1 For the eleven gayatri verses, used as samidhenis at an ordinary ish/i — and raised to the number of fifteen by repetitions of the first and last verses — see part i, p. 102. The present animal sacrifice (ish/aka-pa^u) adds to these verses nine trish/ubh verses (V&g. S. XXVII, 1-9), which (according to Katy. XVI, 1, 11) are to be inserted between the two verses containing the words ' samidh- yamana' (being kindled) and 'samiddha' (kindled) respectively,— that is, between the ninth and tenth of the normal or gayatri kind- ling-verses (cf. I, 4, 1, 38). 2 See VI, 1, i, 15 ; 3, 19.
1 68 SATAPATHA-BRAHMAiVA.
trishAibh verses) ; for there are more (organs of the) vital airs in front, and fewer behind.
25. He recites (V&g. S. XXVII, 1), ' May the
months1, O Agni, may the seasons make thee
grow ! ' When Agni restored the relaxed Pra^a-
pati, he (Pra^apati) said to him, ' What kindling-
verses there are equal to me (in measure), with
them kindle me ! 9
26. He (Agni) saw these (verses), ' May the
months, O Agni, may the seasons make thee grow ! '
that is, 'May both the months, O Agni, and the
seasons make thee grow!' — 'The years, the Rish is,
whatsoever truths' that is, 'May the years, and
the i?zshis, and the truths make thee grow ! ' — ' With
heavenly brightness do thou shine!' — the
heavenly brightness doubtless is yonder sun : thus
' together with #that do thou shine!' — 'lighten up
the whole four regions!' that is, 'lighten up all
the four regions ! '
27. These (verses) have one and the same expla-
nation regarding him (Agni-Pra^-apati) : how one
would make him complete, how he would restore and
produce him. They relate to Agni and Pra^apati :
to Agni, inasmuch as Agni saw (them) ; to Pra^a-
pati, inasmuch as he (Agni) kindled Pra^apati.
1 This is the meaning assigned here to ' samaA ' by Mahidhara, a doubtful meaning indeed. Besides the ordinary meaning 'year,' the St. Petersburg dictionary also allows to ' sama ' that of ' half- year ' in some passages of the Atharva-veda. In the present pas- sage, the dictionary refers ' sama/^ ' to the adjective ' sama/ hence ' the equal seasons/ This cannot, however, have been the mean- ing assigned to the word by the author of this part of the Brahma/za, whatever it may originally have been in this verse of the Sa^hitas. Saya/za, Taitt. S. IV, 1, 7, takes 'sam&fc' in the sense of 'the years,' but remarks that ' the months and half-months ' have to be understood by it in this verse.
VI KANDA, 2 ADHYAYA, I BRAHMAiVA, 32. 1 69
28. Twelve Apri (propitiatory) verses1 there are,
— twelve months are a year, and the year is Agni :
as great as Agni is, as great as is his measure, with
so much he thus propitiates (or gratifies) him.
29. And, again, why there are twelve, — of twelve
syllables consists the (^agati, and the G^agati is this
earth, for on her there is everything that moves
(^agat) here. And Agni also is this earth, for it is
out of her that the whole fire (altar) is built up : as
great as Agni is, as great as is his measure, by so
much he thus propitiates him.
30. And, again, why there are twelve, — of twelve
syllables consists the Gagati, and the Gagati is all
the metres, and all the metres are Pra^*apati (the
sacrifice), and Pra^apati is Agni : as great as Agni
is, as great as is his measure, by so much he thus
propitiates him.
31. Those ' kindling-sticks of his (Agni) are
upright.' When Agni restored the relaxed Pra^a-
pati, he said to him, ' What Apri-verses there are
equal to me, with them propitiate me ! '
32. He saw these (verses) 2 : — ' Upright are his
kindling-sticks/ for upright indeed are the kind-
ling-sticks of him when kindled; — 'upwards tend-
ing the bright flashes of Agni/ for tending
upwards are his bright flashes, his flames; — 'they,
the most brilliant/ that is 'the most powerful ;'
■ — 'of the fair-looking son/ for fair-looking indeed
Agni is on all sides ; and inasmuch as he (the
Sacrificer) produces him thereby he (Agni) is his son.
1 For the purport of these verses which form the offering-prayers at the fore-offerings of the animal sacrifice, see part ii, p. 185,
2 V£g. S. XXVII, 11 seq.
1 70 SATAPATHA-BRAHMAiVA.
