The Satapatha Brahmana
translated by Julius Eggeling
THE SATAPATHA-BRÂHMANA
ACCORDING TO THE TEXT OF THE MÂDHYANDINA SCHOOL
Translated by
Julius Eggeling
Third Kanda
THE ÂTITHYA, OR GUEST-OFFERING
(HOSPITABLE RECEPTION GIVEN TO KING SOMA).
FOURTH ADHYÂYA. FIRST BRÂHMANA.
3:4:1:11. Verily, the guest-offering is the head of the sacrifice, and the Prâyanîya and Udayanîya are its arms. But the arms are on both sides of the head: therefore those two oblations, the Prâyanîya and Udayanîya, are on both sides of the guest-offering.
3:4:1:22. Now as to why it is called 'guest-offering.' He, the purchased Soma, truly comes as his (the sacrificer's) guest,--to him (is offered) that (hospitable reception): even as for a king or a Brâhman one would cook a large ox or a large he-goat--for that is human (fare offered to a guest), and the oblation is that of the gods--so he prepares for him that guest-offering.
3:4:1:33. Here now they say, 'Let him first walk past (Soma) and take out (the material for offering)!' For (they argue) where people do not show respect
to a worthy person (arhant) who has come to them, he becomes angry,--and in this way he (Soma) is indeed honoured.
3:4:1:44. Then only one (of the oxen) is to be unyoked, and the other to be left unyoked 1; and thereupon he is to take out (the material for offering): for (they argue) in that one of them is unyoked, thereby he (Soma) has arrived; and in that the other is left unyoked, thereby he is honoured.
3:4:1:55. Let him, however, not do this but let him take out (the material for offering) only after unyoking (both oxen) and after making (Soma) enter (the hall); for the ways of men are in accordance with those of the gods. And accordingly, in human practice, so long as (a guest) has not unyoked, people do not bring water to him and show him no honour, for so long he has not yet arrived; but when he has unyoked, then they bring him water and show him honour, for then he has indeed arrived: let him therefore take out (the material for offering) only after unyoking and after making (Soma) enter (the hall).
3:4:1:66. Let him take it out with all speed, for thus he (Soma) is honoured. The housewife holds on to it from behind 2; for the sacrificer holds on to him (Soma), while he is driven around, and here his wife does so. Thus they enclose him on the two sides by a (married) couple: and, indeed, wherever a
worthy person comes, there all the inmates of the house bestir themselves, for thus he is honoured.
3:4:1:77. Let him take out (the material) with a different formula from that wherewith (one takes out) any other oblations 1, since, when he (Soma) is bought, he is bought for one special destination,--for the sovereignty of the metres, for the supreme sovereignty of the metres. The metres act as attendants about him; even as the non-royal king-makers, the heralds and headmen, (attend upon) the king, so do the metres act as attendants about him (Soma).
3:4:1:88. In no wise, then, is it befitting that he should take out any (material for offering) solely 'for the metres 2;' for whenever people cook food for some worthy person 3, then the attendants about him, the non-royal king-makers, the heralds and headmen, have their share (of the food) assigned to them; after (or along with their master): hence, when he takes out that (oblation to Soma), let him assign the metres a share in it along with (the deity).
3:4:1:99. He takes it out, with the text (Vâg. S. V, 1), 'Thou art Agni's body,--thee (I take) for Vishnu!' the Gâyatrî is Agni: to Gâyatrî he thus assigns her share.
3:4:1:1010. 'Thou art Soma's body,--thee for Vishnu!' Soma is the nobility, and the Trishtubh
is the nobility: to Trishtubh he thus assigns her share.
3:4:1:1111. 'Thou art the guest's hospitable entertainment 1,--thee for Vishnu!' This is his (Soma's) special share: as there is a special share for a chief, so is this his special share apart from the metres.
3:4:1:1212. 'Thee for the Soma-bearing falcon! thee for Vishnu!' thereby he assigns to Gâyatrî her share. Because Gâyatrî, in the form of a falcon, carried off Soma from the sky, therefore she is the Soma-bearing falcon: in virtue of that heroic deed he now assigns to her a second share.
3:4:1:1313. 'Thee for Agni, the bestower of prosperity! thee for Vishnu!' Prosperity means cattle, and the Gagatî (the moving, living one) means cattle: to Gagatî he thereby assigns her share.
3:4:1:1414. Now as to his taking five times;--the sacrifice is of equal measure with the year, and five seasons there are in the year: the latter he gains in five (divisions);--for this reason he takes five times. And as to his taking it with 'For Vishnu (I take) thee! for Vishnu thee!' it is because he who takes out (material) for the sacrifice, takes it for Vishnu.
3:4:1:1515. It is a sacrificial cake on nine potsherds;--for the guest-offering is the head of the sacrifice, and the Gâyatrî consists of nine syllables 2: eight (syllables) are those he recites and the sacred syllable 3 is the ninth; and the Gâyatrî is the fore-part of the
sacrifice 1, and so is that (cake) the fore-part of the sacrifice: therefore it is a cake on nine potsherds.
3:4:1:1616. The enclosing-sticks are of kârshmarya wood (Gmelina Arborea 2), for the gods, once upon a time, perceived that one, the kârshmarya, to be the Rakshas-killer among trees. Now, the guest-offering being the head of the sacrifice, the enclosing-sticks are of kârshmarya wood, in order that the evil spirits may not injure the head of the sacrifice.
3:4:1:1717. The prastara-bunch 3 is of asvavâla-grass (Saccharum Spontaneum). For, once upon a time, the sacrifice escaped from the gods. It became a horse (asva) and sped away from them. The gods, rushing after it, took hold of its tail (vâla) and tore it out; and having torn it out, they threw it down in a lump, and what had been the hairs of the horse's tail then grew up as those plants (of asvavâla-grass). Now the guest-offering is the head of the sacrifice, and the tail is the hind-part (of animals): hence by the prastara being of asvavâla-grass he encompasses the sacrifice on both sides.
the barhis and the prastara should become mixed up together. Having then purified the ghee 1, he takes all the butter-portions in four ladlings 2, for at this (sacrifice) there are no after-offerings.
3:4:1:1919. When he has placed the sacrificial dishes (on the altar) 3, he churns the fire. For the guest-offering is the head of the sacrifice; and in churning (the fire) they produce that (sacrifice); and one who is born is born with the head first: hence he thereby makes the sacrifice to be produced with the head first. Further, Agni means all the gods, since offering is made in the fire to all gods; and the guest-offering is the head of the sacrifice: hence, through all the deities, he secures success to the sacrifice from the very head (beginning). This is why he churns the fire 4.
3:4:1:2020. He takes the bottom piece of wood 5, with the text (Vâg. S. V, 2), 'Thou art the birth-place of Agni;' for it is thereon that Agni is produced: hence he says, 'Thou art the birth-place of Agni.'
21. Thereon he lays two sprouts of a kusa stalk (with the tops towards the east), with, 'Ye are
males 1;' thereby these two are as two (sons) born together here from a woman.
3:4:1:2222. Thereon he lays the lower churning-stick (with the top to the north), with, 'Thou art Urvasî!' He then touches the (ghee in the) ghee-pan with the upper churning-stick, with, 'Thou art Âyu,' he puts it down (on the lower arani) with, 'Thou art Purûravas.' For Urvasî was a nymph, and Purûravas was her husband; and the (child) which sprung from that union was Âyu 2: in like manner does he now produce the sacrifice from that union. Thereupon he says (to the Hotri), 'Recite to Agni, as he is churned 3!'
3:4:1:2323. He churns, with the texts, 'With the Gâyatrî metre I churn thee!--With the Trishtubh metre I churn thee!--With the Gagatî metre I churn thee!' For it is with the metres that he churns him (Agni, the fire); the metres he recites to him when he is churned, whereby he attaches the metres to the sacrifice, even as the rays (are attached) to yonder sun.--'Recite to the born one!' he says,
when he (Agni) is produced 1; and 'To him who is thrown 2!' when he throws him (on the old Âhavanîya fire).
3:4:1:2424. He throws (the fire on the hearth), with the text (Vâg. S. V, 3), 'For our sake be ye two (fires) friendly to one another, of one mind, unblemished! Injure not the sacrifice, nor the lord of the sacrifice! be gracious unto us this day, ye knowers of beings!' He thus bespeaks peacefulness between them, that they may not injure each other.
3:4:1:2525. He then takes out some clarified butter with the dipping-spoon, and pours it on the fire, with the text (Vâg. S. V, 4), 'Agni resorteth to Agni, he the son of the seers that shieldeth us from curses: graciously offer thou for us now with good offering, never withholding the oblation from the gods, Hail!' For the purpose of offering they have produced him, and by this offering he has now gratified him: that is why he thus makes offering unto him.
3:4:1:2626. It (the guest-offering) ends with the Idâ; no after-offerings are performed. For the guest-offering is the head of the sacrifice, and the head is the fore-part: he thus fits him up as the head of the sacrifice. But were he to perform the after-offerings, it would be as if, by reversing, he were to put the feet in the place of the head. Hence it ends with the Idâ, and no after-offerings are performed.
Footnotes
86:1 This is the practice recognised by the Taittirîyas (T. S. VI, 2, 1, 1), on the ground that, if one were to unyoke both oxen, he would interrupt the sacrifice; and if he were to leave them both unyoked, it would be as if a hospitable reception were given to one who has not actually arrived.
87:1 For the ordinary formula with which material for offering is taken out at an ishti, 'At the impulse of the divine Savitri, I take thee with the arms of the Asvins, with the hands of Pûshan, thee well-pleasing to--!' see I, 1, 2, 17.
87:2 According to Taitt. S. VI, 2, 1, the five portions are taken out for the metres Gâyatrî, Trishtubh, Gagatî, Anushtubh, and Gâyatrî, with the texts, 'Thou art Agni's hospitable feast, for Vishnu (I take) thee,' &c.
87:3 'Arhant' seems rather to mean 'ruler' here.
88:1 Atither âtithyam, 'the guest's guest-meal.'
88:2 According to Taitt. S. VI, 2, 1, 4, it is because the head has nine seams, 'navadhâ siro vishyûtam.'
88:3 The final syllable of the prayers recited in offering is protracted and nasalized, a final 'a' becoming ôm,--this drawing out of the syllable is called pranava.
89:1 Because the Gâyatrî metre is connected with the prâtahsavana or morning pressing. See IV, 2, 5, 20 seq.; Ait. Br. III, 27 seq.
89:2 See I, 3, 3, 19-20, where the approved kinds of wood for the paridhis at an ishti are enumerated.
89:3 For the prastara, or bunch of reed-grass, representing the sacrificer, see I, 3, 3, 5 seq.; 8, 3. 11 seq. The asvavâla (horsetail) grass (generally called kâsa) is said to resemble horse-hair, and is used for twine, mats, thatch, &c. Sir H. M. Elliot, 'Races of the N. W. Prov.' II, pp. 371, 372, describes it as growing from three to fifteen feet high, and flowering in great profusion after the rains; the base of the flowers being surrounded with a bright silvery fleece, which whitens the neighbouring fields so much as frequently to resemble a fall of snow.
89:4 For the vidhriti or stalks laid across the barhis (sacrificial p. 90 grass covering the altar), to keep the prastara separate from the latter when laid upon it, see I, 3, 4, 10. As no special mention is made of the barhis, the same material has to be used for it as at the model ishti (New and Full-moon sacrifice), viz. Kusa grass (Poa Cynosuroides).
90:1 See I, 3, 1, 22-23.
90:2 See I, 3, 2, 8-9.
90:3 See I, 3, 4, 14.
90:4 On the production of the fire by 'churning,' see part i, p. 294, note 3.
