Fourth Adhyaya. First Brahma;va,
1. He puts a piece of copper1 into the mouth of
a long-haired man, with (Va£\ S. X, 10), ' Removed
by sacrifice are the mordacious.' For verily
he who performs the Ra^asuya escapes all kinds of
death, all murderous blows, and old age alone is his
death : hence whatever kind of death, whatever
murderous blow there is, past that he now guides
him, as past the mordacious ones.
2. And as to why it is of a long-haired man, — such
a long-haired man is neither woman nor man ; for
being a male, he is not a woman, and being long-
haired (a eunuch), he is not a man. And copper
(or bronze) is neither iron nor gold ; and those
mordacious ones (snakes) are neither worms nor
non-worms. And as to its being copper, — reddish
1 Lohayasa, literally, l red metal/ apparently either copper, or an alloy of copper and some other metal. — The eunuch is sitting in the Sadas.
V KANDA, 4 ADHYAYA, I BRAHMAiVA, 9. 9 I
to be sure are mordacious ones : therefore (he throws it in the face) of a long-haired man.
3. He then makes him ascend the regions, with
(Va£\ S. X, 10-14), * Ascend thou the East!
May the Gayatrl (metre) protect thee, the
Rathantara-saman, the threefold stoma, the
spring season, the Priesthood, that precious
treasure ! '
4. 'Ascend thou the South! May the Tri-
sh/ubh protect thee, the Brzhat-saman, the
fifteenfold stoma, the summer season, the
Knighthood, that precious treasure!'
5. ' Ascend thou the West! May the ^agatt
protect thee, the Vairupa-saman, the seven-
teenfold stoma, the rainy season, the Peasan-
try, that precious treasure V
6. 'Ascend thou the North! May the Anu-
sh/ubh protect thee, the Vaira^a-saman, the
twenty-onefold stoma, the autumn season,
fruit, that precious treasure!'
7. 'Ascend thou the upper region ! May the
Pankti protect thee, the-S&kvara and Raivata-
samans, the thrice-ninefold and the three and
thirtyfold stomas, the winter and dewy season,
spiritual lustre, that precious treasure!'
8. And as to why he makes him ascend the
quarters, — that is a form of the seasons : it is the
seasons, the year, that he thereby makes him ascend ;
and having ascended the seasons, the year, he is
high, high above everything here, and everything
here is below him.
9. On the hind part of the tigers skin * a piece of
1 This was spread out in front of the Maitravaruwa's hearth, see V, 3, 5> 3-
92 SATAPATHA-BRAHMAiVA.
lead is laid down. He kicks it off with his foot,
with (Va£\ S. X, 14), ' Kicked off is Namu/H's
head ! ' Now there was once an Asura, Namu^i by
name. Indra knocked him down, and trod with his
foot upon him. And in that he, thus trodden upon,
bulged out, that (is the origin of) a rupture. He
tore off his head with his foot, and therefrom sprang
a goblin (Rakshas). That one kept calling out to
him, * Whither art thou going ? Where wilt thou
rid thyself of me ? '
10. He beat it off with (a disk of) lead : hence
lead is soft, for it has lost its spring, as it beat off
(the goblin) with all its might. Hence also, while
being like gold, it is not worth anything ; for it has
lost its spring, as it beat off (the goblin) with all its
might. And so, indeed, he (Indra) thereby beat off
the fiends, the Rakshas ; and in like manner this
one (the king) thereby beats off the fiends, the
Rakshas.
11. He then makes him step upon the tigers
skin, with (Va^. S. X, 15), 'Thou art Soma's
beauty ; ' — For because when Soma flowed through
Indra, he (Indra) thereupon became a tiger, and
therefore he is Somas beauty : this is why he says,
' Thou art Soma's beauty ; ' — ' May my beauty be
like unto thine!' — The tiger's beauty he thereby
bestows upon him : therefore he says, ' May my
beauty be like unto thine ! '
12. Below (the kings foot) he throws a (small)
gold plate, with, ' Save (him) from death ! ' — Gold
is immortal life : he thus takes his stand on immortal
life.
