Fetching
One moment.
Fetching
One moment.
Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1And if any one wishes to be like Indra in splendour and glory, let him offer then: and, assuredly, he who, knowing this, offers then, obtains that food (object). II KANDA, 3 ADHYAYA, 2 BRAHMANA, 17. 341 12. And when the flame of the waning (fire) gets lower and lower, and (burns) as it were sideways, then, indeed, that (fire) is Mitra. And if any one desires to consume food here through the kindness (maitra, of others)—as one of whom they say, ‘Truly, this Brahman is everybody’s friend, he harms not any one,—let him offer (the Agnihotra) then: and, assuredly, he who, knowing this, offers then (when the fire gets low), obtains that food. 13. And when the coals are glowing intensely, then, indeed, that (fire) is the Brahman. And if anybody wishes to become endowed with holy lustre (brahmavaréasin), let him offer then: and, assuredly, he who, knowing this, offers then, obtains that food (object). 14. Let him endeavour to adhere to some one of these (gods or fires) for a year, whether he (the householder) himself offer (the Agnihotra) or some one else offer for him. If, on the other hand, he offers now in this way, now in another, it is just as if, in digging for water or some other food, one were to leave off in the midst of it. But if he offers uniformly, it is just as if, in digging for water or some other food, one lays it open forthwith. 15. Indeed, these offerings are, as it were, the spades for (the digging up of) food; and, assuredly, whosoever, knowing this, offers the Agnihotra, procures food. 16. Now the first libation (pdrv4huti) represents the gods, and the second (uttarahuti) represents the men, and what remains in the ladle represents cattle. 17. Only a little he offers for the first libation, somewhat more for the second, and still more he leaves in the ladle. 342 SATAPATHA-BRAHMANA, 18. The reason why he offers only a little for the first libation, is that the gods are fewer than men; and why he offers somewhat more for the second libation, is that men are more numerous than the gods; and why he leaves still more in the ladle, is that cattle are more numerous than men. And, verily, whosoever, knowing this, offers the Agnihotra, his cattle will be more numerous than those (human beings) that have to be supported by him: for he, indeed, is in a prosperous condition whose cattle are more numerous than those (human beings) dependent on his support. Tuirp BRAHMANA. 1. Now when Pragdpati, in creating living beings, created Agni, the latter, as soon as born, sought to burn everything here: and so everybody tried to get out of his way?.. The creatures then existing sought to crush him. Being unable to endure this, he went to man. 2. He said, ‘I cannot endure this: come, let me enter into thee! Having reproduced me, maintain me; and as thou wilt reproduce and maintain me in this world, even so will I reproduce and maintain thee in yonder world!’ He (man) replied, ‘So be it.’ And having reproduced him, he maintained him.
22. He said, ‘I cannot endure this: come, let me enter into thee! Having reproduced me, maintain me; and as thou wilt reproduce and maintain me in this world, even so will I reproduce and maintain thee in yonder world!’ He (man) replied, ‘So be it.’ And having reproduced him, he maintained him. 3. Now when he establishes the two fires, he reproduces that (Agni); and having reproduced him, he maintains him; and as he reproduces and maintains him in this world, even so does he (Agni) reproduce and maintain him in yonder world. 4. One must not, therefore, remove it (the sacrificial fire from the hearth) prematurely, for too 1 Ity Abilam 4sa, i. e. ‘there was a (general rush) to a hole,’ (or perhaps ‘to the outlet.’) 11 KANDA, 3 ADHYAYA, 3 BRAHMANA, 8. 343 soon it languishes for him; and as it languishes for him too soon in this world, even so does it languish for him too soon in yonder world: one must not, therefore, remove it prematurely. 5. And when he dies, and they place him on the (funeral) fire, then he is reproduced from out of the fire; and he (Agni) who heretofore was his son’, now becomes his father. 6. Hence it has been said by the Azshis (Rigveda I, 89, 9),‘A hundred autumns (may there be) before us, O gods, during which ye complete the life-time of our bodies, during which sons become fathers! do not cut us off, midway, from reaching the full term of life!’ for he (Agni) who is the son, now in his turn becomes the father: this, then, is why one must establish the fires. 