19. And because there are eight forms of Agni —
1 That is, his state of being tiivrit, or three times three.
VI KANDA, 2 ADHYAYA, I BRAHMAiVA, I. l6l
the Gayatri consisting of eight syllables — therefore
they say, ' Agni is Gayatra/ That boy entered into
the forms one after another; for one never sees
him as a mere boy (kumara), but one sees those
forms of his \ for he assumed those forms one after
another.
20. One ought to build him (Agni, the fire-altar)
up in (the space of) a year, and recite for a year.
' For two (years),' however, say some ; ' for in one
year they laid the seed, and in one year that boy
was born, therefore let him build for two (years), and
recite for two (years)/ Let him, however, build for
a year only, and recite for a year ; for the same seed
which is laid is brought forth ; it then lies changing
and growing : hence let him build for a year only,
and recite for a year. To him (Agni) when built up
(£ita) he gives a name : whereby he keeps away evil
from him. He calls him by a bright (/£itra) name2,
saying, 'Thou art bright;' for Agni is all bright
things.
THE ANIMAL SACRIFICE8.
Second Adhyaya. First Brahma2va.
1. Pra^apati set his mind upon Agni's forms. He
searched for that boy (Kumara) who had entered
1 Tataj ka. tatprabhrz'ti tarn Agnim kumararupaw na kva^ana pa^yanti ki/rctv etany eta^gvalanadini rupa/zy apurushavidhani pas- yanti, Say.
2 Or, he calls him by the name of Z'itra (bright), that being the name by which he is actually to address the fire on the altar at the end of the performance. Katy. XVIII, 6, 23.
3 This is the so-called ish/aka-pa^u, or animal sacrifice per- formed with regard to the bricks ; the heads of the victims being used in building up the altar, whilst some of the blood is mixed with the clay of which the bricks are made.
1 62 SATAPATHA-BRAHMAiVA.
into the (different) forms. Agni became aware of it,
— 4 Surely, Father Pra^apati is searching for me : well
then, let me be suchlike that he knows me not/
2. He saw those five animals, — the Purusha (man),
the horse, the bull, the ram, and the he-goat. Inas-
much as he saw (pa.?) them, they are (called) cattle
(pasu).
3. He entered into those five animals; he became
those five animals. But Pra^apati still searched for
him.
4. He saw those five animals. Because he saw
(pai-) them, therefore they are animals (pasu) ; or
rather, because he saw him (Agni) in them, therefore
they are animals.
5. He considered, ' They are Agni : I will fit them
unto mine own self1. Even as Agni, when kindled,
glares, so their eye glares ; even as Agni's smoke
rises upwards, so vapour rises from them ; even as
Agni consumes what is put in him, so they devour ;
even as Agni's ashes fall down, so do their faeces :
they are indeed Agni ; I will fit them unto mine own
self/ He meant to slaughter them for different
deities: the Purusha (man) for Visvakarman,
the horse for Varu/za, the bull for Indra, the ram
for Tvash/rz, the he-goat for Agni.
6. He considered, ' For different deities, indeed, I mean to slaughter now ; but I myself desire (kam)
1 Or, I will make them part of mine own self. — Similarly St. Petersburg dictionary, < I will change them into myself.5 But dif- ferently Professor Delbriick, Altind. Synt., p. 239, 'I will make myself to be these, change myself into these/ This is on account of the middle form of the verb, which, however, is quite justified also in the former interpretation. Cf.VI, 8, 2, 1, where there is no ques- tion of changing the whole sacrifice into a heap of ashes, but of taking over the ashes, or some of it, to form part of the sacrifice.
VI KANDA, 2 ADHYAYA, I BRAHMAiVA, 8. 1 63
Agni's forms : well then, I will slaughter them for
the Agnis, as for the (object of my) desire/ He
slaughtered them for the Agnis, as for (his) desire,
— to wit, 'for the Agnis/ because many were the
forms of Agni he had set his mind upon ; and * for
the desire/ because it was with a desire that he
slaughtered them. Having appeased them and car-
ried the fire round them, he led them northwards
and slew them.