13. Then there is (another) gold plate, perforated either with a hundred, or with nine, holes. If with
V KANDA, 4 ADHYAYA, I BRAHMAiVA, 1 6. 93
a hundred holes, — man here lives up to a hundred
(years), and has a hundred energies, a hundred
powers ; therefore it is perforated with a hundred
holes. And if with nine holes, — there are in man
those nine vital airs : therefore it is perforated with
nine holes.
14. That (gold plate) he lays upon his head, with,
' Might thou art, victory thou art, immortality
thou art!' Gold being immortal life, he thus lays
immortal life into him. And as to why there are
gold plates on both sides, — gold being immortal
life, — he thus encloses him on both sides with
immortal life : this is why there are gold plates on
both sides.
15. He then lifts up his arms, with (Va£*. S. X,
161), * Golden-bodied, ye two lords rise like
the sun: mount ye the chariot, O Mitra and
Varu^a, and thence behold Aditi and Diti!'
Mitra and Varu/za verily are the two arms, and the
chariot (-seat) is the man : therefore he says, ' Mount
ye the chariot, O Mitra and Varu/za ! ' — ' thence be-
hold Aditi and Diti!' By this he means to say,
' See ye your own (property) and that of others ! '
16. Let him not lift up (the king's arms) with
that one, but let him rather lift them up with,
'Thou art Mitra, thou art Varu/za;' for Mitra-
Vanma are the two arms, and by his arms the
RiL^anya belongs to Mitra and Varu^a : let him
therefore lift up his arms with, 'Thou art Mitra,
thou art Varu/za.'
1 In Ri'k S. V, 62, 8 the verse runs as follows: — At the glow of the dawn, at the rising of the sun, ye, O Mitra and Varu^a, mount your golden-formed, iron-pillared chariot ; thence ye behold Aditi and Diti (? the boundless space and the bounded).
94 SATAPATHA-BRAHMAiVA.
1 7. And as to why he anoints him (standing) with
upstretched arms ; — those arms in truth are the
Ra^anya' s power, and power also is that collected
essence of the waters wherewith he now anoints
him : ' Lest that power, the collected essence of the
waters, weigh down (paralyze) this power of mine,
the arms,' thus he thinks, and therefore he anoints
him (standing) with upstretched arms.
Second Brahma^a.
1. He (the king) is anointed (sprinkled) whilst
standing with his face turned towards the east. A
Br&hman — either the Adhvaryu, or he who is his
(the kings) court chaplain — sprinkles him in front,
from behind ; —
2. With (Va£\ S. X, 17), 'With Soma's glory
I sprinkle thee/ — 'with vigour' he thereby says ; —
' With Agni's glow. . .V — 'with vigour' he thereby
says; — 'With Surya's splendour . . . ,' — 'with
vigour' he thereby says; — 'With Indra's energy
. . . ,' — 'with vigour' he thereby says ; — ' Be thou
the chieftain of chiefs!' — 'be thou the supreme
king of kings' he thereby says; — 'Guard (him)2
against darts!' — darts meaning arrows, it is past
murder by arrows that he thus guides him : there-
fore he says, ' guard him against darts ! '
3. [Vag\ S. X, 18] 'Quicken him, O gods, to
1 While the preceding formula is used by the priest, the present and two succeeding ones (each with the words c . . . I sprinkle thee ; guard him against darts ! ') are pronounced by the other three persons specified in V, 3, 5, 12-14, each sprinkling the king with the water in his respective vessel.
2 Mahidhara explains : ' O Soma, protect him, the Sacrificer, in overcoming the enemy's missiles/
V KANDA, 4 ADHYAYA, 2 BRAHMAiVA, 4. 95
be unrivalled ! ' — he thereby says, ' Quicken him, O
gods, so as to be without an enemy ; ' — ' For great
chiefdom, for great lordship!' — in this there is
nothing obscure ; — * For man-rule V — * for the
ruling of men' he thereby says; — 'For Indra's
lordly sway! ' — ' for power' he means to say, when
he says, 'for Indra's lordly sway!' — 'Him, the
son of such and such (a man), the son of such
and such (a woman)/ — whatever be his parentage
regarding that he says this ; — ' of such and such
a people ' — that is to say, of the people whose king
he is; — 'This man, O ye (people), is your king,
Soma is the king of us Brahmans ! ' — he thereby
causes everything here to be food for him (the
king) ; the Br&hman alone he excepts : therefore
the Br&hman is not to be fed upon, for he has Soma
for his king 1.