90:5 The adhimanthana sakala is a chip of wood used for the lower churning-stick (adharârani), wherein the upper churning-stick is drilled, to rest upon. It is laid down on the altar-grass (barhis) from south to north. According to Sâyana it is a chip obtained in rough-hewing the sacrificial stake.
91:1 In this sense 'vrishanau' is taken by Mahîdhara (sektârau, from vrishan), Sâyana, and apparently also by our author. Perhaps it means 'testicles' (vrishana) in the text. See III, 6, 3, 10; and part i, p. 389, note 3.
91:2 The myth of Purûravas and Urvasî is given at length XI, 5, 1, I-17. Compare also Max Müller, Chips, vol. ii, p.202 seq.; A. Kuhn, Herabkunft des Feuers, p. 78 seq.
91:3 The verses which the Hotri has to recite are (a) one to Savitri (the Vivifier, viz. Rig-veda I, 24, 3); (b) to Heaven and Earth (IV, 56, s); (c) a triplet to Agni (VI, 16, 13-15). If fire has not appeared by this time, he recites the so-called Rakshas-killing verses (X, 118), repeating them until fire has been produced. See Ait. Br. I, 17; Âsv. Sr. II, 16.
92:1 The Hotri recites the two verses, Rig-veda I, 74, 3; VI, 16, 40.
92:2 The verb is 'pra-hri,' which is also the common term for the hurling of the thunderbolt. The six verses, recited by the Hotri; are Rig-veda VI, 16, 41-42; I, 12, 6; VIII, 43, 14; VIII, 73, 8; I, 164, 50.
THE TÂNÛNAPTRA, OR COVENANT OF TANÛNAPÂT 1.
SECOND BRÂHMANA.
3:4:2:11. When the gods had performed the guest-offering, discord befell them. They separated into four different parties, unwilling to yield to each other's excellence,--Agni, with the Vasus, Soma with the Rudras, Varuna with the Âdityas, and Indra with the Maruts. Brihaspati with the All-gods, say some 2, but, indeed, those who separated into four parties were 'all the gods.' When they were separated, the Asura-Rakshas came after them and entered between them.
3:4:2:22. They became aware of it,--'Forsooth, we are in an evil plight, the Asura-Rakshas have come in between us: we shall fall a prey to our enemies. Let us come to an agreement and yield to the excellence of one of us!' They yielded to the excellence of Indra; wherefore it is said, 'Indra is all the deities, the gods have Indra for their chief.'
3:4:2:33. For this reason let not kinsmen fall out, for any (enemy) of theirs, be he ever so far away, steps in between them; they do what pleases their enemies and fall a prey to their enemies: therefore let them not fall out. For he who, knowing this, quarrels not, does what displeases his enemies and
falls not a prey to his enemies: let him therefore not quarrel.
3:4:2:44. They said, 'Well then, let us contrive so that this (concord) of ours shall be for ever imperishable!'
3:4:2:55. The gods laid down together 1 their favourite forms and desirable powers 2, one after another, and said, 'Thereby he shall be away from us, he shall be scattered to the winds, whosoever shall transgress this (covenant) of ours!'--'Whose (is it) as witness 3?'--'Tanûnapât, the mighty!'--Now the mighty Tanûnapât indeed is yonder blowing (wind), he is the witness of living beings, entering thus as the in-breathing and out-breathing.
3:4:2:66. Wherefore they say, 'The gods know the mind of man.' In his mind he proposes; it passes on to the breath, and the breath to the wind, and the wind tells the gods what the mind of man is.
3:4:2:77. Hence it was in regard to this what was said by the Rishi, 'In his mind he proposeth, and it goeth on to the wind 4; and the wind telleth the gods what thy mind is, O man.'
3:4:2:88. The gods laid down together their favourite forms and desirable powers, and said, 'Thereby he shall be away from us, he shall be scattered to the winds, whosoever shall transgress this (covenant) of ours!' And even now the gods do not transgress that (covenant), for how would they fare, were they
to transgress it?--they would speak untruth, and verily there is one law which the gods do keep, namely, the truth. It is through this that their conquest, their glory is unassailable: and so, forsooth, is his conquest, his glory unassailable whosoever, knowing this, speaks the truth. Now, the Tânûnaptra is really that same (covenant of the gods).
3:4:2:99. The gods laid down together their favourite forms and desirable powers. Now it is by taking portions of butter that they (the priests) lay down together the desirable forms and favourite powers. Let him, then, not covenant with any one and every one, lest his favourite forms and desirable powers should be mixed up (with those of others). But let him not deceive one with whom he makes a covenant; for thus it is said, 'Let there be no deceiving of him with whom one has made the covenant of Tanûnapât.'
3:4:2:1010. In the first place he takes (butter) therefrom 1, with the text (Vâg. S. V, 5), 'For him that rushes onward, for him that rushes about, I take thee.' He that blows yonder (the wind) does indeed rush onward and rush about; and it is for him that he takes (the butter): therefore he says, 'for him that rushes onward, for him that rushes about, I take thee.'
3:4:2:1111. 'For Tanûnapât, the mighty.' The mighty Tanûnapât truly is yonder blowing (wind), and it is for him that he takes (the butter): therefore he says, 'For Tanûnapât, the mighty.'
3:4:2:1212. 'For the powerful, the most strong!' He is indeed powerful and most strong; and for him he takes it: therefore he says, 'For the powerful, the most strong.'
3:4:2:1313. They then touch it at the same time. Now the gods were fully agreed on this point, 'Verily, so and thus shall he of us fare who shall transgress this (covenant) of ours!' And so are these (priests and sacrificer) now agreed on this,--'Verily, so and thus shall he of us fare who shall transgress this (covenant) of ours!'
3:4:2:1414. They touch it simultaneously, with the text, 'Thou art the strength of the gods, unassailed and unassailable; for the gods were indeed unassailed and unassailable while being together, and speaking with one accord and holding together.' 'The strength of the gods' doubtless means the favourite forms and desirable powers of the gods, 'uncursed, curse-averting, uncursable,' for the gods have overcome every curse;--'May I straightway go to the truth!' whereby he means to say, 'May I speak the truth, may I not transgress this (covenant);'--'Establish me in welfare!' for in welfare the gods indeed established themselves by speaking the truth, by performing the truth: therefore he says, 'Establish me in welfare!'
3:4:2:1515. Now those favourite forms and desirable powers which the gods put together, they then deposited in Indra 1;--Indra verily is he that burns yonder (the sun); but he indeed did not burn in the beginning, but as now everything else is dark, so was he then; and it is by that very energy (derived
from those divine objects) that he burns. Hence, if many persons perform the consecration 1, let it (the Tânûnaptra butter), after pouring the fast-milk to it, be handed only to the master of the house, since he, among them, is the representative of Indra. And if he perform the consecration by means of an (offering) with a dakshinâ, let them hand it (the butter) to the sacrificer, after pouring the fast-milk to it, for thus it is said,--'The Sacrificer is Indra.'
3:4:2:1616. Now what favourite forms and desirable powers the gods then laid together, all that was wrought together and became the Sâman: wherefore they say, 'The Sâman is the truth, the Sâman is born of the gods.'
Footnotes
93:1 The Tânûnaptra is a solemn covenant made by the sacrificer and his priests, in the name of Tanûnapât, and while touching sacrificial butter; thereby pledging themselves not to injure each other.
93:2 Thus Ait. Br. I, 24, where moreover the Rudras are assigned to Indra, (the Vasus to Agni, and the Âdityas to Varuna.)
94:1 Literally, 'cut off together, part by part.'
94:2 Or, attributes, resources, 'dhâmâni.'
94:3 Kasya upadrashtur; the Kânva text has, Tasya nah ka upadrashtâ, 'who (shall be) the witness of this (covenant) of ours?'
94:4 Cp. Atharva-veda XII, 4, 32, 'In his mind he proposes and it goes forth to the gods.'
95:1 Viz. the butter in the dhruvâ spoon, pouring it into the 'vratapradâna,' or vessel in which the fast-milk is handed to the sacrificer.
96:1 According to Ait. Br. I, 24 the gods deposited their forms in the house of king Varuna.
97:1 That is, in a Sattra or sacrificial session, where all the officiating priests are consecrated and 'sacrificers;' the Yagamâna proper being styled Grihapati (master of the house). See IV, 6, 8, 1 seq.
THE AVÂNTARADÎKSHÂ, OR INTERMEDIARY CONSECRATION.
THIRD BRÂHMANA.
3:4:3:11. When the gods had performed the guest-offering, discord arose between them. They allayed it by means of the Tânûnaptra (oaths). They desired an atonement for having spoken evil to one another; for they had appointed no other consecration-ceremony till the expiatory bath. They perceived this intermediate consecration 2.
3:4:3:22. By means of fire they enveloped (the body) with a skin. Now, fire being fervour, and the consecration being fervour, they thereby underwent an intermediate consecration; and because they underwent that
intermediate consecration, therefore this intermediary consecration (avântaradîkshâ, is performed). They turned in their fingers more tightly and drew 1 their zone tighter, whereby they (again) put round them what had been put round them before 2;--and so does he thereby make atonement for what heretofore he has done injurious to the vow, for what he has spoken injurious to the vow.
3:4:3:33. By means of the fire they (the priests) envelop him with a skin. Now, fire being fervour, and the consecration being fervour, he thereby undergoes an intermediate consecration. He turns in his fingers more tightly and draws the zone tighter, whereby he (again) puts round himself what was put round him before. Moreover, it was offspring the gods thereby obtained.
3:4:3:44. By means of Agni (fire) they enveloped (the body) with a skin. Now, Agni being the causer of sexual union, the progenitor, they thereby obtained offspring. They turned in their fingers more tightly and drew their zone tighter, whereby they produced offspring for themselves. And in like manner does he (the sacrificer) thereby obtain offspring.
3:4:3:55. By means of Agni he envelops himself with a skin. Now, Agni being the causer of sexual union, the progenitor, he thereby 3 obtains offspring. He turns in his fingers more tightly and draws his zone tighter, whereby he produces offspring for himself.
3:4:3:66. Now, while the gods were consecrated, whichever of them fetched fire-wood or uttered his appointed texts, him the Asura-Rakshas endeavoured to
strike--the one by (assuming) the form of this one, and the other by that of another. They came together, upbraiding one another, saying, 'See, what thou hast clone to me! see, how thou hast struck me!' But Agni alone did not speak thus to any one, nor did any one speak thus to Agni.
3:4:3:77. They said, 'Have they spoken thus to thee also, Agni?' He said, 'Verily, I have not spoken to any one, nor has any one spoken to me.'
3:4:3:88. They became aware,--'He verily is the greatest repeller of the Rakshas among us; let us be like him: thereby we shall escape from the Rakshas, thereby we shall attain to the heavenly world.' They accordingly became like Agni, and thereby escaped from the Rakshas and attained to the heavenly world. And in like manner does this one now become like Agni, and thereby escape from the Rakshas and attain to the heavenly world. It is in putting a kindling-stick on (the Âhavanîya fire 1) that he enters upon the Avântaradîkshâ.
3:4:3:99. He puts on the kindling-stick, with the text (Vâg. S. V, 6), 'O Agni, protector of vows; on thee, O protector of vows--' for Agni is lord of vows to the gods; wherefore he says, 'O Agni, protector of vows, on thee, O protector of vows--' 'what bodily form 2 there is of thine, (may that be) here on me; and what bodily form there is of mine, (may that be) on thee! May my vows be bound up with thine, O lord of vows!' whereby he envelops himself with the skin by means of Agni, 'May the lord of consecration approve my
consecration, and the lord of penance my penance!' Thereby he enters upon the intermediary consecration. More closely he turns in his fingers, and closer he draws the zone; whereby he (again) puts round himself what was put round him before.
