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Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
187 it has been said by the seer (V4g.S. VII, 32), ‘They spread the barhis continuously.’ He spreads it with the roots below (the tops); for it is with their roots below that those plants are firmly established in this earth: for this reason he spreads it with the roots below. 11. He spreads it, with the text (V4g. S. IT, 2), ‘I spread thee, soft as wool, pleasant to sit upon for the gods !’—when he says ‘thee, soft as wool,’ he thereby means to say ‘agreeable to the gods;’ and by ‘pleasant to sit upon for the gods,’ he means to say ‘forming a good seat for the gods.’ 12. He now trims the fire. The Ahavantya, doubtless, is the head of the sacrifice, for the head is the fore-part?: that fore-part of the sacrifice he thereby trims. He trims it while holding the prastara (which he has received back from the Brahman) close over it; for the prastara is the top-knot, and it is this which he thereby puts on it: for this reason he trims (the fire) while holding the prastara close over it. 13. He then lays the (three) enclosing-sticks (paridhi) around (the fire). The reason why he lays the enclosing-sticks around (is this). When at first the gods chose Agni for the office of Hotz, he said: ‘Verily, I am not equal to this, that I should be your Hotv#, and that I should carry your oblation. Already you have chosen three before, other object) the heads of the preceding layer and push the roots of the succeeding one under them. Ib. 24 (schol.). 1 He takes one stick from the fuel and gets the fire ready (for the oblations, either by throwing the stick into it, or by stirring it with the stick). Ib. 29. ® The Ahavanfya is at the foremost or eastern end of the sacrificial ground. 88 SATAPATHA-BRAHMANA. and they have passed away. Restore them to me: then I shall be equal to this, that I should be your . Hot? and that I should carry your oblation!’ They said, ‘So be it!’ and they restored to him those (three former Agnis) : they are these enclosing-sticks. 14. He then said, ‘The thunderbolt, (in the shape of) the vashaé-call*, has struck these down: I am afraid of that thunderbolt, the vashaé-call. Lest that thunderbolt, the vashaécall, should strike me down, enclose me by those (three Agnis, or paridhis); and thus that thunderbolt, the vasha¢-call, will not strike me down.’ They said, ‘So be it!’ and they enclosed him with those (three sticks), and that thunderbolt, the vashaécall, did not strike him down. When he encloses Agni with those (sticks) he buckles armour on him. 15. They (the other three Agnis) then said, ‘If you join us with the sacrifice in this wise, then let us also have a share in the sacrifice !’ 16. The gods said: ‘So be it! What shall fall outside the enclosure, that is offered unto you; and what they shall offer just upon you, that will sate 1 See I, 2, 3,1.
2The gods said: ‘So be it! What shall fall outside the enclosure, that is offered unto you; and what they shall offer just upon you, that will sate 1 See I, 2, 3,1. * The call ‘vasha/’ (or vausha/), apparently signifying ‘may he (Agni) carry it (the oblation) up!’ (from vah, to bear, carry), is pronounced by the Hotr? at the end of the y4gy4s or offering prayers (see note on I, 5, 1,16). Professor Weber has somewhere proposed to derive it from vaksh, to grow, increase, hence ‘may it prosper, or agree, with you!’ Different, but quite fanciful, interpretations of vasha/ are given Sat. Br. I, 5, 2,18; Ait. Br. 3, 6. As to the awful solemnity of this formula, and the danger arising from a careless use of it, see Ait. Br. 3, 8, on which Haug remarks, ‘Up to the present day the Shrotriyas or sacrificial priests never dare to pronounce this formula save at the time of sacrificing. They say that if they would do so at any other time, they would be cursed by the gods.’ 1 KANDA, 3 ADHYAYA, 3 BRAHMANA, I9. 89 you ; and what they shall offer up in the fire that will sate you!’ Thus what they offer up in the fire, that satisfies them (the Agnis); and what they offer up just upon them (the enclosing-sticks, or Agnis), that satisfies them; and what is spilled outside the enclosure, that is offered to them!: hence no sin attaches to what (butter) is spilt; for into this earth they entered (when they, the Agnis, passed away), and whatever is spilt here,—all that remains indeed in her. 17. That which is spilt he touches, with the formulas (V4g. S. II, 2), ‘To the Lord of the Earth— svéha!’ ‘To the Lord of the World—svaha!’ ‘To the Lord of Beings—svaha!’ These, indeed, are the names of those Agnis,—to wit, Lord of the Earth, Lord of the World, and Lord of Beings. Thus in like manner as that (oblation) which is accompanied by ‘Vasha2’ is offered up (to the particular deity to which it is announced), so is this (offered up) on his (the sacrificer’s) part to those Agnis. 18. Here now some people take the sticks they lay around from the fire-wood; but let him not do so, for unsuitable for laying around are those which they take from the fire-wood, since the fire-wood is prepared for the purpose of being put upon (the fire); but what other (kind of sticks) they bring to him, called ‘enclosing-sticks (paridhis),’ they are indeed suitable for his purpose: let them therefore bring others. 19. Indeed, they should be of Palasa wood 1 The K4nva text has as follows:—They said, ‘So be it! what shall fall outside the enclosure that shall be yours! and what they shall offer just upon you that shall sate you!’ for what they offer just upon them that does indeed sate them (en4n); and what they offer up in the fire that is theirs (esh4m, ?the gods’); and what falls outside the enclosure by that he shall incur no guilt, &c. 90 SATAPATHA-BRAHMANA.