7. Now yonder burning (sun) doubtless is no other than Death; and because he is Death, therefore the creatures that are on this side of him die. But those that are on the other side of him are the gods, and they are therefore immortal. It is by the rays (or reins, thongs, rasmi) of that (sun) that all these creatures are attached to the vital airs (breaths or life), and therefore the rays extend down to the vital airs. 8. And the breath of whomsoever he (the sun) wishes he takes and rises, and that one dies. And whosoever goes to yonder world not having escaped that Death, him he causes to die again and again in yonder world, even as, in this world, one regards not him that is fettered, but puts him to death whenever one wishes. 1 Viz. inasmuch as the householder, by the Adhana, produces, . generates Agni. 344 SATAPATHA-BRAHMANA. 9. Now when, in the evening after sunset, he offers two libations, then he firmly plants himself on that Death with those fore-feet of his; and when, in the morning before sunrise, he offers two libations, then he plants himself on that Death with those hind-feet of his. And when he (the sun) rises, then, in rising, he takes him up and thus he (the sacrificer) escapes that Death. This, then, is the release from death in the Agnihotra: and, verily, he who knows that release from death in the Agnihotra, is freed from death again and again.
3And when he (the sun) rises, then, in rising, he takes him up and thus he (the sacrificer) escapes that Death. This, then, is the release from death in the Agnihotra: and, verily, he who knows that release from death in the Agnihotra, is freed from death again and again. 10. What the arrow-head is to the arrow, that the Agnihotra is to sacrifices. For whither the head of the arrow flies, thither the whole arrow flies: and so are all his works of sacrifice freed by this (Agnihotra) from that Death. 11. Now day and night, revolving, destroy (the fruit of) man’s righteousness in yonder world. But day and night are on this side (of the sun) from him (after he has gone up to heaven); and so day and night do not destroy (the fruit of) his righteousness. 12. And as, while standing inside a chariot, one would look down from above on the revolving chariot-wheels, even so does he look down from on high upon day and night: and, verily, day and night destroy not the reward of him who thus knows that release from day and night. 13. [The sacrificer] having gone round the Ahavantya, (after entering) from the east?, passes 1 According to K&ty. IV, 13, 12 [and Schol.], the householder [after taking out the fires and performing his regular twilight adoration (sandhy4), that is, muttering the SAvitri, Rig-veda III, 62, ro (see Sat. Br. II, 3, 4, 39), when the sun has half disappeared or until it becomes visible; cf. Asval. Grthyas. XX, 3, 7] passes between the Garhapatya and Dakshiva fires, or south of them, 11 KANDA, 3 ADHYAYA, 3 BRAHMANA, 16. 345 between (it and) the Garhapatya (to his seat), For the gods do not know (this) man!; but when he now passes by them between (the fires), they know him, and think, ‘This is he that now offers to us.’ Moreover, Agni (the fire) is the repeller of evil; and these two, the Ahavantya and Garhapatya, repel the evil from him who passes between them; and the evil being repelled from him, he becomes a very light in splendour and glory. 14. On the north side is the door of the Agnihotra?: thus (he approaches it) as he would enter (a house) by a door. If, on the other hand, he were to sit down after approaching from the south, it would be as if he walked outside. 15. The Agnihotra, truly, is the ship (that sails) heavenwards. The Ahavantya and Gérhapatya are the two sides® of that same heavenward-bound ship; and that milk-offerer is its steersman. 16. Now when he walks up towards the east, then he steers that (ship) eastwards towards the [enters the Ahavantya house by the east door], circumambulates the fire from right to left (apadakshizam), and sits down in his place (south of the Ahavantya fire and altar). The same circumambulation is performed by the wife, who thereupon sits down in her place, south-west of the Garhapatya. 1 Or, ‘the gods are not aware of (this) man’ (na vai devé manushyam viduk). The gods are supposed to be assembled around the altar; see I, 3, 3, 8.
