1 According to Taitt. Br. I, 7, 9, 6, the king, on returning to the Vedi, is supposed to have ascended to the heavenly world (suvarga- loka), from which the charioteer is to be excluded by this ex- pedient.
2 The Ahavaniya of the hall (the so-called ' hall-door fire ') has been lifted and placed on a cart.
8 Or, two round (gold) plates, weighing a hundred mana (or berries of Gu^a, or Abrus Precatorius, the average weight of which is stated to be iT^- grains Troy).
V KANDA, 4 ADHYAYA, 4 BRAHMAiVA, 3. IO5
Brahman priest, for the Brahman protects the
sacrifice from the south : therefore he gives them
to the Brahman.
2 j. In front of the Maitravaru/za's hearth the
dish of curds for Mitra and Varima has been
deposited. He draws down to it his (the Sacrificers)
two arms1, with, ' I draw you down, the arms of
Indra, the doer of mighty deeds.' Now curds
are the essence of cattle : hence it is to the essence
of cattle that he thereby brings down his (the
Sacrificers) arms. And as to its being for Mitra-
Varu^a, it is because Mitra and Vanma are the
two arms.
Fourth Brahma;va.
1. He proceeds with the curds for Mitra- Vanma.
Whilst the Svish/akrzt of it remains yet unofifered,
they bring a throne-seat for him (the king) ; for
truly he who gains a seat in the air, gains a seat
above (others) : thus these subjects of his sit below
him who is seated above, — that is why they bring
him a throne-seat. It is of khadira (acacia catechu)
wood, and perforated, and bound with thongs as
that of the Bharatas.
2. He places it (on the tigers skin), in front of
the Maitravanmas hearth, with (Va£*. S. X, 26),
' Thou art pleasant, thou art soft-seated!' — he
thereby renders it kindly and auspicious.
3. He then spreads a mantle over it, with, 'Thou art the womb (seat) of knighthood!' — he thus
1 Whilst this is done, the king stands on the tigers skin, and the Adhvaryu hands him his bow and arrows. Thereupon the dish of curds is taken to the uttaravedi to be proceeded with. Katy. Sr. XV, 6, 34-35.
1 06 SATAPATHA-BRAHMAiVA.
makes it (the kings throne) the very womb of knighthood.
4. He then makes him sit down on it, with, ' Seat
thee on the pleasant one! seat thee on the
soft-seated!' — whereby he says, * Seat thyself on
the kindly and auspicious (seat)!' — 'Seat thee in
the womb of knighthood ! ' — thus he places him
in what is the very womb of knighthood.
5. Having touched him on the chest, he then
mutters (V&£\ S. X, 27; Rik S. I, 25, 10), ' He hath
sat down, the upholder of the sacred law/ —
the king indeed is the upholder of the sacred law,
for he is not capable of all and every speech, nor of
all and every deed ; but that he should speak only
what is right, and do what is right, of that he, as
well as the vSrotriya (the Brahman versed in sacred
writ), is capable ; for these two are the upholders of
the sacred law among men : therefore he says, ' He
hath sat down, the upholder of the sacred law ; ' —
' Varu^a, in the home-steads/ — the home-steads
are the peasants (clans, people) : ' among the
peasants' he means to say; — 'for supreme rule,
he the wise!' — 'for kingship' he means to say
when he says, ' for supreme rule, he the wise/
6. He then throws the five dice 1 into his hand,
1 The allusions to the game of dice in the early literature are not sufficiently definite to enable us to form a clear idea as to the manner in which the game was played. Sayawa, on our passage (as on Taitt. S. I, 8, 16), remarks that the dice here used consisted either of gold cowries (shells) or of gold (dice shaped like) Vibhi- taka nuts. That the (brown) fruit of the Vibhitaka tree (Termi- nalia Bellerica) — being of about the size of a nutmeg, nearly round, with five slightly flattened sides — was commonly used for this pur- pose in early times, we know from the Rig-veda ; but we do not know in what manner the dice were marked in those days. Accord-