3:4:3:1010. They then attend on him with the boiling lustral water (madantî);--fire is heat, and the lustral water is heat: that is why they attend on him with the lustral water.
3:4:3:1111. Having touched the lustral water, they (the priests and sacrificer) therewith strengthen 1 the king (Soma). The reason why, after touching the lustral water, they strengthen the king is this;--ghee is a thunderbolt, and Soma is seed: hence they strengthen the king after touching the lustral water, lest they should injure the seed, Soma, by the thunderbolt, the ghee.
3:4:3:1212. Here now they say, 'Him, Soma, for whom that strengthening (meal), the guest-offering, is prepared, they ought first to strengthen, and then (ought to be performed) the Avântaradîkshâ, and thereupon the Tânûnaptra.' But let him not do this. For such indeed was the course of the sacrificial performance: discord arose between them (the gods) thereat; they attained to their former tranquillity; then the Avântaradîkshâ and finally the strengthening.
3:4:3:1313. Then as to why they strengthen (Soma). Soma is a god, since Soma (the moon) is in the sky. 'Soma, forsooth, was Vritra; his body is the same as the mountains and rocks: thereon grows that plant called Usânâ,'--so said Svetaketu Auddâlaki;
[paragraph continues] 'they fetch it hither and press it; and by means of the consecration and the Upasads, by the Tânûnaptra and the strengthening they make it into Soma.' And in like manner does he now make it into Soma by means of the consecration and the Upasads, by the Tânûnaptra and the strengthening.
3:4:3:1414. 'It is bees’ honey,' they say; for bees’ honey means the sacrifice, and the bees that make the honey are no other than the officiating priests; and in like manner as the working-bees make the honey increase, so do they (the priests) thereby strengthen the sacrifice.
3:4:3:1515. By means of the sacrifice the gods gained that supreme authority which they now wield. They spake, 'How can this (world) of ours be made unattainable to men?' Having sipped the sap of the sacrifice, as bees would suck out honey, and having drained the sacrifice and scattered it by means of the sacrificial post, they disappeared; and because they scattered (yopaya) therewith, therefore it is called yûpa (post).
3:4:3:1616. Now this was heard by the Rishis. They collected the sacrifice; and as that sacrifice was collected, so does he collect the sacrifice who is consecrated. The sacrifice is speech: hence he thereby again supplies what part of the sacrifice here has been sucked out and drained.
3:4:3:1717. They strengthen (the Soma), being six 1:--there are six seasons: having become the seasons, they strengthen it 2.
3:4:3:1818. They strengthen him with (Vâg. S. V, 7),
[paragraph continues] 'Let stalk after stalk of thine wax strong, O divine Soma!' whereby they strengthen (increase) stalk after stalk of his;--'for Indra, the winner of the ekadhanas 1;' Indra indeed is the deity of the sacrifice: therefore he says, 'For Indra, the winner (or bestower) of the ekadhanas.' For verily every one of those stalks swells to fill a hundred or ten 2 ekadhana cups for the several gods. 'May Indra wax strong for thee, and wax thou strong for Indra!' for Indra is the deity of the sacrifice: he thus strengthens him who is the deity of the sacrifice. By saying, 'Wax thou strong for Indra,' he instils that invigorating draught into him. 'Strengthen us friends with gain and understanding!' 'With gain' he says with reference to what he gains; and 'with understanding' he says with reference to what he recites. 'Mayest thou thrive, O divine Soma, and may I attain to the Soma-feast!' They, the priests and sacrificer, have one prayer in common, 'May we reach the end of the sacrifice!' hence he thereby means to say, 'May I reach the end of the sacrifice!'
3:4:3:1919. Thereupon they make amends on the prastara. For the sacrifice requires a northward attendance;
but now they strengthen (Soma) after going, as it were, towards the right (south) 1; and, the sacrifice being the fire, they thereby turn their back on the sacrifice and thus do wrong and are cut off from the gods. Now the prastara also is (part of) the sacrifice, and by (touching) it they again get hold of the sacrifice. And this is his expiation of that (transgression); and so no wrong is committed by them and they are not cut off from the gods: for this reason they make amends on the prastara.
3:4:3:2020. Here now they say, 'On the anointed?--let them rather make amends on the unanointed 2!' They should indeed make amends on the un-anointed (prastara), since anointed it is thrown into the fire.
3:4:3:2121. They make amends 3 with, 'Desirable treasures (may come) forth for strength and well-being--the right for the right-saying'--whereby
he means to say, 'the truth for the truth-speaking;'--'Homage be to Heaven and to the Earth!' whereby they make amends to these two, heaven and earth, on whom this All is founded.
3:4:3:2222. Having then picked up the prastara, he says, 'Agnîdh, does the water boil? It boils,' replies the Agnîdh 1. 'Come hither with it!' He holds (the prastara) quite close over the fire. The reason why he does not throw it into the fire is that he (the sacrificer) is to perform therewith 2 during the days that follow; and in that he holds it quite close over the fire, thereby it is for him as if it were really thrown into the fire. He hands it to the Agnîdh, and the Agnîdh puts it aside (in a safe place).
Footnotes
97:2 The Avântaradîkshâ extends to the end of the sixth Brâhmana.
98:1 Our text has no verb; the Kânva recension reads 'auhanta.'
98:2 Viz. the dîkshâ, as symbolised by the zone (or the skin).
98:3 Viz. through Agni, or the Avântaradîkshâ.
99:1 The sacrificer's wife performs silently on and near the Gârhapatya fire the same ceremonies as her husband.
100:1 On the 'âpyâyana' (â-pyai,'to swell; make swell,' to strengthen, become strong, increase, fill), see part i, p. 178, note 2. According to Âpastamba and other authorities, they tie a piece of gold to their nameless (gold) finger, and touch the Soma with their moist hands.
101:1 Viz. the five priests--Brahman, Udgâtri, Hotri, Adhvaryu, and Âgnîdhra--and the sacrificer.
101:2 That is, as the seasons make the Soma-plant grow.
102:1 Ekadhana-vid; the meaning of 'ekadhana' (apparently 'one prize' or 'one part of the booty or goods') in this compound is not clear. The author of the Brâhmana seems to take it in its technical sense, viz. the ekadhana pitchers in which the ekadhanâ water, used for mixing with the Soma juice, is kept, see III, 9, 3; 16; 27; 34. According to Haug, Transl. Ait. Br. p. 114 notes, they are so called because the Adhvaryu throws one stalk of Soma (eka-dhana) into each pitcher to consecrate it.
102:2 This anticlimax is rather curious. The Kânva text reads: dasa dasa vâ ha smaisha ekaiko ’msur devân pratîndrâyaikadhanân âpyâyayanti (!) satam satam vâ tasmâd âhaikadhanavida iti.
103:1 Soma's throne stands south of the Âhavanîya fire, and in going to perform the âpyayanam upon him, the priests and sacrificer have to move round the fire, along the east side of it towards the south (the region of the Fathers).
103:2 This seems to be Sâyana's interpretation of the passage 'akte nihnuvîrā̃n anaktā̃i.' The two words, with their final syllable protracted, being intended to strongly contradict the preceding 'akte.' It is hardly possible to take the latter absolutely, 'it being anointed (when thrown into the fire), let them make amends on it while unanointed.' On the throwing of the prastara into the fire, see I, 8, 3, 17. The prastara referred to is that of the guest-offering (âtithyeshti), which was broken off after the Idâ ceremony (see III, 4, I, 26) and has to be completed after the present ceremony. Neither the prastara nor the barhis is burnt on this occasion.
103:3 In performing this propitiatory rite, the priests and sacrificer lay their hands on the prastara, either both of them with the palms upwards, or only the right one, and the left in the opposite way. Kâty. VIII, 2, 9. The latter mode is the one practised by the Taittirîyas. Sây. on Taitt. S. I, 2, 11.
104:1 According to the Kânva text, this conversation takes the place of the colloquy (samudita) held by the Adhvaryu and the Âgnîdhra, after the prastara has been thrown into the fire at the normal ishti; see I, 8, 3, 20.
104:2 Or, 'in the shape of it (tena),' the prastara representing the sacrificer himself. This sentence seems also to imply, that the sacrificer thereby continues to live during the days that follow.
THE UPASADS, OR HOMAGES.
FOURTH BRÂHMANA.
3:4:4:11. Verily the Upasads (homages or sieges) are the neck of the sacrifice, and the Pravargya is its head. Hence when it is performed with the Pravargya 3,
they perform the Upasads 1 after performing the Pravargya, and thereby they put the neck in its place.
3:4:4:22. The anuvâkyâs (invitatory prayers) in the forenoon are the yâgyâs (offering prayers) in the afternoon; and the yâgyâs are the anuvâkyâs 2. He thus interlinks them, whence those joints and those bones of the neck are interlinked.
3:4:4:33. Now the gods and the Asuras, both of them sprung from Pragâpati, were contending against each other 3. The Asuras then built themselves castles in these worlds,--an iron one in this world, a silver one in the air, and a golden one in the sky.
3:4:4:44. The gods then prevailed. They besieged them by these sieges (upasad); and because they besieged (upa-sad) them, therefore the name Upasads.
[paragraph continues] They clove the castles and conquered these worlds. Hence they say, 'A castle is conquered by siege;' for it is indeed by beleaguering that one of these human castles is taken.
3:4:4:55. By means of these sieges, then, the gods clove the castles and conquered these worlds. And so does this one (the sacrificer) now,--no one, it is true, builds for himself castles against him in this world; he cleaves these same worlds, he conquers these worlds: therefore he offers with the Upasads.
3:4:4:66. They have clarified butter for their offering material. For ghee is a thunderbolt, and by that thunderbolt, the ghee, the gods clove the strongholds and conquered these worlds. And so does he cleave these worlds by that thunderbolt, the ghee, and conquer these worlds; therefore they (the Upasads) have ghee for their offering material.
3:4:4:77. He takes eight times (ghee) in the guhû, and four times in the upabhrit; or conversely, they say, he is to take of it only four times in the guhû and eight times in the upabhrit 1.
3:4:4:88. He takes eight times in the guhû, and four times in the upabhrit. He thereby makes the thunderbolt heavy in front, and with that thunderbolt heavy in front he cleaves these worlds, and conquers these worlds.
3:4:4:99. Agni and Soma verily are yoke-fellows among the gods: for these two he takes (ghee) in common 2. For Vishnu (he takes) singly. He makes only the one libation (âghâra) which (he makes) with the dipping-spoon (sruva) 3. For when he has made
the northern (higher) libation he retires 1: 'May I conquer for conquest' so he thinks, and therefore he makes only the one libation, that with the dipping-spoon.
3:4:4:1010. When he has called on the Âgnîdhra) for the Sraushat,-- he does not elect the Hotri 2. 'Seat thee, O Hotri!' he says. The Hotri sits down on the Hotri's seat. Having sat down he urges the Adhvaryu; and he, thus urged, takes the two offering-spoons 3.
3:4:4:1111. While passing over (to the south side of the fire and altar) he says 4 (to the Hotri), 'Recite the invitatory prayer to Agni!' and having called for the Sraushat, he says, 'Pronounce the offering prayer to Agni!' and pours out the oblation when the Vashat is uttered.
3:4:4:1212. Thereupon he says, 'Recite the invitatory prayer to Soma!' and having called for the Sraushat, he says, 'Pronounce the offering prayer to Soma!' and pours out the oblation when the Vashat is uttered.
