‘A cloth, an upper cloth, and gold,’ this! is what they spread out for the horse?:
1 The ‘iti’ seems superfluous; Harisvamin explains it by ‘etat trayam.’ For a similar use of the particle, see XIII, 2, 2, 1.
* That is, they spread them on the ground for the horse to lie upon. Differently St. Petersb. Dict., ‘they spread over the horse; ’ but see Katy. XX, 6, 10 comm.; and Harisvamin :—viso yad antardhanfydlam, adhivaso yad 4&shddandyalam, tak fa vasasa upari staramfyam, tayor upari hiranyam nidheyam, tasmims traye enam adhi upari samg#lapayanti;—and he then remarks that these three objects here do not take the place of the stalk of grass which, in the ordinary animal sacrifice, is thrown on the place where the victim is to be killed and cut up (III, 8, 1,14; KaAty. VI, 5, 15- 16), but that the stalk is likewise put down on this occasion. Similarly the comm. on Katy&yana, where it is stated that the stalk of grass (or straw) is first laid down, and then the others thereon. Indeed, as was the case in regard to the stalk of grass—representing the barhis, or layer of sacrificial grass on the vedi—so here the fourfold underlayer is intended to prevent any part of the sacrificial material (havis)—the victim in this case—from being spilt. ‘ Thep. 321 thereon they quiet (slay) it, as (is done) for no other victim; and thus they separate it from the other victims,
2. When they quiet a victim they kill it. Whilst it is being quieted, he (the Adhvaryu) offers (three) oblations', with (Vag. S. XXIII, 18), ‘To the breath hail! to the off-breathing hail! to the through-breathing hail!’ he thereby lays the vital airs into it, and thus offering is made by him with this victim as a living one’.
3. With, ‘Amba! Ambik4! Amb4lik4*! there is no one to lead me,—he leads up the (four)
upper garment (or cloth) must be sufficiently large to allow its being afterwards turned up so as to cover the horse and the queen consort.
1 Prior to these, however, he offers the two ‘ Paripasavya,’ i. e. ‘oblations relating to the victim,—or, perhaps, ‘oblations performed in connection with the carrying of fire round the victim,’ for this last ceremony is performed for all the victims (whereupon the wild beasts placed between the stakes are let loose) before the killing of the horse. See III, 8, 1, 6-16.
* For the symbolic import of this, see III, 8, 2, 4.
See III, 8, 1, 6-16.
* For the symbolic import of this, see III, 8, 2, 4.
* These are just three variants used in addressing a mother (Mutter, Mfitterchen, Mittterlein), or, indeed, as here, any woman (good lady! good woman!) Acc. to Katy. XX, 6, 12, this is the formula which the assistant priest (the Nesh/r:, or, according to others, the Pratiprasthatrz, cf. K4ty. VI, 5, 27-28) makes the king’s wives say whilst leading them up to the slain horse to cleanse it. It is, moreover, to be preceded by the formula used, at this juncture, at the ordinary animal sacrifice, viz. ‘ Homage be to thee, O wide-stretched one, advance unresisted unto the rivers of ghee, along the paths of sacred truth! Ye divine, pure waters, carry ye (the sacrifice) to the gods, well-prepared! may ye be well-prepared preparers!’ (III, 8, 2, 2-3). The words ‘Amba!’ &c. are, according to Mahfdhara, addressed by the women to one another. The latter part of the formula as given in the Vag. Samh. (viz. ‘ the horse sleeps near Subhadrik4, dwelling in K4mpfla’) is apparently
[44] Yp. 322 wives!: he thereby has called upon them (to come), and, indeed, also renders them sacrificially pure.
4. With (Vag. S. XXIII, 19), ‘We call upon thee, the host-leader of (divine) hosts, O my true lord!’ the wives walk round?! (the horse), and thus make amends to it for that (slaughtering): even thereby they (already) make amends to it; but,
4. With (Vag. S. XXIII, 19), ‘We call upon thee, the host-leader of (divine) hosts, O my true lord!’ the wives walk round?! (the horse), and thus make amends to it for that (slaughtering): even thereby they (already) make amends to it; but, rejected (?as antiquated, or inauspicious) by the author of the “Braéhmana. The ceremony of lying near the dead horse being looked upon as assuring fertility to a woman, the formula used here is also doubtless meant to express an eagerness on the part of the women to be led to the slaughtered horse, representing the lord of creatures, Pragdpati. On this passage compare the remarks of Professor Weber (Ind. Stud. I, p. 183), who takes the formula to be spoken by the queen consort to her three fellow-wives; and who also translates the words ‘na m4 nayati kas 4ana’ (nobody leads me) by ‘nobody shall lead me (by force to the horse ; but if I do not go) the (wicked) horse will lie near (another woman such as) the (wicked) Subadhr& living in K4mpfila.’—Harisvamin’s commentary on this passage is rather corrupt, but he seems at all events to assume that each of the four wives apostrophizes the others with the above formula (probably substituting their real names for the words ‘amba,’ &c.) :—lepsam (? lipsim) tévad esha patnivaktraka/ (? patnivaktrataz) prapnoti, katham, ekaik4 hi patni itarfs tisra Amantrya seshak paridevayam4na drisyate, he ambe he ambike he ambalike yyam apusy4 nishp4dotv asya (?) samipam, sa ka pakshapatf kutsitossvako mayi yushmfkam sasasti meva (!) subhadrikém kampflavasinim ida (? iha) surfp4m na tu mam kaskit tatra nayatiti; sasastity eva vartamanas4mipye vartamfnavad (Pam. III, 3, 131) ity A4sannasevane drash/avyak.— This barbarous ceremony was evidently an old indigenous custom too firmly established in popular practice to be easily excluded from the sacrificial ritual. That it had nothing to do with Vedic religion and was distasteful to the author of the Brahmama is evident from the brief way in which he refers to it, and from the far-fetched symbolic explanations attached to the formulas and discourses,
1 Viz. from their ordinary place near the Garhapatya he leads them whilst holding jars of water in their hands.
* Apahnuvate vismaranty evasmai etat pradakshi#dvartanena samgfapanam unnayanti, comm, x11 KAwpA, 2 ADHYAYA, 8 BRAHMANA, 5. 323 indeed, they also fan’ it, Thrice they walk round ?; for three (in number) are these worlds: by means of these worlds they fan it. Thrice again they walk round *,—that amounts to six, for there are six seasons: by means of the seasons they fan it.
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indeed, they also fan’ it, Thrice they walk round ?; for three (in number) are these worlds: by means of these worlds they fan it. Thrice again they walk round *,—that amounts to six, for there are six seasons: by means of the seasons they fan it.