V KkNDA, 4 ADHYAYA, 4 BRAHMAiVA, 6. IO7
with (V&£\ S. X, 28), ' Dominant thou art: may these five regions of thine prosper!' — now that
ing to the commentators, the game is, played with five dice, four of which are called krz'ta, whilst the fifth is called kali; and if all the dice fall uniformly (ekarupa) — i. e. with the marked sides either upwards or downwards — then the player wins, and in that case the kali is said to overrule the other dice. In this case the kali would seem to represent the king. Katy. Sr. XV, 7, 18-19, however, admits of another mode of playing, by which the kali represents the sa^ata (tribesman), whilst the king and those that come after him (in the enumeration in paragraphs 15-20) play the krz'ta, &c. To under- stand this mode, we have probably to turn to bandog. Up. IV, 1, 4, where it is said of the saint Raikva, that everything good fell to him, just as the lower dice (or casts) submit to the conquering kr/'ta. Here the commentators assign the names krz'ta, treta, dvapara, and kali to different sides of the die, marked respectively with 4, 3, 2, and 1 marks (anka). — In Taitt. Br. I, 7, 10 the game at dice, at the Ra^asuya, is referred to as follows : — With, 'This king has over- come the regions/ he hands (to the king) five dice ; for these are all the dice : he thereby renders him invincible. They engage (to play) for a dish of rice (odana), for that is (a symbol of) the chief: he thus makes him obtain every prosperity. He addresses them (with the epithets of) ' far-famed, most prosperous, true king.' The Commentary and Sutras then supply the following explanations : — The keeper of the dice (akshavapa), having (marked off and) raised the gambling- ground (by means of the wooden sword), and sprinkled it, throws down more than a hundred — or more than a thousand — gold dice. From them he takes five dice and hands them to the king : these, as representing the five regions, are taken to include all those dice. These explanations, so far from clearing up the doubtful points, seem rather to add to them. It may be noted, however, that in the well-known hymn, JRik S. X, 34, in which the gambler's state of mind is pictured in very expressive language, the dice of the game are apparently spoken of as tripa#/£a\ra vrata, or ' the troop of fifty- three' (or thrice five, according to Ludwig's rather improbable con- jecture). For other particulars see R. Roth, Zeitsch. d. deutsch. morg. Ges. II, p. 122; A.Weber, Ind. Stud. I, p. 284. According to Goldstucker (s.v. abhishe^aniya) this game of dice is intended to symbolize the victory of the present age, or kali-yuga, over the former ages ; but the commentator rather takes it as symbolizing the king's dig-vi^aya, or victorious sway in every quarter.
1 08 SATAPATHA-BRAHMAiVA.
one, the Kali, is indeed dominant over the (other)
dice, for that one dominates over all the dice : there-
fore he says, ' Dominant thou art : may these five
regions of thine prosper ! ' for there are indeed five
regions, and all the regions he thereby causes to
prosper for him.
7. They (the Adhvaryu and his assistants) then
silently strike him with sticks on the back ; — by
beating him with sticks (dands) they guide him
safely over judicial punishment (da/zafabadha) :
whence the king is exempt from punishment
(ada^afya), because they guide him safely over
judicial punishment.
8. Thereupon he chooses a boon ; and, verily,
whatsoever boon he who has been anointed chooses,
that is completely fulfilled for him : therefore he
chooses a boon.