3:4:4:1313. Thereupon, while pouring the ghee which is in the upabhrit 5, together (with what is left in the guhû), he says, 'Recite the invitatory prayer to Vishnu!' and, having called for the Sraushat, he says, 'Pronounce the offering prayer to Vishnu!'
and pours out the oblation when the Vashat is uttered.
3:4:4:1414. The reason why in offering he remains standing in one and the same place, and does not move about as he is wont to do here in performing, is that he thinks 'I will conquer for conquest 1!' And the reason why he offers to those deities is that he thereby constructs the thunderbolt: Agni (he makes) the point (anîka), Soma the barb (salya), and Vishnu the connecting piece (kulmala) 2.
3:4:4:1515. For the thunderbolt is the year the day is Agni, the night Soma, and what is between the two, that is Vishnu. Thus he makes the revolving year.
3:4:4:1616. The thunderbolt is the year: by that year, as a thunderbolt, the gods clove the strongholds and conquered these worlds. And so does he now by that year, as a thunderbolt, cleave these worlds, and conquer these worlds. This is why he offers to those gods.
3:4:4:1717. Let him undertake three Upasads; for, there being three seasons in the year, it is thereby made of the form of the year: he thus makes up the year. He performs twice each.
3:4:4:1818. These amount to six; for, there being six seasons in the year, it is thereby made of the form of the year: he thus makes up the year.
3:4:4:1919. And should he undertake twelve Upasads,--there being twelve months in the year, it is thereby made of the form of the year: he thus makes up the year. He performs twice each.
3:4:4:2020. These amount to twenty-four;--there being twenty-four half-moons in the year, it is thereby made of the form of the year: he thus makes up the year.
3:4:4:2121. As to his performing in the evening and in the morning,--it is because only thus completeness is obtained. When he performs in the forenoon, then he gains the victory;--and when he performs in the afternoon, he does so that it may be a good (complete) victory;--and when he offers the Homa, (it is as if) people fight here for a stronghold, and having conquered it, they enter it as their own.
3:4:4:2222. When he performs (the upasads), he fights; and when (the performance) is completed, he conquers; and when he offers the Homa 1, he enters that (stronghold) now his own.
3:4:4:2323. He offers it (with the verse) with which he
will have to perform twice in one day 1 (Vâg. S. V, 8), 'What most excellent iron-clad body is thine, O Agni, established in the deep, it hath chased away the cruel word, it hath chased away the fearful word; Hail!' for such-like it was, it was indeed iron.
3:4:4:2424. Again he offers (with the verse) with which he will have to perform twice in one day, 'What most excellent silver-clad body is thine, O Agni, established in the deep, it hath chased away the cruel word, it hath chased away the fearful word; Hail!' for such-like it was, it was indeed silver.
3:4:4:2525. And again he offers (with the verse) with which he will have to perform twice in one day, 'What most excellent gold-clad body is thine, O Agni, established in the deep, it hath chased away the cruel word, it hath chased away the fearful word; Hail!' for such-like it was, it was indeed golden. If he undertakes twelve Upasads, let him perform each of them for four days.
3:4:4:2626. Now then of the fast-homages. Some Upasads get wider and wider, others narrower and narrower: those at which he milks out one (teat) 2 on the first day, then two, and then three, are those that get wider and wider; and those at which he
milks out three on the first day, then two, and then one, are those that get narrower and narrower. Those getting narrower and narrower are (as good as) those getting wider and wider; and those getting wider and wider are (as good as) those getting narrower and narrower.
3:4:4:2727. Verily, the world is conquered by austere devotion. Now, his devotion becomes ever and ever wider, he conquers an ever and ever more glorious world and becomes better even in this world, whosoever, knowing this, undertakes the Upasads that get narrower and narrower 1: let him, therefore, undertake the Upasads that get narrower and narrower. And should he undertake twelve Upasads, let him have three (teats) milked out for four days, two for four days, and one for four days.
Footnotes
104:3 The Pravargya, an offering of heated milk, which precedes each performance of the Upasads,--except at the first performance of the Soma-sacrifice, when it is prohibited by many authorities,--seems originally to have been an independent ceremony, and as such it is treated by most ritualistic books apart from the exposition of the Soma-cult. The Satapatha-brâhmana deals with it in XIV, 1-3 (Vâg. S. XXXIX). Its mystic significance appears to have been that of supplying the sacrificer with a new celestial body. There seems to have been a tendency towards exalting its p. 105 importance--if not, indeed, towards making it take the place of the Soma-cult. The hot milk (gharma) is even styled 'Samrâg' or supreme king--as against the title 'râgan' or king, assigned to Soma; and a throne is provided for it, just as for the latter. The rules for its performance, according to the Âpastamba Srauta-sûtra, have been published, with a translation, by Professor Garbe (Zeitsch. der D. M. G. XXXIV, p. 319 seq.). See also Haug's Transl. of the Ait. Br. pp. 41-43; Weber, Ind. Stud. IX. pp. 218-220.
105:1 The Upasadah, consisting of three offerings of ghee to Agni, Soma, and Vishnu, followed by a Homa, have to be performed twice daily, for at least three days (the normal number at the Agnishtoma). The first day's performance is called (from the corresponding Homa) the 'ayahsayâ' (lying in iron, made of iron), the second day's 'ragahsayâ' (silvern),and the third day's 'harisayâ' (golden). If there are six, or twelve Upasad days, each of the three varieties of performance has assigned to it an equal number of successive days; and if there are more than twelve the three varieties are to be performed alternately.
105:2 For the anuvâkyâs and yâgyâs, as well as the kindling-verses (sâmidhenîs) to be recited at the Upasads, see Ait. Br. I, 26; Âsv. IV, 8.
105:3 For other versions of this myth, see Ait. Br. I, 23; Taitt. S. VI, 2, 3.
106:1 This would be the regular mode of ladling. See 1, 3, 2, 8 seq.
106:3 For the two âghâra, or libations of ghee, made with the p. 107 sruva north of the fire and guhû south of the fire respectively, see I, 4, 4, 1 seq. At the Upasad-ishti neither fore-offerings (prayâga) nor after-offerings (anuyâga) are performed.
107:1 Viz. to the offering place on the south side of the fire. The covert meaning is that, were he to make the second libation, he would have to recede front the higher (uttara, northern) position already gained.
107:2 See I, 5, 1, 1 seq.
107:3 See I, 5, 2, 1 seq.
107:4 See I, 7, 2, 1 seq.
107:5 Of the ghee in the guhû (obtained from eight ladlings with the p. 108 sruva) he first offers one half each to Agni and Soma. Thereupon he pours the ghee from the upabhrit (obtained from four ladlings with the sruva) into the guhû and offers it to Vishnu.
108:1 'It is for conquest that he does not move about as he (does when he) performs here in any other sacrifice.' Kânva recension.
108:2 ? The socket; compare Ait. Br. I, 25, 'The gods constructed that arrow, the Upasads: Agni was its point (? anîka, shaft, Haug), Soma its barb (salya, steel, H.), Vishnu its shaft (teganam, point, H.), and Varuna its feathers (parna) . . . . For the arrow consists of three parts, anîka, salya, and tegana . . . . For the arrow consists of two parts, salya and tegana.' Here salya would seem to be the barbed head-piece (with the point, anîka), and tegana the shaft or reed of the arrow.
109:1 On the completion of each performance of the Upasad offerings, after the anointing of the prastara (see I, 8, 3, 11-14) and previously to taking up the enclosing-sticks (ib. 22), a homa (or guhoti) offering (part i, p. 263, note 2), called Upasad-homa, has to be performed with the dipping-spoon; the sacrificer holding on to Adhvaryu from behind, while the ghee is poured into the fire. Its performance over, the Upasads are brought to an end by a repetition of the ceremony with the prastara (which is not burnt) described above, III, 4, 3, 22, and the minor concluding ceremonies (I, 8, 3, 23 seq.; 9, 2, 19 seq.); whereupon the Subrahmanyâ litany (III, 3, 4, 17) is recited.
110:1 While the Hotri, as we saw (parag. 2, above), uses the same two verses twice in one day, viz. one for the anuvâkyâ in the morning and for the yâgyâ in the afternoon; and the other for the yâgyâ in the morning and for the anuvâkyâ in the evening,--the Adhvaryu is to use the three formulas here mentioned on the three Upasad days respectively, both at the morning and afternoon performances.
110:2 Viz. of the vratadughâ, or cow supplying his fast-milk. The milk so obtained is to be his only food during the Upasad days.
111:1 The simile is apparently taken from the arrow, which pierces the deeper the more pointed it is; cf. parag. 14, above; Ait. Br. I, 25. Also Taitt. S. VI, 2, 3, 5, where a goad (âra?) is compared.
PREPARATION OF THE SOMA ALTAR WITH THE HIGH ALTAR 2.
FIFTH ADHYÂYA. FIRST BRÂHMANA.
3:5:1:11. From that post which is the largest on the east side (of the hall) 3 he now strides three steps forwards (to the east), and there drives in a peg,--this is the intermediate (peg) 4.
3:5:1:22. From that middle peg he strides fifteen steps to the right, and there drives in a peg,--this is the right hip.
3:5:1:33. From that middle peg he strides fifteen steps northwards, and there drives in a peg,--this is the left hip.
3:5:1:44. From that middle peg he strides thirty-six steps eastwards, and there drives in a peg,--this is the fore-part 1.
3:5:1:55. From that middle peg (in front) he strides twelve steps to the right, and there drives in a peg, this is the right shoulder.
3:5:1:66. From that middle peg he strides twelve steps to the north, and there drives in a peg,--this is the left shoulder. This is the measure of the altar.
3:5:1:77. Now the reason why it is thirty steps broad behind is this: the Virâg metre consists of thirty syllables, and by means of the Virâg the gods obtained a firm footing in this world; and even so does he now, by means of the Virâg, obtain a firm footing in this world.
3:5:1:88. But there may also be thirty-three (steps); for of thirty-three syllables also consists the Virâg; and by means of the Virâg, he obtains a firm footing in this world.
3:5:1:99. Then as to why the 'easterly line 2' is thirty-six steps long;--the Brihatî consists of thirty-six syllables, and by means of the Brihatî the gods obtained
the heavenly world: and so does he now, by means of the Brihatî, obtain the heavenly world and that offering-fire (Âhavanîya) of his is in the sky.
3:5:1:1010. And as to (the altar) being twenty-four steps broad in front;--the Gâyatrî consists of twenty-four syllables, and the Gâyatrî is the fore-part of the sacrifice: this is why it is twenty-four steps broad in front. This is the measure of the altar.
3:5:1:1111. And why it is broader behind,--'Wider behind, broad-hipped,' thus they praise a woman. And by its being wider behind, he makes that womb at the hind-part (of the altar) wider, and from that wider womb these creatures are born.
3:5:1:1212. That high altar (Uttaravedi 1) is the nose of the sacrifice; because they throw it up so as to be higher than the altar, therefore it is called 'high altar.'
3:5:1:1313. Now, in the beginning there were two kinds of beings here, the Âdityas and the Aṅgiras. The Aṅgiras then were the first to prepare a sacrifice, and having prepared the sacrifice they said to Agni, 'Announce thou to the Âdityas this our to-morrow's Soma-feast, saying, "Minister ye at this sacrifice of ours!"'
3:5:1:1414. The Âdityas spake (to one another), 'Contrive ye how the Aṅgiras shall minister unto us, and not we unto the Aṅgiras!'
3:5:1:1515. They said, 'Verily by nothing but sacrifice is there a way out of this 2: let us undertake another
[paragraph continues] Soma-feast!' They brought together the (materials for) sacrifice, and having made ready the sacrifice, they said, 'Agni, thou hast announced to us a Soma-feast for to-morrow; but we announce to thee and the Aṅgiras a Soma-feast even for to-day: it is for us that thou art (to officiate as) Hotri 1!'