5. But, indeed, the vital airs depart from those who perform the fanning at the sacrifice. Nine times they walk round‘; for there are nine vital airs: vital airs they thus put into their own selves, and the vital airs do not depart from them. ‘I will urge the seed-layer, urge thou the seedlayer!’ (the Mahisht says*);— seed, doubtless, means offspring and cattle: offspring and cattle she thus secures for herself. [V4g. S. X XIII, 20,] ‘Let us stretch our feet,’ thus in order to secure union. ‘In heaven ye envelop yourselves’ (the Adhvaryu says),—for that is, indeed, heaven . where they immolate the victim: therefore he
1 Thus Harisvaimin :—dhuvate dhfnane(na) upavagayanti, evam asvam rfganam iva vyaganair etat,—‘they shake themselves,’ St. Petersb. Dict.; and, indeed, it is doubtless by the flutter of the garments produced in walking round first one way and then another, that the fanning is supposed to be produced.
* Viz. in sunwise fashion (pradakshiz4), that is so as to keep the object circumambulated on one’s right side.
> Viz. in the opposite, the ‘apradakshizam’ way, as is done in’ the sacrifice to the departed ancestors. They do so with the text, ‘We call upon thee, the dear Lord of the dear ones, O my true lord |’
‘ Viz. another three times in the sunwise way. Having completed their circumambulation, the king’s wives cleanse the horse’s apertures of the vital airs (mouth, nostrils, eyes, &c.), as the Sacrificer’s wife did at the ordinary animal sacrifice (III, 8, 2, 4), which they do with the text, ‘We call upon thee, the treasurelord of treasures, O my true lord!’
> Cf. II, 5, 2, 1 seqq.
Y2
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speaks thus—‘May the vigorous male, the layer of seed, lay seed!’ she says in order to secure union.
NintH BRAHMANA.
1. But, indeed, that glory, royal power, passes away from him who performs the Asvamedha.
2. [The Udgatrz! says concerning the king's favourite wife, Vag. S. XXIII, 26,] ‘Raise her upwards?,’,—the Asvamedha, doubtless, is that glory, royal power: that glory, royal power, he thus raises for him (the Sacrificer) upward.
3. ‘Even as one taking a burden up a mountain,’—glory (pomp), doubtless, is the burden of royal power: that glory, royal power, he thus fastens on him (as a burden); but he also endows him with that glory, royal power.
4. ‘And may the centre of her body prosper, —the centre of royal power, doubtless, is glory: glory (prosperity), food, he thus lays into the very centre of royal power (or, the kingdom).
5. ‘As one winnowing in the cool breeze, — the cool of royal power, doubtless, is security of
4. ‘And may the centre of her body prosper, —the centre of royal power, doubtless, is glory: glory (prosperity), food, he thus lays into the very centre of royal power (or, the kingdom).
5. ‘As one winnowing in the cool breeze, — the cool of royal power, doubtless, is security of
! The colloquy between the men and women, referred to in paragraphs 1-8, would seem to go on simultaneously. The verse addressed by the Hotr? to the king’s discarded wife, Vag. S. XXIII, 28, is omitted by the Brahmama, as are also the verses spoken in teply by the women (with their attendants), and closely resembling those of the men in tone and wording. According to some authorities it is the attendant women alone who reply, not the king’s wives. KAty. XX, 6, 20.
* Mahfdhara takes the objective pronoun to refer to the Vavat&, whilst Harisvamin, on the other hand, supplies some such word as ‘sifikim,’
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possession: security of possession he procures for him.
6. [The Adhvaryu addresses one of the attendant maids, Vag. S. XXIII, 22,] ‘That little bird’— the little bird, doubtless, is the people (or clan),— ‘which bustles with (the sound) “ahalak,” ’—for the people, indeed, bustle for (the behoof of) royal power,—‘thrusts the “pasas” into the cleft, and the “dharak&” devours it,—the cleft, doubtless, is the people, and the ‘ pasas’ is royal power; and royal power, indeed, presses hard on the people ; whence the wielder of royal power is apt to strike down people.
7. [The Brahman addresses the queen consort, Vag. S. XXIII, 24,) ‘Thy mother and father, — the mother, doubtless, is this (earth), and the father yonder (sky): by means of these two he causes him to go to heaven;—‘mount to the top of the tree,—the top of royal power, doubtless, is glory :
the top of royal power, glory, he thus causes him - to attain ;—‘saying, “I pass along,” thy father passed his fist to and fro in the cleft,—the cleft, doubtless, is the people; and the fist is royal power; and royal power, indeed, presses hard on the people; whence he who wields royal power is apt to strike down people’.
8. [The chamberlain addresses the king’s fourth wife, Vag. S. XXIII, 30,]‘When the deer eats the corn,—the grain (growing in the field), doubtless, is the people, and the deer is royal power: he
’ The Mahishi: Thy mother and father are playing on the top of the tree like thy mouth when thou wilt talk: do not talk so much, Brahman !
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thus makes the people to be food for the royal power, whence the wielder of royal power feeds on the people;—‘it thinks not of the fat cattle,—whence the king does not rear cattle ;— ‘when the Sidra woman is the Arya’s mistress, he seeks not riches that he may thrive',—hence he does not anoint the son of a Vaisya woman.
9. But, indeed, the vital airs pass from those who speak impure speech at the sacrifice. [The queen consort having been made to rise by her attendants, the priests and chamberlain say, Vag. S. X XIII, 32, hkig-v. S. IV, 39, 6,]‘ The praises of Dadhikravan have I sung, (the victorious, powerful horse: may he make fragrant our mouths, and prolong our lives!),—thus they finally utter a verse containing the word ‘fragrant’: it is (their own) speech they purify?, and the vital airs do not pass from them.
Tentuo BrAHMANA.
1. When they prepare the knife-paths, the Sacrificer makes for himself that passage across, a bridge, for the attainment of the heavenly world.
2. They prepare them by means of needles; the needles, doubtless, are the people * (clans), and the Asvamedha is the royal power: they thus supply him with people and royal power combined. They are made of gold: the meaning of this has been explained.
* Mahidhara interprets,—then he (her husband), the S@dra, does not wish for wealth, but is unhappy.
* That is to say, they make amends for any breaches of decorum committed in the preceding colloquy.
° Viz. because of the large number and the small size (insignificance) of the needles, or wires, (and the common people), comm.
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3. Three kinds of needles are (used), copper ones, silver ones, and gold ones ;—those of copper, doubtless, are the (principal) regions (of the compass), those of silver the intermediate ones, and those of gold the upper ones: it is by means of these (regions) they render it fit and proper. By way of horizontal and vertical (stitches ') they are manyformed, whence the regions are many-formed ; and they are of distinct form, whence the regions are of distinct form.
ELeveNTH BRAHMANA.
1. Pragdpati desired, ‘Would that I were great, and more numerous!’ He perceived those two Mahiman (greatness) cups of Soma at the Asvamedha; he offered them; and thereby, indeed, became great and more numerous: hence whosoever should desire to become great, and more numerous, let him offer up those two Mahiman cups of Soma at the Asvamedha; and he indeed becomes great and more numerous.
2. He offers them on both sides (before and after) the omentum ;—the Asvamedha, doubtless, is the Sacrificer, and that Mahiman (cup) is the king: it is with royal dignity he thus encompasses him on both sides. Some gods have the svaha-call (‘hail’) in front, and the other gods have the sv4ha-call behind ?: it is them he thus gratifies. With ‘ Hail
' It is doubtful what word, if any, has to be supplied here,—perhaps it means, by way of their being (in sewing) horizontal and vertical. The commentary is silent on this passage.