9. * O Brahman!' thus he addresses (the priest) the first time \ thinking, * I will first utter the (word)
1 If it were not for the clear and unmistakable interpretation of the commentators on the Brahmawa and Katyayana, one might feel inclined to translate, ' thus he addresses the first — the second,' &c, so as to bring it into accord with the practice of the Black Ya^us. This practice is as follows (Taitt. S. I, 8, 16, with commentary). — The priest moves the previously uplifted arms of the Sacrificer down to the Vawvadeva dish of curds (cf. above, V, 4, 3, 27), with, ' Thou art Mitra ! — thou art Varuwa ! ' He then places the khadira throne-seat on the vedi, covers it with a leathern (or fur) cover, with, ' Thou art the navel of the Kshatra, the womb of the Kshatra/ and makes the king sit down with, ' Seat thee on the pleasant one, seat thee on the soft-seated !' The king sits down, with, ' May it not injure thee ! may it not injure me !' The priest then addresses him, with, ' He hath sat down, the upholder of the sacred law, Varuwa in the home-steads, for supreme rule, he the wise f The priests and Ratnins (see V, 3, 1, 1 seq.) then sit down in a circle round the king in order to do homage to him, — the Adhvaryu being seated towards the east, the Brahman towards the south, the Hotrz
V Kanda, 4 Adhyaya, 4 Brahma^a, 12. Io9
Brahman, I will speak speech sped by the Brahman : '
this is why he first addresses him with ' O Brahman ! '
The other answers, * Thou art Brahman ! Thou
art SavitW of true impulsion ! ' — he thereby lays
vigour into him, and causes Savitrz to be of true
impulsion.
10. 'O Brahman!' thus he addresses him the
second time. The other answers, 'Thou art
Brahman! Thou art Varu^a of true power!' —
he thereby lays vigour into him, and causes Vanma
to be of true power.
11. 'O Brahman!' thus he addresses him the
third time. The other answers, 'Thou art Brah-
man! Thou art Indra, mighty through the
people1!' — he thereby lays vigour into him, and
causes Indra to be mighty through the people.
12. 'O Brahman!' thus he addresses him the
towards the west, the Udgatrz' towards the north. The king then addresses the Adhvaryu, with, 'O Brahman, (Om)!' That priest replies, * Thou, O king, art Brahman, thou art Savitrz' of true im- pulsion/ In the same way the king addresses the Brahman, ' O Brahman!' and that priest replies, 'Thou, O king, art Brahman, thou art Indra, of true energy!' Then the Hotrz, who replies, '. . . thou art Mitra, the most kindly!' — the Udgatrz': '. . . thou art Varu#a, of true laws!' Thereupon the Brahman hands the sacrificial sword to the king, with, ' Indra's thunderbolt thou art ! ' He then hands to him five dice, with, ' This king has overcome the regions!' see next note. — The charioteer, treasurer, and chamber- lain are invited by the king (to the game ?) by auspicious epithets (' far-famed one,' ' most prosperous one,' ' true king '). Thereupon the Hotrz' recites the story of -Suna^jepa, whereupon follows the offering of the svish/akrz't of the cake of the Maruts, and the dish of curds to the Viyve Deva^.
1 Or, he whose strength is the people {vis, vwa), — that is, the Maruts, in the case of Indra, and the subjects or peasantry in that of the king. Say.
IIO SATAPATHA-BRAHMAiVA.
fourth time. The other answers, 'Thou art Brah-
man! Thou art Rudra, the most kindly!' —
he thereby lays into him (the king) those former
energies, and he appeases him (Rudra) ; and he,
Rudra, therefore, is gracious to every one, because
he (the priest) appeases him.
13. *0 Brahman!' thus he addresses him the
fifth time. The other answers (undefinedly), ' Thou
art Brahman!' — undefined means unlimited : thus
heretofore he laid limited vigour into him ; but now
he answers undefinedly ; and undefined meaning un-
limited, he thereby lays complete, unlimited vigour
into him : therefore he answers here undefinedly.
14. He then hails him as one bearing auspicious
names, — * Much-worker, better-worker, more-
worker1!' Whoever bears such names speaks
auspiciously even with a human voice.
15. A Brahma^a then hands to him the sacri-
ficial (wooden) sword, — either the Adhvaryu, or he
who is his (the kings) domestic chaplain — with,
* Indra's thunderbolt thou art: therewith
serve me! ' — the sacrificial sword being a thunder-
bolt, that Brahma/za, by means of that thunderbolt,
makes the king to be weaker than himself; for
indeed the king who is weaker than a Brahma/za, is
stronger than his enemies : thus he thereby makes
him stronger than his enemies.
16. The king hands it to the king's brother, with,
'Indra's thunderbolt thou art: therewith
serve me!' Thereby the king makes his brother
to be weaker than himself.