die Speisen; er, der Wesenkenner, nehme beim Opfer das havis an.' (?)
204:2 Mahat, 'grosses.'
204:3 See Vâg. S. XIX, 26. Here the author, as usual (cf. p. 5 note), attempts to enhance the solemnity of the ceremony by identifying it with the tritîya-savana, or evening libation at the Soma-sacrifice, both offerings constituting the final ceremonies in the main performance of the respective sacrifices. We shall, however, see (cf. I, 8, 3, 25) that as at the evening libation the remains of the Soma are offered up, so also are the remains of havis offered to the visve devâh at the conclusion of the present sacrifice. At IV, 4, 5, 17 it is more especially the offering of rice-cake to Agni and Varuna, at the evening libation, which is identified with the svishtakrit.
204:4 See p. 202, note 2.
204:5 See p. 202, note 3.
205:1 Avîryam; cf. II, 1, 2, 9, where the (sarîra) empty body (of Pragâpati) is called a vâstu ayagñiyam avîryam. See also above, I, 7, 3, 7, where we met with vâstu in the sense of 'remainder, that which remains,' as Sâyana also seems to take it here.
205:2 Indriyam, literally 'Indra's power.' The trishtubh often (eg. Rig-veda X, 130, 5) appears specially related to Indra; and the hymns addressed to him are almost entirely in this metre. Taitt. S. VII, 1, 1, 4 it is said to have been created by Pragâpati from his own chest and arms, immediately after Indra, and together with the Brihat-sâman, the Râganya, and the ram; and that these are therefore vîryâvant, having been created out of vîrya (i.e. the seats of 'manly power').
205:3 For this symbolical explanation see Taitt. S. VII, 1, 1, 5, where the anushtubh is said to have been created by Pragâpati, by his fourth and last creative act, from his feet, together with the Vairâga-sâman, the Sûdra, and the horse; the two last named being, therefore, styled 'bhûta-saṅkrâmin (? subservient to creatures).' I do not find it stated anywhere, what anushtubh verses may optionally be taken for the anuvâkyâ and yâgyâ of the svishtakrit.
206:1 That is, Indradyumna Bhâllabeya, as the Kânva recension reads here and II, 1, 4, 6. Cf. X, 6, 1, 1.
206:2 He makes, as usual, an under-layer (upastarana) of butter in the guhû; cuts a piece from the north part of each of the two cakes (or of the one cake and of both the sweet and the sour milk constituting the sânnâyya); and thereupon bastes the pieces twice (not once) with butter.
206:3 See above, par. 3. The same quarter is assigned to Rudra, IX, 1, 1, 10. See also Weber, Ind. Stud, I, p. 225.
207:1 The Baudhây. Sulvas. (66) lays it down as the rule that the Brâhmana has to construct his Âhavanîya fire at the distance of eight prakramas (step of two padas or feet each) to the east of the Gârhapatya, the Râganya at the distance of eleven, and the Vaisya at the distance of twelve, steps. Thibaut, Pandit X, p. 22.
207:2 See 1, 2, 5, 14.
208:1 Apaskhala. Sâyana takes skhala to mean winnowing- (or threshing-) floor (? khala): hence apaskhala would mean 'the leaping (of the husk, &c.) out of the winnowing-floor.' The Kânva MS. reads, 'apaskhala iva sa havishâm yad gârhapatyah' (? 'the Gârhapatya is to the sacrificial food the outside of a winnowing-floor, as it were.')
FOURTH BRÂHMANA.
1:7:4:11. Pragâpati conceived a passion for his ownp. 209
daughter,--either the Sky or the Dawn 1. 'May I pair with her!' thus (thinking) he united with her.
1:7:4:22. This, assuredly, was a sin in the eyes of the gods. 'He who acts thus towards his own daughter, our sister, [commits a sin],' they thought.
1:7:4:33. The gods then said to this god who rules over the beasts (Rudra) 2, 'This one, surely, commits a sin who acts thus towards his own daughter, our sister. Pierce him!' Rudra, taking aim, pierced him. Half of his seed fell to the ground. And thus it came to pass.
1:7:4:44. Accordingly it has been said by the Rishi 3 with reference to that (incident), 'When the father embraced his daughter, uniting with her, he dropped his seed on the earth.' This (became) the chant (uktha) called âgnimâruta 4; in (connection with)
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this it is set forth how the gods caused that seed to spring 1. When the anger of the gods subsided, they cured Pragâpati and cut out that dart of this. (Rudra); for Pragâpati, doubtless, is this sacrifice.