* The formula uttered whilst the first Mabhiman cup is offered runs thus (Vag. S. XXIII, 2): ‘ What greatness of thine there hath
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The commentary is silent on this passage.
* The formula uttered whilst the first Mabhiman cup is offered runs thus (Vag. S. XXIII, 2): ‘ What greatness of thine there hathp. 328 to the gods!’ and ‘To the gods hail!’ he makes offering by means of the king (Soma) on both sides of the omentum: he thereby gratifies those gods who are in this world, and those who are in the other, and thus gratified, both these kinds of gods lead him to the heavenly world.
Tuirp ApnuyAya. First BrAHMANA.
1. PragApati’s eye swelled; it fell out: thence the horse was produced; and inasmuch as it swelled (asvayat), that is the origin and nature of the horse (asva). By means of the Asvamedha the gods restored it to its place; and verily he who performs the Asvamedha makes Pragdpati complete, and he (himself) becomes complete; and this, indeed, is the atonement for everything, the remedy for everything. Thereby the gods redeem all sin, yea, even the slaying of a Brahman? they thereby redeem; and he who performs the Asvamedha redeems all sin, he redeems the slaying of a Brahman.
2. It was the left eye of Pragdpati that swelled: hence they cut off the (meat) portions from the left been in the day and the year; what greatness of thine there hath been in the wind and the air; what greatness of thine there hath been in the heavens and the sun, to that greatness of thine, to Prag4pati, hail, to the gods!’ whilst that of the second Mahiman cup runs thus (XXIII, 4): ‘What greatness of thine there hath been in the night and the year; what greatness of thine there hath been in the earth and the fire; what greatness of thine there hath been in the Nakshatras (lunar asterisms) and the moon, to that greatness of thine, to Prag&pati, to the gods, hail!’ cf. XIII, 5» 2, 235 3, 7-p. 329 side of the horse, and from the right side of other victims.
3. There is'a rattan mat, for the horse was produced from the womb of the waters, and the rattan springs from the water: he thus brings it in connection with its own (maternal) womb.
4. The Katush/oma’ is the form of chanting (on
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side of the horse, and from the right side of other victims.
3. There is'a rattan mat, for the horse was produced from the womb of the waters, and the rattan springs from the water: he thus brings it in connection with its own (maternal) womb.
4. The Katush/oma’ is the form of chanting (on
' The term Xatush/oma originally apparently means a. sacrificial performance, or succession of chants, in which four different Stomas, or hymn-forms, are used. Hence, in Tandya-Br. VI, 3, 16, the name is applied to the ordinary Agnish/oma, for its twelve Stotras, or chants, require the first four normal Stomas (Trivrit, Pa#tkadasa, Saptadasa, Ekavimsa). The term has, however, assumed the special meaning of a hymnic performance, the different Stomas of which (begin with the four-versed one, and) successively increase by four verses (cf. XIII, 5, 1, 1). In this sense, two different forms of Xatush/oma are in use, one being applicable to an Agnishfoma, the other to a Shodasin, sacrifice. Whilst this latter form requires only four different Stomas (of 4, 8, 12, 16 verses resp.) and thus combines the original meaning of ‘ datush/oma’ with its special meaning, the Agnishfoma form, used on the first of the three days of the Asvamedha, requires six Stomas, ascending from the four-versed up to the twenty-four-versed one. In regard to this latter occasion, Sayasxa on Tandya-Br. XXI, 4,1, curiously enough, seems to take ‘ fatush/oma’ in its original senses, since he speaks of this first day of the Asvamedha as an Agnishfoma with four Stomas, beginning with Trivrit; whilst on ib. XIX, 5, 1 seq. he gives the correct explanation. As to the distribution of the six Stomas over the chants of the first day, see XIII, 5, 1, 1. The Aatushfoma has, however, another peculiarity, which, in Lasy. S. VI, 8, 1 (or at least by the commentator Agnisvamin thereon), is taken as that which has given its name to this form of chanting, viz. that each stotra performed in it is chanted in four, instead of the ordinary three, paryayas or turns of verses (see part ii, p- 310 note). The Bahishpavamfna-stotra is to be performed on three anush/ubh verses (consisting each of four octosyllabic padas) which, however, by taking each time three padas to make up a verse, are transformed into four verses, constituting at the same time the four pary4yas of the Stotra. As regards the exactp. 330 the first day); for a bee tore out! (a piece of) the horse’s thigh, and by means of the Xatush/oma form of chanting the gods restored it: thus when there is the Aatush‘oma mode of chanting, it is for the completeness of the horse. The last day is an Atiratra with all the Stomas *—with a view to his obtaining and securing everything, for an Atiratra with all the Stomas is everything, and the Asvamedha is everything.
SEconp BRAHMANA.
1. Now this (Sacrificer), having conquered by means of the supreme Stoma—the atushfoma, the Krzta among dice *,—on the next day establishes
SEconp BRAHMANA.
1. Now this (Sacrificer), having conquered by means of the supreme Stoma—the atushfoma, the Krzta among dice *,—on the next day establishes text to be used there seems to be some doubt, Samav. S. II, 366-8 (pavasva vagasAtaye) being mentioned by Sayama on Tandya-Br. XXI, 4, 5; whilst on XIX, 5, 2 he gives S. V. II, 168-70 (ayam pfisha rayir bhaga/’) as the text to be used—but apparently only when the performance is that of an ekaéha (one day’s sacrifice) proper, instead of one of the days of an 4hina sacrifice, as is the case in the three days’ Asvamedha. As regards the Agya-stotras to be chanted on the eight-versed Stoma, the text of each of them consists of three gayatrf-verses: these are to be chanted in four turns (parydya) of two verses each, viz. either 1 and 2, 2 and 3, 1 and 2, 2 and 3;—or1 and 1,1 and 2, 2 and 2, 3 and 3;—(or rand 1, 1 and 1, 2 and 2, 3 and 3 ;—or 1 and 1, 2 and 2, 2 and 2, 3 and 3). By similar manipulations the subsequent Stomas are formed.
' Or, wounded, as Sdyava takes ‘4 brihat,’ on Taadya-Br. XXI, 4, 4 (vranam kak4ra).
* The Atiratra sarvastoma is arranged in such a way that the six principal Stomas are used successively first in the ascending, and then again in the descending, or reversed, order as is explained in XIII, 5, 3, 10.
* For this and the other names of the dice, see part ili, p. 106, Note 1.
x1 KANDA, 3 ADHYAYA, 2 BRAHMANA, 2. 331 himself on the Ekavimsa', as a firm foundation: from the Ekavimsa, as a firm foundation, he subsequently ascends to the next day, the seasons; for the Przshéka (-stotras) are the seasons, and the seasons are the year: it is in the seasons, in the year, he establishes himself.
2. The Sakvart? (verses) are the Préeshtha (-stotra of the second day): there is a different metre for each (verse), for different kinds of animals, both domestic and wild ones, are immolated here on each (day). As to the Sakvart (verses) being the Prsh¢fa, it is for the completeness of the horse (sacrifice)*; and different kinds of animals are immolated on different (days), because different stomas are performed on the different (days of the Asvamedha).