3:5:1:1616. They sent back some other (messenger) to the Aṅgiras; but the Aṅgiras going after Agni, were exceeding angry with him, saying, 'Going as our messenger, why didst thou not mind us 2?'
3:5:1:1717. He spake, 'The blameless chose me: as the chosen of the blameless, I could not go away.' And let not therefore the chosen (priest) of a blameless man turn away from him. The Aṅgiras then officiated for the Âdityas in the sacrifice with Soma bought (krî) on the same day (sadyas); whence this Sadyahkrî 3.
3:5:1:1818. They brought Vâk (speech) to them for their sacrificial fee. They accepted her not, saying, 'We shall be losers if we accept her.' And so the performance of that sacrifice was not discharged (completed), as it was one requiring a sacrificial fee.
3:5:1:1919. Thereupon they brought Sûrya (the sun) to them, and they accepted him. Wherefore the Aṅgiras say, 'Verily, we are fit for the sacrificial office, we are worthy to receive Dakshinâs; yea, even he that burns yonder has been received by us 4!'
[paragraph continues] Hence a white horse is the sacrificial fee for the Sadyahkrî.
3:5:1:2020. On the front of this (horse) there is a golden ornament, whereby it is made an image of him that burns yonder.
3:5:1:2121. Now Vâk was angry with them: 'In what respect, forsooth, is that one better than I,--wherefore is it, that they should have accepted him and not me 1?' So saying she went away from them. Having become a lioness she went on seizing upon (everything 2) between those two contending parties, the gods and the Asuras. The gods called her to them, and so did the Asuras. Agni was the messenger of the gods, and one Saharakshas for the Asura-Rakshas.
3:5:1:2222. Being willing to go over to the gods, she said, 'What would be mine, if I were to come over to you?'--'The offering shall reach thee even before (it reaches) Agni.' She then said to the gods, 'Whatsoever blessing ye will invoke through me, all that shall be accomplished unto you!' So she went over to the gods.
3:5:1:2323. And, accordingly, when he pours ghee on the high altar 3, while the fire is held (over it)--since the gods said to her on that occasion, 'The offering shall reach thee even before Agni'--then that offering does reach her even before (it reaches) Agni; for this (high altar) is in reality Vâk. And when he raises
the high altar, it is for the completeness of the sacrifice, for the sacrifice is Vâk (speech) and that (high altar) is Vâk.
3:5:1:2424. He measures it with the yoke and pin;--namely with the yoke (that place) whither they take (the earth); and with a yoke-pin that, from whence they take (the earth 1), for the team is harnessed with the yoke and the pin: it is because she (Vâk), as a lioness, at that time roamed about unappeased that he thus yokes her here at the sacrifice.
3:5:1:2525. One must not therefore accept a Dakshinâ (sacrificial fee) that has been refused (by another priest 2), for, having turned into a lioness, it destroys him;--nor must he (the sacrificer) take it home again, for, having turned into a lioness, it destroys him;--nor must he give it to any one else, as he would thereby make over the sacrifice to some one other than himself. Hence if he have any wretched kinsman, let him give it to him; for in that he gives it away, it will not turn into a lioness and destroy him; and in that he gives it to a kinsman, he does not make over (the sacrifice) to one other than himself: and this is the settling of a refused Dakshinâ.
3:5:1:2626. He now takes the yoke-pin and the wooden sword; and from where the northern peg of the front side is, he strides three steps backwards and there marks off the pit (kâtvâla). The measure for the pit is the same (as for the high altar) 3; there
is no (other) measure in regard to it: wherever he himself may think fit in his mind (to fix it), in front of the heap of rubbish (utkara), there let him mark off the pit.
3:5:1:2727. From the (north) edge of the altar he lays down the pin from south to north, and draws the (western) outline, with the text (Vâg. S. V, 9), 'Thou art for me the resort of the afflicted!' Thereby he means this (earth), for it is thereon that he walks afflicted.
3:5:1:2828. Thereupon he lays down the pin in front from south to north, and draws the outline with, 'Thou art my wealth-resort.' Thereby he means this (earth), for it is thereon that he walks having acquired (wealth).
3:5:1:2929. He then lays down the pin along the (north) edge of the altar from west to east, and draws the outline with, 'Preserve me from being in want 1!' Thereby he means this (earth): 'Wherever there is want, from that preserve me!'
3:5:1:3030. He then lays down the pin on the north side from west to east, and draws the outline with, 'Preserve me from being afflicted 1!' Thereby he
means this (earth): 'wherever there is affliction, from that preserve me!'
3:5:1:3131. He then flings (the wooden sword) 1; at the place where he flings 2, the Agnîdh sits. He flings while mentioning the names of the Agnis 3. For those (three) Agnis whom the gods at first chose for the office of Hotri passed away: they crept into these very earths,--namely, into this one and the two beyond it. It is really with this one 4 that he now flings.
3:5:1:3232. He flings with the texts, 'May the Agni called Nabhas 5 know (thee)! Go thou, O Agni, Aṅgiras, with the name of Âyu (life)!' What life they passed away from 6 that he bestows, that he re-animates. Having with, 'Thou who art in this earth,' taken (the loose soil dug up by the wooden sword), he puts it down (on the altar 7), with, 'Whatever inviolate, holy name of thine,
therewith I lay thee down!' whereby he means to say, 'whatever holy name, unviolated by the Rakshas, is thine, thereby I lay thee down 1.'--With 'Thee, moreover, for the delight of the gods,' he takes (earth) a fourth time 2; whereby he means to say, 'I take thee well-pleasing to the gods.' He takes that (high altar) from a quadrangular pit, for there are four quarters: thus he takes it from all the four quarters.
3:5:1:3333. Thereupon he shifts (the earth) asunder, with the text (Vâg. S. V, 10), 'Thou art a lioness, overcoming the enemies; be thou meet for the gods!' Inasmuch as, on that occasion, she became a lioness and roamed about unappeased, therefore he says to her, 'Thou art a lioness;' and by 'overcoming the enemies' he means to say, 'Through thee may we worst our enemies.' 'Be thou meet for the gods' he says, because the high altar is a woman: her he thus renders meet for the gods.
3:5:1:3434. He makes it on each side either of the size of the yoke, or ten feet of the sacrificer's 3; for the
[paragraph continues] Virâg consists of ten syllables, and the Virâg is speech, and the sacrifice is speech. In the middle 1 he makes, as it were, a navel, thinking, 'Seated in one and the same place, I shall sprinkle (ghee) all round 2.'
3:5:1:3535. He sprinkles it with water: inasmuch as, on that occasion, she became a lioness and roamed about unappeased--water being (a means of) appeasement--he appeases her with water. And, the high altar being a woman, he thereby fits her for the gods: this is why he sprinkles it with water.
3:5:1:3636. He sprinkles it with, 'Thou art a lioness, overcoming the enemies: get thee pure for the gods!' He then bestrews it with gravel. Now gravel certainly is an ornament, because gravel is rather shining. And that gravel being the ashes of Agni Vaisvânara, he is now about to place Agni thereon, and so Agni does not injure it: this is why he bestrews it with gravel. He bestrews it with, 'Thou art a lioness, overcoming the enemies: array thee for the gods!' He then covers it 3, and thus covered it remains during that night.
Footnotes
111:2 The preparation of the special altars--viz. the large Soma altar (mahâ-vedi, or saumikî-vedi) and the 'high altar' (uttara-vedi) on the former--takes place on the last but one Upasad day, after the morning performance of the Upasads.
111:3 This post stands in the middle of the east door of the hall or Prâkîna-vamsa, just in front of the Âhavanîya-fire. See p. 3, note 2.
111:4 Antahpâta, lit. 'falling within or between,' because it stands p. 112 between the (new) altar and the Prâkîna-vamsa fires and altar. See III, 5, 2, 2.
112:1 That is, the middle of the front side of the altar, or, as it were, its head, where the 'high altar' is to be raised.
112:2 The 'prâkî' is the line drawn from the middle of the west side to that of the front side of the altar, forming as it were the spine (prishthyâ) of the altar.
113:1 On the uttara-vedi (lit. 'higher, upper altar'), now about to be raised on the fore-part of the great altar (mahâ-vedi or saumikî vedi) described in the preceding paragraphs, see also part i, p. 392 note.
113:2 The Kânva MS. reads, nâpakramanam astv iti, which, if correct, p. 114 would mean, 'Let there be no going away!' i.e. 'Let us not go (to the Aṅgiras)!' or perhaps, 'Do not thou (Agni) go away!'
114:1 Teshâm nas tvam hotâsîti, perhaps 'thou wilt sacrifice for us.'
114:2 'Sent by us, why didst thou not return?' Kânva rec.
114:3 An ekâha (one day's) performance of the Soma-sacrifice at which the consecrations, buying and pressing of Soma, are compressed into one day.
114:4 Api vâ asmâbhir esha pratigrihîtah, 'Ist doch jener von uns empfangen worden.'
115:1 The Kânva text reads, Na mad esha kena kana sreyan iti na bandhunâ na kena kana katham etam pragrihnîyur na mâm iti; 'That one is not my superior by anything, not by kinship, not by anything, why should they accept him and not me?'
115:2 Âdadânâ kakâra = gighatsayâ samîpastham sarvam svîkurvatî, Sây.
116:1 That is to say, the pit (kâtvâla) whence the earth for the high altar is taken is measured with the yoke-pin, and the high altar with the yoke. Sâyana seems to take it differently: Yatra yasmin dese yugena haranti yato yasmât tatra samyayâpi haranti.
116:2 Or perhaps, one must not take back a Dakshinâ, refused by a priest.
116:3 The earth taken from the pit being used for constructing the p. 117 high altar, both are of the same size or cubic content. The pit is to measure thirty-two aṅgulas (about two feet) on each side. As to the exact distance of the pit from the north-east peg, this is to be left to the discretion of the Adhvaryu, provided it be in front of the utkara, or heap of rubbish formed in making the large altar (on which the high altar is raised), and a passage be left between the utkara and the pit. The latter is contiguous to the north edge of the large altar. As described in the succeeding paragraphs, the west side is marked off first (by drawing the wooden sword along the inner side of the yoke-pin), then successively the front, the south, and the north sides.
117:1 For 'nâthitât' and 'vyathitât,' the Kânva text, as the Taitt. S. VI, 2, 7, 2, has the readings 'nâthitam' and 'vyathitam.'
118:1 Compare the Stambayagur-haranam (which has also to be performed on the present occasion, in preparing the large altar), I, 2, 4, 8 seq.
118:2 That is, at the place where the uttaravedi is to be raised, whence the Adhvaryu throws the sphya to where the pit is to be dug. While he throws (or thrusts in) the wooden sword, the sacrificer has to take hold of him from behind.
118:3 See I, 2, 3, 1.
118:4 I.e. with the Agni who entered into this earth.
118:5 Apparently 'vapour, welkin.' The Kânva rec. reads, 'Mayest thou know Agni's name Nabhas' (Vider Agner, &c.). The Taitt. S., on the other hand, reads 'vider Agnir nabho nâma,' which Sâyana explains by 'the Agni of the vedi (!) is Nabhas by name.'
118:6 Yat prâdhanvams tad âyur dadhâti. Perhaps we ought to read with the Kânva text, Vat prâdhanvat tad asminn âyur dadhâti tad enam samîrayati, 'the life which passed away (?), that he bestows on him, therewith he re-animates him.'
118:7 He throws it on the fore-part of the altar, close to the peg marking the middle of the front side, where the 'high altar' is to be raised on it.