1:7:4:55. They said (to one another), 'Think of some means by which that (part of the sacrifice torn out with the dart) may not be lost, and how it may be but a small portion of the offering itself!'
1:7:4:66. They said, 'Take it round to Bhaga (Savitri, the Patron), who sits on the south side (of the sacrificial ground): Bhaga will eat it by way of fore-portion 2, so that it may be as though it were offered.' They accordingly took it round to Bhaga, who sat on the south side. Bhaga (Savitri) looked at it: it burnt out his eyes 3. And thus it came to pass. Hence they say, 'Bhaga is blind.'
1:7:4:77. They said, 'It has not yet become appeased here: take it round to Pûshan!' They accordingly
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took it round to Pûshan. Pûshan tasted it: it knocked out his teeth. And thus it came to pass. Hence they say, 'Pûshan is toothless;' and therefore, when they prepare a mess of boiled rice (karu) 1 for Pûshan, they prepare it from ground rice, as is done for one toothless.
1:7:4:88. They said, 'It has not yet become appeased here: take it round to Brihaspati 2!' They accordingly took it round to Brihaspati. Brihaspati hasted to Savitri for his impulsion (influence, prasava 3), for assuredly Savitri is the impeller (prasavitri) of the gods. 'Impel (influence) this for me!' he said. Savitri, as the impeller, accordingly impelled it for him, and being thus impelled by Savitri, it did not injure him: and thus it was henceforth appeased. This, then, is essentially the same as the fore-portion.
1:7:4:99. Now when he cuts off the fore-portion, he cuts out what is injured in the sacrifice,--what belongs to Rudra. Thereupon he touches water: water is (a means) of lustration, hence he lustrates by means of water 4. He now cuts off piece by piece the idâ 5, (which represents) cattle.
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1:7:4:1010. Let him cut off (for the fore-portion) ever so small a piece 1: thus the dart comes out; let him therefore cut off ever so small a piece. He should (according to some) put clarified butter on one side only, either below or above: thus that which is hard becomes soft and flows forth; and for this reason he should put butter on one side only, either below or above.
1:7:4:1111. Having (nevertheless 2) made an underlayer of butter 3 and a double cutting from the oblation (havis), he pours butter on the upper side of it; for it is only in this way that this becomes part of the sacrifice.
1:7:4:1212. Let him not carry it (to the Brahman) along the front (east) side of the Âhavanîya fire); (though) some, it is true, do carry it along the front side. For on the front side stand the cattle facing the sacrificer: hence he would impose the power of Rudra on the cattle, if he were to carry it along the front side, and his (the sacrificer's) household and cattle would be overwhelmed. Let him therefore cross over in this way (behind the paridhis); for thus he does not impose Rudra's power on the cattle and he removes that (dart) sideways 4.
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1:7:4:1313. He (the Brahman) receives 1 it, with the text (Vâg. S. II, 11 b, c), 'At the impulse (prasava) of the divine Savitri I receive thee with the arms of the Asvins, with the hands of Pûshan!'
1:7:4:1414. And in like manner as Brihaspati then hasted to Savitri for his impulsion,--for, assuredly, Savitri is the impeller of the gods,--and said, 'Impel this for me!' and Savitri, the impeller, impelled it for him; and, impelled by Savitri, it did not injure him; so now also this one (the Brahman) hastes to Savitri for his impulsion,--for, assuredly, Savitri is the impeller of the gods,--and says 'impel this for me!' and Savitri, the impeller, impels it for him; and, impelled by Savitri, it does not injure him.
1:7:4:1515. He eats 2 the fore-portion, with the text (Vâ;. S. II, 11 d), 'With Agni's mouth I eat thee!' for Agni, assuredly, it does not injure in any way; and so neither does it injure him (the Brahman).
1:7:4:1616. He must not chew it with his teeth: 'lest this power of Rudra should injure my teeth!' so (he thinks), and therefore he must not chew it with his teeth.
1:7:4:1717. He then rinses his mouth with water;--water is (a means of) purification: hence he purifies himself with water, (that is, a means of) purification. After he has rinsed the vessel 3,--
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1:7:4:1818. They bring him the Brahman's portion 1. The Brahman, in truth, sits south of the sacrifice, as its guardian. He sits facing that portion. As regards the fore-portion, that they have already brought to him and he has eaten it. In the Brahman's portion which they now bring to him, he obtains his own share; and henceforth he watches what remains incomplete of the sacrifice: for this reason they bring him the Brahman's portion.