1 Though applying in the first place to the second day of the Asvamedha, as an Ukthya sacrifice which is at the same time an Ekavimsa day, i.e. one the stotras of which are all chanted in the twenty-one-versed hymn-form, Ekavimsa, the twenty-first or twentyone-fold, as is clear from XIII, 3, 3, 3, here also refers to the sun, of which it is a common epithet (cf. part iii, p. 265, note 2, also XIII, 4, 4, 11). This solar name seems to be derived from the fact that the sun is also identified with the central day of the year, the Vishuvant day, which is considered the central day of a twentyone days’ sacrificial performance—having one prish/hya-shadaha, an Abhigit (or Visvagit day resp.) and three svarasiman days before and after it;—see p. 139, note; and A. Hillebrandt, Die Sonnwendfeste in Alt-Indien, p. 6 seqq.
139, note; and A. Hillebrandt, Die Sonnwendfeste in Alt-Indien, p. 6 seqq.
* That is to say, the so-called Mah4nAmnt verses (Sam. V. ed. Bibl. Ind. II, p. 371), chanted on the sikvara-siman (see part iii, of this transl., introd. p. xx, note 2), are to be used for the Hotrz’s Prishéha-stotra. For this- purpose the Rathantara-siman is ordinarily used in the Agnishfoma, and the Brzhat-siman in the Ukthya, form of sacrifice.
* The commentator takes this as an allusion to the ‘potent’ (sakvara=sakta) nature of the verses.
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3. As to this they say, ‘ These—to wit, goats and sheep and the wild (beasts)—are not all animals’; but those—to wit, the bovine (victims)—are indeed all animals.’ On the last day he immolates bovine (victims), for they—to wit, bovine (victims)—are all animals: he thus immolates all animals. They are sacred to the All-gods *, for the completeness of the horse, for the horse is sacred to the All-gods. They are many-formed (or, many-coloured), whence animals are many-formed; and they are of distinct forms (or colours), whence animals are of distinct forms.
Tuirp BRAHMANA.
1. Inasmuch as there are three Anush/ubh verses * (on the first day), therefore the horse, when standing, stands on three (feet); and inasmuch as (they are made into) four Gdyatri verses, therefore the horse, when stepping out, scampers off on all (four) feet. For that Anushéubh, doubtless, is the highest metre, and the horse is the highest of animals; and the Katush/oma is the highest of Stomas: by means of what is highest he thus causes him (the Sacrificer) to reach the highest position.
2. The Sakvart verses are the (Hotr2’s) Prishtha (of the second day): there is a different metre for
1 That is to say, they do not fitly represent all kinds of animals, as the highest kind of animals, the bovine cattle, may be said to do. The argument as to the ‘ sarve pasavah’ is, of course, suggested by the ‘asvasya sarvatvaya’ of the preceding paragraph ; and to bring out the parallelism, one might translate,—these .... are not complete animals.
2 See XIII, 5, 3, 11.
$ That is, for the Bahishpavam4na-stotra of the Xatush/oma, see P. 329, note.
xl KANDA, 3 ADHYAYA, 3 BRAHMANA, 6. 333 each (verse), for different Stomas are performed on each (day). And as to the Sakvart verse being the Prish¢ka (-stotra), it is for the completeness of the horse (sacrifice).
3. The central day is an Ekavimsa one, for the Ekavimsa is yonder sun, and so is the Asvamedha: by means of its own Stoma he thus establishes it in its own deity.
4. The Vamadevya is the Maitravaruza’s SAman'; for the Vamadevya is Pragapati, and the horse is of Pragdpati’s nature: he thus supplies it with its own deity.
4. The Vamadevya is the Maitravaruza’s SAman'; for the Vamadevya is Pragapati, and the horse is of Pragdpati’s nature: he thus supplies it with its own deity.
5. The Parthurasma is the Brahma-siman?; for the horse is restrained by means of reins® (rasmi), but when unrestrained, unchecked, and unsteadied, it would be liable to go to the furthest distance: thus when the Parthurasma is the Brahma-s4man, it is for the safe keeping of the horse.
6. The Samkviti* is the A#savaka’s SAman ;—
1 That is, the hymn-tune of the second Prishéha-stotra chanted for the Maitravarua (who responds thereto by the recitation of the second Nishkevalya-sastra): the Mah&-Vamadevya on the text ‘kay nas 4itra bhuvat’ (S. V. II, 32-34; figured for chanting in Bibl. Ind. ed. III, p. 89) is ordinarily used for this stotra both in the Agnish/oma, and in the Ukthya, form of sacrifice.
® That is, the tune of the third, or Brahman&khamsin’s, Prishthastotra. For the simans commonly used for this stotra see part ii, P- 434, note 1. The Parthurasma-siman may be chanted on either of the texts Sfmav. II, 352-4 (figured ed. Bibl. Ind. vol. V, p. 395) or II, 355-7 (figured vol. V, p. 483). Itis the latter text which is to be used on the present occasion. On the legendary origin of this siman (which is said to represent ‘strength,’ and therefore to be appropriate to a RAganya) see TAndya-Br. XIII, 4, 17.
* Or, is fastened by means of a rope.
‘ The Samkriti-saman is used with the texts S&mav. II, 663-4 (figured ed. Bibl. Ind. V, p. 407), II, 669-70 (ib. p. 482, wronglyp. 334 that Asvamedha, indeed, is, as it were, a disused sacrifice, for what is performed thereof, and what is not!? When the Samkriti is the A&savaka’s Saman, it is for (bringing about) the completeness of the horse (sacrifice). The last day is an Atiratra with all the (six) Stomas, in order to his (the Sacrificer’s) obtaining everything, for an Atiratra with all the Stomas is everything, and the Asvamedha is everything.
7. The fire-altar is the twenty-one-fold one ?%, the Stoma the twenty-one-fold one, and there are twentyone sacrificial stakes; even as bulls or stallions * would clash together, so do these Stomas‘, the called Samgati), and II, 679-81 (ib. p. 515). It is probably the second of these texts that is to be used here, as it is also used for the same stotra on the second day of the Garga-triratra.
p. 515). It is probably the second of these texts that is to be used here, as it is also used for the same stotra on the second day of the Garga-triratra.
1 Cp. the corresponding passage, Taitt. S. V, 4, 12, 3, ‘that Asvamedha, indeed, is a disused sacrifice, for, say they, who knows if the whole of it is performed or not?’ Perhaps, however, ‘ utsanna-yag#a’ rather means ‘a decayed sacrifice,’ i.e. one which has lost (or in the usual performance is apt to lose) some of its original elements ; whence the ‘ Samkriii’ tune is to be used for the purpose of ‘making up’ the lost parts. Part of the commentary in this passage is not clear to me :—ufkaifkalapagramadau siddhasth4ne satrasthito granthatosrthatas 4a yat yagfla utsannayagfa esha yah asvamedhaA’ katham utsanna ity ata dha, kim va hiti, yasya dharm&d pfirvayonau (? pirvayuge) prayugyante teshim kim4it kalau kriyate kimdin na kriyate, tatas ka samkritir akhavakasdma bhavati.