390 SATAPATHA-BRAHMANA. (Butea Frondosa); for the Paldsa tree, doubtless, is the Brahman}, and Agni also is the Brahman: for this reason the Agnis should be of Paldsa wood. 20. Should he be unable to procure them of Pal4sa wood, they may be of Vikankata wood (Flacourtia Sapida); and if he be unable to procure any of Vikankata, they may be of Karshmarya wood (Gmelina Arborea); and if he be unable to procure any of Karshmarya wood, they may be of Vilva (Aegle Marmelos), or of Khadira (Acacia Catechu), or of Udumbara wood (Ficus Glomerata). These, doubtless, are the trees that are suitable for sacrificial purposes, and from these trees they (the enclosingsticks) are therefore (taken). FourtH BRAHMANA. 1. They should be green (fresh); for that is (what constitutes) their living element, by that they are vigorous, by that possessed of strength: for this reason -they should be green. 2. The middle stick he lays down first (on the west side of the fire), with the text (V4g. S. II, 3), ‘May the Gandharva Visvavasu? lay thee around 1 The Brahman, or supreme spirit (? or, sacred writ), is more than once identified with the Palasa tree in the Satapatha Br., as in V, 2, 4,18; VI, 6, 3,7; XII, 7, 2,15; and with the leaf of that tree (palasasya palasam) in II, 6, 2, 8. [? Cf. Rig-veda X, 31, 7, ‘Which was the wood, which was the tree, out of which they fashioned heaven and earth?’ and Taitt. Br. II, 8, 9, 6, ‘ Brahma was the wood, Brahma was that tree out of which they fashioned heaven and earth ;’ also Ath.-veda X, 7, 38, ‘The gods form part of the divine essence (Skambha-Brahma) as branches of a tree.’] * The genius VisvAvasu is already mentioned in Rig-veda X, 85, 21 seq., and X, 139, 4, where Grassmann identifies him with the rainbow (cf. Roth, Nirukta notes, p. 145). See also Sat. Br. III, 2, 4, 2; XIV, 9, 4, 18. I KANDA, 3 ADHYAYA, 4 BRAHMANA, 6. gI for the security of the All! Thou art a fence to the sacrificer, thou (art) Agni, invoked and worthy of invocation !’ 3. He then lays down the southern one, with the text (ib.), ‘Thou art Indra’s arm for the security of the All! Thou art a fence to the sacrificer; thou Agni, invoked and worthy of invocation!’ 4. He then lays down the northern one, with the text (ib.), ‘May Mitra-Varumza lay thee around in the north with firm law for the security of the All! Thou art a fence to the sacrificer, thou Agni, invoked and worthy of invocation!’ They are indeed Agnis, and for that reason he says, ‘Agni, invoked and worthy of invocation!’ 5. Thereupon he puts on (the fire) a samidh (kindling-stick). He first touches with it the middle enclosing-stick : thereby he first kindles those (three Agnis). After that he puts it on the fire: thereby he kindles the visible fire.
The source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.
Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
187 it has been said by the seer (V4g.S. VII, 32), ‘They spread the barhis continuously.’ He spreads it with the roots below (the tops); for it is with their roots below that those plants are firmly established in this earth: for this reason he spreads it with the roots below. 11. He spreads it, with the text (V4g. S. IT, 2), ‘I spread thee, soft as wool, pleasant to sit upon for the gods !’—when he says ‘thee, soft as wool,’ he thereby means to say ‘agreeable to the gods;’ and by ‘pleasant to sit upon for the gods,’ he means to say ‘forming a good seat for the gods.’ 12. He now trims the fire. The Ahavantya, doubtless, is the head of the sacrifice, for the head is the fore-part?: that fore-part of the sacrifice he thereby trims. He trims it while holding the prastara (which he has received back from the Brahman) close over it; for the prastara is the top-knot, and it is this which he thereby puts on it: for this reason he trims (the fire) while holding the prastara close over it. 13. He then lays the (three) enclosing-sticks (paridhi) around (the fire). The reason why he lays the enclosing-sticks around (is this). When at first the gods chose Agni for the office of Hotz, he said: ‘Verily, I am not equal to this, that I should be your Hotv#, and that I should carry your oblation. Already you have chosen three before, other object) the heads of the preceding layer and push the roots of the succeeding one under them. Ib. 24 (schol.). 1 He takes one stick from the fuel and gets the fire ready (for the oblations, either by throwing the stick into it, or by stirring it with the stick). Ib. 29. ® The Ahavanfya is at the foremost or eastern end of the sacrificial ground. 88 SATAPATHA-BRAHMANA. and they have passed away. Restore them to me: then I shall be equal to this, that I should be your . Hot? and that I should carry your oblation!’ They said, ‘So be it!’ and they restored to him those (three former Agnis) : they are these enclosing-sticks. 14. He then said, ‘The thunderbolt, (in the shape of) the vashaé-call*, has struck these down: I am afraid of that thunderbolt, the vashaé-call. Lest that thunderbolt, the vashaécall, should strike me down, enclose me by those (three Agnis, or paridhis); and thus that thunderbolt, the vasha¢-call, will not strike me down.’ They said, ‘So be it!’ and they enclosed him with those (three sticks), and that thunderbolt, the vashaécall, did not strike him down. When he encloses Agni with those (sticks) he buckles armour on him. 15. They (the other three Agnis) then said, ‘If you join us with the sacrifice in this wise, then let us also have a share in the sacrifice !’ 16. The gods said: ‘So be it! What shall fall outside the enclosure, that is offered unto you; and what they shall offer just upon you, that will sate 1 See I, 2, 3,1.
2The gods said: ‘So be it! What shall fall outside the enclosure, that is offered unto you; and what they shall offer just upon you, that will sate 1 See I, 2, 3,1. * The call ‘vasha/’ (or vausha/), apparently signifying ‘may he (Agni) carry it (the oblation) up!’ (from vah, to bear, carry), is pronounced by the Hotr? at the end of the y4gy4s or offering prayers (see note on I, 5, 1,16). Professor Weber has somewhere proposed to derive it from vaksh, to grow, increase, hence ‘may it prosper, or agree, with you!’ Different, but quite fanciful, interpretations of vasha/ are given Sat. Br. I, 5, 2,18; Ait. Br. 3, 6. As to the awful solemnity of this formula, and the danger arising from a careless use of it, see Ait. Br. 3, 8, on which Haug remarks, ‘Up to the present day the Shrotriyas or sacrificial priests never dare to pronounce this formula save at the time of sacrificing. They say that if they would do so at any other time, they would be cursed by the gods.’ 1 KANDA, 3 ADHYAYA, 3 BRAHMANA, I9. 89 you ; and what they shall offer up in the fire that will sate you!’ Thus what they offer up in the fire, that satisfies them (the Agnis); and what they offer up just upon them (the enclosing-sticks, or Agnis), that satisfies them; and what is spilled outside the enclosure, that is offered to them!: hence no sin attaches to what (butter) is spilt; for into this earth they entered (when they, the Agnis, passed away), and whatever is spilt here,—all that remains indeed in her. 17. That which is spilt he touches, with the formulas (V4g. S. II, 2), ‘To the Lord of the Earth— svéha!’ ‘To the Lord of the World—svaha!’ ‘To the Lord of Beings—svaha!’ These, indeed, are the names of those Agnis,—to wit, Lord of the Earth, Lord of the World, and Lord of Beings. Thus in like manner as that (oblation) which is accompanied by ‘Vasha2’ is offered up (to the particular deity to which it is announced), so is this (offered up) on his (the sacrificer’s) part to those Agnis. 18. Here now some people take the sticks they lay around from the fire-wood; but let him not do so, for unsuitable for laying around are those which they take from the fire-wood, since the fire-wood is prepared for the purpose of being put upon (the fire); but what other (kind of sticks) they bring to him, called ‘enclosing-sticks (paridhis),’ they are indeed suitable for his purpose: let them therefore bring others. 19. Indeed, they should be of Palasa wood 1 The K4nva text has as follows:—They said, ‘So be it! what shall fall outside the enclosure that shall be yours! and what they shall offer just upon you that shall sate you!’ for what they offer just upon them that does indeed sate them (en4n); and what they offer up in the fire that is theirs (esh4m, ?the gods’); and what falls outside the enclosure by that he shall incur no guilt, &c. 90 SATAPATHA-BRAHMANA.