33. These (verses) have one and the same expla-
nation regarding him (Agni-Pra^apati) : how one
would make him complete, how he would restore and
produce him. They relate to Agni and Pra^apati,
— to Agni, inasmuch as Agni saw (them); to Pra^a-
pati, inasmuch as he (Agni) propitiated Pra^apati.
34. They are unequal, and consist of unequal
feet, and unequal syllables ; for the metres are
unequal : whatever unequal limbs there are at his
(Agni's) body, those (limbs) of his he propitiates by
these (verses).
35. The animal cake belongs to (Agni) Vais-
vanara — Vaisvanara being all the fires — for the
obtainment of all the fires.
36. As to why it belongs to Vaisvanara ; — those
layers (of the altar) no doubt are the seasons, for
the seasons are the fires ; and the seasons are the
year, and the year is VaLsvanara (belonging to all
men). Were it (offered) to Agni (VaLrvanara), he
would cause it (the formula) to be redundant. It is
one on twelve potsherds : twelve months are a year,
and the year is Varsvanara. The offering and
invitatory formulas relate to Agni, for the obtain-
ment of Agni's forms. They contain the word
' kama ' (desire), for the obtainment of his desires.
37. Now some, having in that way1 obtained
those heads, put them on (the fire-altar), thinking,
' Either way 2 are they animals/ But they (who do
this) become mortal carcases, for unpropitiated are
1 That is, according to Saya^a, somehow or other, in some worldly manner, as by buying or begging them, without performing the animal sacrifice.
2 That is to say, whether they are consecrated or unconsecrated, in either case they are ' pa^ava^ ' or animal (victims). Say.
VI KANDAy 2 ADHYAYA, 2 BRAHMAA^A, 2. I 7 I
those (heads) of theirs. In this way, indeed, they did
put them on for Asha^i Sau^romateya l ; but
quickly indeed he died after that.
38. Some, however, make gold ones, saying,
' They are immortal bricks (amrztesh/aka).' But
indeed those are false bricks (anrzteshfeka), those
are no heads of victims.
39. Some, again, make earthen ones, thinking,
' Passed away, forsooth, are these animals, and this
earth is the shelter of all that has passed away : thus
whither those animals have gone, from thence we
collect them/ Let him not do so, for whoso knows
not both the practice and theory of these (victims),
for him let them be passed away. Let him slaughter
those very five victims, as far as he may be able
to do so ; for it was these Pra^apati was the first
to slaughter, and 6yapar/za Sayakayana the last;
and in the interval also people used to slaughter
them. But nowadays only these two are slaughtered,
the one for Pra^apati, and the one for Vayu. The
theory of these two is now (to be) told.
Second Brahmajva.
1. The .ATarakas slaughter (a he-goat) for Pra^a-
pati, saying, ' Pra^apati, having built up the fire-
altar (agni), became Agni. When he slaughters
that one, then indeed he reaches the end of Agni
(the fire-altar).'
2. It is a dark grey one ; for the grey has two
kinds of hair, the white and the black ; and two
make a productive pair : that is its Pra^apati-
characteristic. It is a hornless one, for Pra^apati
is hornless.
1 The son of Asha^a and Susromata, according to Saya/za.
I 72 DATAPATH A-BRAHMA2VA.
3. For this (animal sacrifice) there are twenty-one
kindling-verses1; — twelve months, five seasons, these
three worlds, and yonder sun, — that is the twenty-
onefold Pra^apati ; and Pra^apati is Agni : as great
as Agni is, as great as is his measure, by so much
he thus kindles him.
4. And, again, why there are twenty-one ; — man
(purusha) doubtless is twenty-onefold, ten fingers of
the hand, ten toes, and the body (make) the twenty-
onefold man Pra^apati ; and Pra^apati is Agni : as
great as Agni is, as great as is his measure, by so
much he thus kindles him,
5. He recites both gayatri and trish/ubh verses :
their significance has been told ; and (what applies
to) the order of the verses has been told. The
libation of ghee 2 he makes with the verse contain-
ing (the name) Hira^yagarbha 3 ; for Hira^yagarbha
1 Viz. the eleven ordinary gayatri verses raised, by repetitions, to the number of fifteen ; with six special trish/ubh inserted (p. 167, note 1). Katy. XVI, 1, 34.