* That is, an altar measuring twenty-one man’s lengths on each of the four sides of its body.
8 The commentary seems to take both ‘ rsshabha’ and ‘ vrishan’ here in the sense of ‘bulls,’ but cp. Taitt. Br. II, 8, 21, 1, ‘ yathé va asva varshabha v4 vrishanah sam sphureran’—‘ even as if male horses or bulls were to clash together.’
‘ That is, not only the twenty-one-fold Stoma, but also the other two twenty-one-fold objects, looked upon as Stomas (lit. ‘ means of praise’).
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twenty-one-versed, run counter to one another: were he to bring them together, the Sacrificer would suffer harm, and his sacrifice would be destroyed.
8. There may, indeed, be a twelvefold altar, and eleven stakes. When the altar is a twelvefold one—twelve months being a year—it is the year, the sacrifice, he obtains. When there are eleven stakes, then that Virag (metre), the Ek4dasint!, is contrived; and that which is its eleventh (stake) is its teat: thereby he milks it.
g. As to this they say, ‘ If there were a twelvefold altar, and eleven stakes, it would be as if one were to drive on a cart drawn by one beast.’ There are the twenty-one-fold altar, the twenty-one-fold Stoma, and twenty-one stakes: that is as when one drives with side-horses.
10. That twenty-one-fold one, indeed, is the head of the sacrifice; and, verily, he who knows three heads on the Asvamedha, becomes the head of kings. There are the twenty-one-fold altar, the twenty-one-fold Stoma, and twenty-one stakes: these are the three heads on the Asvamedha; and, verily, he who thus knows them becomes the head of kings, And, indeed, he who knows the three tops on the Asvamedha, becomes the top of kings ;— there are the twenty-one-fold altar, the twenty-onefold Stoma, and twenty-one stakes: these, indeed, are the three tops on the Asvamedha; and, verily, he who thus knows them becomes the top of kings.
* Viz. the set of eleven (stakes), here represented as a cow; but in order to assimilate it to the Virag, or metre consisting of ten syllables, the eleventh stake is made the teat or udder of the cow,
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Fourty BrAHMANA.
1. Verily, the horse is slaughtered for all the deities: were he to make it one belonging to Pragdpati (exclusively), he would deprive the deities who are co-sharers of their share. Having made ghee (to take the part of) portions (of the horse’s body) he makes oblations' to the deities in mentioning them one by one with (Vag. S. XXV, 1-9), ‘The Grass (I gratify) with the teeth, the Lotus with the roots of the hair, ...:’ the deities who are co-sharers he thus supplies with their share. When he has offered the Aranzye sndi#ya (oblations)*, he offers the last oblation to x1 KANDA, 3 ADHYAYA, 4 BRAHMANA, 3. 337
1 These oblations of ghee, apparently amounting to 132,are made, after the principal flesh-portions have been offered, viz. in the interval between the ghee oblation to Vanaspati (the lord of the forest, or the plant, Soma) and the Svish/akrit oblation, for which see part ii, pp. 208-9 ; each formula, as a rule, containing the name of some divinity, and that of some part of the body of the horse supposed to be represented by the ghee (by four ladlings of which the offering spoon is filled each time). Mahfdhara, apparently in accordance with the Bréhmaza, supplies ‘ prizAmi (I gratify)’ with each (complete) formula which then concludes with ‘ sv&h4 (hail)!’ According to other authorities, however, these formulas are each to be divided into two separate dedicatory formulas :—‘ To the Grass hail! To the Teeth hail!’ &c.—The last of the 132 oblations (with the formula, ‘To Gumbaka, hail !’) is, however, withheld for the present to be offered (or perhaps the formula alone is to be muttered) at the end of the purificatory bath (avabhritha) towards the end of the sacrifice on the third day.
* The term ‘aranyesnffya’ (‘to be recited in the forest’) we met before (IX, 3, 1, 24) as applying to the last of seven cakes offered to the Maruts immediately after the installation of Agni (the sacred fire) on the newly-built altar. The formula used for that cake is the so-called Vimukha-verse, Vag.S. XXXIX, 7. This
Heaven and Earth; for all the gods are established in heaven and on earth: it is them he thereby gratifies. Now the gods and the Asuras were contending together.
2. They (the gods) spake, ‘We are the Agnayah Svish¢akrztak' of the horse (sacrifice); let us take out for ourselves a special share: therewith we shall overcome the Asuras.’ They took the blood for themselves in order to overcome their rivals: when he offers the blood to the Svish¢akvzts, it is in order to overcome (his own) rivals; and the spiteful rival of him who knows this is undone by himself.
3. The first oblation (of blood) he offers? in the
3. The first oblation (of blood) he offers? in the verse is followed in the Samhita by a series of twenty formulas (ib. 8-9) of a similar nature to those referred to in the preceding note (i.e. consisting each of a deity and a part of the body of the horse—‘ Agni I gratify with the heart,’ &c.), and these again by forty-two expiatory formulas (‘ To the hair, hail!’ &c., ib. ro- 13), ending with, ‘To Yama, hail! To Antaka (the Ender), hail! To Death, hail! To (the) Brahman, hail! To Brahmanslaying, hail! To the All-gods, hail! To Heaven and Earth, hail !’ “These sixty-two formulas are used with as many ghee-oblations, which are to be performed immediately after the 131st of the previous set of oblations. Prior, however, again to the last of the forty-two expiatory oblations, (viz. the one made with ‘To Heaven and Earth, hail!’) there is another set of sixteen oblations (XIII, 3, 6, 1 seqq.), the so-called ‘Asvastomtyd4 4hutaya’’ or ‘ oblations relating to the Stomas of the horse (sacrifice),’ each of which has a complete couplet for its offering-formula (Vag. S. XXV, 24-39). To all these three sets of oblations the term ‘ arazye :nfifya’ is here extended by the author. At the end of the third set this succession of ghee-oblations is concluded with the last expiatory oblation, that to Heaven and Earth; whereupon the ordinary flesh-oblation to Agni Svish/akrit is performed. 1 T.e. the (three) fires, the makers of good offering. * The formula for each of these three special blood-oblations—
[44] Zzp. 338 throat (gullet) of the Gomriga!; for Gomvzgas are cattle, and the Svishéakvzt is Rudra: he thus offered immediately after the ordinary Svish/akrit oblation, and being, in fact, the special Svishfakr:t of the Asvamedha—is ‘ Agnibhya’ svishéakridbhya svahd, i.e. to the (three) Agnis, the makers of good offering, hail!’
to the (three) Agnis, the makers of good offering, hail!’