119:1 He repeats the same ceremony a second and a third time with the same texts, except that, instead of 'Thou who art in this earth,' he says, 'Thou who art in the second (third) earth.'
119:2 He takes with the spade as much as is required to make the high altar of the proper size.
119:3 This statement seems to have greatly puzzled the later ritualists, as Kâty. V, 3, 32-35 and the comments thereon show. In rule 32 it is laid down, in accordance with paragraph 26 above, that the Adhvaryu is to make the high altar of the size of the yoke-pin and the pit, i.e. about two feet square. The next rule then leaves an option between four other measurements, viz. he may make it either one third of the area of the large altar, or of unlimited size, or of the size of the yoke (86 aṅgulas = c. 5-5½ feet) or of ten of the sacrificer's feet. This latter measurement is explained rather ingeniously by Harisvâmin, as meaning that the high altar is to form p. 120 an oblong of three feet by one foot, when, in counting the number of sides of the three squares thus obtained, we obtain ten sides of one foot each. However, the repetition of 'dasa' in our text--which can only mean 'ten feet on each side'--does not favour this explanation, The last two alternatives, according to rules 34-35, only apply to the Soma-sacrifice, because otherwise the altar (as in the case of the 'northern altar' at the Kâturmâsya, cf. part i, p. 392) would not be large enough to contain a 'high altar' of that size.
120:1 The Kânva text wants it to be made at the back (gaghanena).
120:2 When he makes the libation of ghee on the high altar (III, 5, 2, 9-14 he pours it on the four corners of the 'navel' and thereby, as it were, on the whole 'high altar.'
120:3 Viz. with branches of udumbara or plaksha (see III, 8, 3, 10), or with darbha grass.
THE AGNI-PRANAYANA, OR LEADING FORWARD OF THE FIRE 1 TO THE HIGH ALTAR.
SECOND BRÂHMANA.
3:5:2:11. They put fire-wood on (the Âhavanîya fire), and prepare the underlayer (of gravel 2). He (the Adhvaryu) puts the butter on (the Gârhapatya to melt), and cleans both the dipping-spoon and the offering-spoon. Having then clarified the ghee, he ladles five times thereof (into the offering-spoon). When the fire-wood is ablaze-
3:5:2:22. They lift the (burning) fire-wood, and place it on the underlayer 3. Thereupon he says (to the Hotri), 'Recite for Agni as he is taken forward 4!' (and to the Pratiprasthâtri), 'Come up after me with the single sword(-line)!' The Pratiprasthâtri goes up after him with the single sword(-line) as far
as that middle peg on the hind-part of the altar 1: whatever part of the Gârhapatya 2 is cut off from the altar by that intermediate (peg), that he thereby carries on to (connects with) it.
3:5:2:33. Now some walk up behind (and draw a line) as far as the high altar; but let him not do that: let him walk up only as far as that middle peg. They proceed and come up to the high altar 3.
3:5:2:44. The Adhvaryu takes the sprinkling-water. He first sprinkles (the high altar) in front, while standing (south of it) facing the north, with the text (Vâg. S. V, 11), 'May Indra's noise 4 shield thee in front with the Vasus!' whereby he means to say, 'May Indra's noise protect thee in front with the Vasus.'
3:5:2:55. He then sprinkles it behind with, 'May the Wise 5 shield thee from behind with the Rudras!' whereby he means to say, 'May the Wise One protect thee from behind with the Rudras!'
3:5:2:66. He then sprinkles on the right (south) side with, 'May the Thought-swift shield thee with the Fathers on the right!' whereby he means
to say, 'May he swift as thought 1 protect thee on the right with the Fathers!'
3:5:2:77. He then sprinkles on the left side with, 'May Visvakarman (the All-shaper) shield thee with the Âdityas on the left!' whereby he means to say, 'May Visvakarman protect thee on the left with the Âdityas!'
3:5:2:88. The sprinkling-water which is left he pours outside the altar close to where is the southern of those two front corners (of the high altar) with, 'This burning water I dismiss from the sacrifice.' Because she (Vâk--the altar) on that occasion became a lioness and roamed about unappeased 2, he thus dismisses from the sacrifice that sorrow of hers,--if he do not wish to exorcise. But should he wish to exorcise, let him indicate it by saying, 'This burning water I dismiss from the sacrifice against so and so!' He then smites him with that sorrow, and sorrowing he goes to yonder world.
3:5:2:99. Now as to why he pours ghee on the high altar, while the fire is held (over it). Because the gods said to her on that occasion, 'The offering shall reach thee before Agni,' therefore the offering now does reach her before (it reaches) Agni. And because she said to the gods, 'Whatsoever blessing ye will invoke through me, all that shall be accomplished unto you!' therefore the priests now invoke through her that blessing upon the sacrificer, and it is fully accomplished unto him.
3:5:2:1010. When he pours ghee on the high altar, he
does it twofold even while doing it in one 1. Now that which is the southern of the two front corners of that navel, so to say, which is in the middle of these (sides of the high altar)--
3:5:2:1111. On that 2 he pours ghee, with the text (Vâg. S. V, 12), 'Thou art a lioness; Hail!' Then on the northern of the two back corners with, 'Thou art a lioness, winning the Âdityas 3, Hail!' Then on the southern of the two back corners with, 'Thou art a lioness, winning the Brahman, winning the Kshatra, Hail!' Manifold, verily, is the prayer for blessing in the sacrificial texts: by this one he prays 4 for the Brahman (priesthood) and the Kshatra. (nobility), those two vital forces.
3:5:2:1212. Then on the northern of the front corners with, 'Thou art a lioness, winning abundant offspring, winning growth of wealth, Hail!' In that he says, 'winning abundant offspring,' he prays for offspring; and in that he says, 'winning growth of wealth'--growth of wealth meaning abundance--he prays for abundance.
3:5:2:1313. He then pours ghee into the middle with, 'Thou art a lioness, bring thou hither the gods for the sacrificer! Hail!' whereby he causes the gods to be brought to the sacrificer. He then raises the offering-spoon with, 'To the
beings thee! Hail!'--beings meaning offspring--he thereby means to say, 'To offspring thee!'
3:5:2:1414. He then lays the enclosing-sticks 1 round (the navel); with the text (Vâg. S. V, 13), 'Thou art firm, steady thou the earth!' the middle one; with, 'Thou art firmly settled, steady thou the air!' the right one; with, 'Thou art immovably settled, steady thou the sky!' the left one. With, 'Thou art Agni's provision' he throws the 'equipments' upon (the high altar). Wherefore are the equipments?--for Agni's completeness.
3:5:2:1515. The pine-wood, namely, is his body 2: hence in that there are enclosing-sticks of pine-wood, thereby he supplies him with a body, makes him whole.
3:5:2:1616. And the bdellium, forsooth, is his flesh: hence in that there is bdellium, thereby he supplies him with flesh, makes him whole.
3:5:2:1717. And the fragrant reed-grass (sugandhi-tegana), forsooth, is his fragrance: hence in that there is fragrant reed-grass, thereby he supplies him with fragrance, makes him whole.
3:5:2:1818. And as to why there is a wether's hair-tuft,--Agni, forsooth, dwelt once for one night between the two horns of a wether: 'Whatever of Agni's nature is inherent therein, let that be here too,' so he thinks, and therefore there is a wether's hair-tuft. Let him, therefore, cut off that (tuft) which is nearest to the head, and bring it; and if he be unable to procure that, let him bring any kind (of wether's hair). And why there are enclosing-sticks?--for the
protection (of Agni): for it is somewhat long before the next enclosing-sticks will come nigh to him 1.
Footnotes
121:1 The transferring of the Âhavanîya fire to the high altar takes place in the forenoon of the last Upasad day (that is, on the day preceding the pressing day, and called upavasatha, or preparation day). It is preceded by the double or combined performance of the Upasad offerings (one of which took place in the afternoon on the two preceding days).
121:2 Some gravel is put in a pan for the burning wood to lie upon, when it is to be transferred from the Âhavanîya to the new altar. The Taittirîyas mix with the gravel one-fourth part of the dust of the foot-print of the Soma-cow (III, 3, 1, 6), the other three parts being used respectively for anointing the axle of the Soma-cart (III, 5, 3, 13), for the underlayer of the Âgnîdhra fire (III, 6, 3, 4), and for scattering about behind the Gârhapatya (III, 6, 3, 4-7).
121:3 Lit. they lift the underlayer underneath (the burning wood).
121:4 For the eight verses (or twelve, the first and last being recited thrice each) which the Hotri has to repeat while the fire is carried eastward and laid down on the high altar, see Ait. Br. I, 28; Âsv. Sr. II, 17. For the Brahman's duties, see Kâty. XI, 1, 9.
122:2 The Âhavanîya or offering fire being now transferred to the new altar, the old Âhavanîya hearth is henceforward used as Gârhapatya; and a line is drawn from it up to the antahpâta, marking the middle of the west side of the great altar.
122:3 In 'leading forwards' the fire they proceed along the north side of the large altar.
122:4 Indraghoshá, perhaps 'India's name;' Mahîdhara and Sâyana take it as 'he who is noised abroad as Indra' (i.e. called Indra), which, however, would require the accent 'índraghosha.' Perhaps 'the noise of Indra' means Agni, the roaring fire: for Agni and the Vasus, see III, 4, 2, 1.
123:1 'Manogavas' is taken by Mahîdhara and Sâyana as referring to Yama.
123:2 'Sokantî (sorrowing),' Kânva rec.
124:1 Viz. by pouring the ghee cross-wise on the corners of the 'navel' of the altar.
124:2 The south-east is sacred to Agni, the north-west to Vâyu.
124:4 But for the lack of a demonstrative pronoun with âsîh one would like to take the passage thus: 'Plenteous, forsooth, is this prayer for blessing among sacrificial texts: he thereby prays for the priesthood and the nobility.' Cf. I, 2, 1, 7.
125:1 They are of pîtudâru (Pinus Deodora) wood, a span (of thumb and fore-finger) long.
125:2 The Kânva text makes it his bones.
126:1 Ordinarily the laying round of the paridhis takes place immediately before the fire is kindled for the offering; but as the next offering is not to come off for some time, the fire would be without a protection, if he were to leave it without the enclosing-sticks. Sâyana takes 'dûre' in the sense of 'in a long time,' as above; but it might be taken of space 'far off,' when the passage would refer to the offering about to be performed on the old Âhavanîya (III, 5, 3, 10 seq.); and it may be noticed in reference to this point, that, according to Kâty. VIII, 3, 30, that fire does not become the Gârhapatya till immediately after that offering.
CONSTRUCTION OF SHEDS, AND PREPARATION OF PRESSING-PLACE AND HEARTHS (DHISHNYAS).
THIRD BRÂHMANA.
3:5:3:11. The sacrifice is a man; it is a man for the reason that a man spreads (prepares) it. In being spread it is made just as large 2 as a man: this is why the sacrifice is a man.
3:5:3:22. The Soma-cart (shed) is no other than his head, and has Vishnu for its deity 3. And because Soma is therein--Soma being havis (material for offering) for the gods--therefore it is called Havirdhâna (receptacle of havis).
3:5:3:33. The Âhavanîya is no other than his mouth: hence, when he offers on the Âhavanîya, it is as if he poured (food) into the mouth.
3:5:3:44. The sacrificial stake is no other than his crest-lock; and the Âgnîdhrîya and Mârgâlîya 4 are his arms.
3:5:3:55. The Sadas 1 (tent for the priests) is no other than his belly: wherefore they feed in the Sadas, for whatever food is eaten here on earth all that settles down here in the belly. And because all the gods sat (sad) in it therefore it is called Sadas: and so do these Brahmans of every family now sit therein.