7. He considered, ' Those glories (signs of excel-
lence 2) upon which I have set my mind are contained
in the heads : well then, I will only put on the heads V
He cut off the heads and put them on (himself, or
the altar). The remaining trunks he then let float
on the water 3, and brought the sacrifice to its com-
pletion by means of (the offering of) a he-goat,
thinking, ' Lest my sacrifice be pulled to pieces.'
After performing that animal sacrifice, Pra^apati saw
that he had not yet reached the end of Agni (the
fire-altar).
8. He considered, 'I must search for that body4
which L let float on the water/ He searched for it ;
and what (part) of those (bodies) cast into the water
had settled therein, that water he gathered ; and
what (had settled) in this earth, that clay (he
gathered)5. And having gathered both that clay
1 See VI, 1, 1, 4.
2 That is, on the fire-altar, or (which is the same thing) on him- self, Pra^-apati, the sacrifice. The heads of the five victims are placed in (a dish introduced into) the bottom layer of the altar so as to impart stability to it. See VII, 5, 2, 1 seq.
3 Or, he washed them, cleaned them, in water.
4 Literally, that self, i.e. that part of mine own self, the sacrifice (?).
5 It seemed desirable here to leave the construction of the original text unchanged.
1 64 SATAPATHA-BRAHMAiVA.
and water, he made a brick : hence a brick consists of these two, clay and water.
9. He considered, 'Surely, if I fit1 this (matter)
such as it is unto mine own self, I shall become a
mortal carcase, not freed from evil : well then, I will
bake it by means of the fire/ So saying, he baked it
by means of the fire, and thereby made it immortal ;
for the sacrificial food which is baked by fire is
indeed immortal (or, ambrosia). Hence they bake
the bricks with fire : they thereby make them
immortal.
10. And inasmuch as he saw them after offering
(ish^va) the animal, therefore they are bricks (ish/aka).
Hence one must make the bricks only after per-
forming an animal sacrifice ; for those which are
made before (or, without) an animal sacrifice are
'anish/akaV And, moreover, there is this other
(consideration).
11. As to those glories, they are these same heads
of the victims ; and those (headless) trunks are these
five layers (of the fire-altar) : thus when he builds
up the layers after putting on the heads of the victims,
he thereby unites those trunks with those heads.
12. And because Agni is all those animal victims, therefore animals delight (being) near the fire3, —
1 Saya?/a explains ' abhisa#zskarishye ' by ' adhiya^vnke jarira upadhasyami,' ' if I were to put this (clay and water) on the sacri- ficial body/
2 A play on the word which may mean either ' non-bricks,' or ' being without oblation (ish/a)/
3 Saya/za seems to take this to mean, that animals (cattle) delight, or sport, when the sacrificial fire is established ; that is to say, they feel at home and increase wherever a new household is estab- lished (?) ; — tasmad agnav ahite pa^avo ramante, atmany eva sa pritir ity abhipraya/^. Adhuna*gne# pa^ushv atmabhuteshu pritiw
VI KANDA, 2 ADHYAYA, I BRAHMAiVA, 1 6. 1 65
there animals sport with animals. Hence the (sacri-
ficial) fire is set up with him who possesses cattle ;
for inasmuch as Agni (was) the same as cattle, there-
fore Pra^apati (the lord of creatures or generation)
became Agni.
13. Here now some say, 'It is at this (point of
the performance) that he should offer up all those
(five) victims ; for had Pra^apati then offered up all
of them, he would certainly have reached the end of
the fire (altar) : hence were he (the Sacrificer) now to
offer up all those (victims) he would certainly reach
the end of the fire (altar)/ Let him not do so : he
thus would stray from where the gods have gone,
he would stray from the path ; — and what would he
then gather x ? For those same bodies, those layers,
he gathers : let him therefore not do so.