1 ‘Gomriga’ is usually taken by the commentators, and in our dictionaries, as another name of the ‘Gavaya,’ variously called Gay4l, Bos Gavaeus, Bos frontalis, or Bos cavifrons, a species of wild cattle found in various mountain districts of India (especially on the eastern boundaries of Bengal, and in Malabar, as also in Ceylon), and frequently domesticated amongst the hill-tribes, by whom it is valued for its flesh and milk (cf. Colebrooke’s paper, As. Res. VIII, p. 511 seqq.). The Gavaya itself is, however, as Colebrooke remarks, confounded by some Sanskrit writers with the ‘ Risya,’ which he takes to be the buck of the painted, or whitefooted (or slate-coloured) Antelope, the Portax pictus (or Antelope picta), also called by the vernacular names of Nilgau or (Mahr.) Nilgdy, whilst the female is called ‘rohit’ in Sanskrit. All these three animals occur amongst the wild animals to be used as quasi-victims, but ultimately released on the second day of the Asvamedha; and I am inclined to think that they are three different animals. To show that the Asya and the Gavaya cannot be the same animals, Colebrooke already refers to the fact that three Rrsyas (consecrated to the Vasus) and three Gavayas (to Brzhaspati) occur as victims side by side in VAgasaneyisamhita XXIV (27 and 28); and in the same way a Gomriga, sacred to Pragfpati and Vayu, is mentioned immediately after, ib. 30; whilst another, sacred to Pragdpati, was, as we saw, one of the two animals tied along with the horse to the central stake (see XIII, 2, 2, 2). Taitt.S. II, 1, 10, 2, treating of the sacrifice of a Gomriga to V&yu, remarks that it is neither a domestic animal (or cattle, pasu) nor a wild one; and Sayama explains it as a cross between a female deer (or antelope, mrzgt) and a bull that has gone with his cows to graze in the forest; whilst, on Taitt. Br. III, 8, 20, 5, he leaves one to choose between its being a vicious bull (dhfrto balfvarda4), dangerous to men, or an animal ‘of mixed breed, sprung from a cow and a male gazelle or antelope (goharizayok, or possibly, from parent beasts of the bovine and antelope species).’ In this latter passage, the editorp. 339 shields the cattle from Rudra, whence Rudra does not prowl after the cattle where this oblation is offered at the Asvamedha. —
4. The second oblation! he offers on a horsehoof; for the one-hoofed (animals) are cattle, and the Svish¢akvzt is Rudra: he thus shields the cattle from Rudra, whence Rudra does not prowl after the cattle where this oblation is offered at the Asvamedha,
5. The third oblation he offers in an iron bowl; for the people (subjects) are of iron*, and the Svish¢akrzt is Rudra: he thus shields the people from Rudra, whence Rudra does not prowl after the cattle where this oblation is offered at the Asvamedha.
Firth BRAHMANA.
The third oblation he offers in an iron bowl; for the people (subjects) are of iron*, and the Svish¢akrzt is Rudra: he thus shields the people from Rudra, whence Rudra does not prowl after the cattle where this oblation is offered at the Asvamedha.
Firth BRAHMANA.
1. Verily, there are deaths® connected with all the worlds; and were he not to offer oblations to them, Death would get hold of him in every world ;
of the Brahmaaa (in the list of contents, p. 53) takes it to mean ‘wild cattle (Nilag4o gomriga, erroneously explained as a cross between a deer and a cow),’ which would be a probable enough explanation, if the Aisya were not the Nflgau; whilst otherwise the animal might belong to some other species of bovine antelopes no longer found in India.
1 Whilst the first of these oblations must take place immediately after the ordinary Svish/akrit of the animal sacrifice, the second may be postponed till after the ‘after-offerings’; and the third till after the ‘ Patnisamy4gas.’ See also XIII, 5, 3, 8 seq.
* That is, their value—as compared with that of the king or nobles, and the Brahmazas—is that of iron, compared with that of gold and silver; cp, XIII, 2, 2, 19.
* That is, according to Sdyava, on Taitt. Br. III, 9, 15, 1, causes of death, such as diseases, &c.
Z2
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when he offers oblations to the Deaths’, he wards off Death in every world.
2. Concerning this they say, ‘If, in offering, he were to name them all, saying, “ To such ? (a death) hail! To such (a death) hail!” he would make that manifold death his enemy*, and would give himself over to Death.’ Only one oblation he offers to one of them, with, ‘To Death, hail!’ for there is indeed but one Death in yonder world, even Hunger‘: it is him he wards off in yonder world.
3. A second oblation he makes with, ‘To Brahmanslaying, hail!’ for, doubtless, a murder other than the slaying of a Brahman is no murder; but that—to wit, the slaying of a Brahman—is manifestly murder: he thus manifestly wards off Death °
’ The oblations referred to in this Brahmana (§§ 1-4) occur towards the end of the second set of ‘arazyesn(fya’ oblations mentioned above, p. 336, note 2, where the formulas are given. According to Taitt. Br., l.c., however, these final oblations are to be performed—like that to Gumbaka (Varunza)— at the time of the purificatory bath, which, indeed, may also be intended by our Bréhmana, though K4ty4yana and Mahidhara seem to offer no indications to that effect. It is clear that these final oblations must have formed the subject of considerable discussion among the early ritualists.
* That is, according to Sayama (Taitt. Br.), ‘To death in the shape of disease, to death in the shape of poverty, &c.’ Harisvamin, on our passage, has merely, ‘Amushmai_ pitr/loka4ya mrityave’—‘ To death (in the shape of) the world of the Fathers,’ which is not very clear.
* That is, according to Sayama (Taitt. Br.), ‘To death in the shape of disease, to death in the shape of poverty, &c.’ Harisvamin, on our passage, has merely, ‘Amushmai_ pitr/loka4ya mrityave’—‘ To death (in the shape of) the world of the Fathers,’ which is not very clear.
* Or, perhaps, he would make himself many a death-enemy (bahum mrityum amitram kurvita), the two nouns being taken as in apposition to each other; cf. p. 146, note 1.
“ See X, 6, 5, I.
* Or, he thus wards off what is manifestly Death (Death in person).
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4. Muzdibha Audanya! it was who discovered this atonement for the slaying of a Brahman; and when one offers the oblation to the BrahmahatyA he prepares a remedy for the slayer of a Brahman by satisfying Death himself with an oblation, and making a protection? for him (the slayer). At whosoever’s Asvamedha, therefore, this oblation is offered, even if in after-times * any one in his family kills a Brahman, he thereby prepares a remedy (expiation) for him.
SixtH BRAHMANA.
1. When the horse was slaughtered, the life-sap + went out of it; it became the Asvastomtya (set of oblations’): when he offers the Asvastomtya (oblations) he indeed supplies the horse with life-sap.
2. He performs it with ghee; for ghee is life-sap, and the Asvastomtya is life-sap: by means of life-
' That is, according to Harisvimin, the son of Udanya (Odana, St. Petersb. Dict.), Taitt. Br. III, 9, 15, 3, has Muadibha Audanyava (i.e. the son of Udanyu, Sdy.) instead. The Taitt. Br., besides, makes the crime to be expiated here to be, not ‘brahmahaty4,’ but ‘bhr@ahaty4,’ the killing of an embryo. Sdyana, however, there allows to ‘bhrfsa’ optionally its later meaning of ‘a Brahmaza versed in the three Vedas and the sacrificial art (kalpa),’ and the Taitt. Br. itself, at all events, takes this oblation to ‘ bhrfiahaty4’ to atone likewise for the slaying of a Brahmaaa.