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.
1And if any one wishes to be like Indra in splendour and glory, let him offer then: and, assuredly, he who, knowing this, offers then, obtains that food (object). II KANDA, 3 ADHYAYA, 2 BRAHMANA, 17. 341 12. And when the flame of the waning (fire) gets lower and lower, and (burns) as it were sideways, then, indeed, that (fire) is Mitra. And if any one desires to consume food here through the kindness (maitra, of others)—as one of whom they say, ‘Truly, this Brahman is everybody’s friend, he harms not any one,—let him offer (the Agnihotra) then: and, assuredly, he who, knowing this, offers then (when the fire gets low), obtains that food. 13. And when the coals are glowing intensely, then, indeed, that (fire) is the Brahman. And if anybody wishes to become endowed with holy lustre (brahmavaréasin), let him offer then: and, assuredly, he who, knowing this, offers then, obtains that food (object). 14. Let him endeavour to adhere to some one of these (gods or fires) for a year, whether he (the householder) himself offer (the Agnihotra) or some one else offer for him. If, on the other hand, he offers now in this way, now in another, it is just as if, in digging for water or some other food, one were to leave off in the midst of it. But if he offers uniformly, it is just as if, in digging for water or some other food, one lays it open forthwith. 15. Indeed, these offerings are, as it were, the spades for (the digging up of) food; and, assuredly, whosoever, knowing this, offers the Agnihotra, procures food. 16. Now the first libation (pdrv4huti) represents the gods, and the second (uttarahuti) represents the men, and what remains in the ladle represents cattle. 17. Only a little he offers for the first libation, somewhat more for the second, and still more he leaves in the ladle. 342 SATAPATHA-BRAHMANA, 18. The reason why he offers only a little for the first libation, is that the gods are fewer than men; and why he offers somewhat more for the second libation, is that men are more numerous than the gods; and why he leaves still more in the ladle, is that cattle are more numerous than men. And, verily, whosoever, knowing this, offers the Agnihotra, his cattle will be more numerous than those (human beings) that have to be supported by him: for he, indeed, is in a prosperous condition whose cattle are more numerous than those (human beings) dependent on his support. Tuirp BRAHMANA. 1. Now when Pragdpati, in creating living beings, created Agni, the latter, as soon as born, sought to burn everything here: and so everybody tried to get out of his way?.. The creatures then existing sought to crush him. Being unable to endure this, he went to man. 2. He said, ‘I cannot endure this: come, let me enter into thee! Having reproduced me, maintain me; and as thou wilt reproduce and maintain me in this world, even so will I reproduce and maintain thee in yonder world!’ He (man) replied, ‘So be it.’ And having reproduced him, he maintained him.
22. He said, ‘I cannot endure this: come, let me enter into thee! Having reproduced me, maintain me; and as thou wilt reproduce and maintain me in this world, even so will I reproduce and maintain thee in yonder world!’ He (man) replied, ‘So be it.’ And having reproduced him, he maintained him. 3. Now when he establishes the two fires, he reproduces that (Agni); and having reproduced him, he maintains him; and as he reproduces and maintains him in this world, even so does he (Agni) reproduce and maintain him in yonder world. 4. One must not, therefore, remove it (the sacrificial fire from the hearth) prematurely, for too 1 Ity Abilam 4sa, i. e. ‘there was a (general rush) to a hole,’ (or perhaps ‘to the outlet.’) 11 KANDA, 3 ADHYAYA, 3 BRAHMANA, 8. 343 soon it languishes for him; and as it languishes for him too soon in this world, even so does it languish for him too soon in yonder world: one must not, therefore, remove it prematurely. 5. And when he dies, and they place him on the (funeral) fire, then he is reproduced from out of the fire; and he (Agni) who heretofore was his son’, now becomes his father. 6. Hence it has been said by the Azshis (Rigveda I, 89, 9),‘A hundred autumns (may there be) before us, O gods, during which ye complete the life-time of our bodies, during which sons become fathers! do not cut us off, midway, from reaching the full term of life!’ for he (Agni) who is the son, now in his turn becomes the father: this, then, is why one must establish the fires. 