4. He (the king) then rubs the sprinkled water
1 Either at this juncture, or after the game at dice, the Hotr/ recites the legend of Suna^jepha, as given Ait. Br. VII, 13-18. — * King Hari^andra, of the race of Ikshv&ku, being childless, made a vow that if he obtained a son he would sacrifice him to Varuwa. A son was born, who received the name of Rohita, but the father postponed, under various pretexts, the fulfilment of his vow. When at length he resolved to perform the sacrifice, Rohita refused to be the victim, and went out into the forest, where he lived for six years. He then met a poor Brahman jRishi called A^igarta, who had three sons, and Rohita purchased from A^igarta, for a hundred cows, the second son, named -Suna^epha, to be the substitute for himself in the sacrifice. Varuwa approved of the substitute, and the sacrifice was about to be performed, the father receiving another hundred cows for binding his son to the sacrificial post, and a third hundred for agreeing to slaughter him. *Sima^epha, however, saved himself by reciting verses in honour of different deities, and was received into the family of VLyvamitra, who was one of the officiating priests.' Dowson, Diet, of Hindu Mythology.
g6 SATAPATHA-BRAHMA^A.
over himself with the horn of a black antelope ; for
that collected essence of the waters wherewith he
now anoints him means vigour : ' May this vigour of
mine spread through my whole self/ thus he thinks,
and therefore he rubs it all over himself.
5. He rubs it over himself, with (Va^. S. X, 19),
' Forth from the back of the mountain, of the
bull/ — even as the mountain stands out here, even
as the bull stands out beyond the cattle, so does he
who performs the RJ^astiya stand out beyond every-
thing here, and everything here is below him :
therefore he says, ' Forth from the back of the
mountain, of the bull/ — ' The ships keep moving,
the self-pouring; they, the upwards bent, have
turned back downwards, flowing after the
dragon of the deep1/
6. He then makes him step the (three) Vishnu-
steps within (the extent of) the tiger's skin, with,
'Vishnu's outstepping thou art! Vishnu's
outstep thou art! Vishnu's step thou art!'
Now Vishnu's outstepping (vikramana), Vishnu's
outstep (vikranta), and Vishnu's step (kranta) 2 are
these (three) worlds : thus having ascended these
worlds, he is high above everything here, and every-
thing here is below him.
7. He then pours the remainders (of the water)
together into the Brahman's vessel : he thereby
makes the Brahman an object of respect after the
king, whence the Brahman is an object of respect
after the king.
1 Ahi Budhnya, the UvOcov ocfus of Hellenic mythology (St. Peters- burg diet.).
2 In the Black Yagus ritual the three steps are called ' krama, kranta, and vikranta/
V KANDA, 4 ADHYAYA, 2 BRAHMAiVA, IO. 97
8. And to him who is his (the king's) dearest son,
he hands that vessel, thinking, * May this son of
mine perpetuate this vigour of mine ! '
9. He then returns to the Garhapatya fire, (his
son) holding on to him behind, and offers, with
(y&g. S. X, 20), 'O Pra^apati, than thee none
other hath encompassed all these forms: for
whatsoever object we sacrifice, let that accrue
unto us! — This one is the father of N. N. !' —
him who is the son, he makes the father, and him
who is the father, he makes the son * : he thereby
links together the vigour of both of them. — l N. N.
is the father of this one ! ' him who is the father,
he makes the father, and him who is the son, he
makes the son : after linking together the vigour of
these two, he puts it again in the proper way, —
' May we be the lords of riches, hail.1, — this is
the blessing of that ceremony : a blessing he thereby
invokes.
10. And any residue that is left over, he offers in
the Agnidhriya ; for redundant is that residue, and
redundant also is the Agnidhriya, — in the Garha-
patya they cook the oblations, and in the Ahavaniya
they offer, but that one is redundant : thus he puts
the redundant to the redundant. He offers it on the
north part (of the hearth), for that is the region of
that god (Rudra) : hence he offers it on the north