* Harisvimin explains ‘paripfazam’ by ‘ parisish/am vanantam panam’ (?); whilst Sayama, in Taitt. Br., takes it in the sense of ‘sarvatak pAtram,’ i.e. having made the Sacrificer ‘a thoroughly worthy person.’
* Harisvamin here unwarrantably takes ‘ apari:hQ’ in the sense of ‘in past times.’
* Or, sacrificial essence.
5 See p. 336, note 2.
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sap he thus puts life-sap into it. He performs with ghee, for that—to wit, ghee—is the favourite resource of the gods: he thus supplies them with their favourite resource.
3. Having performed the Asvastomtya (set of) oblations, he offers the Dvipadd4s!; for the Asvastomiya is the horse, and the Dvipad4 is man, for man is two-footed (dvip4d), supported on two (feet): he thus supplies him with a support.
4. Concerning this they say, ‘Is the Asvastomtya to be offered first, or the Dvipad4?’ The Asvastomtya, surely, is cattle, and the Dvipada is man: inasmuch as he performs the Dvipadas after performing the Asvastomtya, man subsequently establishes himself amongst cattle.
4. Concerning this they say, ‘Is the Asvastomtya to be offered first, or the Dvipad4?’ The Asvastomtya, surely, is cattle, and the Dvipada is man: inasmuch as he performs the Dvipadas after performing the Asvastomtya, man subsequently establishes himself amongst cattle.
5. Sixteen Asvastomtya oblations he performs, for animals (cattle) consist of sixteen parts*: that is the measure of cattle, and he thus supplies cattle with their (right) measure. Were he to offer either less or more, he would deprive cattle of their (right) measure. Sixteen he offers, for cattle consist of sixteen parts: that is the measure of cattle, and he thus supplies cattle with their (right) measure. He offers no other as a final oblation*: were he to offer another as a final oblation, he would lose
' The formulas of the six dvipadas—i.e. (verses) consisting of two padas—are found Vag. S. XXV, 46-47.
? See XII, 8, 3,13; for a highly artificial explanation of the sixteen parts of the man Prag4pati, probably intended here, X, 4, 1, 17. Elsewhere those of animals are explained as including head, neck, trunk, tail, the four legs and eight claws; see Weber, Ind. Stud. IX, p. IIT, note.
* This would seem to be directed against the practice of performing the oblation to Heaven and Earth immediately after the Asvastomty4s, see p. 336, note 2.
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his support. The Dvipadds he offers last, for Dvipadds are a support: he thus finds a support (establishes himself). With, ‘To Gumbaka hail!’ he offers, at the purificatory bath, the last oblation '; for Gumbaka is Varusa: by sacrifice he thus manifestly redeems himself from Varuza. He offers it on the head of a white-spotted *, baldheaded (man) with protruding teeth® and reddish brown eyes; for that is Varuza’s form: by (that) form (of his) he thus redeems himself from Varuma.
6. Having stepped out (of the water) he prepares twelve messes of cooked rice for the priests, or performs twelve ish¢is. Concerning this they say, ‘These—to wit, ish¢is—are a form of sacrifice : were he to perform ishéis, the sacrifice would be ready to incline towards him; but he would become the worse for it, for, surely, of exhausted strength now are the metres (offering formulas) of him who has performed the Soma-sacrifice ;—how could he make use of them so soon? For when the sacrifice is complete, Vaé (speech and sacred writ‘) is wholly gained, and, being gained, it now is exhausted in strength, and, as it were, wounded and mangled ; but sacrifice is speech: hence he should not make use of it.’
1 See p. 336, note 1.
*? Or, pale. SAyana, on Taitt. Br. III, 9, 15, 3, explains ‘sukla’ by ‘ 4itrin’ (? having white spots, or affected with white leprosy). Harisvamin does not explain the word.
336, note 1.
*? Or, pale. SAyana, on Taitt. Br. III, 9, 15, 3, explains ‘sukla’ by ‘ 4itrin’ (? having white spots, or affected with white leprosy). Harisvamin does not explain the word.
* Harisvimin explains ‘ viklidha’ by ‘ dantura,’ i.e. one who has projecting teeth; whilst Sayama, l.c., explains it by either ‘ given to perspiring (svedanasflasartra),’ or ‘ moist-bodied (? leprous, or, old, in bodily decay, viklinnadeha).’
* Cf. V, 5,5, 12 ‘that triple Veda is the thousandfold progeny of Vaa.’
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7. Having stepped out (of the water) he should certainly prepare twelve messes of rice for the priests ; for cooked rice is PragApati, and Pragapati is the year, Pragdpati is the sacrifice: it is the year, the sacrifice, he thus gains, and the sacrifice becomes ready to incline towards him, and he does not become the worse for it.
SEVENTH BRAHMANA,
1. Verily, this is the sacrifice called Strengthful : wherever they worship with this sacrifice, everything indeed becomes strong.
2. Verily, this is the sacrifice called Plenteous : wherever they worship with this sacrifice, everything indeed becomes plentiful.
3. Verily, this is the sacrifice called Obtainment : wherever they worship with this sacrifice, everything indeed becomes obtained.
4. Verily, this is the sacrifice called Distinction : wherever they worship with this sacrifice, everything indeed becomes distinct }.
5. Verily, this is the sacrifice called Severance: wherever they worship with this sacrifice, everything indeed becomes severed *.
6. Verily, this is the sacrifice called Foodabounding: wherever they worship with this sacrifice, everything indeed becomes abounding in food.
7. Verily, this is the sacrifice called Sapful :
* Svakarmasu bh4gena sthfpitam (? confined respectively to its own functions), comm.
* Harisvamin supplies ‘akaryebhyas’—is kept away from what it is forbidden to do, or from what is not one’s business.
xl KAWDA, 3 ADHYAyA, 8 BRAHMANA, I. 345 wherever they worship with this sacrifice, everything indeed becomes rich in sap (or drink).
8. Verily, this is the sacrifice called Abounding in holiness: wherever they worship with this sacrifice, the Brahmaaa is born as one rich in holiness.
9. Verily, this is the sacrifice called Excelling in hitting: wherever they worship with this sacrifice, the Raganya is born as one excelling in hitting (the mark).
10. Verily, this is the sacrifice called the Long (wide) one: wherever they worship with this sacrifice, a wide tract of forest-land will be provided '.
11. Verily, this is the sacrifice called Fitness: wherever they worship with this sacrifice, everything indeed becomes fit and proper.
12. Verily, this is the sacrifice called Support (foundation): wherever they worship with this sacrifice, everything indeed becomes supported (firmly established).
Eicuty BrRAHMANWA. ExpraTory OFFERINGS.
12. Verily, this is the sacrifice called Support (foundation): wherever they worship with this sacrifice, everything indeed becomes supported (firmly established).
Eicuty BrRAHMANWA. ExpraTory OFFERINGS.