1:7:4:1919. He (the Brahman) must maintain silence (from the time he takes his seat on being elected) 2 up to that speech (of the Adhvaryu), 'Brahman, shall I step forward?' Those (priests) who, in the midst of the sacrifice, perform the idâ, which represents the domestic offerings (pâkayagña) 3, tear the sacrifice to pieces, injure it. Now the Brahman, assuredly, is the best physician: hence the Brahman thereby restores the sacrifice; but, if he were to sit there talking, he would not restore it: he must therefore maintain silence.
1:7:4:2020. If he should utter any human sound before that time, let him there and then mutter some Rik or Yagus-text addressed to Vishnu; for Vishnu is
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the sacrifice, so that he thereby again obtains a hold on the sacrifice: and this is the expiation of that (breach of silence).
1:7:4:2121. When he (the Adhvaryu) says, 'Brahman, shall I step forward?' the Brahman mutters thus (Vâg. S. II, 12), 'This thy sacrifice, O divine Savitri, they have announced . . .,'--thereby he has recourse to Savitri for his impulsion (prasava), for he is the impeller (prasavitri) of the gods;--'to Brihaspati, the Brahman,'--for Brihaspati, assuredly, is the Brahman of the gods: hence he announces that (sacrifice) to him who is the Brahman of the gods; and accordingly he says, 'to Brihaspati, the Brahman.'--'Therefore prosper the sacrifice, prosper the lord of sacrifice, prosper me!' In this there is nothing that requires explanation.
1:7:4:2222. [He continues, Vâg. S. II, 13]: 'May his mind delight in the gushing (of the) butter 1!' By the mind, assuredly, all this (universe) is obtained (or pervaded, âptam): hence he thereby obtains this All by the mind.--'May Brihaspati spread (carry through) this sacrifice! May he restore the sacrifice uninjured!'--he thereby restores what was torn asunder.--'May all the gods rejoice here!'--'all the gods,' doubtless, means the All: hence he thereby restores (the sacrifice) by means of the All. He may add, 'Step forward!' if he choose; or, if he choose, he may omit it.
Footnotes
209:1 For other versions of this legend about Pragâpati (Brahman)'s illicit passion for his daughter, which, as Dr. Muir suggests, probably refers to some atmospheric phenomenon, see Ait. Br. III, 33, and Tândya Br. VIII, 2, 10; cf. Muir, Original Sanskrit Texts, IV, p. 45; I, p. 107. See also Sat. Br. II, 1, 2, 9, with note.209:2 The construction here is irregular. Perhaps this is part of the speech of the gods, being a kind of indirect address to Rudra in order to avoid naming the terrible god. Dr. Muir translates: The gods said, "This god, who rules over the beasts, commits a transgression in that he acts thus to his own daughter, our sister: pierce him through."' In the Kânva MS. some words seem to have been omitted at this particular place. According to the Ait. Br., the gods created a god Bhûtavat, composed of the most fearful forms of theirs. After piercing the incarnation of Pragâpati's sin, he asked, and obtained, the boon that he should henceforth be the ruler of cattle.
209:3 Viz., Rig-veda X, 61, 7, where verses 5-7 contain the first allusion to this legend.
209:4 The âgnimâruta is one of the sâstras recited at the evening libation of the Soma-sacrifice; and made up chiefly of a hymn addressed to Agni Vaisvânara and one to the Maruts; and [following the stotriya and anurûpa pragâtha] a hymn to Gâtavedas; [and one to the Âpas, followed by various detailed p. 210 verses or couplets]; viz., Rig-veda III, 3, 'vaisvânarâya prithupâgase,' &c., and I, 87, 'pratvakshasah pratavaso,' &c.; [Rig-veda I, 168, 1-2, stotriya; VII, 16, II-32, anurûpa]; and Rig-veda I, 143, 'pratavyasîm navyasîm,' &c. (and X, 9, 'âpo hi shthâ mayobhuvas,' &c.) respectively, at the Agnishtoma (and first day of the dvâdasâha). See Âsv. Sr. V, 20, 5; Ait. Br. III, 35; IV, 30.
210:1 According to Ait. Br. III, 35, where this legend is also given in connection with the âgnimâruta sâstra, Agni Vaisvânara, aided by the Maruts, stirred (and heated) the seed; and out of it sprang successively Âditya (the sun), Bhrigu, and the Âdityas; whilst the coals (aṅgâra) remaining behind became the Aṅgiras, and Brihaspati, and the coal dust, the burnt earth and ashes were changed into various kinds of animals. According to Harisvâmin it would seem that our passage has to he understood to the effect that the composition of the âgnimâruta sâstra shows the order of beings which the gods caused to spring forth from the seed. See also IV, 5, I, 8.