2 On the two libations of ghee, see part i, p. 124 note; p. 128, n. 2. It is doubtful which of the two libations is intended here ; whether the first which in any case belongs to Pra£"apati, but is usually made with a different formula from the one prescribed here, or the second. The later ritualists themselves seem to have been doubtful on this point; but Katyayana (XVT, 1, 35-37) leans to the opinion, that the second libation must be intended ; both liba- tions thus being made to Pra^apati on this occasion. Sayawa remarks, — hira/zyavatya ri'ka ' hira/zyagarbha^ samavartatety ' ata uttara/ft samaprakam (? samaprakaram) agharam agharayati ; pra^a- patir vai hira/zyagarbha^ sa Mgnis tarn evam tarpayitvapnotity abhipraya^.
3 That is, V&g. S. XXV, 10 (XIII, 4 ; Rik S. X, 121, 1, ' Hiraw- yagarbha^ samavartatagre), ' Hira^yagarbha (the golden child) came first into existence ; he was born as the only lord of all being ; he sustained this earth and sky: what god (or the god Ka) shall we serve with offering/
VI KANDA, 2 ADHYAYA, 2 BRAHMAiVA, 6. I 73
is Pra^&pati, and Pra^apati is Agni. There are
twelve Aprt-verses : their significance has been
told ; and (what applies to) the order of the verses
has been told. The animal cake belongs to Pra^a-
pati, for the relation of the victim is also that of the
animal cake1. It is one on twelve potsherds:
twelve months are a year, and the year is Pra^apati.
The offering and invitatory formulas contain the
word ' Ka/ for Pra^apati is Ka2.
6. He then slaughters for Vayu Niyutvat (the
wind, driving a team of horses) that white, bearded
(he-goat). When Pra^apati had produced living
beings, he looked about him, and from exceeding
delight his seed fell : it became that white, hornless,
bearded he-goat (a^a, ' unborn ') ; for seed is life-
sap, and as far as there is life-sap, so far extends
the self. And when he slaughters that one, then
indeed he reaches the end of Agni (the fire-altar).
It is a white one, because seed is white. It is
hornless, because seed is hornless. It belongs to
Vayu, because Vayu (the wind) is the out-breathing ;
and to Niyutvat, because the teams (niyut3) are the
in-breathing : the out-breathing and in-breathing he
thus lays into him.
1 See III, 8, 3, i seq.
2 See I, i, i, 13 with note. — The above verse, Rik S. X, 121, i, and following five verses, — each of which ends with, ' what god (or the god Ka) shall we serve with offering,' — are used with the omentum, the animal cake (pa^upuro<fa^a)5 and the animal oblations respectively ; viz. the first three verses as invitatory formulas (anu- vakaya) and the last three as offering formulas (ya^ya). A^v. *Sr. Ill, 8, 1. — Va§\ S. XXV, 10-13, onty tne first f°ur verses are given together; whilst Saya/za, in accordance with A^valayana, remarks, — vapa puro^taapa^unaw ' hira^yagarbha^ samavartatagra ' ity adaya^ syu/$.
3 Probably ' niyuta^ ' here with allusion to ' niyuta/ shut in.
I 74 SATAPATHA-BRAHMAiVA.
7. And, again, why he slaughters that white,
hornless (he-goat) ; — when the gods restored the
relaxed Pra^apati, they, by means of this victim,
put into him that out-breathing which had gone
out of him ; and in like manner this one now puts
it into him. It belongs to Vayu, because Vayu is
the out-breathing ; and to Niyutvat, because the
teams are the in-breathing : he thus puts the out-
breathing and in-breathing into him. It is white,
because Vayu (the wind) is white ; and it is hornless,
because Vayu is hornless.
8. For this (animal sacrifice) there are seventeen
kindling- verses 1 ; for the year is seventeenfold —
there are twelve months and five seasons — Pra^apati
is the year, and Pra^apati is Agni : as great as Agni
is, as great as is his measure, by so much he thus
kindles him.
9. And, again, why there are seventeen, — man is
seventeenfold, — there are ten vital airs, four limbs,
the body the fifteenth, the neck-joints the sixteenth,
and the head the seventeenth, — Pra^apati is the
Person (or man, purusha), and Pra^apati is Agni : as
great as Agni is, as great as is his measure, by so
much he thus kindles him.
10. He recites both gayatrl and trish/ubh verses :
their significance has been told ; and (what applies
to) the order of the verses has been told. There
are twelve Apri-verses : their significance has been
told ; and (what applies to) the order of the verses
has been told. The animal cake belongs to Pra^a-
pati : ' Therein then that wish was obtained,'