390 SATAPATHA-BRAHMANA. (Butea Frondosa); for the Paldsa tree, doubtless, is the Brahman}, and Agni also is the Brahman: for this reason the Agnis should be of Paldsa wood. 20. Should he be unable to procure them of Pal4sa wood, they may be of Vikankata wood (Flacourtia Sapida); and if he be unable to procure any of Vikankata, they may be of Karshmarya wood (Gmelina Arborea); and if he be unable to procure any of Karshmarya wood, they may be of Vilva (Aegle Marmelos), or of Khadira (Acacia Catechu), or of Udumbara wood (Ficus Glomerata). These, doubtless, are the trees that are suitable for sacrificial purposes, and from these trees they (the enclosingsticks) are therefore (taken). FourtH BRAHMANA. 1. They should be green (fresh); for that is (what constitutes) their living element, by that they are vigorous, by that possessed of strength: for this reason -they should be green. 2. The middle stick he lays down first (on the west side of the fire), with the text (V4g. S. II, 3), ‘May the Gandharva Visvavasu? lay thee around 1 The Brahman, or supreme spirit (? or, sacred writ), is more than once identified with the Palasa tree in the Satapatha Br., as in V, 2, 4,18; VI, 6, 3,7; XII, 7, 2,15; and with the leaf of that tree (palasasya palasam) in II, 6, 2, 8. [? Cf. Rig-veda X, 31, 7, ‘Which was the wood, which was the tree, out of which they fashioned heaven and earth?’ and Taitt. Br. II, 8, 9, 6, ‘ Brahma was the wood, Brahma was that tree out of which they fashioned heaven and earth ;’ also Ath.-veda X, 7, 38, ‘The gods form part of the divine essence (Skambha-Brahma) as branches of a tree.’] * The genius VisvAvasu is already mentioned in Rig-veda X, 85, 21 seq., and X, 139, 4, where Grassmann identifies him with the rainbow (cf. Roth, Nirukta notes, p. 145). See also Sat. Br. III, 2, 4, 2; XIV, 9, 4, 18. I KANDA, 3 ADHYAYA, 4 BRAHMANA, 6. gI for the security of the All! Thou art a fence to the sacrificer, thou (art) Agni, invoked and worthy of invocation !’ 3. He then lays down the southern one, with the text (ib.), ‘Thou art Indra’s arm for the security of the All! Thou art a fence to the sacrificer; thou Agni, invoked and worthy of invocation!’ 4. He then lays down the northern one, with the text (ib.), ‘May Mitra-Varumza lay thee around in the north with firm law for the security of the All! Thou art a fence to the sacrificer, thou Agni, invoked and worthy of invocation!’ They are indeed Agnis, and for that reason he says, ‘Agni, invoked and worthy of invocation!’ 5. Thereupon he puts on (the fire) a samidh (kindling-stick). He first touches with it the middle enclosing-stick : thereby he first kindles those (three Agnis). After that he puts it on the fire: thereby he kindles the visible fire.
The source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.
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