3:5:3:66. And the two fires which are behind 2 it are his feet. In being spread it is made just as large as a man: this is why the sacrifice is a man.
3:5:3:77. The cart-shed has doors on both sides; and so has the Sadas doors on both sides: hence this man is perforated from one end to the other. He steps to the Soma-carts when they have been -washed down.
3:5:3:88. They turn them round, the southern one on the south side, and the northern one on the north side 3. The larger of the two should be the southern (or right) one 4.
3:5:3:99. Over them, having been turned round (and placed on the altar), they put a mat of reed-grass; or, if he cannot procure a reed-mat, a frame of split cane
made in like manner as a reed-mat. They fasten a front-band (to the posts of the front door 1). They enclose (the carts) within two upright hurdles; and lay a (second) reed-mat, or a frame of split cane made in like manner as a reed-mat, behind (the first mat 2).
taken ghee in four ladlings, he makes offering to Savitri for his impulsion, for Savitri is the impeller (prasavitri) of the gods: 'We will perform the sacrifice, for one impelled by Savitri,' thus (the priest thinks and) therefore he makes offering to Savitri.
3:5:3:1111. He offers with the text (Vâg. S. V, 14; Rig-veda V, 81, 1), 'They harness the mind and they harness the thoughts'--with the mind and with speech they truly perform the sacrifice. When he says, 'They harness the mind,' he harnesses the mind; and when he says, 'and they harness the thoughts (dhî),' he harnesses speech; for it is thereby 1 that people seek to make their living in accordance with their respective intelligence (dhî), either by reciting (the Veda), or by readiness of speech, or by songs,--with these two thus harnessed they perform the sacrifice.
3:5:3:1212. 'The priests of the priest, of the great inspirer of devotion,'--the learned Brâhmans versed in sacred writ, truly, are the priests: it is regarding them that he says this. And 'of the great inspirer of devotion 2,'--the great inspirer of devotion, truly, is the sacrifice: it is regarding the sacrifice that he says this. 'The knower of rites alone hath assigned the priestly offices,' for, in performing
the sacrifice, they indeed assign the priestly offices. 'Great is the praise of the divine Savitri; Hail!' Thus he offers to Savitri for his impulsion.
3:5:3:1313. Having then taken ghee a second time in four ladlings, he walks out (of the hall by the front door). The (sacrificer's) wife is led out by the south door. He then lays down a piece of gold in the right wheel-track of the southern Sonia-cart, and offers thereon, with (Vâg. S. V, 15; Rig-veda I, 22, 17), 'Vishnu strode through this(universe),thrice he put down his foot: it is enveloped in his dust; Hail!' The residue (of ghee) he pours into the wife's hand. She anoints the burning (part) of the axle 1 with (Vâg. S. V, 17), 'Audible to the gods, announce ye unto the gods!' He hands to his assistant both the offering-spoon and the melting-pot. They lead the wife round by the back of the two fires 2.
3:5:3:1414. Having taken ghee in four ladlings, the assistant lays down a piece of gold in the right wheel-track of the northern Soma-cart, and offers thereon, with (Vâg. S. V, 16; Rig-veda VII, 99, 3), 'Be ye too abundant in food and milch kine and pastures, through benevolence to man! Thou proppedst asunder these two worlds, O Vishnu; with beams of light didst thou hold fast 3 the earth on all sides; Hail!' The residue (of ghee) he pours into the wife's hand. She anoints the burning (part) of the axle with,
[paragraph continues] 'Audible to the gods, announce ye unto the gods!' Then as to why he thus offers.
3:5:3:1515. Now, once on a time, the gods, while performing sacrifice, were afraid of an attack on the part of the Asura-Rakshas; and, the ghee being a thunderbolt, they kept off the evil spirits from the south by that thunderbolt, the ghee; and thus they came not after them on their way. And in like manner does he now keep off the evil spirits from the south by that thunderbolt, the ghee; and thus they do not come after him on his way. And the reason why he offers with two verses relating to Vishnu, is that the Soma-cart belongs to Vishnu.
3:5:3:1616. And in that the wife anoints the burning (part) of the axle, thereby a productive union is effected; for when woman and man become heated, the seed flows, and thereupon birth takes place. She anoints in a direction away (from the cart), for away the seed is cast. He then says (to the Hotri), 'Recite to the Soma-carts as they are wheeled forward 1!'
3:5:3:1717. He makes (the sacrificer) say, 'Go ye both forward, furthering the cult!' The cult, namely, is the sacrifice: 'go ye both forward, furthering the sacrifice' he thereby means to say. 'Convey ye the sacrifice upward; lead it not astray 2!' whereby he means to say, 'convey this sacrifice upward to the world of the gods;' and by saying 'lead it not astray,' he prays for this (sacrificer) that he may not
stumble. Let them wheel (the carts) forward, as it were lifting them, so that they may not creak; for of the Asuras is that voice which is in the axle 1: 'Lest the Asuras’ voice should speak here!' so he thinks. But if they should creak,--
3:5:3:1818. Let him make (the sacrificer) say this, 'Speak ye unto your own cow-pen, ye divine resorts; speak not my life away, speak not my offspring away!' This, then, is the expiation thereof.
3:5:3:1919. As to this they say, 'Let him stride three steps from the high altar westward and make the Soma-carts stop there: this is the measure for the Soma-carts.' But there is no (fixed) measure in this; wherever he himself may think fit in his mind, only not too near 2, nor too far (from the high altar), there let him stop them.
3:5:3:2020. He salutes them with, 'May ye rejoice here on the height of the earth!' for this (altar) is verily the height 3 (top) of the earth, since his offering-fire is in the heaven. He makes them rest on their naves 4 for that is the appearance of repose.
3:5:3:2121. The Adhvaryu, having gone round along the north side (of the carts), props the southern cart, with (Vâg. S. V, 18; Rig-veda I, 154, 1), 'Now will I declare the heroic deeds of Vishnu, who measured out the earthly regions; who propped the upper seat, striding thrice, the wide-stepping! For Vishnu (I prop) thee!' He fixes the prop in a different place from where (it is fixed) in ordinary practice 1.
3:5:3:2222. The assistant then props the northern cart, with (Vâg. S. V, 19), 'Either from the heaven, O Vishnu, or from the earth, or from the great, wide airy region, O Vishnu, fill both thine hands with wealth and bestow on us from the right and the left! For Vishnu thee!' He fixes the prop in a different place from where (it is fixed) in ordinary practice. The reason why he performs with prayers to Vishnu is that the Soma-cart belongs to Vishnu.
3:5:3:2323. He then makes (the sacrificer) say, after touching the middle reed-mat 2 (Vâg. S. V, 20; Rig-veda I, 154, 2), 'Let Vishnu then be praised for his power, terrible like a wild beast prowling about the mountains, on whose three wide strides all beings abide!' Now that (mat-covering) indeed is his (Vishnu, the shed's) upper skull-bone 3
for thereon, as it were, the other skull-bones rest: this is why he says 'they abide on.'
3:5:3:2424. Thereupon he makes him say, after touching the front-band (Vâg. S. V, 2), 'Thou art Vishnu's fillet;' for it indeed is his fillet. He then makes him say, after touching the two upright hurdles, 'Ye are the corners of Vishnu's mouth;' for they indeed are the corners of his mouth. Then that mat which is behind there, that indeed is that skull-bone of his here behind (viz. the occiput).
3:5:3:2525. With 'Thou art Vishnu's sewer 1,' he sews (the hurdles to the four door posts) with cord by means of a wooden pin. With, 'Thou art Vishnu's fixed (point) 2,' he then makes a knot, 'lest it should fall asunder.' That same (knot) he undoes when the work is completed; and thus disease 3 befalls not either the Adhvaryu or the Sacrificer. The completed (cart-shed) he touches with, 'Thou art Vishnu's own,' for the Soma-cart (and shed) belongs to Vishnu.
Footnotes
126:2 Yâvat-tâvat would rather seem to mean here 'of corresponding (or relatively the same) proportions' as a man, viz. as the respective sacrificer. 'Sa vai tâyamâno yâvân eva purushas tâvân vidhîyate, purushasyaiva vidhâm anu.' Kânva rec.
126:3 Soma himself is Vishnu.
127:2 That is, the (old) Âhavanîya and Gârhapatya fires of the Prâkîna-vamsa.
127:3 The southern (and larger) cart is under the charge of the Adhvaryu and the northern one under that of his assistant, the Pratiprasthâtri. Each now drives his cart westward along the south and north sides respectively; and when they are opposite the hall (sâla), they make the carts turn round from left to right; whereupon they drive back to the altar, and place them thereon with the shafts towards the east, near the antahpâta ('intermediate' peg, see III, 5, 1, 1), south and north of the 'spine' (cf. p. 112, note 2), each at the distance of one cubit from the latter.
128:1 It is not clear to me whether the arrangements mentioned in this paragraph refer to the carts in the first place, and have then to be repeated after the shed has been erected, or whether, as I think, some of them refer to the shed only. Even at the time of the Kâty. Sûtras there seems to have been some confusion in this respect, and the rules VIII, 4, 7-12 (10-15, in edition) were entirely misunderstood by the commentator. It is, however, certain that the carts were covered with mats, previously to being shifted from the back to the front part of the altar. As regards the shed, it seems to have been constructed in the following way. In front of the carts, as well as behind them, beams are driven into the ground, six on each side, according to Sâyana on T. S. I, 2, 13; the two middle ones, one cubit north and south of the 'spine' respectively, forming a gateway on each side (Kâty. VIII, 4, 24 scholl.). On these two rows of beams other beams are laid, running from south to north, and forming, as it were, the lintels of the gates; and thereon the tie-beams rest (west to east). This frame of timber is to form a square of nine (or ten) cubits. Over the tie-beams three mats of reed-grass(kadis)--measuring nine (or ten) cubits by three (3½)--are spread, from south to north; first the middle one and then the two others, behind and in front of it. Upright hurdles (or reed-mats) are then stretched between the respective corner-posts, so as to form the south and north sides of the shed; and are 'sewn' to the corner-posts. Between the tops of the two front door-posts a band or garland of plaited reed-tufts (or, according to Haug, a bunch of Darbha grass, consisting of dry and green stalks) is hung up, to represent either a fillet or wreath worn on the forehead (?), or as a door-garland.
128:2 This remark would seem to imply that there are only two mats (cf. parags. 23, 24), but perhaps it is merely intended to show that two mats are spread behind and in front of the first mat (i.e. from south to north, and not west to east); not that there are only two mats.
128:3 If the preceding paragraph refers (at least partly) to the shed, p. 129 then the atha here means 'Now, in the first place,' thereby introducing details preliminary to what has just been stated.
129:1 See III, 2, 4, 16. I now refer 'etayâ' to 'vâkam,' as does Sâyana,--yadâ buddhir gâyate tadâ khalv etayâ vâkâ gugyûshanti. He explains 'prakâmodya' by 'mlaikkhikam laukikam bhâshanam,' barbarous, worldly speech.
129:2 Vipaskit, probably 'thinker of hymns.' It remains doubtful what meaning our author assigned to the word. Mahîdhara explains it by sarvagña, 'all-knowing.' Sâyana, on Taitt. S. I, 2, 13, refers 'viprasya brihato vipaskitah' to the sacrificer.
130:1 That is, the iron pins driven into the axle, round which the naves of the wheels revolve. See also p. 121, note 2.
130:2 They make her enter the hall by the south door and walk round by the back of the (old) Gârhapatya fire-place to the wheel-tracks on the north side where the Pratiprasthâtri is about to offer.
130:3 The rays of the sun are apparently likened to ropes wherewith he keeps the earth straight and firm.