7. Now yonder burning (sun) doubtless is no other than Death; and because he is Death, therefore the creatures that are on this side of him die. But those that are on the other side of him are the gods, and they are therefore immortal. It is by the rays (or reins, thongs, rasmi) of that (sun) that all these creatures are attached to the vital airs (breaths or life), and therefore the rays extend down to the vital airs. 8. And the breath of whomsoever he (the sun) wishes he takes and rises, and that one dies. And whosoever goes to yonder world not having escaped that Death, him he causes to die again and again in yonder world, even as, in this world, one regards not him that is fettered, but puts him to death whenever one wishes. 1 Viz. inasmuch as the householder, by the Adhana, produces, . generates Agni. 344 SATAPATHA-BRAHMANA. 9. Now when, in the evening after sunset, he offers two libations, then he firmly plants himself on that Death with those fore-feet of his; and when, in the morning before sunrise, he offers two libations, then he plants himself on that Death with those hind-feet of his. And when he (the sun) rises, then, in rising, he takes him up and thus he (the sacrificer) escapes that Death. This, then, is the release from death in the Agnihotra: and, verily, he who knows that release from death in the Agnihotra, is freed from death again and again.
3And when he (the sun) rises, then, in rising, he takes him up and thus he (the sacrificer) escapes that Death. This, then, is the release from death in the Agnihotra: and, verily, he who knows that release from death in the Agnihotra, is freed from death again and again. 10. What the arrow-head is to the arrow, that the Agnihotra is to sacrifices. For whither the head of the arrow flies, thither the whole arrow flies: and so are all his works of sacrifice freed by this (Agnihotra) from that Death. 11. Now day and night, revolving, destroy (the fruit of) man’s righteousness in yonder world. But day and night are on this side (of the sun) from him (after he has gone up to heaven); and so day and night do not destroy (the fruit of) his righteousness. 12. And as, while standing inside a chariot, one would look down from above on the revolving chariot-wheels, even so does he look down from on high upon day and night: and, verily, day and night destroy not the reward of him who thus knows that release from day and night. 13. [The sacrificer] having gone round the Ahavantya, (after entering) from the east?, passes 1 According to K&ty. IV, 13, 12 [and Schol.], the householder [after taking out the fires and performing his regular twilight adoration (sandhy4), that is, muttering the SAvitri, Rig-veda III, 62, ro (see Sat. Br. II, 3, 4, 39), when the sun has half disappeared or until it becomes visible; cf. Asval. Grthyas. XX, 3, 7] passes between the Garhapatya and Dakshiva fires, or south of them, 11 KANDA, 3 ADHYAYA, 3 BRAHMANA, 16. 345 between (it and) the Garhapatya (to his seat), For the gods do not know (this) man!; but when he now passes by them between (the fires), they know him, and think, ‘This is he that now offers to us.’ Moreover, Agni (the fire) is the repeller of evil; and these two, the Ahavantya and Garhapatya, repel the evil from him who passes between them; and the evil being repelled from him, he becomes a very light in splendour and glory. 14. On the north side is the door of the Agnihotra?: thus (he approaches it) as he would enter (a house) by a door. If, on the other hand, he were to sit down after approaching from the south, it would be as if he walked outside. 15. The Agnihotra, truly, is the ship (that sails) heavenwards. The Ahavantya and Gérhapatya are the two sides® of that same heavenward-bound ship; and that milk-offerer is its steersman. 16. Now when he walks up towards the east, then he steers that (ship) eastwards towards the [enters the Ahavantya house by the east door], circumambulates the fire from right to left (apadakshizam), and sits down in his place (south of the Ahavantya fire and altar). The same circumambulation is performed by the wife, who thereupon sits down in her place, south-west of the Garhapatya. 1 Or, ‘the gods are not aware of (this) man’ (na vai devé manushyam viduk). The gods are supposed to be assembled around the altar; see I, 3, 3, 8.
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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