14. Now when he slaughters those animals, he
prepares a home for Agni ; for nowhere but in
his home does one enjoy himself. But the home
means food : it is that he lays down in front, and
when Agni sees that, he turns unto him.
15. There are a man, a horse, a bull, a ram, and
a he-goat ; for such are all the animals (used for
sacrifice). Animals are food : he thus lays down in
front whatever food there is ; and seeing that, Agni
turns unto him.
16. There are five ; for there are those five Agnis,
danrayann aha, yasmad agnir esha yat pa^avas tasmad yasya manu- shyasya pa^avo bhavanti tasminn etad agnir adhiyate, tatra hi sa atmabhutai/^ pa^ubhi ramate nanyatra; evam yad agnyatmika/^ pa^avas tatas tarn agnim atma>bhisawskrztya pra^apatir agnir abhavat.
1 That is, what ' sambharas ' or equipments of the fire should he then collect? Cf. part i, p. 276.
1 66 DATAPATH A-BRAHMAiVA.
to wit, the five layers (of the fire-altar) : for them he
thus lays down five homes ; and seeing that, Agni
turns unto him.
1 7. And when (he offers) ' to the Agnis,' — it is
because there are here many Agnis, to wit, those
layers ; and when (he offers) ' to the desire/ it is in
order that the Sacrificer may obtain the object for
which he performs that ceremony.
18. A man (purusha) he slaughters first, for man
is the first of animals ; then a horse, for the horse
comes after man ; then a bull, for the bull (or cow)
comes after the horse ; then a ram, for the sheep
comes after the cow ; then a he-goat, for the goat
comes after the sheep : thus he slaughters them
according to their form, according to their excellence.
19. Their ropes may be unequal ; that of the man
being the longest, then shorter and shorter : thus he
makes the ropes according to the form of the animals,
to avoid confusion between good and bad. But let
them be all alike, all similar; for all these victims
are alike, all similar, for they are (all) called Agnis,
they are called food : hence they are alike and
similar.
20. Here now they say, ' How is that complete
five-bricked fire of his gained in the animals ? ' —
Well, in the kapalas of the sacrificial cakes that
first brick, the earthen one, is obtained ; and when
he slaughters the animal, thereby the animal brick is
obtained, and when two gold chips are (placed) on
both sides of the omentum, thereby the gold brick
is obtained ; and what firewood, stake, and enclosing
sticks there are, thereby the wooden brick is ob-
tained; and what ghee, sprinkling-water, and cake
there are, thereby the fifth brick, the food, is
VI KAiVDA, 2 ADHYAYA, I BRAHMAiVA, 24. 1 67
obtained : thus then that complete five-bricked fire of his is gained in the animals.
21. For these (victims) there are twenty-four
kindling-verses 1 ; for the year consists of twenty-
four half-moons, and Agni is the year : as great
as Agni is, as great as is his measure, by so much
he thus kindles him.
22. And, again, why there are twenty-four, — the
Gayatri consists of twenty-four syllables, and Agni
is Gayatra 2 : as great as Agni is, as great as is
his measure, by so much he thus kindles him.
23. And, again, why there are twenty-four, — man
(purusha) doubtless is twenty-fourfold : ten fingers
of the hands, ten toes, and four limbs ; and Pra^a-
pati is the Purusha, and Pra^apati is Agni : as
great as Agni is, as great as is his measure, by
so much he thus kindles him.
24. He recites both gayatri and trishAibh verses ;
for the gayatri metre is the vital air, and the trish-
/ubh is the body (self) : by the gayatri verses he
thus kindles his vital air, and by the trish/ubh ones
the body. The trish/ubh verses are in the middle,
and the gayatrt verses on both sides thereof; for
this body is in the middle, and the (organs of) the
vital airs are on the sides thereof. He pronounces
more gayatri verses before, and fewer after (the