1. Now, then, of the expiations. If the sacrificial horse were to couple with a mare, let him in addition prepare a milk (oblation) to Vayu ;—Va4yu doubtless is the transformer of seeds, for Vayu (the wind) is the vital air, and the vital air is the transformer
1 That is, as would seem, either as a protection from neighbouring countries, or as room for spreading, and as pasture-land. Cf., however, XIII, 2-4, 2, 4, where, as in Ait. Br. III, 44; VI, 23, such a belt of jungle is referred to as a source of danger to the inhabitants of a country.
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A
of seeds: by means of seed he thus puts seed into it. ;
2. And if disease were to befal it, let him in addition prepare a pap to Pishan, for Pfshan rules over beasts (cattle); and, indeed, he thereby gratifies him who owns cattle and rules over cattle ; and it (the horse) thereby indeed becomes free from disease. ;
3. And if sickness without (visible) injury! were to befal it, let him in addition prepare for (Agni) Vaisvanara a cake on twelve potsherds, with the earth serving for potsherds?; for Vaisvanara is this (earth): he thereby gratifies this (earth), and it (the horse) becomes free from disease.
4. And if an eye-disease were to befal it, let him in addition prepare a pap to Sdrya;—the Sun, doubtless, is the eye of creatures, for when he rises everything here moves: by means of the eye (of the world) he thus bestows the eye upon it. And as to why it is a pap (aru), it is because by means of the eye this self (body or mind) moves (Aar).
5. And if it were to die in water, let him in addition prepare a barley pap to Varuma, for Varuma seizes him who dies in water: he thereby thus gratifies that very deity who seizes it, and, thus gratified, he approves his slaughtering another (horse), and he slaughters it as one approved by that (deity). And as to why it is (prepared) of barley, it is because barley belongs to Varuza.
6. And if it were to get lost, let him in addition
1 Viz. such as fever, comm. * That is, spreading them on the earth, or on clods of earth, comm.
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And as to why it is (prepared) of barley, it is because barley belongs to Varuza.
6. And if it were to get lost, let him in addition
1 Viz. such as fever, comm. * That is, spreading them on the earth, or on clods of earth, comm.
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perform an ishéi with three sacrificial dishes—a cake on one potsherd for Heaven and Earth, a milk (oblation) for Vayu, and a pap for Sfrya;—for whatsoever is lost, is lost within heaven and earth ; and the wind ‘blows upon it, and the sun shines upon it; and nothing whatever is lost out of (the reach of) these deities. And even by itself! this (ish¢i) is the recoverer of what is lost; and even if any other thing of his were to get lost let him perform this very offering, and he verily finds it. And if enemies were to obtain the horse, or if it ‘were to die (either in any other way) or in water °, let them bring another (horse) and consecrate it by sprinkling: this, indeed, is the expiation in that case.
Fourtu Apnydya. First BrAHMAna.
1. Pragdpati desired, ‘Would that I obtained all my desires! would that I attained all attainments!’ He beheld this three days’ Soma-sacrifice, the Asvamedha, and took possession of it, and sacrificed with it: by sacrificing therewith he obtained all his desires, and attained all attainments; and, verily, whosoever performs the Asvamedha sacrifice obtains all his desires, and attains all attainments.
2. Concerning this they say, ‘In what season is the beginning (to be made) ?’—‘ Let him begin it in summer,’ say some, ‘for summer is the Kshatriya’s season, and truly this—to wit, the Asvamedha—is the Kshatriya’s sacrifice.’
3. But let him rather begin it in spring; for
? That is, even independently of the horse-sacrifice. * That is to say, if it were to die by getting drowned, or in any other way.
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spring is the Brahmamza’s season, and truly whosoever sacrifices, sacrifices after becoming, as it were, a Brahmaaa: let him therefore by all means begin it in spring.
4. And six days, or seven days, before that fullmoon of Phalguna, the officiating priests meet together—to wit, the Adhvaryu, the Hotvz, the Brahman, and the Udgatrz; for under these’ the other priests are.
5. The Adhvaryu prepares for them a priest's mess of rice sufficient for four persons: the meaning of this has been explained*. Four bowlfuls, four double handfuls, four handfuls: twelvefold this is— twelve months are a year, and the year is everything, and the Asvamedha is everything—thus it is in order to his gaining and securing everything.
6. Those four priests eat it: the meaning of this has been explained. He (the Sacrificer) gives to them four thousand (cows) in order to his gaining and securing everything, for a thousand means everything, and the Asvamedha is everything. And (he gives them) four gold plates weighing a hundred (grains): the meaning of this has been explained *.
He (the Sacrificer) gives to them four thousand (cows) in order to his gaining and securing everything, for a thousand means everything, and the Asvamedha is everything. And (he gives them) four gold plates weighing a hundred (grains): the meaning of this has been explained *.
7. The Adhvaryu then, hanging a gold ornament (nishka) round him, makes him mutter (Vag. S. XXII, 1), ‘Fire thou art, light and immortality,—for gold, indeed, is fire, light‘, and
' Or, along with these, included in them (are the assistant priests).
* See XIII, 1, 1, 1; 4 (cf. Ll, 1, 4, 4).
* XII, 7, a, 13.
‘ Perhaps Mahfdhara is right in taking 'sukram’ here in the sense of ‘seed’ (Agner viryam) ; cf. II, 1, 1, 5; XIII, 1,1, 4.
Xl KANDA, 4 ADHYAYA, I BRAHMANA, 10. 349 immortality: fire (fiery mettle), light (brilliance), and immortality he thus bestows upon him ;— ‘protector of life, protect my life!’ he thereby bestows life (vital strength) upon him. With a view to commencing the sacrifice, he then says to him, ‘ Restrain thy speech!’ for the sacrifice is speech.
8. Four (of the king's) wives are in attendance— the consecrated queen, the favourite wife, a discarded wife, and the Palagalt', all of them adorned and wearing gold ornaments (neck-plates)—with the view of the completeness of conjugal union. With them he enters the hall of the sacrificial fires—the Sacrificer by the eastern, the wives by the southern, door.
9. When the evening-offering* has been _performed, he lies down with his favourite wife behind the Gérhapatya hearth, with his head towards the north. At the same place® the other (wives) also lie down. He lies in her lap without embracing her‘, thinking, ‘May I, by this selfrestraint, reach successfully the end of the year!’
10. When the morning offering has been performed, the Adhvaryu performs a full-offering ® with a view to his (the Sacrificer’s) gaining and securing everything, for the full means everything, _and the Asvamedha is everything. At this (offering) he releases speech by (bestowing) a boon,
1 See p. 313, note 2.
* That is the evening performance of the Agnihotra.
5 Tad eva tatraiva, comm.
“ Sosntarorfi asamvartamfnah sete.
5 For particulars regarding the ‘pQradhuti, or oblation of a spoonful of ghee, see part i, p. 302, note 2.
350, SATAPATHA-BRAHMANA,
saying, ‘I grant a boon to the Brahman (priest) :’ (this he does) with a view to his gaining and securing everything, for a boon is everything, and the Asvamedha is everything.
11. The gold ornament which is attached to his (neck) he then gives to the Adhvaryu: in giving it to the Adhvaryu he secures to himself immortal life, for gold means immortal life.