210:2 See note on I, 7, 4, 18.
210:3 'Nirdadâha.' The Kaushît. Br. VI, 10 (Ind. Stud. II, 306) and Yâska Nir. 1 2, 14 have nirgaghâna, 'it knocked out his eyes.' The Kaushît. Br. also makes them first take the prâsitra to Savitri, and when it cut his hands, they gave him two golden ones.
211:1 Karu, in the ordinary sense of the word, is a potful of rice (barley, &c.) grains boiled, or rather steamed (antarûshmapakva), so as to remain whole, as in Indian curry. Cf. Weber, Ind. Stud. IX, p. 216.
211:2 According to Kaushît. Br. VI, 10, they took it from Pûshan to Indra, as the mightiest and-strongest of the gods; and he appeased it with prayer (brahman); whence the Brahman (in taking the prâsitra) says, 'Indra is Brahman.' Weber, Ind. Stud. II, p. 307.
211:3 The consistent use of derivations from one and the same root (pra-su) in this and similar passages is, of course, quite as artificial in Sanskrit as must be any imitation of it in English.
211:4 He thereby averts the evil effects of the act which is connected with Rudra, 'the terrible god;' see p. 2, note 2. Besides, the idâ with which he now proceeds representing the cattle, he thereby guards the cattle from the rudriya, cf. above I, 7, 3, 21.
211:5 See I, 8, 1, 12, 13.
212:1 According to Kâty. III, 4, 7, the prâsitra, or (Brahman's) fore-portion, is to be of the size of a barley-corn or a pippala (Ficus Religiosa) berry.
212:2 There is no indication in the text of two different practices being here referred to. The Kânva recension, however, puts in here, 'but let him not do so,' which is evidently understood in our text also.
212:3 Viz. in the prâsitraharana, or pan which is to receive the Brahman's portion. The hollow part of the vessel is to be either of the shape of a (hand-)mirror, i.e. with a round bowl, or of that of a kamasa or jug, i.e. with a square bowl (p. 7, note 1). Kâty. I, 3, 40, 42. On the underlayer' of butter, see I, 7, 2, 8.
212:4 'Tiryag evainam nirmimîte.' I am in doubt as to whether p. 213 enam (which is omitted in the Kânva text) really refers to Rudra's dart. Cf. par. 9.
213:1 According to Kâty. II, 2, 15, he first looks at it, with the text (Vâg. S. p. 58): 'With Mitra's eye I look on thee!'
213:2 According to Kâty. II, 2, 17, he previously puts it down on the shoulder of the altar, with the text (Vâg. S. p. 58), 'I put you down, on the navel of the earth, in the lap of Aditi!' According to 19, however, this is optional (except when the Brahman does not eat the prâsitra immediately).
213:3 According to Kâty. II, 2, 20, the Brahman, having rinsed the p. 214 vessel [or, according to the comment, the two prâsitraharana, one of which is used as lid to the other], touches his navel, with the text (Vâg. S. p. 58), 'May the deities there are in the waters purify this! Enter the stomach of Indra, being offered with "Hail!" Mix not with my food! Settle down above my navel! In Indra's stomach I make thee settle!'
214:1 The Brahman's regular portion (brahmabhâga) of the sacrificial food is cut, like the prâsitra or fore-portion (which apparently he receives as the representative of Brihaspati), from Agni's cake.
214:2 See I, 1, 4, 9.
214:3 According to the scholiast, it represents the pâkayagña or domestic (cooked) offerings, because at the latter, as in the idâ, the remains of the offerings are eaten.
215:1 ? 'Mano gûtir [gyotir, Kânva rec.] gushatâm âgyasya.' I am inclined to read gûter [cf. Ath.-veda XIX, 58, 1: ghritasya gûtih samânâ]. Mahîdhara interprets: 'May the rushing (eager) mind devote itself to the butter!' Hillebrandt, Neu- and Vollmondsopfer, p. 135, apparently proposes to combine manogûtir 'des Geistes Schnelligkeit.' Perhaps gushatâm has to be taken in a transitive sense: 'May the gushing of the butter delight the mind.'
(My humble salutations to the translator Sreeman Julius Eggeling for the collection)
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