131:1 While reciting his hymn of eight verses (brought up, as usual, to twelve by repetitions of the first and last verses) the Hotri has to follow the carts so as to have the north wheel-track of the south cart between his feet. Cf. p. 79, note 1. For the verses recited by him, see Ait. Br. I, 29; Âsv. Sr. IV, 9.
131:2 Or, 'falter not!'
132:1 The Taitt. S. VI, 2, 9 refers it to Varuna, on account of the axle being bound firmly with strings (thongs), resembling Varuna's noose.
132:2 Rather, 'not so very near,' 'nicht allzu nahe, nicht gar zu nahe.'
132:3 Both here, and on Taitt. S. I, 2, 13, Sâyana takes 'varshman' in the sense of body (sarîra).'
132:4 Or rather, 'nave-boards (nabhya).' The cart wheels are described as consisting, after the fashion prevalent in Malaya (Kâty. VIII, 4, 5 scholl.), of three parallel boards: the two outer ones form segments, and the middle and largest one has the nave fixed to it, the axle-pin running through its centre. It is on this middle board that he is to make the carts stand. Perhaps 'kshema' should be taken in the sense of 'security, firm position,' instead of repose, rest,' in which case the upright position of the middle board would seem to be compared with a man in upright position; 'nâbhi (nâbhya)' meaning both 'navel' and 'nave.'
133:1 Sâyana, on Taitt. S. I, 2, 13, remarks:--'The southern and northern parts of the yoke represent the ears of the cart. Through a hole (is effected) the firm tying (of the yoke parts) to the shafts. At the juncture (sandhi) at the (place of) fastening of the southern (part of the yoke) the prop is fixed.' In ordinary practice the prop is put up to support the extreme end of the shafts or pole.
133:3 Apparently the parietal bone is meant; or perhaps the frontal bone. The Kânva text reads: 'He then touches that reed-mat, or p. 134 cane-frame, above, with "Let Vishnu . . ." for that is for him (Vishnu, the shed) what that skull-bone is up here. And when he says "they abide upon," it is because that rest on the other skull-bones [? adhi hy etad anyeshu kapâleshu kshiyanti!]. Then what two reed-mats there are on the two carts, they indeed are for him what the two skull-bones are here on both sides. And that reed-mat, or cane-frame, which he puts on there behind (or behind that one), that is for him what the skull-bone behind is.'
134:1 Syû, explained by Sâyana as 'thread, cord,' by Mahîdhara as 'needle.'
134:2 ? Dhruvah, the 'firm one,' (? 'pole-star.') The St. Petersburg Dictionary gives the tentative meaning 'knot.' The Taitt. S. reads 'dhruvam.'
134:3 Grâha, lit. 'seizing.' For Varuna, whose attribute the knot is, (I, 3, 1, 16), seizing upon men by means of disease; see II, 5, 2, 2.
FOURTH BRÂHMANA.
3:5:4:11. It is for a twofold reason that the sounding-holes are dug. The cart-shed, truly, is the head of the sacrificer; and what four holes there are here in the head--namely, these two and these two 1--those he thereby makes: for this reason he digs the sounding-holes.
3:5:4:22. Now the gods and the Asuras, both of them sprung from Pragâpati, were contending. The Asuras then by way of witchcraft buried charms 2 within these worlds, thinking, 'Peradventure we may thus overcome the gods.'
3:5:4:33. The gods then prevailed. By means of these (sounding-holes) they dug up those magic charms. Now, when a charm is dug up, it becomes inoperative and useless. And in like manner, if any malicious enemy buries here charms by way of witchcraft for this (sacrificer), does he thereby dig them up; this is why he digs sounding-holes. He digs just beneath the fore-part of the shafts of the southern cart.
[paragraph continues] 'At the impulse of the divine Savitri, I take thee with the arms of the Asvins, with the hands of Pûshan: thou art a woman.' The significance of this formula is the same (as before). That spade (abhri, fem.) is indeed a female: therefore he says 'thou art a woman.'
3:5:4:55. He draws their outlines, saving 1 the measure of a span, with, 'Here do I cut off the necks of the Rakshas!' For the spade is the thunderbolt: it is with the thunderbolt that he thus cuts off the necks of the Rakshas.
3:5:4:66. Let him first mark off the right (southern) one of the two that are in front; then the left one of the two behind; then the right one of those behind; then the left one of those in front.
3:5:4:77. But they say conversely, that he should mark off first the left one of the two behind; then the right one of those in front; then the right one of those behind; and then the left one of those in front. Or he may also mark them off in one and the same direction 2: but let him, in any case, mark off last of all the one which is on the left of those in front.
3:5:4:88. He digs them, in the very same order in which they have been marked off, with, 'Thou art great,
of great sound!'--he praises and extols them, when he says, 'Thou art great, of great sound;'--'Utter thou the great voice unto Indra!'--Indra, forsooth, is the deity of the sacrifice; and the cart-shed belonging to Vishnu, he thereby makes it to be connected with Indra: therefore he says, 'Utter thou the great voice unto Indra!'
3:5:4:99. 'The Rakshas-killing, charm-killing (voice),' for it is indeed for the killing of the charms of the Rakshas that these (holes) are dug;--'Of Vishnu;' for that voice in the cart-shed is indeed Vishnu's.
3:5:4:1010. He throws out (the earth from) them in the order in which he has dug them, with (Vâg. S. V, 23), 'Here do I cast out the charm which the alien, which the inmate of my house has buried for me!' Either an alien or an inmate of his house buries charms by way of witchcraft: these he thereby casts out.
3:5:4:1111. 'Here do I cast out the charm which my equal, which my unequal has buried for me!' Either one equal, or one unequal, to him buries charms by way of witchcraft: these he thereby casts out.
3:5:4:1212. 'Here do I cast out the charm which the kinsman, which the stranger has buried for me!' Either a kinsman or a stranger buries charms by way of witchcraft: these he thereby casts out.
3:5:4:1313. 'Here do I cast out the charm which the countryman, which the foreigner has buried for me!' Either a countryman or a foreigner buries charms by way of witchcraft: these he thereby casts out. With 'I cast out witchcraft!' he finally
throws out (the earth remaining in the several holes 1), whereby he casts out witchcraft.
3:5:4:1414. Let him dig them arm-deep; for that being the end (extreme limit to which he can reach) he thereby in the end brings witchcraft to naught. He connects them crossways by (underground) channels 2; or, if he cannot crossways, he may do so in one and the same direction. This is why these (openings of the) vital airs are connected by channels farther (inside).
3:5:4:1515. In the same order in which he has dug them he makes (the sacrificer) touch them, with the texts (Vâg. S. V, 24), 'Self-ruling thou art, a slayer of enemies! Ever-ruling thou art, a slayer of haters! Man-ruling thou art, a slayer of Rakshas! All-ruling thou art, a slayer of foe-men!' This is the blessing of that work: he thereby invokes a blessing.
3:5:4:1616. The Adhvaryu and Sacrificer then touch one another (with their right hands through the holes), the Adhvaryu is at the right one of those in front, and the Sacrificer at the left one of those behind. The Adhvaryu asks, 'Sacrificer, what is here?'--'Happiness!' he says.--'(Be) that ours in common!' says the Adhvaryu in a low voice.
3:5:4:1717. Thereupon the Adhvaryu is at the right one of those behind, and the Sacrificer at the left one of those in front. The Sacrificer asks, 'Adhvaryu, what is here?'--'Happiness!' he says.--'(Be) that mine!' says the Sacrificer. Now in that they thus
touch one another, thereby they make the vital airs yoke-fellows: hence these vital airs meet together farther (inside). And in that, when asked, he replies, 'Happiness (bhadram),' thereby he utters the wish of 'prosperity (kalyânam)' of ordinary speech: that is why, being asked, he replies, 'Happiness.' Thereupon he sprinkles (the holes with water): one and the same forsooth is the significance of sprinkling; he thereby renders them pure.
3:5:4:1818. He sprinkles, with the text (Vâg. S. V, 25), 'You, the Rakshas-killers, the charm-killers;' for they are indeed Rakshas-killers as well as charm-killers; 'Vishnu's own, I sprinkle;' for they indeed belong to Vishnu.
3:5:4:1919. What remains of the sprinkling-water he then pours out into the pits;--what moisture there is here in the vital airs 1, that he thereby puts into them: hence that moisture in the vital airs.
3:5:4:2020. He pours it out with, 'You, the Rakshas-killers, the charm-killers, Vishnu's own, I pour out.' Thereupon he spreads barhis-grass, both such as is turned with its tops to the east and such as is turned to the north 2; what hair there is here at (the openings of) the vital airs, that he thereby bestows: hence that hair at (the openings of) the vital airs.
3:5:4:2121. He spreads it with, 'You, the Rakshas-killers, the charm-killers, Vishnu's own, I spread.' He, as it were, covers the bodies on the top, for that (grass) is indeed his (Vishnu's) hair 3.
3:5:4:2222. Thereon he lays two pressing-boards 1 with, 'You, the Rakshas-killers, the charm-killers, Vishnu's own, I lay down;' they are indeed his (Vishnu's) jaws. He surrounds them (with earth) with, 'You, the Rakshas-killers, the charm-killers, Vishnu's own, I surround;' he thereby steadies them, makes them immovable.
3:5:4:2323. Now the pressing-skin is cut straight all round and (dyed) red all over, for it is his (Vishnu's) tongue: the reason, then, why it is quite red, is because this tongue is, as it were, red. He lays it down with, 'Thou art Vishnu's own;' for it indeed belongs to Vishnu 2.
3:5:4:2424. He then brings down the (five) press-stones. The press-stones, doubtless, are his (Vishnu's) teeth: hence, when they press (the Soma) with the stones it is as if he chewed with his teeth. He puts them down with, 'Ye are Vishnu's own;' for they indeed belong to Vishnu. Thus, then, the head of the sacrifice is complete.
Footnotes
135:1 Viz. the ears and nostrils.
135:2 Krityâm valagân nikakhnuh, 'they dug in, as a charm, secret (magic) objects.' Valaga is explained as charms, consisting of bones, nails, hair, foot-dust, and similar objects, tied up in a piece of worn matting or cloth, or the like, and dug into the ground arm-deep, for causing injury to enemies. See Taitt. S. VI, 2, 11, where Professor Weber refers to Wuttke, Der Deutsche Volksaberglaube, §492 seq.
135:3 The instrument used seems to be a kind of scoop or trowel, p. 136 sharpened on one side. For a fuller description, see VI, 3, 1, 30 seq.
136:1 Vinâ, i.e. leaving that space between each two adjoining uparavas. They are themselves to be round, a span in diameter. Hence by connecting the four centres by lines, a square of two spans (of thumb and forefinger), or one cubit, is obtained. See Baudh. Sulvas. 101.
136:2 That is, successively the south-eastern, the south-western, the north-western, and last, the north-eastern hole.
138:1 That is, these words are to be pronounced at the end of each of the preceding four formulas, and the remaining loose soil is therewith to be removed from the respective hole.
138:2 Lit. he inter-perforates, inter-channels.
139:1 The Kânva text has kidra ('holes, openings') instead of prâna.
139:2 Cp. I, 3, 3, 7 seq.
140:1 The pressing-boards are a cubit long, and somewhat broader behind than in front. They are placed one south of the other, and so as to lie close together behind (sambaddhânte, Kânva rec.), or the space of two inches between them. The space between them is filled up with earth.
140:2 East of the 'sound-holes' he raises a square mound (khara), covered with gravel, for placing vessels on, Kâty. VIII, 5, 28.
(My humble salutations to the translator Sreeman Julius Eggeling for the collection)
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